Undefeated Mio Poised to Build on Bolt Nation's Proud Hoops Tradition
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
January 20, 2023
Wins, losses and championships may not be what this year’s Mio boys basketball players leave at the top of their footprint when they’re done.
But they certainly could.
“I’m proud to say these boys have gotten many compliments throughout the last couple of seasons as to how they conduct themselves and represent our basketball program, one another, our school, and our community both on — and off — the court,” said head coach Ty McGregor. “This group’s legacy will be more about their high character than records and titles.”
McGregor knows about leaving a legacy. He scored 32 points to lead the Thunderbolts to the 1989 Class D championship. His scoring in the 78-67 deciding win over Beal City allowed Mio to cap a perfect 28-0 season.
He also knows the legacy, perhaps better than most, of Michigan’s all-time boys career scoring leader, Jay Smith, who led Mio to the 1989 Semifinals and a 24-2 record. Smith and McGregor are brothers-in-law.
Smith, who set the bar while playing before the 3-point line was added to Michigan high school basketball, went on to play and coach at the college level. Smith recently returned to the University of Michigan basketball program as the director of player personnel and development under Juwan Howard.
McGregor went on to play professionally in Europe and coach with Smith at Grand Valley State and Central Michigan. He also squeezed in two years coaching the Thunderbolts before the college coaching and returning to Mio in 2017.
Today’s Thunderbolts leadership — seniors Austin Fox, Gage Long, Nathan Hurst — have helped Mio to an unbeaten start.
They also have the Thunderbolts starting to think of capturing a conference title that has eluded them for 13 years.
“We only have 10 total boys in our high school basketball family, so it’s vital all lead and take ownership,” McGregor said. “Our kids show up in the classroom basketball court, so right there is 80 percent of being successful.
“We talk about ‘real-life stuff’ a ton, and a big part of what we’re about is always leaving places better than when we found them,” McGregor continued. “These three seniors will most definitely leave our program a better place when their time here is complete, which makes a highly competitive, overly intense, passionate coach like myself smile!”
Fox, averaging 16.4 points per game, Long at 12.4, and Hurst at 10, are the team’s leading scorers. Long leads the team in rebounding, and Fox tops the steal list.
Sophomore Zeke Morris is right behind the seniors in scoring, rebounding, and steals. Junior Hunter Perez leads the team in assists.
Any and all five Thunderbolts on the court at any moment can drive the team’s success, according to McGregor.
“I’ve stated all along, we don’t have a superstar or superstars; we do things by committee,” noted McGregor. “In order for us to be successful in any way, ‘by committee’ is how it has to be done.
“We have five players that on any given night can get us double-digit scoring,” he went on. “Austin Fox, Gage Long and Nathan Hurst clearly do a great job with leadership, but everyone has taken ownership of this team.”
Defending is the team’s top priority, McGregor is quick to point out. His team is currently holding opponents to just 25 points per game.
“We know there will be nights where we will really shoot it in and nights where we can’t throw it in the ocean,” he said. “That’s basketball, but we should never have off nights at the defensive end — that’s all about effort, focus.
“We are holding true to our priorities thus far,” he continued. “This type of defensive success widens our margin for error in other areas that we don’t have as much control over.”
What the Thunderbolts can control is attitude and effort, and MacGregor views that as the key to their success so far: “Our kids’ attitude and effort have been off the charts. It’s vital we always stay on top of those things.”
The postseason is already on the minds of the Thunderbolts, McGregor acknowledged.
“The postseason is clearly the most important part of the season in our minds,” McGregor said. “We want to continue to hold each other accountable and make daily deposits on preparation, commitment, effort, and attitude, which we hope will pay dividends in March.”
Mio’s style of play may not turn heads, but McGregor believes it gets the job done.
“Unfortunately for our kids and Bolt Nation, their head coach is very black-and-white — he’s not into ‘Top 10’ highlights,” McGregor said. “We play a very fundamental, disciplined style of hoops, doing our best to not over complicate things.
“We’re more about eliminating mistakes than playing high-risk hoops.”
McGregor’s wife Kristi took over coaching the Mio girls basketball program this season. Mio didn’t have enough players last year to field a girls team.
All of the girls who hoped to play last year still have eligibility – and could end up with the top seed in their District.
Coaching at the same school as his wife has been a spectacular experience, the boys coach said. And, it gives them something else to argue about, Ty McGregor joked.
“It is absolutely awesome to have the opportunity to teach the game of life, the game of hoops, and be a part of Bolt Nation alongside my wife, Kristi,” he said. “It gives us the opportunity to discuss, analyze, and assist one another, all in hopes of teaching kids in our small community to dream big, work hard, and commit to something bigger than themselves.”
The Thunderbolt boys, 7-0 overall and 2-0 in the Big Dipper portion of the North Star League, will resume play Tuesday at Posen.
“I don’t look at or take much stock in an unbeaten record this early in the season,” McGregor said. “We don’t even discuss it, as we are more concerned with our daily approach to be better than we were the day/game before.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Mio’s Gage Long (24) defends during a 57-17 win over Rogers City on Tuesday. (Middle) Nathan Hurst (3) looks for an open teammate. (Below) Austin Fox (5) intercepts a pass into the lane. (Photos by Jessi Fox.)
Breslin Bound: Boys District Preview
March 9, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
If cold and snow send us into the gym every winter with basketball on our minds, the recent warmup (at least downstate) lets us know we’ll be moving to Breslin Center shortly.
Those who join us at the end of this month will take their first MHSAA Tournament steps this week.
District tournaments tip off all over the state, and again, for the first time, with the top two seeded teams separated on opposite sides of the bracket. Check out “Tracking the Tournament” on MHSAA.com for every matchup from all of them, and see below for some of last week’s most eye-catching scores and three Districts in each division that especially pop off the page.
“Breslin Bound” is powered by MI Student Aid and based on results and schedules posted for each school at MHSAA.com. Send corrections or missing scores to [email protected]. Rankings below are by Michigan Power Rating (MPR).
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Ann Arbor Huron 64, Ypsilanti Lincoln 54 – This matchup could very well have been a preview of Huron (19-1) meeting Lincoln (17-3) again in this week’s District Final, as explained below. (Lincoln did bounce back to beat Grand Rapids Catholic Central on Thursday.)
2. Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 70, Detroit Cass Tech 65 – The Eaglets (19-1) came out on top in the Operation Friendship matchup of league champions and Division 1 championship hopefuls, with Cass Tech (18-2) also in play for a trip to Breslin.
3. Negaunee 52, Iron Mountain 51 – A last-second basket gave Negaunee (18-2) shares of two conference championships with Iron Mountain, and avenged an 18-point loss to the Mountaineers (19-1) from Jan. 28.
4. Stevensville Lakeshore 53, Portage Central 27 – Lakeshore (16-4) avenged a six-point Jan. 31 loss to Central (16-4) in a big way, and in doing so clinched the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference West title outright.
5. Benton Harbor 82, Wyoming 72 – Both finished 18-2 with this final tune-up before the playoffs begin, with Benton Harbor headed into the Division 2 bracket and Wyoming into Division 1.
Districts at a Glance
These could be among our most competitive brackets. Host sites are in bold:
DIVISION 1
Dearborn Fordson
1. River Rouge (19-1), 2. Detroit Cass Tech (18-2), Detroit Western (7-9), Melvindale (6-14), Dearborn Fordson (6-14).
It would take a pretty serious upset for No. 4 River Rouge and No. 9 Cass Tech to not meet in the championship game, and that matchup should be one of the best of the entire Division 1 bracket this month. Rouge was last season’s Division 2 runner-up, falling by three points while in pursuit of its first MHSAA Finals title in this sport since 1999. The Panthers then ended up in Division 1 this season, opened with a 10-point win over Lincoln, and have only an overtime loss to Division 2 contender Grand Rapids Catholic Central on an otherwise perfect ledger. Cass Tech won the Detroit Public School League West and Tournament titles, and its only losses were by one to No. 7 Flint Carman-Ainsworth and in overtime last week to No. 1 Orchard Lake St. Mary’s.
Detroit Martin Luther King
1. Eastpointe (17-3), 2. Hamtramck (16-3), Grosse Pointe South (16-4), Detroit Martin Luther King (13-6), Grosse Pointe North (3-16).
There isn’t an easy path through this District, as Eastpointe opens with North and then would face King, while South and Hamtramck match up in the other semifinal. All four of the anticipated semifinalists are ranked between Nos. 21-30 by MPR. Of Hamtramck’s three losses, two were to River Rouge (see above), while Grosse Pointe South and Eastpointe were league champions within the Macomb Area Conference and King won the PSL East (and also took an early loss to Rouge).
Saline/Eastern Michigan University
1. Ann Arbor Huron (19-1), 2. Ypsilanti Lincoln (17-3), Belleville (16-4), Ann Arbor Pioneer (12-8), Saline (13-7), Ypsilanti Community (9-11).
The first five teams listed above rank among the top 50 in Division 1 MPR, with Huron No. 3 and reigning Division 1 champion Lincoln No. 5. Huron won the Southeastern Conference Red that included Pioneer and Saline, and defeated Lincoln last week 64-54. The Railsplitters, of course, feature super sophomore Emoni Bates, and he’s gone over 60 points this season and can put them on his shoulders at any time. Belleville is almost the forgotten team and shouldn’t be – the Tigers won the Kensington Lakes Activities Association East title and rank No. 27 in Division 1 MPR. The openers at this District are scheduled to be played at Saline, with semifinals and the championship game at EMU.
DIVISION 2
Bridgeport
1. Bridgeport (19-1), 2. Frankenmuth (17-3), Clio (15-5), Caro (7-13), Birch Run (3-17), Mt. Morris (6-14).
Home and mostly unstoppable this season, and ranked No. 3 in all of Division 2, Bridgeport is the presumed favorite. But Clio could provide the Bearcats a mighty challenge in tonight’s opener, and No. 11 Frankenmuth on the other side of the bracket and handed Bridgeport its only loss 43-38 on Feb. 7. Bridgeport still won the Tri-Valley Conference East by a game over the Eagles, and also beat them in last season’s District Final before suffering their only loss of the season the next game against Alma to start the Regional.
Hudsonville Unity Christian
1. Grand Rapids Catholic Central (17-3), 2. Hudsonville Unity Christian (16-4), Allendale (14-6), Grand Rapids West Catholic (10-10), Grand Rapids Wellspring Prep (9-11), Wyoming Lee (4-16).
Three of the top 14 in all of Division 2 MPR top this District – No. 1 GRCC, No. 7 Unity Christian and No. 14 Allendale. Unity Christian is the reigning champion in Division 2 and opens against Allendale, which it defeated by 16 in December. Unity went on to win the Ottawa-Kent Conference Green, while GRCC was first, Allendale second and West Catholic fourth in the O-K Blue. GRCC swept those two, losing this season only to Lincoln, No. 2 Benton Harbor and No. 5 Grand Rapids Christian.
St. Clair
1. Macomb Lutheran North (15-3), 2. Richmond (16-4), St. Clair (14-6), Marine City (15-4), New Haven (12-8), Algonac (20-0).
This intriguing grouping includes a pair of MAC co-champs in Marine City (Bronze) and St. Clair (Gold), and the Blue Water Area Conference and Detroit Catholic League AA runners-up in Richmond and Lutheran North, respectively. There have been just a pair of regular-season meetings among the bunch: Marine City edged St. Clair 43-42 on Dec. 19, while Richmond defeated Marine City 58-47 two days before that. All of the first four teams above are ranked among the top 36 in Division 2, with Lutheran North at No. 12 and Richmond No. 19.
DIVISION 3
Bridgman
1. Niles Brandywine (17-3), 2. Bridgman (15-5), Cassopolis (15-5), Watervliet (7-13), Benton Harbor Countryside Academy (7-11).
Brandywine enters No. 3 overall in Division 3 after winning the Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference Red just ahead of co-runner-up Bridgman. Brandywine won their regular-season matchups by 10 and eight points, but they wouldn’t meet again this week until Friday’s championship game. The Bees tonight must get through Cassopolis, which shared the championship in the Southwest 10 Conference. That’s also a rematch, as Bridgman won a Dec. 28 meeting 70-60. Bridgman also opened this season with a 74-38 win over potential Wednesday opponent Countryside.
Erie Mason
1. Erie Mason (17-3), 2. Blissfield (18-2), Petersburg Summerfield (19-1), Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central (12-8), Ottawa Lake Whiteford (2-18).
It’s possible no District this week has teams sharing more ties. Erie Mason rode one of the top scorers in the state, now-senior Joe Liedel, to last season’s Division 3 Semifinals. The Eagles won the Lenawee County Athletic Association title this season, claiming a second meeting against runner-up Blissfield 62-58 after falling to the Royals 61-59 in their first meeting. Erie Mason is 12-1 over its last 13 games, but that lone defeat came 47-33 to Petersburg Summerfield, which won the Tri-County Conference handily but suffered its lone loss Jan. 16 to Blissfield. Monroe St. Mary, meanwhile, has to be considered a scary darkhorse, just two season’s removed from making the Division 3 Semifinals and co-runner-up this winter in the Huron League with Division 1 Riverview behind Division 2 Flat Rock. SMCC was eliminated in its District opener last season – in overtime by Blissfield. If Mason defeats Whiteford tonight, it will see SMCC on Wednesday, while Summerfield and Blissfield meet Wednesday on the other side of the bracket.
Mancelona
1. Maple City Glen Lake (18-2), 2. Traverse City St. Francis (17-3), Elk Rapids (12-8), Mancelona (15-5).
All four of these contenders are ranked among the top 39 in Division 3 MPR, with No. 6 Glen Lake leading the way but No. 39 Mancelona looking pretty dangerous as a 15-win host. Those two meet on one side Wednesday, while No. 12 St. Francis and No. 36 Elk Rapids tangle for the third time on the other side of the bracket. St. Francis won both regular-season meetings on the way to the Lake Michigan Conference title, while Glen Lake won the Northwest Conference and Mancelona ran third of three superior contenders in the Ski Valley Conference. St. Francis defeated Glen Lake in last year’s District Final 59-44.
DIVISION 4
Brethren
1. Frankfort (15-5), 2. Brethren (16-4), Onekama (11-9), Manistee Catholic Central (12-8), Mesick (6-14), Bear Lake (2-18).
Frankfort finished the regular season No. 19 overall and Brethren at No. 20, and the Panthers finished Division 4 runners-up a year ago. The bracket is set up for those two to meet Friday. But given this season’s first three months, a number of possibilities for this week seem reasonable. Frankfort finished second in the Northwest Conference to Glen Lake, but split with third-place Onekama winning the first meeting by five but losing the second by three. Brethren shared the West Michigan D League title, but opened this season with a 10-point loss to Manistee Catholic Central before winning the rematch by three six weeks later. Mesick split with MCC and nearly upset Brethren, losing by just a point in their Jan. 31 game. MCC and Mesick join Frankfort on one side of the bracket, with Brethren, Bear Lake and Onekama on the other.
Litchfield
1. Camden-Frontier (17-3), 2. Hillsdale Academy (18-2), Litchfield (11-9), Hillsdale Will Carleton Academy (12-6), Tekonsha (4-15), Coldwater Pansophia (0-15).
If all goes as set up, top-seeded Camden-Frontier will get a third chance against Hillsdale Academy after the latter edged C-F by a game to win the Southern Central Athletic Association East championship. They split their regular-season meetings, the Redskins winning the first 67-46 with Hillsdale Academy winning the second 59-37. Litchfield lost to both but did win the SCAA Central. Will Carleton split with Litchfield, losing the first meeting by two and winning the second by 25. Both of those potential upsetters are on Camden-Frontier’s side of the bracket.
Painesdale Jeffers
1. Dollar Bay (18-2), 2. Chassell (16-4), Painesdale Jeffers (14-6), Lake Linden-Hubbell (9-11), Baraga (2-18).
Dollar Bay has reached the Semifinals and Breslin Center two straight seasons, and started this season off with 17 straight wins. But the Blue Bolts fell to both Chassell and Jeffers over the last 10 days, leading those three teams to share the Copper Mountain Conference’s Copper Country championship. That late surge also helped all three rank among the top 33 in Division 4 MPR, Dollar Bay still tops in the group at No. 11. The Blue Bolts play their first game this week against the host Wednesday after Jeffers won their Friday meeting 49-47. Chassell, which split its two regular-season games with Jeffers, has Copper Country fourth-place finisher Lake Linde-Hubbell tonight with sixth-place Baraga awaiting the winner Wednesday.
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PHOTO: Grand Blanc defeated Flint Beecher 62-55 in a matchup last week of contenders in Divisions 1 and 3, respectively. (Photo by Terry Lyons.)