Southfield Christian Follows New Leaders
March 14, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – It’s a new Finals, with another trip for Southfield Christian, and Jon Sanders and Da’Jion Humphrey’s turns to take on the spotlight.
The Eagles – last season’s Class D champions – will play for a second straight title Saturday morning after defeating Dollar Bay 55-28 in Thursday’s first Division 4 Semifinal.
Sanders and Humphrey started on last season’s team but played supporting roles. Now they’re the leaders, and have led the way this week. Sanders, a senior, scored 23 points in Tuesday’s Quarterfinal win over Burton Genesee Christian. Humphrey, a junior, had a game-high 16 and nine rebounds in the Semifinal.
“It’s a blessing to be able to step into a big role I wasn’t in last year,” Sanders said. “You always find a role and fit it and do the best you can. This year I’ve been doing the best of my ability with a couple guys we lost (after last season), and my teammates just helping me do it.”
Southfield Christian (20-6) will take on Frankfort in Saturday’s first Final at 10 a.m.
Humphrey opened the scoring Thursday with a 3-pointer just 27 seconds into the game. He had another later in the first quarter to give Southfield Christian a 16-10 lead, and went on a personal 8-0 run over 45 seconds at the end of the second quarter while the Eagles extended their lead to 18 heading into the break.
“We always stress to play hard and play smart and let the game come to you, and I thank my teammates – they found me when I was open,” Humphrey said. “I was just trying to do anything to win and get to the next game. That’s what we always preach – try to get to 1-0. We were just trying to get to 1-0 today.”
Humphrey was averaging 16.4 points per game entering this week, and Sanders was averaging 16.5. Sanders finished this game with 10 points, five rebounds and three steals.
“(Da’Jion) plays really hard. He’s kinda like our Draymond Green, how he rebounds and passes. He can really get it going,” Southfield Christian coach Josh Baker said. “Jon did last game, and Noah (Rheker) went on a huge run the game before. Each of them can bring a spark, and they’ve been doing it all year for us.”
Dollar Bay, making its second straight Semifinals appearance after also falling to Southfield Christian in this round a year ago, brought back only one starter from that team. The Blue Bolts stayed close through most of the first two quarters this time, but struggled mightily shooting the ball making only 22 percent of their attempts from the floor.
They entered this week connecting on 32 percent of their 3-point attempts, and found only 19 percent success from beyond the arc.
“They make you do things you’re uncomfortable doing – they made us play fast, they sped us up, and it’s hard to run any kind of sets, hard to run action,” Dollar Bay coach Jesse Kentala said. “It’s just defensively, they’re relentless. We knew that, and it wasn’t a surprise. But it came down to execution, and we kinda picked the worst time of the season to have a poor shooting night.”
Junior Ashton Janke had nine points, seven rebounds and three assists for Dollar Bay.
The Blue Bolts (21-5) ended this season with 14 wins over their final 16 games.
“Of course they’re a great program. They’re always good, and you know that,” said Dollar Bay senior Brendan LeClaire, that lone returning starter from last season, of Southfield Christian. “Every time we come here, the two times I’ve been here, you always think you have a chance. You always have to think you have a chance. We knew they have great players, but you try to find their weaknesses and try to exploit that.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Southfield Christian’s Jon Sanders hits the floor trying to gather a loose ball as Dollar Bay’s Ashton Janke goes for the same. (Middle) Noah Rheker hoists a 3-pointer – he made two of three attempts from beyond the arc.
Neitzel Finds Way Back to High School Hoops
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
July 31, 2020
GRAND RAPIDS – Drew Neitzel is a self-proclaimed basketball junkie.
So when the opportunity arose to reconnect with the high school basketball scene, the former Mr. Basketball and Michigan State standout didn’t think twice.
Neitzel, 35, has spent the past five years as a high school basketball radio analyst alongside longtime broadcaster Bret Bakita.
“It was a natural fit for me coming back to Grand Rapids, and I’ve known Bret since he was broadcasting my games at Wyoming Park,” Neitzel said. “He was looking for a partner and reached out to me.
“I didn’t have the time or desire to maybe get involved with coaching locally, so the high school broadcasting was the perfect fit to keep me around the game and feed my appetite for the game. Friday night hoops is one of the best atmospheres with the student sections and great crowds, and there’s a great following in West Michigan. It’s great to be a part of that high school action again.”
Bakita has been a staple in the West Michigan sports scene and has been a mentor to Neitzel.
“Bret is a true professional and a great guy to work with and learn from,” Neitzel said. “It’s been a great fit and a great team, and hopefully we have a season this winter.”
Neitzel and Bakita were broadcasting a boys District Semifinal in Holland the night before the Covid-19 pandemic started affecting the landscape of sports.
NCAA conference tournaments were canceled, and soon after March Madness and the remainder of the high school winter and spring seasons as well.
Netizel currently lives in Grand Rapids with wife, Kristi, and their son, Drake, who turns 1 in August.
The recent pandemic has changed the lives of many around the world, but Neitzel has tried to take everything in stride.
“It’s certainly been different, and my wife and I are both working from home, which has been good since we have a 1-year-old,” said Neitzel, who works as a financial advisor in Grand Rapids.
“We try to see the positives with everything going on and the craziness in the world, and working from home allows us to spend extra time with our little guy.
“It presents its own challenges, but overall we’re doing well and we’re trying to be smart and responsible by social distancing and staying outside. Not putting ourselves in harm’s way if we don’t have to.”
The pandemic and enforced precautions has put a damper on summer activities, which included Neitzel’s annual basketball camp.
The popular Drew Neitzel Basketball Camp has been running for more than a decade, but likely will be halted due to the pandemic.
“This would’ve been our 12th year, and it has been very successful and continued to grow,” Neitzel said. “It’s the one week in the year that I get to get back in the gym with the kids and my dad and 15 of my good buddies who help coach.
“It’s disappointing that we haven’t had the chance to run the camp, and we haven’t officially canceled it, but it looks more like that’s going to be the outcome with everything going on and the gyms not being allowed to open.”
His stellar high school career at Wyoming Park included becoming the school’s all-time leader in points and assists, while winning the Mr. Basketball Award and taking his team to the Class B Semifinals as a senior in 2004. In one of the most memorable games in MHSAA Tournament history – and before a capacity crowd at the Breslin Center – Neitzel scored 36 points but saw his team fall 79-63 to a Detroit Renaissance eventual champion that included major Division I college prospects Malik Hairston, Joseph Crawford and Tajuan Porter.
Quickly, Neitzel made an impact in East Lansing as well. He was a starting point guard for a majority of his time as a Spartan, and helped Michigan State reach the Final Four as a freshman.
“I couldn’t have written a better college career,” Neitzel said. “You wish you would’ve won more games and went to more Final Fours, but when I look back, to step in and start halfway through my freshman year for Coach Izzo and for him to give me the reins with a senior-heavy team was a great experience.
“That 12 months of my life was absolutely crazy. My senior year of high school going to the Breslin Center, winning Mr. Basketball and then earning a starting spot and going to the Final Four was a wild ride. It was an awesome year for me, personally.”
After not being selected in the 2008 NBA Draft, Neitzel played professionally in Germany and France for five years while also being invited to NBA summer leagues and training camps with Minnesota, Portland and Dallas.
His last taste of the NBA came in 2011 during training camp with the Mavericks. He was eventually cut, and finished the season in the G League.
“That was a great experience,” Neitzel said. “They were a first-class organization and Mark Cuban and Rick Carlise were great. It was the year after they beat Miami in the NBA Finals so they were still on cloud nine from the championship.
“The guys in that locker room were Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Dirk Nowitzki, Vince Carter, Delonte West, Shawn Marion and Lamar Odom. I was a fly on the wall, and to be around those NBA greats and veterans was definitely one of the highlights of my career.”
Made in Michigan 2020
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Dean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for four years after serving at the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years along with shorter stints at the Ionia Sentinel and WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Drew Neitzel attempts a free throw before a packed Breslin Center during the 2004 Class B Semifinals. (Middle) Neitzel, with wife Kristi and son Drake. (Top photo by Gary Shook; middle courtesy of Drew Neitzel.)