Clutch Cass City Keeps Finding Last-Second Ways to Win During 13-1 Start
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 8, 2023
Aaron Fernald isn’t going to complain about his Cass City boys basketball team’s 13-1 start.
He’s happy that his players are finding ways to win games against solid competition.
But, with six of those wins having been decided during the final seconds, he wouldn’t mind if his team didn’t make it so stressful.
“I think the kids get more confident as you win those games, but as a coach, I don’t know if I get more confident,” Fernald said with a laugh. “We do practice situations, we get the clock out, and we’ve been doing that almost every week since the beginning of the season. But I really don’t have a great answer on all of it.”
There may not be an answer to why it’s happening, but the results are eye-opening.
It started Dec. 13, when junior Carter Patrick hit a 3-pointer with just under four seconds to play, giving the Red Hawks a 45-42 win against Millington.
Late 3s to win games are fun, and when they happen in December are typically a footnote to a season, and not the start of a trend. This, however, was the latter.
On Dec. 20, Patrick again scored the go-ahead points with a pair of free throws in the final seconds of a 55-54 win against Saginaw Nouvel.
Patrick struck again Jan. 4, hitting a go-ahead basket with five seconds to play in a 51-50 win against Saginaw Valley Lutheran.
On Jan. 18, Mike Fernald hit a buzzer-beater after a save under the basket by Tyler Cumper in a 47-45 win against Caro.
Trent Patrick had the most dramatic one nine days later, on Jan. 27, when he hit a 3-pointer from just inside halfcourt to defeat Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker 44-43.
Then Feb. 1, Carter Patrick again hit a game-winner, this time on a backdoor cut in the final seconds of a 46-45 victory against Bad Axe.
“I like to think it’s really good, because we’re figuring out how to win in key moments,” Carter Patrick said. “But we need to start getting a lead so we don’t have this pressure in games. I do think it’s preparing us for (the postseason) a lot, actually. If we get the ball at the end of a game, any game, I think the other team might get nervous themselves knowing that we’ve done this.”
Whether or not that’s the case, it’s pretty clear that Cass City won’t be nervous.
“The first couple, I was really nervous down the stretch,” Michael Fernald said. “A lot of other teammates were, too. But I think we’ve all got a lot more comfortable in those situations.”
Having three players who have scored game-winning baskets is a luxury for Cass City. But it goes well beyond that.
“We’ve got a team that kind of keeps hanging around and making a play,” Aaron Fernald said. “To get a buzzer-beater, we’ve had other guys not mentioned much that made plays to get us to that point. It’s kind of been a team effort that’s come from a lot of different people.”
Coming into the season, Aaron Fernald admitted he didn’t think this team could get to this point. He did think there would be improvement from recent years, however, as there were some key players back including Carter Patrick and Michael Fernald, who were each entering their third year on the varsity team.
Both of them, however, did think special things were on the horizon.
“This summer, I did,” Patrick said. “We were at team camp, and I thought this would be a better year for us. We had a really good chemistry, and we got along. We have a lot more fun together.”
That chemistry has been built over the course of several years, as many of the Red Hawks’ players have been playing together since they were kids.
The trust built through that, Patrick said, has helped in those clutch moments.
“We’ve all been friends for a really long time,” he said. “We’ve played a lot with each other, and I think we’ve gained a lot of trust. And if we miss the shot, nobody is going to get mad at each other.”
That group of friends has created some incredible memories already this season, the type that get talked about in town for years. But they’re looking for more – the type of memories that get put up on banners.
“It’s been special, but we haven’t really accomplished anything yet,” Michael Fernald said. “It would make it way more special if we can win some accolades along with it.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Cass City’s Carter Patrick, right, looks for an open teammate during a matchup with Laker. (Middle) Michael Fernald brings the ball up court. (Below) Laker fans watch as Trent Patrick sends up his game-winning shot Jan. 27. (Photos by Tom Greene/Huron Daily Tribune.)
Lumen Christi Building Toward Banner Aspirations under Tropea's Guidance
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
March 26, 2024
Among the first things Josh Tropea noticed when he took the boys basketball coaching job at Jackson Lumen Christi were all the state championship banners.
Not for boys basketball, but for multiple other sports.
“I’m a confident coach, confident in my abilities and knowledge,” Tropea said. “You have to have some self-confidence to come in here when there are 54 state championships in other sports and none in basketball.”
Tropea wants to change that. In his second year at the Jackson County school, he came close, getting the Titans to the Division 3 Quarterfinals. The Regional title was the program’s first since 2013. He feels, however, the foundation has been set for what he thinks will be a bright future.
“We are super deep,” Tropea said. “Our freshman class is very good, the eighth-grade class is very good. We have talent coming for years. I believe we will have the ability to play for state championships in the future. We were there this year, I think.”
Tropea has made a habit of resurrecting programs during his coaching career. The South Lyon native started at Walled Lake Western while still in college. He had brief coaching stints at Whitmore Lake and Howell before settling in at Milan, where he built that school into a Class B powerhouse, winning the Finals championship in 2013-14 and going 92-27.
He left Milan for a job at Chelsea, did that for a couple of seasons and left to become an assistant coach at Spring Arbor University. He came back to Chelsea for two seasons before resigning and landing at Lumen Christi two years ago.
The Titans have had moderate success over the years, winning several conference and District titles and six Regional championships in all. They have just one trip to the Semifinals, that coming back in 1975. In 2016 the Titans fell on hard times, winning just once and starting a seven-year span of failing to reach .500 once.
Enter Tropea and an 11-win improvement from 3-18 in 2021-22 to 14-10 last season.
This year’s team went 22-5 and became just the seventh in school history to win 20 games in a season.
There were several big moments, and the Lumen Christi gym was packed night in and night out.
“I told people when I got here that I’ll know I’m successful when I can pack this gym. It seats about 3,500,” Tropea said. “When we walked out of the locker room to play Hanover-Horton in the Regional, every seat in the gym was filled. Where there weren’t bleachers, there were people standing. It was unbelievable. In the second half of the game, you couldn’t hear. Everything had to be communicated through hand signals. That was a huge moment. My players may never play in front of anything like that again in their lives.”
Lumen Christi has been a football powerhouse for decades, and Tropea is fine with that. This past season all of his players but three were from the football team that won the Division 7 championship.
Tropea said it was an easy transition to their winter sport.
“I coach great athletes who are prepared for success, who are coached hard, watch film and know how to compete,” Tropea said. “The football program takes all the hard stuff off my plate. I just get to coach basketball.”
The next piece to sustaining a top-five team, he believes, is improving the players’ skill level. For that, he’ll lean on a coaching staff that includes Tyler Aldridge, the varsity coach for five seasons before Tropea arrived.
“Tyler is incredible with the kids, great at skill work,” he said.
Tropea joined a coaching fraternity at Lumen Christi. The school’s first basketball coach was Justin Perticone, followed by Mike Ramker, Dan Crowley, Rick Karasek and, before Aldridge, Pat Neville.
“At one point or another, all six of those guys were at practice or at our games this year,” Tropea said. “It’s such a cool thing. Coach Ramker was in the front row for all our games. After the games, I hang out with some of our former coaches. I’m in a golf league with one of them. We are all connected and support one another. It truly is a brotherhood here. Once you are here, you are part of the Lumen family.”
Ramker called it unique. He coached Ann Arbor St. Thomas to a 1974 Class D championship, then Lumen Christi from 1977 to 1994. He returned for one more season in 2009-10 and was coaching in the program until last year.
“The school definitely has built that culture,” Ramker said. “That’s one of the things I’ve always loved about Lumen Christi.”
A tough non-league slate helped the Titans get on a roll when the postseason began.
Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep, Adrian Lenawee Christian, Michigan Center and eventual Division 3 champion Niles Brandywine were on the regular-season schedule, along with Catholic High School League foe Riverview Gabriel Richard, another Division 3 Semifinal team that Lumen Christi played three times, winning once.
“We feel like we are way more prepared going into the state playoffs than the teams we are playing,” Tropea said.
As he builds next year’s schedule, the goal remains to get ready for the MHSAA Tournament.
“We return six kids who played major minutes for us and four guys who started for us,” he said. “Our young guys will be in tough situations next year, but I know they are ready.
“The seniors I have returning next year were on a 14-win team as sophomores, and a 22-win team as a junior. We’ve changed our mentality. We’re not playing for league titles. Our focus is on March, and our kids have bought into that. If we lose a game in the middle of the season, that’s not going to bother them.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Jackson Lumen Christi coach Josh Tropea, kneeling, huddles with his team this season. (Middle) Lumen players, including Lundon Hampton (23) apply defensive pressure. (Below) A full bleachers of Titans fans cheer on their team. (Photos by Rick Bradley.)