February Notebook: Four MHSAA Tournament Questions

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>March madness gets started a week earlier than normal in Michigan. So as February Frenzy began last night. Now is good time to look back on the final month of the year and pose some questions that will answered in the just commenced state tournament. I will break the questions down by classification. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Division I: How elite is Orchard Lake St Mary's? </h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I grew in the era of the insanely loaded Detroit Country Day teams. Those teams featured deep rosters with next level players who struggled to even earn playing time. Simply put, it's difficult to go beyond a 9-10 man rotation in a 32 minute high school. The Eaglets are reminiscent of those buzzsaw teams of the early aughts. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For a different publication I coined St Mary's a “Noah's Ark” team. They have two of everything. Elite prospects in [player_tooltip player_id='1437536' first='Trey' last='McKenney'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1437540' first='Sharod' last='Barnes']. Point guards in Barnes and [player_tooltip player_id='1437987' first='Isaiah' last='Hines']. Shooting in [player_tooltip player_id='1111918' first='Daniel' last='Smythe'] (one of the best in the state) and [player_tooltip player_id='1223491' first='Andrew' last='Smith']. Along with size in [player_tooltip player_id='1437539' first='Jayden' last='Savoury'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1434243' first='Mason' last='Wisniewski']. Captain obvious here— that's a LOT of talent. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>That being said, St Mary's featured many of the same players last year and posted a 10-loss regular season. This year they are playing up to their full potential. They have gone through the undisputed toughest league in the state with one loss (their fourth game of the season) They beat two of the best teams from the Flint area, the top team in Lansing, and the top teams in Detroit. Ran through Toledo as well to top it off. It is an impressive resume. Can they finish it off with the schools first state championship since the turn of the century? If they can, they belong in the pantheon of the elites such as Country Day, the Lansing Sexton teams of Denzel Valentine, and going way back, the now closed Detroit Southwestern. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Division II: Can Whitehall break the West Michigan parochial school hegemony? </h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With their religious persuasion they might not appreciate thus label. However the I'm going to label the Grand Rapids area powers “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse”. Grand Rapids Christian, South Christian, Catholic Central, and Hudsonville Unity Christian have owned this region in Division II for quite some time. Can anyone break this up this run of dominance? </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 22-0 Vikings of Whitehall have the talent to do it. Led by 6-5 junior [player_tooltip player_id='1373000' first='Camden' last='Thompson'] they have the physicality to compete down low. Few can keep Thompson off the glass. He is not only a skilled basketball player. He is also trending towards being a Division football recruit. He is not alone on the block. 6-5 junior [player_tooltip player_id='2058639' first='Kal' last='Koehler'] plays off of Thompson nicely and packs a pretty good physical punch as well. The x-factor will be the play of junior point guard <strong>Camar Ready.</strong> If he can neutralize the perimeter threat of the parochial four. Whitehall has the strength down low to pull it off. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>However the “four horsemen” will be tough to beat. Grand Rapids Christian might have the most talent in toner 1-10 rotation in the entire division. Catholic Central looks ready to go after an up and down season. Mr Basketball finalist [player_tooltip player_id='1112374' first='Durral' last='Brooks'] appears to be getting healthy at the right time for the Cougars. Speaking of health, few have dealt with the extremely serious issues that the Crusaders of Unity Christian faced early in the year. Those assortment of injuries were bigger than basketball. Yet they have fought through them and are still standing with 18-4 record. While hosting a district on their home court. In that district will be both Christian and the defending Division II finalist South Christian. That is some type of gauntlet. If Whitehall can break through they should be considered legitimate threats to take home the big trophy at the end. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Division III: Is the youth at Detroit Old Redford ready for the big stage? </h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>At the risk of sounding like Captain Obvious once again. Generally the most talented in the division is a legitimate state championship contender. However when that team is very young and gets off to a slow start— it raises some question. Led by the sophomore tandem of [player_tooltip player_id='1793648' first='Jaquan' last='Stennis'] (pictured) and [player_tooltip player_id='1793651' first='Derrick' last='Kilgore'], along with junior [player_tooltip player_id='2058641' first='Kason' last='Mayes']. The Ravens top end talent is tough to match. <br><br>They were not competitive early as they dealt with injuries and a difficult schedule. They do appear to be peaking at the right time. Ending the season by winning the Charter School conference championship. Defeating Division II state title contenders Detroit University Prep and Romulus Summit Academy North in the process. With their youth, if Old Redford can raise a banner this year. We could be witnessing the start of another Flint Beecher-esque run within the division. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Division IV: Can Munising do it again? </h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last year Munising, an Upper Peninsula school tucked away on the shores of the Pictured Rocks surprised many on the way to a state championship. Defeating the blue blooded school in the division, Wyoming Tri-Unity Christian in the final. The Mustangs graduated do-everything forward <strong>Kane Nebel</strong> from that squad. So surely they would take a step back this year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I don't know if I would call 17-4 a full step back. Maybe a “shuffle” but not a full step. Munising is led by a trio of juniors in [player_tooltip player_id='2353054' first='Trevor' last='Nolan'], <strong>Jack Dusseault</strong>, and <strong>Carson Kienitz</strong>. All three were major contributors last year so they are battle tested on the big stage. This year though they have to deal with bullseye being on their backs. They will also possibly face a St Ignace team playing down a classification after in appearing in the Division III quarterfinals last year. Pulling off a back-to-back run with these obstacles would be quite an accomplishment. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->