Breslin Bound: Boys Report Week 9

February 11, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

If you’re a regular reader to our “Breslin Bound: Girls Report” as well, what follows will sound pretty familiar – but remains extremely important.

We’re winding down the boys basketball regular season, and we’re less than two weeks from seeding the top two teams in each District for the first time. But we need your help.

Teams earning the top spots will do so based on success and strength of schedule, and it’s imperative for MHSAA.com to list all games played and correct scores for each. Know a score we don’t or realize a game is missing that should be added? Send corrections or missing scores to [email protected]. Every result affects multiples of others, and we thank you for your help in advance. 

“Breslin Bound” is powered by MI Student Aid and based on results and schedules posted for each school at MHSAA.com.

Week in Review

The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results: 

1. Benton Harbor 64, Grand Rapids Catholic Central 51 – Another Saturday showcase, another huge win for the Tigers, who followed up their previous Saturday victory over Ypsilanti Lincoln with this one against a possible postseason foe.

2. Frankenmuth 43, Bridgeport 38 – The Eagles avenged a 26-point defeat from Dec. 20 to hand the Bearcats their first of the season.

3. Grand Blanc 54, Muskegon 51 – The Bobcats dealt the Big Reds only their second loss this season and first to an in-state opponent.  

4. Kalamazoo Central 66, Portage Central 44 – The Maroon Giants handed Central its first and only defeat this winter.

5. Beaverton 49, Sanford Meridian 45 – The Beavers moved into first place alone in the Jack Pine Conference by finishing a sweep of second-place Meridian.

Watch List

With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:

DIVISION 1

Grand Blanc (12-3) The Bobcats have clinched a share of the Saginaw Valley League Blue title and posted one of the most impressive runs in the state against a slate of opponents that has won just a tick under 70 percent of its games this winter – giving Grand Blanc the second-highest strength of schedule in Division 1. They started this week by finishing a sweep of Flint Carman-Ainsworth (10-5) to clinch that league title and also have wins over Muskegon (11-2), Kalamazoo Central (10-3), U-D Jesuit (9-6) and Detroit Douglass (14-3).

Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (13-1) The Eaglets have clinched the Detroit Catholic League Central title, and that’s just the start of the story. They also have handed the only losses to Clarkston and Hudsonville, and one of few to Grand Blanc with the only defeat against Division 3 contender Flint Beecher. The league title is St. Mary’s first in more than a decade and comes against a group that includes 2019 Division 1 runner-up Detroit U-D Jesuit among three nine-win teams that also were in the chase.  

DIVISION 2

Benton Harbor (14-1) As noted above, Benton Harbor put up another big win at the Floyd Mayweather Classic on Saturday to go others over Ypsilanti Lincoln, Kalamazoo Central and Battle Creek Pennfield. Add in a loss to Beecher, and the Tigers’ strength of schedule ranks 10th in Division 2 – and they are one of only four teams in that top 10 with a winning record. And Benton Harbor isn’t done prepping for what should be another long tourney run, with River Rouge (15-1), Niles Brandywine (11-1) and Wyoming (12-1) rounding out the regular-season schedule.

Grand Rapids Christian (13-0) The Eagles are one of three undefeated teams left in Division 2. They handed Grand Rapids Catholic Central its first loss on Dec. 17 and also gave the only defeat to Wyoming. Grand Rapids Christian has survived its share of close games – two by two points apiece and two more by seven or fewer – but that’s pretty impressive too. They lead an Ottawa-Kent Conference Gold that also includes Wyoming (12-1) and East Grand Rapids (10-4).

DIVISION 3

Flint Beecher (13-1) The Bucs are unbeaten since falling to Division 2 Ferndale in their season opener, and they’ve loaded up the nonleague portion of their resume with wins over Benton Harbor, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (both mentioned above) and Flint Carman-Ainsworth, with a matchup with Grand Blanc coming up. For any other team, it would be impressive alone that Beecher leads a Genesee Area Conference with two other teams at 11-3. But the Bucs have won five MHSAA Finals titles over the last eight seasons and will be in the statewide mix again.  

Niles Brandywine (11-1) The Bobcats took over the top spot this week in Division 3 MPR thanks in part to a schedule against opponents that have won nearly 63 percent of their games. Of course it helps a ton that Brandywine is 11-1 against those teams. The Bobcats lead the Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference Red by a game despite losing their first meeting with second-place Parchment in overtime Jan. 24. They meet again Feb. 28, and a March 3 matchup with Benton Harbor will be a great test heading into the postseason.

DIVISION 4

Kingston (14-0) The Cardinals appear to be closing in on the North Central Thumb League Stars championship and haven’t had a game closer than 11 points since Jan. 10 against Dryden – which happens to be tonight’s opponent and lost by just a point in their first meeting. Kingston shared the league title and won its District last season and could be poised to achieve that and more carrying the top Division 4 MPR into this week.

Southfield Christian (11-3) The reigning Division 4 champion has wrapped up at least a share of a ninth-straight league title despite having three games left to play in the Michigan Independent Athletic Conference Blue. They’ll be seeking a third-straight Finals championship carrying into the postseason a win over Division 3 contender Detroit Edison and good playoff-preparation losses to Division 1 West Bloomfield, Southfield Arts & Technology and Detroit Catholic Central.  

Can't-Miss Contests

Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up: 

Tuesday – Detroit Martin Luther King (13-3) vs. Detroit Douglass (14-3) at Cass Tech – This Detroit Public School League Tournament semifinal matches up the champion and runner-up, respectively, from the PSL East.

Tuesday – Detroit Communication Media Arts (12-3) at Detroit Cass Tech (15-1) – Similarly, the other PSL Tournament semifinal features the runner-up vs. the champ, respectively, in the West.

Tuesday – Detroit Edison (9-3) at Clarkston (12-1) – Both have championship aspirations, Edison as mentioned above in Division 3 and the Wolves in Division 1.

Thursday – Belleville (11-2) at Westland John Glenn (10-4) – Belleville holds a one-game lead in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association East thanks to a 58-50 win over John Glenn on Jan. 21.

Thursday – Escanaba (10-5) at Marquette (12-3) – This could decide the Greater Northern Conference championship outright, as the teams are tied for first with two league games to play and Marquette won the first meeting 63-56 on Jan. 7.

Second Half’s weekly “Breslin Bound” reports are powered by MI Student Aid, a part of the Office of Postsecondary Financial Planning located within the Michigan Department of Treasury. MI Student Aid encourages students to pursue postsecondary education by providing access to student financial resources and information. MI Student Aid administers the state’s 529 college savings programs (MET/MESP), as well as scholarship and grant programs that help make college Accessible, Affordable and Attainable for you. Connect with MI Student Aid at www.michigan.gov/mistudentaid and find more information on Facebook and Twitter @mistudentaid.

PHOTO: Marquette's Thomas Albarello drives to the basket while being defended by Ishpeming's Jacob Kugler during their game last month. (Photo by Cara Kamps.)

Pressure? No problem as Our Lady Advances

March 24, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

EAST LANSING – The bright lights have worn off for Waterford Our Lady’s seniors.

And that might have made all the difference over the final minutes of what could’ve been their final high school basketball game.

Andrew Kline and brothers Clay and Devin Senerius brought the Lakers to the Class D Semifinals a year ago for the first time since 1993, and they just missed a football championship losing by seven points in the Division 8 Final this fall.

So when the score of Thursday’s first Class D Semifinal sat tied for the seventh time with 5:49 to play, the Our Lady seniors weren’t phased by the building Breslin Center pressure.

The Lakers closed on a 15-3 run to finally break away from Wyoming Tri-unity Christian and earn their first MHSAA championship game appearance with a 64-53 victory.

“Playing on the big stage, it’s not as hard as it used to be,” said Devin Senerius, who led four Our Lady players with 17 points. “At the beginning of last year, at the Semifinals we were all nervous. And then at the state finals (for football), we were a little nervous. Now we all just wanted to win instead of lose.”

They’ve got a chance to win one more time, and for the first time in program history on the final day of the season, when they face Powers North Central at 10 a.m. in Saturday’s Class D Final. 

The Lakers (22-4) were ranked No. 3 at the end of the regular season, so this run was hardly a surprise. But they also lost the final two games before the District began, putting the senior leaders in a position to pull their team back on track.

Our Lady responded by winning four of seven tournament games by at least 10 points.

“First off, it’s their personality. They want to win, and that’s vital,” Our Lady coach Paul Robak said. “It doesn’t matter if it is basketball, football, whatever; they want to win. That’s the most important part of the culture, teaching that not only to others in their class but the younger classes.

“We took a step backward toward the end of the year, and we got a little sloppy. But to their credit, we went back to being more competitive on the practice floor. And it starts with these three guys.”

Still, the final score Thursday was not indicative of how close the game stayed until the final six minutes.

To that point, neither team built a lead of more than six points. From 2:25 to play in the second quarter until 1:17 remained, neither team got ahead by more than four. There were 14 lead changes, seven in the third quarter and five during the fourth.

There would be only one run – and it would belong to Our Lady.

Kline scored nine of his 15 points during the final go-ahead drive, while Tri-unity Christian made only 1 of 9 shots from the floor during the final six minutes.   

“Coach told us it’s crunch time,” Kline said. “We’ve got to buckle down. We knew we were the better team.”

Freshman Noah Robak added 12 points and Clay Senerius had 11 for Our Lady. Devin had 12 rebounds and Clay added 10 and six assists as the Lakers outrebounded the Defenders 37-15.

Senior guard Collin Rosendall led Tri-unity (20-6) with 17 points and four steals, and senior forward Javi Cuevas had 12 points and four assists.

Although the Defenders made a decent 44 percent of its shots from the floor, they connected on only 7 of 27 tries from 3-point range – struggling at what’s usually a strength.

“All year long we’ve done a good job of maintaining the bleeding on the boards,” Tri-unity coach Mark Keeler said. “Tonight we didn’t do a good job of that. They have good shooters and I think they knocked down key shots at the right time.

"They stayed in their zone, and I was happy they stayed in their zone because our 3-point shooting is normally good. But it failed us at the end.”

Click for the full box score.

The Boys Basketball Finals are presented by Sparrow Health System. 

PHOTOS: (Top) Our Lady’s Clay Senerius looks for an opening while Tri-unity’s Javi Cuevas defends. (Middle) The Defenders’ Collin Rosendall works to get past a Lakers player during the Class D Semifinal.