Muskegon, Mr. Basketball End Title Wait
March 22, 2014
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING — Deshaun Thrower had this moment in mind back in November, even while the pain — literal and figurative — was still fresh from his final high school football game.
"I'll try to get healthy for basketball and try to win it in that," a banged-up Thrower said after he and his Muskegon teammates lost to Birmingham Brother Rice for the second straight year in the MHSAA Division 2 championship game at Ford Field.
Fast forward to March 22, and Thrower sat in another postgame press conference following an MHSAA championship game.
This time, he wasn't hanging his head and talking in hushed tones. Instead, he was smiling and clutching the Class A basketball championship trophy following Muskegon's 91-67 rout of Bloomfield Hills at the Breslin Center.
"It feels fake right now, because we're so used to being on the other end," said Thrower, a star quarterback in football and winner of Mr. Basketball this winter.
"This year, it's tears of joy instead of tears of sorrow. It feels good to get it for us, coach and the rest of the players who didn't get it.
"Just knowing I won my last high school game ever, won it with my teammates ... it feels good to leave on a good note."
Muskegon coach Keith Guy said Thrower's leadership was as big a key to the championship run as his numbers and physical tools.
"I don't think anybody's been in more big games than he has in football and basketball," Guy said. "He's a tough leader. He makes sure everyone is doing what they're supposed to do and holding themselves accountable. To have a leader on your team like that, everybody else follows."
The Big Reds won their first MHSAA championship since 1937 and third overall. They also rode future University of Michigan two-sport All-American Bennie Oosterbaan to a title in the 1923 Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Association tournament; the MIAA was the predecessor to the MHSAA.
It's also the school's first MHSAA title in any sport other than football since the 1937 boys basketball team won the championship. The Big Reds have won five football championships, but took a big step toward removing the label of being just a football school. They reached the MHSAA Quarterfinals last season, losing 64-61 to Grand Rapids Christian.
The basketball team had six members of the football team.
"We want to build what they have here at Michigan State, a two-headed monster," Guy said. "(Football) coach Shane Fairfield does an excellent job. We share the kids and teach them the same message; it shows. The football team finished in the finals and the basketball team finished as champions, so I think that formula works."
Muskegon finished 28-0, joining the 2003 Rockford team (also 28-0) as one of only two unbeaten Class A champions in the last 24 years. Only two other Class A teams have had 28-0 seasons: Flint Central in 1981 and Flint Northwestern in 1985.
"They're good," Bloomfield Hills coach Duane Graves said. "We knew they were good. You can't go 28-0 and not be good. They have a good balanced attack. It had us on our heels all night."
Thrower affirmed why he was chosen Mr. Basketball as the state's top senior, scoring 21 points on 7 for 12 shooting.
Junior center Deyonta Davis may have established himself as the front-runner for next year's award, scoring 26 points on 12 for 14 shooting, grabbing 13 rebounds and blocking three shots.
"He's a different kid where he doesn't show a lot of emotion," Guy said. "There are no big moments for him. You won't see him cry. You probably won't see him smile. He's always even-keeled. Tonight he relaxed and played the way he's capable of playing. He came out with a lot of energy, and I thought he controlled the game."
The game was close for much of the first quarter, but Bloomfield Hills couldn't keep pace with Muskegon for long.
The Big Reds held an 18-15 lead when they scored nine straight points to ignite a 15-2 run that put them comfortably ahead for the rest of the game.
Muskegon built its lead to 43-22 with 24.2 seconds left in the first half and led 45-25 at halftime.
Senior guard Dylan Deitch gave Bloomfield Hills a glimmer of hope in the third quarter, hitting two 3-pointers and scoring eight points. His drive to the basket with 5:06 left in the third cut Muskegon's lead to 47-32, but the Big Reds responded with the next six points to put to rest any doubt about the outcome.
"Everything was geared toward the postseason," Guy said. "We've been trying to climb this mountain for years, and got here. These guys have the formula for success. We don't have any egos on our team. They're genuinely playing for one another. They're happy for one another. If one does better than the others tonight, they're happy as long as we get the win. It's truly a brotherhood and a family."
William Roberson Jr. had 17 points and five assists, while Joeviair Kennedy had 14 points for Muskegon, which scored a season-high 91 points.
Bloomfield Hills is a first-year school that formed when Andover and Lahser merged. Neither of the original schools ever won a regional championship, with Lahser reaching a Class A Regional Final last year under Graves' coaching before losing 65-41 to Rochester.
Xzavier Reynolds scored 21 points, going 4 for 4 from 3-point range, while Yante Maten had 13 points and three blocks for the Black Hawks (24-4).
Bloomfield Hills shot 9 for 31 (.290) in the first half before going 15 for 24 (.625) in the second.
"Shots just didn't fall," Graves said. "That happens. The ball didn't bounce our way. We couldn't make a layup in the first half — in and out, in and out. Someone forgot to take the Saran Wrap off the rim for us. Other than that, I thought the boys fought as hard as they could."
Click for the full box score and video from the press conference.
PHOTOS: (Top) Muskegon's Deshaun Thrower blocks off Bloomfield Hills' Todd Weiss during Saturday's Class A Final. (Middle) Bloomfield Hills' Cameron Dalton (00) works to get past Muskegon's Jordan Waire.
Buckley Rides Into Season Finale Again
March 22, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Buckley’s cart may have come before the horse earlier this season.
The horse arrived Thursday night at the Breslin Center.
Bears coach Blair Moss referred to the old saying to describe how his team – returning almost entirely intact from last year’s Class D runner-up run – got rolling a little slowly this winter.
But Buckley has found its stride – and hit it especially right with about seven minutes to play in Thursday’s 65-55 Semifinal win over Hillsdale Academy.
The Bears outscored the Colts 17-6 to pull away after trailing by 12 early in the third quarter.
“Last postseason, when we lost to Powers North (Central), I said we’d be back here,” said Buckley senior Austin Harris, noting the 78-69 defeat against the Jets in the 2017 championship game. “And I believed in my team and I knew. We got in the gym and worked really, really hard. I think our success in this, hard work really paid off. We believe in ourselves.”
Buckley (21-5) will face Southfield Christian in Saturday’s 10 a.m. championship game.
The Bears’ entire starting five returned this season from the team that fell just one win short of a first MHSAA boys basketball championship a year ago.
They started this season 3-3 – although those losses were to Kalamazoo Hackett, McBain and Frankfort, which all ended up winning at least 18 games.
“I think I put the cart before the horse. We knew where our goal was at, but we forgot we had 20 games in between,” Moss said. “I saw flashes of us, and I tried to pinpoint what we were doing and not doing right. So I told them before the tournament started, let’s not worry about records, let’s not worry about who’s scoring, let’s just play for each other.”
Hillsdale Academy (19-7), making its first trip to the Semifinals after winning its first Regional title last week, got behind by eight points early in the second quarter. But the Colts, following the lead of 6-foot-7 senior Peter Kalthoff, launched a 15-3 run over the final two minutes of the first half and first two of the second to take a 43-31 lead. Kalthoff had six of his team-high 17 points during that stretch.
Buckley’s veteran lineup began chipping away. Harris had eight points including two 3-pointers, and the Bears hit four 3-pointers total over the final six minutes of the third quarter to take back a one-point lead.
Harris started the closing run with another 3-pointer, and senior Joey Weber had seven of his 15 points over the final 4:25 of the game.
Weber also had nine rebounds, four assists and four steals, and senior forwards Denver Cade and Brock Beeman both added 11 points – Cade also dishing four assists.
Kalthoff added 11 rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots to go with his 17 points, and senior guard Michael Craig added 14 points and five assists.
“I’m proud of my guys and the way they battled, not just tonight, but in the other 27-some other games to get to this point,” Hillsdale Academy coach Tim Wells said. “Looking at some of the stats in preparation for tonight, these guys (four-year seniors Kalthoff, Craig and Nolan Sullivan) have won 74 games in four years – that’s fantastic. So by the time we got to now, we started talking about this moment, this is your reward.”
“As much as it stings to lose this game, look where we got to play. I know it’s bigger than that, (but) it was pretty incredible,” Sullivan added. “I knew we could do it. But to actually do it is something that’s absolutely incredible.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Buckley’s Joey Weber (5) and Hillsdale Academy’s Nolan Sullivan work for a loose ball during their teams’ Class D Semifinal. (Middle) Hillsdale Academy’s Peter Kalthoff takes a step toward the basket Thursday.