Western Takes Next Step to Make History

March 27, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

EAST LANSING – Brailen Neely and his Detroit Western International teammates have heard plenty about Detroit Redford’s glories past.

Their coach, Derrick McDowell, coached Redford from 1993-94 through 2005 and took two teams to Class A runner-up finishes.

“When they win, I won’t mention Redford anymore,” said McDowell, of his Western team. “It will be all Western stories.”

This Cowboys’ season has been filled with historic accomplishments. But one more win will be the biggest of all – and definitely put this team in the same breath as the greats McDowell coached in the past. 

Western will play Saturday for its first MHSAA title, thanks to a 55-46 Semifinal win over Detroit U-D Jesuit on Friday at the Breslin Center.

“That’s a tremendous honor coming from Coach Mac,” Neely said of his coach's comment. “He always tells us how tough Redford (was), what they accomplished. To accomplish this under Coach Mac is tremendous.”

Western (25-0), winner of its first Detroit Public School League title since 1922, then its first Quarterfinal since 1974, will face Saginaw Arthur Hill to decide the Class A title at noon Saturday.

The Cowboys had beaten U-D Jesuit, the Detroit Catholic League A-B champion, 58-49 in the annual Operation Friendship game to close the regular season three weeks ago.

And McDowell and his team knew all the more that the key would be at least slowing down Jesuit junior Cassius Winston.

Winston had 27 points in the teams’ first matchup. This time, Neely and company worked to keep the 6-foot-1 shooting guard out of lane – and then, after Winston hit 7 of 9 free-throw attempts during the first half, off the line as well.

Winston did finish with 21 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals, but made only 4 of 12 shots from the floor.

Western led from start to finish, and by as many as 10 during the second quarter. The margin did fall to three points twice during the fourth – the final time when Winston drilled a 3-pointer that pulled the Cubs (22-4) to within 43-40 with 3:55 to play.

Neely led Western with 16 points, and senior guard Josh McFolley added 11 and five rebounds.

“We have been winning ugly, defensively, grinding it out at the defensive end,” Jesuit coach Pat Donnelly said. “We ended up shooting just under 29 percent from the field for the game, well below our average. Coming in we were averaging 46 percent from the field, but we struggled inside the arc, outside the arc and at the free-throw line.

"I thought we did a pretty good job defensively, and even through we struggled to score, we still had our opportunity.”

Only one starter returned this season after Jesuit made the Semifinals in 2014 for the first time in program history. But the Cubs anticipate eight of their top nine returning for 2015-16.

“They always had a lead, but I always felt we had a chance to win the game,” Winston said. “It was a great experience. … But that’s two years in a row we’ve made it this far and lost, and I don’t plan on going through this again.” 

Click for the full box score and video from the postgame press conference.

PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Western International players celebrate Friday during the final moments of their first MHSAA Semifinal win. (Middle) U-D Jesuit’s Cassius Winston (5) ascends toward the hoop.

Spring Break's Start Just Got Sweeter for Traverse City St. Francis

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

March 23, 2023

EAST LANSING — The seniors on the Traverse City St. Francis boys basketball team are going to have to change their spring break plans. 

Senior and leading scorer Wyatt Nausadis said a group of seniors on the team were originally supposed to leave later Thursday for a spring break trip to Destin, Fla., but a little something got in the way. 

That “little something” was a Division 3 Semifinal win over Niles Brandywine, as the Gladiators earned a 46-36 triumph. 

The victory advanced St. Francis to Saturday’s 4:30 p.m. championship game against Flint Beecher, a development that will shorten the spring break trip in a good way. 

“When was departure supposed to be?” St. Francis head coach Sean Finnegan said to his players in the postgame press conference. 

“Today,” Nausadis said. 

Finnegan then asked “When will departure now be?”

Nausadis then responded, “Sunday.”

Finnegan then smiled and said “perfect.”

The Gladiators hope their appearance in the Basketball Final will end differently than the Division 7 Football Final in November, when St. Francis lost to Jackson Lumen Christi, 15-12. 

“It would mean a lot,” said Nausadis, who was the quarterback on the football team. “Going into this school year, our goal was to win both football and basketball. We fell short in football. That first week of basketball was pretty rough for me and all the other football players. It was hard to enjoy. Once we started playing, we all were like, ‘It’s time to buy into this. Let’s win a state championship in this one. We’re one step closer.” 

Brandywine’s Jaremiah Palmer (3) defends as the Gladiators’ John Hagelstein works for a shot.Defense and Nausadis were the big edges Thursday for St. Francis, which limited Brandywine to 36.4-percent shooting from the field overall and a 2-of-13 performance from 3-point range. 

The Gladiators also held a 36-24 rebounding advantage. 

“Defense is our staple,” Finnegan said. “That’s where we put our pride and joy. Maybe not joy all the time, but that’s our pride. I believe we’ve given up over 40 one time in the tournament so far. We put a lot of attention and a lot of detail there. Our offense gets a lot easier when our defense is working and clicking how it should.”

Offensively, Nausadis led the way with 21 points and seven rebounds for St. Francis (24-4). 

Junior Jaremiah Palmer scored eight points to lead Brandywine (25-3), which was playing in the program's first Semifinal. 

“We just couldn’t get over the hump,” Brandywine head coach Nathan Knapp said. “We couldn’t finish some shots tonight. They didn’t go our way. I’m happy with these kids and the season they’ve had. It’s been an amazing run, and they play hard.”

Leading by three with 7:28 remaining, St. Francis scored six straight to grab a 41-32 lead with 3:11 left. 

Brandywine scored four straight to cut its deficit to five with 2:08 remaining, but a free throw by Nausadis with just under a minute left made it 42-36 St. Francis.

Following a Brandywine turnover, Nausadis hit another free throw with 49.4 seconds left to give St. Francis a seven-point lead.

After another Brandywine turnover, St. Francis all but sealed the game when John Hagelstein made a layup with 33.8 seconds left to make it 45-36 Gladiators. 

St. Francis now will turn its attention to the juggernaut that is Beecher.

However, the Gladiators enter with confidence not only because of their familiarity with the big stage after football season, but also because they played several larger schools during the summer and regular season.

Canton and Detroit Cass Tech are Division 1 schools St. Francis played at home this year. 

“I think that’s prepared them,” Finnegan said. “They know they can play with any team in the state. We just have to keep believing that and proving that when it happens.

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Traverse City St. Francis’ Wyatt Nausadis gets a hand up as Brandywine’s Nylen Goins pulls up for a jumper Thursday. (Middle) Brandywine’s Jaremiah Palmer (3) defends as the Gladiators’ John Hagelstein works for a shot.