MAC CHAMPS ARE CROWNED
The Macomb Area Conference boys basketball championships were held at Anchor Bay High School on Saturday, Feb. 17.
The MAC Silver/Bronze game was between Clintondale and Center Line, the Blue/Gold title game was between Utica and Fitzgerald and the MAC title game was decided between Grosse Pointe South and Lincoln.
Recaps of all three games are below.
Center Line gets revenge on Clintondale for Bronze/ Silver crown
There’s familiarity between the Center Line Panthers and Clintondale Dragons.
The two teams had already met twice this season before squaring off in the MAC Silver/Bronze title game with each team winning the previous matches at home by double-digits.
It didn’t stop Center Line from hoping they’d get another shot at them.
“It feels way better (beating them), “said Center Line point guard Kam Broughton. “We wanted to see them in the championship, because last time we lost to them. It’s good to get this win.”
Broughton scored a teamhigh 14 points as the Panthers knocked off Clintondale 65-58.
“The win is good because we avenged what we lost earlier,” said Center Line head coach Derrick Walton Sr. “We
just wanted to play hard. I just worked on some things the other day. I kind of figured it would be that way. We just executed a little bit.”
Not only was it the third time this season that the two teams had met, but Clintondale head coach Marquis Chavez has coached four of Center Line’s players — Broughton, Terez Holmes, Jordan Zeigler and Justin O’Neal — to add to the familiarity.
Broughton’s 14, Zeigler’s 13, Holmes’ eight and O’Neal’s three points combined for 38 to help take down the familiar face on the other bench.
“Those guys (have) been playing each other, they’ve been in the league together for a while, so they have history themselves,” Chavez said. “Four or five of them guys on that team over there played AAU for me. To them, it means a lot when you get to play against your coach.”
Clintondale led after every quarter but the fourth — partially because foul trouble began to set in. Three of their players — Davon Ciesiolka, Ramone Shannon and Justin Glosler — all amassed four fouls by the end of the third quarter. All three fouled out, and teammate Daron Collins closed in on a disqualification with four fouls.
Altogether, Clintondale was whistled 26 times.
“It messes up the flow of the game,” Chavez said. “But I preached to our kids, we just got to understand the flow of the game and what the referees are calling. That’s on us as a team. That’s a part of where we got to grow as young athletes, is understanding what are the refs getting away with or what do we got to play through. I think that’s the biggest thing. I tell these guys all the time, don’t let the refs determine this game right here.”
Center Line outscored Clintondale 21-14 in the fourth quarter, making 11 of their 14 free throw attempts to ice the Dragons.
It’s the culmination of what Walton Sr. called a “puzzle” regarding the roster — one that, with the pieces put together, finally revealed a trophy.
“We just got to keep working,” he said. “We’re pretty much a puzzle team. I had one returning starter, which was No. 4 (Holmes) — one-and-a-half with zero (Broughton), he was on varsity as a freshman — so we just put it together. We’re just putting pieces together.”
Center Line will face Center Line Prep on Tuesday, Feb. 20 before squaring off in District 61 against Cranbrook Kingswood, Detroit Country Day, Lutheran North, Lamphere and Michigan Collegiate.
Clintondale, who saw their 13game winning streak snapped, will travel to Roseville on Wednesday, Feb. 21 before they battle District 92 against Arts & Technology of Pontiac, Mount Clemens, New Haven and Lutheran Northwest.
Utica uses “oldschool” basketball to capture first-ever MAC tournament title
In the words of Fitzgerald head coach Vito Jordan: “You don’t just wake up and be 20-0.”
On Sunday, the Utica Chieftains
will do exactly that after defeating the Spartans 48-34 to win their first-ever MAC tournament title on Saturday.
Utica used their stifling defense to hold Fitzgerald to just seven points in the first quarter, six in the second and six in the fourth. The Spartans’ 34 points are their lowest scored in a game this season.
After going up by 11 late in the third quarter, the Chieftains seemed to be controlling the game in every phase, but Fitzgerald used an 8-0 run in the third quarter to get back within eight points. Instead of calling a timeout to keep momentum on their side — which Jordan now wishes he would have done — he let the game continue to play out in hopes of getting within six.
Instead, Mason Brodi — Utica’s all-time leading scorer — nailed a corner 3-pointer on the other end to push the lead back to 11. It never dipped below that the rest of the way.
“It was just hard to bounce back from there, then we didn’t get a lot of point production,” Jordan said. “Obviously with (34) points, we probably won’t beat anybody but an eighth grade team. They did a great job. Hats off to them.”
Brodi finished with a gamehigh 19 points. He had eight points to the Spartans’ seven in the first quarter.
“My guys put a lot of trust in me,” Brodi said. “They give me the ball. The big 3 in the corner was off a great pass by my teammate Ali (Hassan). Everybody working together on offense, just constantly moving. It gets defenses lost. When shots ap