P-W Earns Chance at 1st Championship
March 14, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Pewamo-Westphalia always seems to be in the mix. The Pirates haven’t had a losing record since 1998-99, the last season before coach Luke Pohl returned to the program after two years away and led 19 straight winners.
Maybe last year’s seniors, coming off an 18-6 finish, wanted to provide their replacements with a little bit of additional motivation.
“Our seniors last year, pretty much all of our starters, were saying we’re not going to be good this year,” P-W senior Andre Smith said. “That we were actually going to be worse. That motivated us to all put in work over the offseason and get better.
“We were putting in a lot of work. But (to get) this far? I didn’t really think that much. But we’re here and we put in that much work, and it’s paid off.”
For the third time in its history, P-W has earned an opportunity to play for its first championship. The Pirates advanced to Saturday with a 60-45 Division 3 Semifinal win over Erie-Mason on Thursday at the Breslin Center.
P-W (27-0) will meet also-unbeaten Iron Mountain in the 4:30 p.m. championship game. It will be the program’s third appearance in the Final – the Pirates finished Class C runners-up in 1993 and 2014.
After another long football season – P-W finished 11-1 and made the Division 7 Regional Finals – a mostly new crew of basketball contributors worked to get up to speed before an opening night that also was a week earlier than usual this season.
To be honest, P-W may not have been even the favorite in the Central Michigan Athletic Conference – which produced three District champions this winter. But the Pirates downed favorite Dansville by 18 in their second game of the season, and Smith and his teammates knew then they might be on to something special – even if Pohl as well didn’t really expect to still be playing on the season’s last day.
“You just don’t know. You only have two starters back, but we’ve just jelled,” Pohl said. “We’ve done a lot of things well defensively, made it hard for offensive teams. We have great length, and a lot of guys have put in extra time. Andre took a huge jump, every guy took a huge jump. (So) I never dreamed that.”
It’s also likely no one expected the Pirates to jump out to a 15-0 start Thursday. But that wasn’t enough to count out Erie-Mason and particularly junior guard Joe Liedel.
The Eagles pulled all the way back to within a point at 23-22 with 2:20 to go in the first half as Liedel – who averaged 28.6 points per game this season – scored 14 of his game-high 31 during the comeback.
Another Liedel basket with 1:27 to play in the third quarter kept Erie-Mason only three points behind. But Smith pushed the margin back to nine with the first basket of the fourth, and the Eagles made only 3-of-16 shots from the floor over the final period as P-W pulled away.
“A lot of times, those (big early leads) come back to bite you,” Pohl said. “I’ve seen it happen too many times; a team lets up little bit, starts to feel the pressure as the other team is coming back. … The guys persevered. They battled through this all year long, and I couldn’t be more proud of the way we ended up finishing.”
Junior forward Aaron Bearss finished with a team-high 16 points, nine rebounds and four blocks for P-W, and Smith had 14 points and nine rebounds. Senior forward Nathan Wirth grabbed nine rebounds as well as the Pirates won the boards 46-32.
Liedel had six rebounds and three assists to go with his 31 points, and senior center John Sweeney grabbed eight rebounds for Erie-Mason.
“My biggest thing is to keep getting better this offseason. I just want to keep taking everything we’ve done this year and be back here next year and be even better,” Liedel said.
Erie-Mason (23-3) made it to this final week by winning its first Regional title since 1973, one of many achievements as eighth-year coach Kevin Skaggs has built the program.
Two of his first three teams finished with sub-.500 records, but his last five all have been winners, with this one also earning the first league title of his tenure.
P-W was model of consistency that Skaggs, who came from the college ranks, used as something of a “benchmark” for the Erie-Mason program.
“When we got to Mason eight years ago, they had had only eight or nine winning seasons in 50 years of basketball,” Skaggs said. “I think this has been a continuous building project to get to this stage. It was not unexpected to get here. But what you can’t reproduce is the experiences that Pewamo has enjoyed. Those kids have watched the guys, when they were in elementary school, perform on this stage or at least get to the Regional Finals.
“Our guys are still in the process of they’ve created history. … They are creating the same things that the early teams that Luke coached during the late 90s and early 2000s (created).”
PHOTOS: (Top) Pewamo-Westphalia’s Hunter Hengesbach (10) sets up the offense as Erie-Mason’s Joe Liedel defends. (Middle) Liedel gets a shot up over the Pirates’ Collin Trierweiler.
Breslin Bound: Boys Report Week 10
February 12, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Aspiring boys basketball teams are taking aim at frontrunners all over Michigan as we reach the middle of February.
The Detroit Public School League experienced this most last week as arguably the three favorites for this season’s league tournament title all were eliminated. The Upper Peninsula and northern Lower also saw undefeated powers fall for the first time.
Plenty more opportunities to re-set the pecking order are coming up; see some of them below. Breslin Bound is powered by MI Student Aid and based on results and schedules posted for each school at MHSAA.com. To offer corrections or fill in scores we’re missing, email me at [email protected].
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Detroit Edison Public School Academy 59, Detroit Cass Tech 51 – This PSL game certainly shook up the bracket as the Pioneers eliminated the reigning league tournament champion.
2. Detroit Renaissance 66, Detroit East English 65 – This also was a bit of a PSL quarterfinal shocker, with East English the only team in the state this season to beat reigning Class A champ Clarkston.
3. Dollar Bay 51, Ewen-Trout Creek 42 – More than 3,000 fans packed Michigan Tech’s gym to see Dollar Bay emerge from this meeting of previously-undefeated Class D contenders.
4. Detroit Pershing 50, Detroit Henry Ford 44 – Despite an 8-9 record, Pershing has been mentioned as a Class C contender with its wins and losses more a reflection of its tough schedule; winning this game over a Class B contender backs up that theory.
5. Frankfort 53, McBain 48 – The Panthers should have plenty to say in Class D as well, and their play did the talking in handing Class C McBain its only defeat.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each class making sparks:
CLASS A
Holland West Ottawa (14-1) – The Panthers are on a two-month winning streak since losing their opener to Wyoming Godwin Heights. They clinched a share of the Ottawa-Kent Conference Red championship, their third straight, on Friday with three league games to play. They finished 23-2 overall last year and will look to add a Regional title this time around.
Ypsilanti Community (11-1) – The Grizzlies have a slim lead in the Southeastern Conference White but can solidify it next week by avenging their lone loss, to Dexter. They have won league championships all four years since forming from the old Ypsilanti and Willow Run high schools.
CLASS B
New Haven (16-0) – The Rockets are among the least surprising successes in the state coming off last year’s Class B title and returning standout junior Romeo Weems. Saginaw Arthur Hill on Saturday was the first team to come closer than 17 points, as New Haven won 71-68.
Wyoming Godwin Heights (14-1) – The Wolverines remain among the class of the Grand Rapids area and statewide, looking to return to the season’s final week after falling in the Regional a year ago. The only loss was in overtime to Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central (now 13-2), with wins over West Ottawa and Pershing – and no other opponents coming closer than 11 points.
CLASS C
Cassopolis (12-0) – The Rangers are holding down first place in the inaugural Southwest 10 Conference standings after winning Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph division championships the last three seasons. They’ve put up at least 70 points seven times – and dropped 111 in their last game Feb 3.
Unionville-Sebewaing (12-0) – The Patriots are looking to add a second straight league title and are perfect through the first half of the Greater Thumb Conference West schedule. Last week included a win over Jack Pine Conference leader Sanford Meridian Early College, and a December victory over Detroit Douglass also is worth noting.
CLASS D
Hillsdale Academy (13-1) – With a loss only to Class B neighbor Hillsdale High, the Colts look good to improve on last season’s 17-7 overall finish. Only one other opponent has come within double digits, and Hillsdale Academy leads the Southern Central Athletic Association East after tying for second last season.
Southfield Christian (12-3) – This season has been standard Southfield Christian – play a bunch of larger powerhouses to prepare for the postseason while taking care of things in the Michigan Independent Athletic Conference Blue. A win over Detroit Martin Luther King was strong, and an overtime loss to Pershing was similarly impressive.
Can't-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Wednesday – Buckley (11-3) at Frankfort (12-1) – Frankfort won the first round by 16, but the reigning Class D runner-up Bears lead the Northwest Conference by half a game.
Friday – Frankenmuth (13-1) at Bridgeport (12-1) – The Bearcats set the tone for an excellent run by downing the rival Eagles by 14 at the start of January; a sweep would all but secure the Tri-Valley Conference East title.
Friday – Troy (11-3) at Clarkston (13-1) – Aside from Detroit East English, which beat Clarkston in December, few others have come close to the Wolves; Troy, which fell only 59-54 on Jan. 9, is one of those few.
Friday – Detroit PSL Final at University of Detroit Mercy – King (9-5), Pershing (8-9), Edison (8-9) and Renaissance (11-4) will play in Tuesday semifinals to set Friday’s championship matchup.
Friday – River Rouge (15-0) at Southfield Christian (12-3) – They share some motivation; both made it to the Breslin Center last season and both lost Semifinals in overtime, in Class B and D, respectively.
PHOTO: A Bridgeport player goes up for a dunk during a win over Saginaw Swan Valley this season. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)