SIGHTS SET ON BRESLIN CENTER
Girls hoops postseason tips off for area contenders
While Madison Heights Bishop Foley’s girls basketball squad has been the postseason standard bearer for the Royal Oak Tribune area in recent years, graduation losses have finally caught up with the Ventures, who enter the postseason on a bit of a skid.
But that doesn’t mean the area is without teams capable of making a postseason push.
Here’s a look at how the districts that contain Trib-area teams might shake out:
DIVISION 1 District 21 Host: Teams:
Berkley
Berkley (17-5), Redford Thurston (12-9), Southfield A&T (12-8), Oak Park (412), Detroit Mumford (5-11), Detroit Renaissance (19-3)
The skinny: The Berkley Bears come into districts having lost just once since the end of January, and just needed a little bit of help (that didn’t materialize) this past week to grab a share of the OAA Blue title. While they’d certainly take some help to get through this bracket, they have to know that they have the ability to get through on their own, even with Detroit Renaissance on the other side. The Phoenix have been considered among the best teams in Division 1all season long, but it was just two short years ago when the Bears pulled the district finals upset against them. Certainly that’s not been forgotten, though.
Pick: Renaissance
District 22
Host: Farmington Hills Mercy
Teams: Farmington (1-19), Farmington
Hills Mercy (11-11), West Bloomfield (20-1), Bloomfield Hills Marian (9-11)
The skinny: There were a lot of years in the past decade or so, when you’d have to trace your finger along the brackets to see when the match-up between rivals Mercy and Marian might come, getting it as late as the semis some years. This time, it’s known right off the bat. It’ll be Wednesday, with the winner getting a crack at what’s likely to be the top D1team in the state, West Bloomfield. The Lakers are going for a second title in three years, and look like a runaway freight train, and it’ll be hard to stop them, even with the pedigree that Mercy and Marian bring.
Pick: West Bloomfield
District 23 Host:
Teams:
Warren Cousino
Sterling Heights (7-15), Warren
Mott (7-13), Royal Oak (16-6), Birmingham Groves (8-13), Warren Cousino (15-6)
The skinny: This is certainly a winnable district for both of the county teams that got sent east, but which one remains to be seen. Royal Oak and Groves split their two meetings in the OAA White, settled by three and four points, and they’ll meet again in Wednesday’s first semifinal, with the winner likely to face the host Patriots on Friday. Pick: Royal Oak
District 28
Host: Troy Athens
Teams: Bloomfield Hills (11-9), Troy Athens (9-12), Troy (14-8), Birmingham Seaholm (14-8), Auburn Hills Avondale (8-14)
The skinny: The Colts got past rival Athens by a point to seal the OAA Blue title on Tuesday, and have won 11of 12games, but the Black Hawks of Bloomfield Hills are just as hot, having won six of seven to grab a share of the OAA White title with Seaholm, beating the Maples at home on the final day of the league season Tuesday. Certainly Troy and Diamond Prince will have something to say about the outcome, as could the host Red Hawks, but a third meeting between Seaholm and Bloomfield Hills would be an interesting rubber match.
Pick: Birmingham Seaholm
FROM PAGE 1 DIVISION 2 District 58
Host: Detroit Country Day
Teams: Ferndale University (0-17), Detroit Henry Ford (11-3), Detroit Lincoln-King (12-5), Detroit Country Day (17-5), Ferndale (16-3)
The skinny: The Eagles of Ferndale are having a renaissance season, their best since the 2012-13season, when they went 20-4, winning the OAA Blue, before losing to Country Day in the regional finals. The next season was a 14-win affair, also ending in a regional finals loss to Country Day, but the next seven seasons saw Ferndale win just 23games total, before the recent turnaround. It’s a great story, but one that’s likely to end in the same old way, against the host Yellowjackets, who have been battle tested all season long, in an effort to get themselves back to Breslin after a one-year hiatus.
Pick: Country Day
District 59 Host:
Teams:
Hazel Park
Hazel Park (9-10), Warren Lincoln (4-12), Warren Fitzgerald (182), Detroit Osborn (9-8), Center Line (4-14)
The skinny: The host Vikings finished second in the MAC Bronze division this season, but lost in their MAC tourney opener, while Warren Fitzgerald — who lost only to Detroit Mumford and South Lyon East — ran the table in the MAC’s Silver Division, and beat Madison Heights Lamphere in the Silver/ Bronze tourney final.
Pick: Fitzgerald
District 62
Host: Pontiac Notre Dame Prep Teams: Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (119), Warren Michigan Collegiate (11-8), Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (20-0), Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood (15-4), Madison Heights Lamphere (13-9)
The skinny: No slouches in this district draw, with double-digit wins across the board, including a regular-season champion CHSL champion in Cranbrook, which won the Intersectional 1 under first-year coach Micaela Ellis. But OLSM has had a
dream season in its first year under Brad Crighton, running the table with a young squad, winning the AA Division title in the regular season, and the CHSL Cardinal Division tournament title, as well.
Pick: OLSM
DIVISION 3 District 91 Host: Teams:
Madison Heights Bishop Foley
Bishop Foley (6-14), Royal Oak Shrine (5-15), Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest (13-8), Arts & Technology Academy of Pontiac (8-6), Clawson (3-19)
The skinny: After repeated deep runs in the playoffs, this was the year that graduation caught up with Foley, as the Ventures and rival Shrine both finished in the back half of the CHSL’s AA Division. Lutheran Northwest finished with the best record in the district, and took second in the MIAC’s Blue Division, but lost to Foley at home at the end of January. If you’ve got the postseason experience, and you’ve got 1,000-point scorer Ryan Moorer, that could be enough in a toss-up district like this.
Pick: Foley