GRCC, Benton Harbor, Clarkston, Holland West Ottawa advance to state finals
Game recaps from Friday's boys basketball state semifinals at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
Boys basketball:Son of Swami predicts the state finals
Grand Rapids Catholic Central 69, New Haven 53
When Marcus Bingham Jr., Michigan State's prized 6-foot-10 2018 recruit, sank his second 3-pointer of the Class B semifinal Friday night, most of the Breslin Center crowd erupted in cheers.
That included the group of Spartans sitting in the southeast corner of the arena, as MSU players such as Miles Bridges and Cassius Winston looked at each other in disbelief of the towering center's shooting range.
As it turns out, Bingham wasn't the only Grand Rapids Catholic Central player with range, as the Cougars rode their hot-shooting and transition offense to a win over defending state champion New Haven, which entered the matchup 26-0.
More:MSU commit Marcus Bingham now a Kevin Durant-like force
Austin Braun scored the first eight points of the second half to extend Catholic Central's lead to 18 points. That spree featured a 3 and a runner in transition that drew an and-one opportunity.
New Haven's Tavares Oliver Jr. knocked down a pair of 3s late in the third, and the Rockets trimmed their deficit to only 45-39, but Catholic Central responded in the fourth by making 18 free throws down the stretch.
Braun (31 points) scored three layups on the fastbreak, including one immediately off a Bingham block, to give the Cougars (24-2) an 11-point lead early in the first.
Bingham's layup in transition kickstarted the second for Catholic Central, while Braun nailed a contested runner and the ensuing and-one foul attempt to keep their team ahead of the Rockets.
Bingham finished with 11 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks, while the Cougars did their best to make New Haven junior Romeo Weems a non-factor. Weems, one of the top 2019 recruits in the state, who is also being recruited by MSU, scored 20 points but was limited to only nine points until late in the fourth.
Weems had a dunk over Bingham that drew a foul with 5:32 left. Twenty-seven seconds later, Bingham and Weems exchanged words at half court, and then Bingham drew a technical, which ended his night because it was his fifth foul.
Catholic Central has never appeared in a state title game.
Benton Harbor 60, River Rouge 49
No shot was too big for Benton Harbor senior Elijah Baxter in the third quarter of the Class B semifinal Friday at the Breslin Center.
The point guard scored 17 points, helping the Tigers (26-1) beat River Rouge and advance to the state championship. They'll face either New Haven or Grand Rapids Catholic Central at 6:45 p.m. Saturday at Michigan State.
After both teams played to a stalemate in the first half, Baxter drained back-to-back 3-pointers to give Benton Harbor a nine-point advantage with 1:43 left in the third quarter. He knocked down a 3 at the buzzer to ensure his team a healthy lead entering the final eight minutes.
Benton Harbor led by as many as 14 points in the fourth.
The first quarter ended in a 12-12 tie, despite Shawn Hopkins scoring the Tigers' first three buckets in transition and tallying another on a putback attempt.
Hopkins buried a 3-pointer to put Benton Harbor ahead 23-18 in the second, but River Rouge (23-2) knotted the score 25-25 entering halftime thanks to a corner 3 from Nigel Colvin at the buzzer.
Baxter finished 5 of 9 from the floor, while Hopkins scored a game-high 18 points.
Benton Harbor is making its 12th trip to the state final and first since 2014.
Clarkston 74, Warren De La Salle 49
Much like Muhammad Ali would impress crowds with his finesse and charisma in the ring, Michigan State signee Foster Loyer did a lot of the same during the Class A semifinal Friday afternoon at the Breslin Center.
No matter what defenses Warren De La Salle threw at Clarkston — the box-and-one, man-to-man, zone and traps — Loyer danced and shimmied his way out of tight squeezes to lead his boys basketball team down the court from the opening tip.
More:Michigan Mr. Basketball: Clarkston's Foster Loyer wins in runaway vote
The Wolves (25-1) knocked out DLS, 74-49, to return to the state championship for the second-straight season. They'll face Holland West Ottawa at 12:15 p.m. Saturday.
Loyer scored 17 points in the opening quarter, making more 3-pointers (five) than the Pilots (19-8) had made field goals (four). He buried two shots just 6 feet past half court with ease, while he capped the period with a fading buzzer-beater from 3.
"I thought we came out and threw that first punch early and we led from there," Loyer said, who finished with 42 points.
That period set the tone for the rest of the game for Clarkston, which gained a 25-point lead in the fourth.
Loyer finished 7 of 11 from the 3-point line and made all 11 of his free-throw attempts.
His team fed off his performance.
"When he gets it going, not a lot of people can stop him," said guard CJ Robinson, who pitched in nine points and five assists. "When he gets going like that, we just try to key in on him and get him the ball. He knocks down shots for us, and it opens things up for others. He does a good job of finding everybody, and he does a good job of letting everybody get a team effort in and put the ball int he basket."
MSU assistant Dane Fife, son of Clarkston coach Dan Fife, watched Loyer from the arena's tunnel for most of the game. Dane was a big help in recruiting Loyer to East Lansing.
When Dane graduated from Clarkston in 1998, he finished his career with 2,287 career points, which is 11th all-time in MHSAA history. When he watches Loyer and the Wolves compete for a second-straight championship Saturday, he'll likely see that scoring record fall, as Loyer is five points away from surpassing him.
Clarkston is expecting another big performance from Loyer, too. He totaled 61 points between last year's semifinal and championship and his 42 points Friday puts him at 103 points for his career while playing on the Spartans' floor.
"It's my soon-to-be home, so I'm excited every time I come here," he said. "My teammates and myself, we're excited to come in here."
Holland West Ottawa 53, Novi 50
Drew Pederson’s job was to keep Novi’s Traevon Maddox Jr. from taking over Friday’s Class A semifinal game at the Breslin Center.
Anything Pederson could provide offensively was a bonus.
Not only did Pederson keep Maddox in check, he added 12 points to enable Holland West Ottawa to pull out the victory.
McCabe:Holland West Ottawa defense key in Class A semifinal win over Novi
The win sends West Ottawa into Saturday’s 12:15 state championship game against defending champ and No. 1 rated Clarkston.
With the game tied, Pederson nailed his fourth 3-point shot with 3:22 left to play and then passed to Liam Cavanaugh for a lay-in and a four-point lead.
Maddox finished with 13 points, but with West Ottawa’s ability to make free throws, there was not an opportunity for him to cash in on a third straight game-winning shot for the Wildcats (17-9).
Xavier Wade and Tyler Bosma each scored 13 points to lead West Ottawa (25-2), which will now play in its first state title game.
West Ottawa delivered the first punch, scoring the game’s first six points before Novi could work up a sweat.
It took Novi two minutes before it could find the range and hit a shot — a triple by Jiovanni Miles — and the Wildcats were on the boar
West Ottawa had a five-point lead with 1:54 left in the first quarter before Novi reeled off the final eight points to take a 17-14 lead into the second.
Both teams had mini runs in the second period before Trendon Hankerson’s basket gave Novi a 26-25 halftime edge as West Ottawa managed only two free throws on its final five possessions of the first half.
Novi could have had a comfortable halftime lead but made just 2 of 13 shots from 3-point range over the first two quarters.
The third quarter began as an instant replay of the first quarter with West Ottawa again scoring the first six points. Tariq Woody (14 points) tipped in a miss to get Novi on the board after intermission and then Maddox Jr. drilled a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game.
Novi could have been out of the game when it went over four minutes with only one made free throw before Miles hit a 3-pointer with 37 seconds left in the third quarter as Novi pulled within two points, 37-35 leading into the fourth quarter.
West Ottawa failed to take advantage of Novi’s dry spell by failing to score on its five possession of the period.