Highlight Reel: Class C-D Semifinals
March 25, 2016
By John Johnson
MHSAA communications director
The first four finalists for the 2016 MHSAA Boys Basketball Tournament, presented by Sparrow Health System, were determined on Thursday at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
Check out these video highlights from the Class C and D Semifinals. Click on the score to watch a game in its entirety and order DVDs.
Class C
Grandville Calvin Christian 65, McBain 42
Squire On Fire - Tony DeWitte scored the first 10 points of the game for Grandville Calvin Christian, and 26 of his game-high 31 points in the first half against McBain in this Class C Semifinal.
From Another Area Code - Logan Eling led McBain with 18 points, including this bomb from long range in the first quarter.
Flint Beecher 60, Detroit Loyola 59
Bulldogs Finally Take The Lead - Detroit Loyola never led in its Class C Semifinal with Flint Beecher until there were fewer than two minutes to play when Keith Johnson hit a 3-pointer.
Un-bee-leeve-able - Malik Ellison hits the game-winning shot for Flint Beecher. Ellison finished the game with 11 points.
Class D
Waterford Our Lady 64, Wyoming Tri-unity Christian 53
Going Coast To Coast - This Class D Semifinal went back and forth deep into the final period. Here's Braydon Sherrod of Wyoming Tri-unity Christian going downcourt for a basket.
Roback Puts Lakes Back In The Lead - Waterford Our Lady ended its Class D Semifinal with Wyoming Tri-Unity Christian on a 12-point run, starting with this 3-pointer by Noah Roback.
Powers North Central 64, Fulton 23
Steal-Scoop-Score - Powers North Central converts a steal into points in the first quarter of a Class D Semifinal against Fulton as Jason Whitens takes the turnover and converts it into points.
Antes For Three - Colton Antes canned a couple of 3-pointers for Fulton against Powers North Central in their Class D Semifinal.
The Boys Basketball Finals are presented by Sparrow Health System.
PHOTO: Flint Beecher's Jordan Roland pushes the ball upcourt during the Thursday Class C Semifinal against Detroit Loyola.
McKenney Grows Legend in Leading St. Mary's to 1st Title since 2000
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 16, 2024
EAST LANSING — At one point early in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s Boys Basketball Division 1 Final, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s junior Trey McKenney had scored as many points as North Farmington had as a team.
That pretty much tells the story of who the man of the day — and arguably the season — was for 2023-24.
McKenney showed why he is one of the most highly-regarded juniors in the entire country, finishing with 32 points to lead St. Mary’s to a 63-52 win over North Farmington and its first Finals title in Division 1 or Class A, the predecessor division for the state’s largest schools.
“We’ve been going at it every day,” McKenney said. “Just being consistent. I don’t think it’s really sunk in, winning a state championship. It’s kind of crazy.”
McKenney finished 8 of 11 from the field overall and made all 14 of his free-throw attempts. He added 10 rebounds.
After the game, North Farmington head coach Todd Negoshian could only ask, “Can he graduate early?”
“He’s tough. He does a lot of things. He’s got the NBA style game right now with floaters and fadeaways. He’s so strong,” Negoshian added.
St. Mary’s (27-1) won its fifth Finals title and first since earning the Class B crown in 2000.
Ranked No. 1 for most of the year, the Eaglets navigated through that high expectation and all the way to the top of Division 1 after losing in a Semifinal last year.
“We’ve been dreaming about this a long time,” St. Mary’s head coach Todd Covert said. “This is a dream come true. It means everything.”
St. Mary’s was in control throughout, until late in the game when North Farmington made things interesting.
Trailing 46-26 with 6:27 remaining, North Farmington amped up its full-court pressure, created turnovers and did something it struggled to do prior to that point – make shots.
The Raiders cut their deficit to 59-50 with 1:46 remaining after a free throw by senior Landon Williams, making up much of the margin despite leading scorer Tyler Spratt fouling out with 3:27 left when St. Mary’s was up 55-39.
But that was as close as the Raiders could get, as McKenney essentially wrapped up the game by hitting two free throws with 12.9 seconds remaining to give the Eaglets a 63-52 lead.
St. Mary’s made 17 of 18 shots from the free-throw line during the fourth quarter.
“That was the longest fourth quarter of my life,” Covert said. “It seemed like there was seven guys out there. But we weathered the storm, and that is what it’s all about.”
Spratt finished with 17 points, and Williams had 16 to lead the Raiders (24-3).
Saturday was North Farmington’s second championship game appearance after the Raiders faced a similarly elite player in Cassius Winston with Detroit U-D Jesuit in 2016.
“I thought we wore them down a little bit to where they ended up turning the ball over,” Negoshian said. “I thought we struggled to score at times. I think we got it to where we wanted to with them turning it over and keeping us right where we needed to be within striking distance. But we just couldn’t score at times offensively, and I think that was our downfall tonight.”
Trailing 25-19 at halftime, North Farmington cut the St. Mary’s lead to 25-22 with 6:56 left in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Rob Smith.
But McKenney answered by scoring the next seven points, and then senior Andrew Smith drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give the Eaglets a 35-22 lead with 3:17 remaining in the third. McKenney then hit a jumper from the baseline to finish off a 12-0 run and push the lead to 15.
PHOTOS (Top) Orchard Lake St. Mary’s coach Todd Covert presents the Division 1 championship trophy to his players Saturday at Breslin Center. (Middle) The Eaglets’ Trey McKenney (1) gets to the basket for two points. (Below) St. Mary’s Sharod Barnes (0) gets a shot up with Dylan Smith (13) defending. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)