Archive | March, 2013

Interview with Quacker Valley’s Micah Glenn

11 Mar

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Imagine being comfortable at one of the most prestigious high schools in Michigan, but having to move to a whole new state.  That is what Quacker Valley High School (PA) guard Micah Glenn did.  Micah still put together a solid senior season this year.  While his offensive numbers are not through the rough, he made impacts on the game through his defense.  Something any coach in America would want on their team.

Metro Detroit High School Athletics: Please list weight, height, position and school.

Micah Glenn: 6’1″, 160 lbs, PG/SG, Quacker Valley High School.

Metro Detroit High School Athletics: Individual skills?

Micah Glenn: Shooting, ball handling, and defense.  Led my section in threes made this season and usually was put on one of the opposing teams best players.

Metro Detroit High School Athletics: Season stats?

Micah Glenn: 7 points per game, 2 assists per game, and 2 rebounds per game.  I started this year at La Jolla Prep, but that program went under so I transferred here in October.  Our top three scorers besides the returning starter are between 7-9 points per game, which includes me.

Metro Detroit High School Athletics: Things that you felt that you improved on over the season?

Micah Glenn: Shot selection and being a better off-ball defender.

Metro Detroit High School Athletics: How hard was it for you to transition from a prestigious school in Michigan, Detroit Country Day, to a whole new state?

Micah Glenn: It was very hard.  I had been at DCD since 8th grade and had played against all the top players in Michigan my whole life, so it was different.  It felt like a step down at the time school wise and basketball.

Metro Detroit High School Athletics: Do you still talk to the seniors on the Country Day basketball team like Austin Price and Poet Thomas?

Micah Glenn: Yeah.  Austin Price is my cousin and were very close.  I come home whenever I have time off and I’m with him whenever that happens.  I’m good friends with Moe Ways and Mory (Diane) as well.

Metro Detroit High School Athletics: Do you feel as if it would have been better for you basketball wise to stay at DCD?

Micah Glenn: Sometimes, but at the same time I felt like I gained more opportunities leaving.  We had Edmond (Sumner), Mory (Diane), and Austin (Price) all coming in my sophomore year.  Plus Lee (Bailey), Chris (Fowler), and Reed (McManus) were still there.  So there wasn’t much room for guards.  I felt like my game expanded once I left.

Metro Detroit High School Athletics:  What schools have contacted or offered you?

Micah Glenn: I’m talking to Howard right now, bust mostly prep schools like Queen City Prep in North Carolina and Kingdom Prep in Iowa.  The beginning of the year I had reclassified to 2014 while at La Jolla Prep.  Looks from Northern Arizona, but after leaving and being back in 2013.  I’m probably gonna go prep.  That is where I feel I’ll have the best success.

Metro Detroit High School Athletics: Any prep schools going at you the hardest?

Micah Glenn: I’ve talked to Queen City the most.  One of my friends, Stevie Repichowski, went to Kingdom this season and is committed to Tulsa.  So I’m looking at them too.

Metro Detroit High School Athletics: What will a school be getting from a player like you?

Micah Glenn: A player that can hit shots off the dribble as well as spot up, a good passer and good defender.  Defense is what my coach has emphasized this season from day one, more than any other coach I’ve had.  It pushed me and will definitely be to my benefit at the next level.

Metro Detroit High School Athletics: Any favorites so far in recruiting so far?

Micah Glenn: Kingdom Prep is my favorite, but after I get my tapes to Howard and move forward in recruiting I’ll have a better understanding of where I’ll be next year.

Metro Detroit High School Athletics: Any shout outs you would like to give?

Micah Glenn: Yes, thanks to my coach Michael Mastroianni for what he’s done for me this past year, helped me on and off the court and I can’t thank him enough for that.

Metro Detroit High School Athletics: Lastly what is a interesting fact about you?

Micah Glenn: I collect sneakers.  I’m up to 40 right now and definitely not finished.

 

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Detroit Pershing 78 vs. Cass Tech 76

9 Mar

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Beating a good high school team in the State of Michigan  is never easy.  Especially when you have the mentality    going into the game think that it is going to be another cakewalk like it was before.  The MHSAA equivalent of March Madness was on display Friday at Western International in the district final contest between Pershing and Cass TECH.  What seemed to be an upset  throughout most of the game that would have shocked the entire state was changed in 10.8 seconds.  DeAngelo Stewart just tied the game up for the Technecians with 1:08 to go in the fourth quarter.  Pershing’s Kahlil Felder smartly evading CT defenders and calling a time-out with 10:8 seconds to go.  Now on that play, Martez Walker did the rest.  Hitting an off-balanced shot with maybe one second on the clock remaining with two CT players in his face.  It was a big moment for Pershing.  Because earlier in the game, Cass lead by as many as 13 in the fourth quarter.  But you can never count out the undefeated Pershing Doughboys.  Cass Tech lead throughout most of the game.  For each Pershing run it seemed as if Cass upped them on it.  Taking control in the second and third quarters.

Players

Florida Atlantic point guard commit D’Andre Johnson had 25 points for CT, while fellow senior DeAngelo Stewart had 16, most coming in the second half.  It seemed as if Charles Key, nine points, had nearly every offensive rebound for Cass Tech.  The junior is a high energy player that allows for second maybe even third offensive opportunities.  For Pershing, Justin Tillman had 14 points, nine rebounds, and three blocks.  Martez Walker had 24 points, Kahlil Felder chipped in with 12.  While the x factor in this game was junior guard Darsean Woodson.  Woodson scored five of the Doughboys last 10 points in the contest, and finished up with 18.

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Martez Walker’s Game Winner

8 Mar

Season on the line, rematch vs. a team in Cass Tech you just crushed about two weeks in the city title, what do you do if you are Pershing?  Give the ball to one of the best scorers in the state in Martez Walker and let him go to work.

Changes to Football Playoff Format?

7 Mar

What I like about the current playoff format, is that it allows every team to make the playoffs. Regardless of how bad or weak your conference is in terms of strength of schedule, all that matters at the end of the year is that you have no more than three losses. This current offseason, the MHSAA has come up with a new proposed format regarding the playoffs.

Instead of the current 6 wins and in procedure. Teams will be assigned into 8 divisions similar to that of what we have now, but at the beginning of the season. From then on, say for example a division three team, Orchard Lake St. Marys, defeats a division one team, Cass Tech. OLSM will receive 88 playoff points. And say if Cass Tech goes on to beat another division one team, such as Catholic Central, the Eaglets would continue to get 8 playoff points for every Cass Tech win.

The format is good for those in tough conferences. Such as the CHSL Central Division, where one year the league had three teams competing at Ford Field for state titles. In that league, the one team that always struggles is U of D Jesuit. U of D will now be thankful they are that league because of the amount of strong teams they play every year. On the flip side of the format, it does have some holes. The system has potentially to destruct weaker conference, the Detroit Public School League, where there are really only 4 teams a year that are competitive. They system also has the potentially to make scheduling for non-conference games more difficult, which is a well known commodity for the State of Michigan.

In the end, all that fans, players and coaches want in the playoffs is for the teams that deserve to be in get in. Why do you think you see so many early district playoff end up in blowouts? It is because of the strength of schedule. Think of how Cass Tech in 2011 the first year of their state championship. If they would have gotten one more loss, they would not have qualified for the playoffs. We would not have been able to see a defense hold four different teams in the playoffs to under 10 points. If a 4-5 team gets in over a 7-2, 6-3 teams who cares? All that matters in the end is that the deserving teams qualify.

Additional Info.

Teams also receive one point when a team it losses to wins a game.

Points one gets according to who they beat, Div.1 : 88 points; Div. 2: 80; Div. 3: 72; Div. 4: 64; Div. 5: 56; Div. 6: 48; Div. 7: 40; Div. 8: 32.

 

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Playoff Preview (part two cont.)

4 Mar

Class B Teams That Can Make A Run

River Rouge- Rouge is now back to full strength now after getting star forward Jamal Poplar back, who had to sit out the first semester after transferring from Willow Run.  Alongside Poplar is fellow junior Terrell Crawford.  Crawford is a raw scoring off-guard who just simply can score.  Rouge starts off in the Divine Child District, where they are faced with probably meeting up with Dearborn Heights Robichaud in the finals.  If Rouge is able to get past Robichaud, I see a path at least to the quarters.

Robichaud- As above stated, will be in the same district with River Rouge.  But don’t put anything past Robichaud as long as they have Lorenzo Bonam.  Bonam is a strong, physical point guard that can make plays.  Will have to get past Rouge in the district final.

Detroit Country Day- Might be the deepest team in the entire state.  The back court is made up of Lehigh bound Austin Price, who might have the smoothest jump shot in the area.  Complementing Price in the backcourt will be lighting fast junior point guard Edmond Sumner.  Who can go from zero to full speed in about a step.  Fellow junior Mory Diane will bring more athleticism to table and a another scorer.  Down low for the Yellow Jackets will be Texas Tech football recruit Poet Thomas, and glass eater Deshawn Lewis.  The reserves for DCD don’t lack talent as well.  Star football receiver Maurice Ways and Maceo Baston make up the bench, starters at any other school expect DCD.

Harper Woods Chandler Park Academy- Now during playoff time, some teams like to give the ball to their star players and let them do the rest.  CPA will have Michigan commit Derrick Walton to give the ball to and that is not a bad idea to do.  Derrick can go for 30 points and 10 assists any given night.  CPA will need another scorer to take pressure off Derrick, and Darius Bean will have to step up if CPA wishes to make it farther than last year’s 30 point embarrassment to DCD in the regional final.

Detroit Douglass- The funny thing is, that DCD, CPA, and now Douglass, all teams that can make it to at least the quarters, will all be paired up if they get past their respective districts into the same DCD regional.  Though low on bodies, Douglass makes up for it in talent.  Led by junior point Darrell Davis, a serious D1 recruit, Douglass has a true playmaker on the court.  If paired up with DCD, the post will be won by Douglass because of junior Andre Frederick.  Frederick is quick on his feet a real shot blocker even on the perimeter.  Junior Terrell Hale will be needed for secondary scoring in order to take pressure off from Davis.

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Playoff Preview (part two)

4 Mar

Class A Teams That Can Make A Run

Pershing- See part one

Romulus- See part one

Detroit Southeastern- The PSL Semi-finalist came up just short of making it to the championship game, but are full of very talented ball players.  Including Darryl Bingham, Javon Haynes, Leonard Harper-Baker, and Kenyatta Singleton.  Will start off in the East Detroit District where fellow PSL team East English Village will pose their only threat.  If Southeastern does make it to the regionals.  CHSL finalist De La Salle will be there in the way.  Might have to play Ty Conklin and L’Anse Cruse North if they wish to make it to the Breslin.

U of D Jesuit– Not the tallest of teams, but when you have one of the best backcourts in the area with freshman point guard Cassius Winston and A.J. Horde, there will be trouble for some opponents.  They host their own district, which has several PSL bottom tier teams.  After that, U of D will head to Southfield, where in the regional final, they will have to face a team that they just lost to in the Pershing Doughboys.

Walled Lake Western- When you have one of the most dominant big men players in the state in Miroslav Jaksic, he is one that can put a team on his back and take them far into the playoffs.  Sophomore Marcus Bailey is a slasher who compliments Miroslav nicely.  In the regionals, they might have to face Huron, a team who has some history with the Breslin Center.

Playoff Preview (part one)

4 Mar

Teams with most to prove

Romulus- The Eagles are full of division one talent.  Which has led them to only one loss this year.  Seniors E.C. Matthews, Leo Edwards, and Wes Clark have all had tremendous seasons.  Now they will have to have  put together a deeps state tournament run if they wish to remembered as the best team out of Romulus.  The Eagles start by hosting their own district, will go to Wyandotte if they make the regionals, and in the quarters, will most likely have to play Pershing, their one loss, for the right to make a return to the Breslin Center.

Pershing- The Doughboys have captured a perfect 20-0 record this season.  And looked even more dominant towards the end of the season once 6’8″ junior forward Justin Tillman returned to the lineup.  The Doughboys will be in the Western District where their most likely be a rematch with Cass Tech in the final.  From that, Pershing will go into the Southfield regional where their biggest competition will be a team they just beat pretty handily, U of D Jesuit.  If all goes to plan, Pershing will get their almost annual playoff rematch with Romulus in quarters at Calihan Hall.

Saginaw- The Trojans came into the year with many expectations coming off a 2011-2012 Class A championship.  But this year and last year are totally different.  Saginaw has talent this year, such as Jerry Smith, Keyon Addison, Julian Henderson, and Al Eichelberger just to name a few.  But the problem for Saginaw is that at times they just don’t play together.  For example, in their 30 point loss to Romulus, they had guys throwing half-court inbounds and trying to play one-on-one.  This will have to be cleaned up if Saginaw wishes just to get out of their district.  Yes I said it!  Saginaw might not get out of their district.  In that district is city cross-town rival Arthur Hill.  A team that they split-the season series with.  It all depends on what Saginaw team shows up.  Because if the team that showed up for the Romulus game come out, a defending state champion will not make it to the regionals.

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Interview with Jalon Plummer

3 Mar

Romulus wing man Jalon Plummer is the x factor for the Eagles this year.  Teams know about E.C. Matthews, Wes Clark, and Leo Edwards.  But the name that is forgotten is Plummer.  He has had multiple 20 point games this year.  Including 24 on the road against Country Day, and 25 earlier in the season against Chicago Seton Academy.  Jalon brings another shooter into the lineup for Romulus, as he contains one of the most prettiest three-point shots in the area.  Plummer is working on his ability to create offense for himself.  Might be going D1 if he did not sustaine a back injury last year which kept him out a significant portion of the season.  So far, many D2 GLIAC schools have showed interest in him.

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Romulus vs. Saginaw Recap

1 Mar

Romulus 93 vs. Saginaw 63- The Saginaw Trojans came down I-75 looking to avoid the fate of their fellow city’s high school team, the Arthur Hill Lumberjacks, who lost to Romulus earlier in February.  And things looked relatively good for the Trojans in the first half.  Surviving a 9-3 Romulus run during the first three minutes of the game to come back and only trail by two at the end of one.  Things changed for the Trojans in the second.  They went from playing teams basketball, to a bunch of guys it seemed trying to stuff their own stat sheet.  Romulus went on a 8-0 run to start the quarter and eventually got into the lockeroom leading by a margin of 42-19.  Giving Romulus the ability to cruise to their regular season ending victory.  Even the subs for the Eagles seemed to have outplayed the starters for Saginaw.

Notes

For Romulus, Wes Clark had 15 points and fellow senior E.C. Matthews had 26 himself.  Jalon Plummer also added 13 for Romulus and three three-pointers.  Kenyon Addison led Saginaw with 22 total points, and Jerry Smith tallied 19 for the Trojans.  Leo Edwards grabbed down 10 rebounds for Romulus, and did a nice job defensively against freshmen sensation Al Eichelberger for Saginaw.  I though coming into this game, Romulus would have a tough time guarding the two big men for Saginaw, Al and Joe Powell.  Powell was unnoticeable the entire game, and Al never dominated the way he is used to this season.

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