Rough Start Turns into Breslin Ending

March 22, 2013

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

EAST LANSING – Some may consider it ironic that Detroit Community will play for the Class B championship Saturday despite nine losses this season.

But the Hurricanes are the first to explain those losses are why they’ll play in their first MHSAA Final.

Community advanced to the final game for the first time with a 58-37 win over Wyoming Godwin Heights in a Semifinal on Friday at the Breslin Center.

And now senior Byron Zeigler and his teammates will face No. 1 Detroit Country Day – although they won’t be intimidated after facing and falling to the likes of Romulus, Detroit Pershing, Cass Tech, Southeastern and others during the regular season.

“We’ve played all the top teams in the state, so there’s nothing we haven’t seen before,” Zeigler said. “Any situation we came to, we knew we had to stick together, play hard, and we knew we’d have a good outcome.”

Saturday’s Final tips off at 6:30 p.m. Community (18-9) entered the tournament unranked – but given this outcome, likely wouldn’t have scheduled any other way.

The Hurricanes found themselves at 6-5 just after the midpoint of the season. In three of their defeats – to Pershing, Southeastern and reigning Class D champion Southfield Christian – they led going into the final minutes.

During this run they’ve won three games by six or fewer points.

“I think that helped us out going down the stretch. We’re closing those games out now,” Community coach Venias Jordan, Jr., said. “Playing in every holiday tournament and not closing those games out, I guess we can’t help but get better.”

Closing out wasn’t a worry Friday. The Hurricanes took a 10-point advantage three minutes into the second quarter and led by double digits the rest of the way.

Zeigler, a 6-foot-6 forward headed to South Florida after graduation, said he wanted to be aggressive early and remind his teammates they’d reached the big stage. He scored 10 of his 17 points in the first quarter, and also finished the game with 12 rebounds. Godwin Heights coach Chad Conklin said Zeigler was the best his team had faced this season.

Meanwhile, the Hurricanes worked to keep Godwin Heights’ standout guards out of the lane. Plugging the middle worked – the Wolverines’ point total was their lowest this season by 10. Three Godwin Heights guards entered the week averaging more than 10 points per game, but none scored more than four Friday.

“It’s a double-edged sword. If you’re not making your shots on the perimeter, and then go inside and your shots are blocked … to score 37 points like this is disappointing,” Conklin said. “I thought we got some decent shots outside, but they didn’t go in. We tried to attack the glass, but they did a good job of blocking (us).”

Community junior Jason Buyck grabbed 10 rebounds in just 11 minutes as his team outrebounded Godwin Heights 46-37.

Junior center Markese Mayfield led the Wolverines with 13 points and seven rebounds.

Conklin explained to his players after that they’d put Godwin Heights hoops on the statewide map. His teams were a combined 66-8 over the last three seasons including 23-3 this winter.

Jordan no doubt can say the same to his Community players, regardless of what happens Saturday.

“Over the last three years, we’ve been through a lot, faced a lot of obstacles,” Community senior Ramell Robinson said. “This last year, we have to take it all the way. Our first practice goal was March 23, and not to just get to the championship (game), but to win the championship.”

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PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Community's Byron Zeigler (35) tries to drive past Wyoming Godwin Heights' Markese Mayfield during Friday's Class B Semifinal. (Middle) Godwin Heights' Jamal Bland pushes the ball upcourt against a Community defender. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)

Muxlow Family Has New All-Time Leading Scorer; Brown City May Soon As Well

By Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com

March 8, 2023

When Gaden Muxlow talked to his sister Kendal after passing her career point total, he received a congratulatory response – with a caveat.

Bay & Thumb“She gave me the speech about how she had to miss so many games because of her ACL injuries,” Gaden said with a laugh.

Passing a family member in the Muxlow house – regardless of how many games that family member had to miss – is quite an accomplishment, as the family is all over the Brown City basketball record books. Kendal is the all-time leading scorer in the girls program, with 1,419 points. Mom, Shari, isn’t far behind at 1,363, and dad, Doug, had 1,327.

Gaden sits at 1,481, atop his family ranks and 22 behind the school’s all-time leading scorer Justin McPhail.

With the postseason starting tonight for Brown City, it’s not a guarantee Muxlow will catch McPhail – but it’s a pretty comfortable expectation.

He’s scored at least 22 points in 18 of the Green Devils’ 22 games this season, averaging 27.6 points per game on his way to a school-record 607. The person he had to pass to break that record? Dad.

“Ever since I was a kid, basketball has always been a big focus in our family,” Gaden Muxlow said. “I remember watching my sister in AAU tournaments as a kid, it’s always on the TV. Since I was a kid, I always had goals to beat my siblings. It always gave me a little bit of fire, and I started getting a little more into the season, and as I got closer, we started talking about it a little more in my family. (Passing Kendal) actually felt really good, because my sister was pretty talented, and I grew up watching her play.”

It’s not just family records that Muxlow has been breaking, as he and his teammates enjoyed a 21-1 regular season, which included a Greater Thumb Conference East title.

Muxlow scored a school-record 45 points in a game against Ubly. He has hit 187 of his 222 free throws, smashing the previous mark of 127. He’s also made 62 3-pointers on the season, 13 behind the school record, but not out of reach if the Green Devils make a run.

The Muxlows celebrate Gaden’s signing with Rochester College. “He’s a great player,” Brown City coach Bob Hatten said. “He elevates the players around him. He does a good job of staying unselfish, but he also knows in key moments when to take over.”

Muxlow has signed to play at Rochester University, making him the fourth player in his family who will play college basketball.

Kendal is currently at Purdue University-Fort Wayne, Shari played at Dayton and Doug played at Cornerstone.

Gaden’s older brother, Caleb, played football at Concordia.

“I guess it wasn’t as much pressure as it was a lot of people were telling me they were expecting big things from me, and they were excited to watch me play,” Gaden said. “I guess it was a little bit of pressure, and a bit of excitement, as well. I wanted to do as well as I could to live up to the hype or the name, or whatever.”

He’s certainly done that. And when opposing teams were throwing every exotic defense they could think of at him this season, it wasn’t because of his name. It was because of his track record.

“Early in the season, we saw everything,” Hatten said. “Box and one, triangle and two where both guys were on Gaden. We saw teams full court deny him with two guys. We trailed in the second half in seven of our first nine games, and we had to find a way to win some close ones. It was probably midseason when a lot of our guys started falling more in line with their roles and started being more comfortable.”

Thanks to those players fulfilling their roles, and playing well around Muxlow, the Green Devils have thrived, and teams can be punished for focusing too much attention on him.

Fellow senior captains Clint Ford and Callen Hagey have excelled in leadership roles, while also providing some scoring cover for Muxlow. Senior Brandon Kohler has been a threat from the outside, keeping teams honest.

As a team, the Green Devils are holding the opposition to just 39.3 points per game. They’re also executing in areas that win big games, shooting 72.5 percent from the free throw line and turning the ball over fewer than 10 times per game.

The cohesiveness and success make sense when you realize most of these players have been playing with one another since elementary school.

“I think that’s probably the biggest piece to our success; we never have to worry about any drama,” Muxlow said. “Everybody gets along, everybody’s goal is the same thing – just to win. Everybody is buying into their roles. I don’t really feel like I’m doing this in a ball hog way, it’s just a piece to the puzzle that we’ve built along the way. Everybody bought into their role, and everybody knows what they’re doing. I know my role is to put the ball in the bucket, and I do whatever I can to help us win.

“It feels more special that it’s helping and leading to wins.”

Paul CostanzoPaul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Brown City’s Gaden Muxlow, right, brings the ball upcourt during a win over Burton Atherton this season. (Middle) The Muxlows celebrate Gaden’s signing with Rochester University. (Photos courtesy of the Muxlow family.)