Highlight Reel: Class B Semifinals

March 27, 2015

By John Johnson
MHSAA communications director 

Wyoming Godwin Heights and Detroit Henry Ford advanced to the MHSAA Class B Boys Basketball Final with Semifinal wins Friday at the Breslin Center. 

Click below for highlights from all four teams that took the court.

Wyoming Godwin Heights 70, Milan 64 

Perkins Blocks & Dunks - Nick Perkins starts this sequence for Milan with a block and then runs the court to take a pass for a dunk to put the Big Reds back in the lead. Wyoming Godwin Heights, however, prevailed 70-64.

Williams’ Lucky 13's - Michael Williams had 13 points and 13 rebounds for Wyoming Godwin Heights against Milan. Here he scores on a put-back late in the first half. 

Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

Detroit Henry Ford 64, Cadillac 38 

Going To Towns - James Towns paced Detroit Henry Ford with 24 points against Cadillac in a Class B Semifinal. Here he converts the old-fashioned three-point play.

Myers All The Way - Ethan Myers makes a nice play for Cadillac in the fourth quarter against Detroit Henry Ford, taking a rebound all the way for a basket. He had 13 points for the Vikings.

Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here

PHOTO: Godwin Heights’ Karon Patrick tries to get a shot around the outstretched hand of Milan’s Latin Davis.

#TBT: Hoops Titans Meet in Class A Final

July 26, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The talk of the 1998-99 high school boys basketball season in Michigan revolved around a pair of Class A stars who went on to meet in one of the most highly-anticipated MHSAA championship games in recent memory.

It’s been two decades since Lavell Blanchard led Ann Arbor Pioneer to a 54-47 win over Jason Richardson and Saginaw Arthur Hill, holding off the Lumberjacks’ third-quarter comeback attempt to claim the program’s lone boys basketball championship.

Richardson, who claimed the state’s Mr. Basketball Award just ahead of Blanchard earlier that week, had 16 points, nine rebounds and six steals in only 24 minutes of action with four fouls forcing him off the floor. Blanchard scored a game-high 29 points to go with 14 rebounds in his final prep game, staying on the court for all 32 minutes of the Pioneers’ victory.

Richardson played at Michigan State and then 14 seasons in the NBA, while Blanchard went on to University of Michigan and then played professionally in Europe.

This summer, Blanchard has found his way back to making an impact at the high school level. He was one of 30 first-year athletic directors in attendance at the MHSAA’s New Athletic Director Orientation Program at the MHSAA Office on Thursday and is readying to lead Manchester High School’s athletic department this school year.  

PHOTO: Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Lavell Blanchard, left, defends the rim as Jason Richardson drives during the 1999 Class A boys basketball championship game.