Highlight Reel: Boys Basketball Finals
March 28, 2015
By John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director
The winter sports season concluded Saturday with the MHSAA Boys Basketball Finals at the Breslin Center at Michigan State University.
Below are highlight clips from every game plus links to watch them in full.
Class A
Detroit Western International 62, Saginaw Arthur Hill 59
Blackshear Six-Point Run - Gerald Blackshear of Detroit Western scored the first six points of the fourth quarter in the Class A Final against Saginaw Arthur Hill. He ended the game with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Leaping Lumberjacks - Saginaw Arthur Hill gets its first lead of the Class A Final against Detroit Western on this alley-oop from Eric Davis to Brian Bowen. Bowen finished with a game-high 21 points.
Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Class B
Wyoming Godwin Heights 85, Detroit Henry Ford 68
A Couple Of Statements - Wyoming Godwin Heights makes a statement with its flashy taste in shoes, and a great alley-oop play to its leading scorer in the Class B Final, Delaney Blaylock. The Wolverines had four players in double figures, led by Blaylock's 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Davis Drives For Two - Josh Davis led Detroit Henry Ford with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Here he scores on a drive in the second quarter in the Class B Final.
Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Class C
Flint Beecher 78, Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian 52
Moten Gets The Basket - Cedric Moten goes coast-to-coast for Flint Beecher against Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian for the old-fashioned three-point play. Moten led the Bucs with 24 points.
Nice Dunk By Nhial - Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian had a seven-point run in the third quarter topped off by Kual Nhial's dunk. Nhial had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Class D
Powers North Central 67, Morenci 47
Whitens For The Hoop & One - Jason Whitens led Powers North Central in the Class D Final against Morenci with 19 points, including this three-point play in the first quarter.
Sharing The Rock - Bobby Black makes a nice feed to Torin Merillat for a first-quarter basket for Morenci.
Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
PHOTO: Flint Beecher’s Malik Ellison looks to make a move while being defended by NorthPointe’s Andrew Holesinger.
In Semifinal Return, Schoolcraft Dethrones Reigning Champ to Take Next Step
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 24, 2022
EAST LANSING – There are many teams around the state that probably figured no recipe existed for dominating Flint Beecher in a boys basketball game.
They likely were taking notes Thursday while watching what Schoolcraft accomplished in the second Division 3 Semifinal at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center.
Playing just about flawlessly on offense and defense, Schoolcraft advanced to its first Finals championship game since winning the Class C title in 2011 with a stunning 55-39 win over the reigning Division 3 champion.
“Five weeks ago, we just kind of overhauled our offense,” Schoolcraft coach Randy Small said. “We tried to play more inside-out and have more post-up action than what we had previously. I think that has helped us out overall offensively. It’s just given us more flow.”
It was a return trip to the Semifinals for the Golden Eagles, who fell 54-50 in overtime to Iron Mountain last year at Breslin.
The simplest explanation for what happened this time is that Schoolcraft (24-2) made its shots throughout – with an especially notable showing from 3-point range – while Beecher (22-3) did not find similar success.
Schoolcraft shot 9 of 12 from 3-point range and made 17 of 27 shots from the field overall, while Beecher made 5 of 19 shots from 3-point range and 15 of 46 overall.
But going a bit deeper, much of the credit for Schoolcraft’s shooting has to go to the way it handled any pressure Beecher threw at it, effectively creating a halfcourt game and patiently moving the ball on offense for good shots.
Schoolcraft turned the ball over a reasonable 12 times and rarely let Beecher speed the game up.
“I think the whole team handled it pretty well,” senior Ty Rykse said of Beecher’s pressure. “We knew they were going to pressure. The past couple of days, we had just been stressing to handle the ball pressure and I think we did.”
Defensively, Schoolcraft used its height advantage inside, employing a zone defense to pack in Beecher and force the Buccaneers to win from the perimeter.
“I just thought we did a pretty good job of controlling the paint and keeping them out of the paint,” Small said. “We had to give up some threes because they are quicker than we are. We didn’t want to spread ourselves too thin. I thought overall, we did a pretty good job of that.”
Schoolcraft made five of its first six shots from 3-point range in the first half and took a 28-17 lead into halftime.
The third quarter saw Schoolcraft continue to make it a halfcourt contest and shoot well from the outside. Schoolcraft grew its lead to 17 points at 41-24 with 55 seconds remaining in the third following a 3-pointer by junior Eli DeVisser.
A Beecher run never materialized, and the lead increased to 49-27 with 5:36 remaining and was never threatened the rest of the game.
“We had shots we missed; they had shots they made,” said first-year Beecher coach Marquise Gray. “I think we took some good, quality shots. You’ve got to give them credit.”
Sophomore Shane Rykse scored 21 points, senior Tyler DeGroote scored 13 and Ty Rykse added 12 points for Schoolcraft.
Senior Carmelo Harris scored 15 points and junior Robert Lee added 10 for Beecher.
PHOTOS (Top) Schoolcraft celebrates its Semifinal win Thursday afternoon at Breslin Center. (Middle) The Golden Eagles’ Tyler DeGroote (24) and Beecher’s Bryce Carr (32) reach for a loose ball. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)