Yeager Twins, Strong Senior Class have Nouvel on Track to Meet High Expectations

By Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com

January 24, 2024

Donny Yeager and his Saginaw Nouvel Catholic Central boys basketball teammates certainly weren’t happy with their 0-3 start to this season, even if they weren’t at all worried about what it meant for their future.

Bay & ThumbBut now, with the Panthers in the midst of a nine-game win streak, they’re even able to see the good in those early defeats.

“We knew coming into the season that the first three games were going to be really tough games, especially at the beginning of the season,” Yeager said of the opening stretch against Essexville Garber, Pewamo-Westphalia and Cass City. “So we knew there was nothing to worry about, and that we had the whole season ahead of us. We knew practices were going to get us ready for the next one. I definitely think we learned a lot about our group. We learned about the determination and perseverance that our guys bring to the table.”

That determination and perseverance have the Panthers back on track in what was expected to be a special season – and in many ways already has been – following a Regional Final berth a year ago.

Not only is Nouvel 9-3 ahead of its game Friday night against St. Louis, but MJ Yeager, Donny’s twin brother, set the school’s career scoring record earlier this month. Donny Yeager, meanwhile, is less than 30 points away from joining his brother in the school’s 1,000-point club.

“We have a lot of experience back,” said Nouvel coach Mike Kessler, who is in his ninth season in charge of the program. “We try not to look ahead, and we’re trying to take it one step at a time. And I think we had to have a lot of conversations with our guys about just relaxing. We know expectations might be high, but let’s do what we’ve done for years. We have a really hard-working group this year, and they needed to just trust themselves.”

A lot of those expectations came from the return of the Yeager twins, as both MJ – a four-year starter – and Donny – a three-year starter – are in their fourth year on the varsity. Classmate Preston Otter is also in his third year as a starter. 

Twin brother Donny Yeager drives past an Essexville Garber defender during his team’s Nov. 28 opener.The Yeagers are both 5-foot-10 guards who can handle the ball and shoot from distance, while Otter is a 6-4 forward that Kessler called “a crazy good athlete.”

“Their work ethic is second to none; it really is,” Kessler said. “They’re everything you want from seniors. They exemplify what we want our program and our school to be about.”

In total, there are seven seniors on the roster, including also Anthony Carrasquillo, Tristen Elizalde, Matthew Hartwell and Brandon Murphy.

Being that senior-laden helped the team through that early bump in the road, Kessler said. 

Having that experience also doesn’t hurt when it comes to adjusting to whatever style of play a game may take on. Behind its Big 3, Nouvel can certainly score, averaging 65.3 points per game on the season and 70 ppg during their win streak. 

But Nouvel also can fall back on its defense those nights when shots aren’t going down, which the Panthers feel will be key to a potential postseason run in Division 4.

Kessler said a pair of wins during the streak – 69-60 against Imlay City on Dec. 29 and 73-31 against Standish-Sterling on Jan. 16 – showed his team’s versatility.

“Standish has been good in our conference for the last four to five years,” Kessler said. “We out-rebounded them and held them to only 31 points. I thought we were a gritty, tough team that night. The Imlay City game, we won with our skill. We were tough, too, but we spread them out and we hit 3s. We were able to guard their 6-7 wing with Tristen Elizalde – he’s 5-11. He’s tough as nails. He can guard any position on the floor.”

As it’s all coming together for the Panthers as a team, the individual milestones also are being reached. 

MJ Yeager set the school scoring record in that game against Standish, passing the previous mark of 1,302 set by Nouvel legend Preston Murphy during the early 1990s. Murphy is currently on Nate Oats’ coaching staff at Alabama and played collegiately at Rhode Island. 

Panthers senior Matthew Hartwell drives into the paint against Michigan Lutheran Seminary on Friday.“I actually know (Murphy),” Yeager said. “He came over to my house and I played basketball with his kid.

“(The record) was a great accomplishment and a great feeling. I’ve always been a competitor, so achieving stuff like that, it’s a good feeling.”

The record began to come into focus for Yeager when he crossed the 1,000-point threshold during his junior season. 

One thing that’s stuck out to him in hitting both marks is the reaction of Donny. He said he can’t wait to experience something similar when Donny crosses 1,000 points, maybe as soon as Friday.

“I feel like that’s going to help both of us realize the hours we put in together every single day have paid off,” MJ Yeager said. “I heard him talking about how great of a brother it made him feel like, and I’m hoping I can feel that when he achieves it.”

Donny echoed that sentiment. 

“Honestly, to see him achieve 1,000 last year and the school record this year, it was really rewarding for me, as well,” he said. “We’ve grown up together, and I want to see him do good in everything he does. It’s a blessing to be able to do this with him.”

When it comes to his own potential milestone, Donny said it would mean a lot to share that honor with his brother.

But he was quick to point out the credit goes beyond the Yeager household.

“I wouldn’t be able to do it without my supporting cast,” he said. “None of it would be possible without them. It’s really exciting. It shows what hard work and dedication can get you. And it’s good for all the young kids coming up to see that.”

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) Nouvel Catholic Central senior guard MJ Yeager drives past a defender during a game against Cass City at the O'Neal Classic Tournament on Dec. 2 at Saginaw Valley State University. (Middle) Twin brother Donny Yeager drives past an Essexville Garber defender during his team’s Nov. 28 opener. (Below) Panthers senior Matthew Hartwell drives into the paint against Michigan Lutheran Seminary on Friday. (Photos by Michael Kolleth Photography.)

After Leading Glen Lake Girls to Title, Bradford Brings Boys Into Final Week

By Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com

March 15, 2024

Eight is Enough.

Northern Lower PeninsulaOr is it?

For Jason Bradford growing up on the farm of Arden and Lynn Bradford as one of their eight children, it probably was enough. Bradford’s upbringing may have been slightly similar to “Eight Is Enough,” a comedy-drama television series about a family with eight children that aired on ABC from March of 1977 to May of 1981.

But the show didn’t depict pick-up basketball being played in the barn like it was for Bradford and his siblings. And surely eight would not be enough Regional basketball championships for Jason Bradford, nor enough District titles either. 

After leading Maple City Glen Lake to the Division 4 girls basketball championship last year, Bradford stepped down from coaching.  At the time his teams had won five Regional and six District titles.

Now his teams have won six Regional and seven District championships. He took over Glen Lake’s boys program during the holiday break this winter as the Lakers were off to a 4-2 start. They finished the season 22-5.  

It was the Lakers boys’ first 20-win campaign since the 2018-19 season, and they clinched their first Regional title since 2018.

Glen Lake went 19-5 last year losing to Traverse City St. Francis in the District Final. The season before that ended with a first-round loss to Elk Rapids and 15-6 record.

Bradford led his girls teams four times to the MHSAA Semifinals and almost got their a fifth time this year with the boys. Their run ended Tuesday with a tough loss in the Division 4 Quarterfinals to Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart, 63-51. 

“We’re licking the wounds of that one,” he said. “We’ve got to remember to look at the big picture – they are young men becoming men.”

Glen Lake’s Cooper Bufalini (11) pushes the ball upcourt during a 65-49 District Final win over Bellaire.But Bradford already has turned his thoughts to next season and is making plans for summer basketball.

“Having the summer with them if it goes the way we want is going to be huge,” Bradford said. “There are a few things going through my head I can change or adjust.  

“We want to continue to build on what our philosophy of what Glen Lake is and my philosophy of what Glen Lake is.”

The Lakers will graduate Cooper Bufalini, Gage Baker, Dylan Cundiff, Tyler Bixby and Jamie Blondia. But they’ll have their top two scorers back, sophomore Jacob Plamondon and junior Benji Allen. Plamondon kicked in almost 20 points per game and led the team in rebounding with more than 10 per contest. Allen averaged more than 11 points per game and led the team in assists.

Glen Lake finished second in the Northwest Conference behind Benzie Central, which was undefeated in league play. The Lakers knocked off league opponents Frankfort in the Division 4 District title match and Buckley in the Regional Semifinal.

The battles with Benzie for the conference title may have been the highlights of the season, Bradford noted. Those were Glen Lake’s only losses in league play, and a share of the title was within their grasp late in the second game with the Huskies.

The Lakers lost 60-51 on their home court in the first meeting but took Benzie to the limit in the rematch before falling, 41-39, on the road.

“We had a lot of great games and a lot of great memories,” Bradford said. “Going for conference it pretty much came down to the last few seconds with lead changes. 

“We were up by one point with less than 30 second lefts, and that was the high point,” he continued. “We came up short, but we learned from that game.”

Also among highlights for Bradford this year was the chance to coach against his brother Nathan for the first time in their careers.

The Lakers’ Jacob Plamondon (35) makes a strong move to the basket.The Bradfords started coaching girls varsity basketball 16 years ago, but their teams were in different conferences at the time. Nathan coached the Onekama girls but moved to the boys program before Onekama and Glen Lake had a chance to compete against each other in the Northwest Conference.

The Bradford coaches often talk after their games and learn from one another. They have also seen their parents frequently in the bleachers as they rotate home game sites to see their grandchildren play and their sons coach.

When Onekama and Glen Lake played this year, eight Bradfords were on the rosters as players or coaches. Jason’s son Toby, a freshman, played on the Glen Lake junior varsity team, as Nathan’s son Carson played for the Portagers’ JV squad. The Onekama JV team is coached by another Bradford, Jason and Nathan’s brother Nick. And there were three more Bradfords on the varsity – Nathan’s son Caden and his cousins Luke and Arden.

Glen Lake won both varsity games, 38-36 at Onekama and 61-33 at home.

Jason and his wife Jackie have five children. Their youngest son, Drew, is now a sixth grader at Glen Lake. His oldest son, J.J., is at Michigan Tech and has begun officiating basketball after his senior season at Glen Lake cut short by the pandemic while the Lakers were preparing to play in a 2020 District Final. Daughters Maddie and Grace are playing basketball for Lake Superior State University.

Maddie and Grace were big parts of Glen Lake’s deep postseason runs with Jason as girls coach. With many games played on Saturdays and not conflicting with coaching, Jason, Jackie and the younger boys were able to travel to see the Upper Peninsula’s Lakers play regularly.

This season, the Glen Lake girls – under first-year head coach Brad Fosmore – went 16-8 and won Northwest Conference and District titles before losing a nail-biter, 45-42, to league rival Frankfort in the Regional Semifinal.

“Jason did a good job, and it felt good to carry on the tradition,” said Fosmore, who previously served as a Lakers JV coach. “We took it one game at a time.

“Jason worked hard to build a great girls program,” he continued. “It made it pretty simple because they had that winning tradition and kind of kept it rolling.”

Tom SpencerTom 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) Jason Bradford, kneeling, coaches the Maple City Glen Lake boys varsity after taking over the program earlier this season. (Middle) Glen Lake’s Cooper Bufalini (11) pushes the ball upcourt during a 65-49 District Final win over Bellaire. (Below) The Lakers’ Jacob Plamondon (35) makes a strong move to the basket. (Top photo by RD Sports Photo/Rob DeForge, additional photos by Nicole Bixby.)