Breslin Bound: Girls Report Week 11
February 17, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Only 10 undefeated teams remain with two weeks to play before the start of the MHSAA Girls Basketball Tournament on March 2.
None of those 10 is mentioned below. Instead, these are some of the teams in each class that impressed last week and appear to be getting hot – just in time to be dangerous for those perfect so far.
CLASS A
Fraser (11-4) – The Ramblers equaled last season’s win total with a 43-28 win over Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse last week; although Fraser fell to nonconference Macomb Dakota on Friday, it continues to lead the Macomb Area Conference Blue with a perfect record in league games.
Plymouth (14-2) – After finishing second last season to eventual Class A runner-up Canton, Plymouth went undefeated in-league this winter to win the Kensington Lakes Activities Association South. The Wildcats have won 13 straight, dating to their last loss Dec. 9.
Richland Gull Lake (11-5) – Four losses in five games from mid-December to January knocked down Gull Lake’s record a bit, but the Blue Devils have a chance to avenge the final loss of that run (and the last time it lost this winter) in Friday’s rematch against Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference East leader Kalamazoo Central. Gull Lake fell to Central only 47-43 on Jan. 16.
Southfield (15-2) – The Bluejays have gone from seventh in their former Blue division of the Oakland Activities Association to first in the Gold with a chance to clinch a share of the league title tonight. Its losses are to league leaders that each have only one loss – Southfield-Lathrup and Dearborn Heights Robichaud.
CLASS B
Benton Harbor (13-5) – Tigers would need some help to catch Class A Stevensville Lakeshore atop the SMAC West; they play Lakeshore on Friday after losing 71-69 in their first meeting, but trail the frontrunner by two wins. Benton Harbor is riding high regardless, with six straight victories including an impressive pair last week: 90-79 over SMAC East leader Kalamazoo Central and 62-59 to avenge an earlier loss to St. Joseph.
Brooklyn Columbia Central (14-3) – The Golden Eagles came back from a 69-45 loss to Blissfield on Jan. 19 to beat the Royals 51-42 on Feb. 5 and take back a share of first place in the Lenawee County Athletic Association. Columbia Central finished second to Blissfield last season, but can guarantee at least a share of the title by beating Hudson on Thursday.
Jackson Northwest (13-3) – The Mounties entered this first season of the Interstate 8 Athletic Conference as a reigning league champion, having finished ahead of eventual Class B winner Eaton Rapids in their former conference last season. Northwest’s only league loss this winter was to Marshall, its opponent this Friday.
Muskegon Oakridge (16-3) – The Eagles might be fourth-best in Muskegon, but they’re first in the West Michigan Conference and the best among Class B teams in their immediate area. The three losses were to other Muskegon area teams, but Mona Shores, Muskegon High and Reeths-Puffer are all Class A.
CLASS C
Carson City-Crystal (15-2) – The Eagles beat reigning Class D champion Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart 48-38 on Friday for a season sweep of the Irish and to clinch at least a share of the Mid-State Activities Conference title. Carson City-Crystal’s losses came over a week in January, by one to Morley Stanwood and seven to Saginaw Nouvel.
Concord (15-2) – Second-place Homer and third-place Reading are among three opponents left on Concord’s schedule, but the Yellow Jackets are undefeated in the Big 8 Conference leading Homer by two wins and Reading by three.
Hancock (11-5) – The Bulldogs sit in the middle of the five-team Western Peninsula Athletic Conference but have come on strong over the last month. Hancock is 8-2 over its last 10 games and gets a shot next week at avenging an earlier loss to league leader Houghton.
Harbor Beach (11-5) – The Pirates are cruising at fourth in the Greater Thumb Conference East, but it’s been a season of swings – and Harbor Beach is back on top of a wave. It started 5-0, then lost four of five, and now has won five of its last six – with the defeat by a point in overtime to league leader Sandusky.
CLASS D
Burton St. Thomas More (10-1) – The Crusaders are dominating the Inner State Athletic Conference for the fourth straight season and are again undefeated in league play with the lone loss to a homeschoolers team during the first week.
Mendon (9-8) – The Hornets trail Class C Bronson and White Pigeon in the Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph East standings. But they’ve won six of their last eight after a tough start, avenging earlier losses against both in the process, including last week’s 41-38 overtime win over Bronson.
Three Oaks River Valley (9-7) – We’ve highlighted Red Arrow Conference leaders St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic and Michigan Lutheran already this winter, but third-place River Valley also deserves some recognition. The Mustangs have won eight of their last 11 and equaled last season’s win total in defeating Watervliet Grace Christian 34-29 last week.
Wyoming Tri-unity Christian (9-5) – While the school’s boys team is having a rare down season, the girls have bounced back from a midseason lull to win four of their last six after winning six games total a season ago.
PHOTO: Carson City-Crystal finished a season sweep last week of league rival Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com).
Breslin Bound: 2023-24 Girls Report Week 2
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 18, 2023
As holiday breaks bring some rest from school and work, Michigan girls basketball teams are smashing the pedal to the floor right into the new year.
In addition to 26 multi-day tournaments and one-day showcases, many contenders have lined up matchups with other championship hopefuls. Among those: Rockford, Frankenmuth and Goodrich all reached last season’s Semifinals or Finals and are playing two games over the next three weeks against opponents that also finished last season at the Breslin Center.
Picking just five matchups to highlight until our next report Jan. 8 was pretty much futile. But we’ve selected a few noted below, along with our regular reports on teams that caught our attention over the last week.
“Breslin Bound” is powered by MI Student Aid and based on results and schedules posted for each school at MHSAA.com.
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. West Bloomfield 67, Salem 27 In a rematch of a Division 1 Semifinal from last season, West Bloomfield opened in a big way as part of the Kensington Lakes Activities Association/Oakland Activities Association Challenge.
2. Grass Lake 50, Tecumseh 40 The Division 3 Warriors (4-1) avenged last season’s 78-49 loss to Division 2 Tecumseh (2-2).
3. Detroit Edison 62, Detroit Country Day 53 These two Division 2 contenders met at the Best of Michigan Holiday Classic, with Edison moving to 2-0 by handing Country Day (4-1) its only defeat.
4. Sault Ste. Marie 50, St. Ignace 34 This Straits Area Conference matchup is arguably the best in the Upper Peninsula, and the reigning league champion Blue Devils (3-1) ran their winning streak over the Saints (3-1) to three.
5. Williamston 45, Haslett 43 Last season’s Capital Area Activities Conference Red runner-up Hornets (2-2) earned an early edge on reigning champion Haslett (2-3), which has three defeats by a combined nine points after going 22-2 last winter.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills (4-0) Kenowa Hills jumped from 10-12 in 2021-22 to 16-9 last season, and is continuing to build. A 50-48 win over Kent City on Dec. 8 was an immediate attention grabber, and that had followed a 15-point win over Grandville Calvin Christian after the Knights had fallen to Calvin by 12 last winter.
Macomb Dakota (4-0) The Cougars have won all of their games by double digits, with their last two victories also the lone losses this season for Utica Ford and Dearborn. Dakota lost to Ford by 18 and six points last season on the way to finishing 14-11 overall.
DIVISION 2
Alma (4-0) The Panthers broke a string of three sub-.500 seasons in going 13-10 last winter and gave a hint of what they could do with a late two-point win over Saginaw Swan Valley after losing to the Vikings by 30 a month earlier. This season’s start has included a 10-point win over Swan Valley, and last week Alma handed the only losses so far to Gaylord and Bay City John Glenn.
Livonia Clarenceville (4-0) The Trojans have won a combined 29 games over the last two seasons, finishing third two years ago and tying for second last winter in the Michigan Independent Athletic Conference Red. After three double-digit wins to start this season’s campaign, Clarenceville may have earned its most notable in downing Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood 39-37 on Friday – the Cranes’ lone loss.
DIVISION 3
Elk Rapids (4-0) The Elks entered this winter a combined 55-9 over the last three seasons including 21-4 a season ago. Opening with wins over a pair of Big North Conference opponents, Petoskey and Alpena, was solid, but perhaps bested last week with a 49-39 win over reigning Division 4 champion Maple City Glen Lake and 32-22 victory over Traverse City St. Francis – which also won 21 games last season and finished one ahead of Elk Rapids to take the Lake Michigan Conference title.
Ovid-Elsie (5-0) The Marauders ran their Mid-Michigan Activities Conference winning streak to 34 games with Friday’s 53-46 victory over New Lothrop, having claimed the last two league titles and also topping 20 wins overall the last two winters. Ovid-Elsie’s wins over the Hornets and Otisville LakeVille Memorial this season remain those teams’ only defeats.
DIVISION 4
Alcona (4-0) The Tigers bounced back from a 2-3 start last season to finish 15-7 and share the North Star League Big Dipper title with Oscoda and Rogers City, and they’ve already avenged two of those early losses with wins the last two weeks over Hillman and Posen. Alcona also handed Tawas its only defeat so far, 44-33 on Friday.
Ishpeming (3-0) Thursday’s 54-28 win over Calumet was Ishpeming’s first over the Copper Kings since December 2018 and came after the Hematites extended their winning streak over rival Westwood to four going back two seasons. Both are indicative of the team’s improvement from 5-10 to 12-9 to 16-7 last season.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Thursday – Frankenmuth (3-0) at Rockford (3-0) – The reigning Division 2 runner-up Eagles will follow up a Tuesday rematch with Goodrich from last season’s Semifinals by hitting the road to face the reigning Division 1 champion.
Friday – Grass Lake (4-1) at Saline (4-0) – Saline finished 21-4 last season, and one of those losses was 48-38 to the Warriors.
Friday – Lansing Catholic (2-1) at Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard (4-0) – FGR has some notable wins already this winter, and downing the reigning Division 2 champion Cougars would be the Irish’s best achievement yet.
Dec. 27 – Grand Rapids West Catholic (2-0) vs. Rockford (3-0) at Cornerstone University – West Catholic’s 61-54 win over Rockford at last season’s Cornerstone Holiday Tournament was the Rams’ lone defeat of the season.
Dec. 29 – Hemlock (4-0) vs. Goodrich (4-0) at Romulus – This matchup of last season’s Division 3 champion Huskies and the Division 2 semifinalist Martians is the headliner from the Michigan Hardwood Classic.
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PHOTOS (Top) St. Louis' 4-1 start has included last week's 48-30 win over Lakeview. (Middle) Davison opens last week with a 36-28 win over North Branch. (Top photo by High School Sports Scene; middle photo by Terry Lyons.)