MHSAA Bracketology: Division II Outlook

Back for another year. It’s America’s.. err..Michigan’s…err… my favorite game. The chance to predict one of the more volatile and unpredictable brackets in sports. The upcoming state high school basketball tournament. I’m planning on going through each of the four classifications and try to forecast what will happen. For the sake of brevity. I’m only going to project out to the Elite Eight (Quarterfinal) round. 

As always…. This is high school sports. All meant to be in good fun. I have no dogs in this fight. If this is taken by some team and used as motivation or bulletin board material. That would honestly be perfectly fine with me.

After giving you Divisions III and IV. It’s on to the big boys. I didn’t nail this division as directly as I did in Division III last year. But getting three out of four teams correct in the semifinals is still pretty good. If you are scoring at home, you can check my work here

Quarterfinal #5 @ Big Rapids
Kingsford vs Portland

I feel pretty good about the top line. With Ludington and their tournament history. They could always upset Kingsford. Especially after pushing the Upper Peninsula squad last year in the regional final. The Flivvers are very talented and are coming off a nail biting loss in last years quarterfinals. They are led by two college bound seniors in guard Gavin Grondin (Lake Superior St) and post Morgan Sleik (Carroll) Kingsford has plenty of depth and size beyond their top two as well.

The bottom of the pod is wide open. This is due to Flint Powers Catholic sliding down into a different portion of the bracket. While the two Saginaw public schools merged into one and slid up to Division I. A lot of questions here. How healthy is Bay City John Glenn? Will a good Frankenmuth team hosting a district be a factor? Can anyone match Freeland’s big two of Wilson Huckeby and and Tristan Comer? Those are just the questions surrounding Districts 37 and 38. So I’m going to do the noble thing that any good prognosticator does….

I’m going on punt on making a call there. I’ll turn my attention down to District 40 and go with a two loss Portland squad. Perhaps I still have Pewamo-Westphalia on the brain after picking them in Division III. Longtime PW and head coach Luke Pohl won a state championship there and now leads the Raiders. Portland’s only two losses came to talented Lansing Sexton and Division I Zeeland West. No shame in losing to Sexton and they just avenged that loss in their season finale.

Pick- Kingsford’s top level talent and experience in this round will be too much for Portland to overcome. The school from the far reaches of the UP will be packed and prepared to play the rest of the week. The Flivvers (it’s a type of car I’m told) will keep driving down to East Lansing.

Quarterfinal #7 @ Williamston
Flint Powers Catholic vs Romulus Summit Academy North

The World Cup draw in soccer has their “groups of death” every four years. Districts 49-52 would constitute that this year. I mentioned both Flint Powers Catholic and Lansing Sexton above. They are in here. I’ve been told by many that I’ve been overlooking Goodrich all year. They are in the same district with Powers. They advanced the quarterfinals last year and return much of their team. However they open with a good Flint Kearsley squad that beat them twice in the regular season. Additionally the game is on Kearsley’s home court. Defending semifinalist Chelsea is in here as well. They are not as deep as last year. But Drew Blanton (Cedarville) can play with anyone.

I can’t cop out and go the bottom line here either. The field is not be as deep, but it has more top level talent. Adrian and Stevie Elam (Milwaukee) might be the best player in the entire division. The Maples host their district and put together a solid regular season. Elam is good enough to go on a David Kool type run (old heads know— look it up kids) Onsted is the top seed in that district. Neither is the favorite to come out of the pod due to the presence of Romulus Summit Academy North.

If I can’t punt my way out of a difficult decision. I’m just going to go with chalk. That’s a little sarcasm. I’m picking Summit and Powers because I think they are both really good. Summit will have a cavalcade of guards to throw at Elam if they meet. Both Amir Perryman and Andrew Ashwood know Elam well from running with the same AAU program. The Dragons have too much firepower for the bottom half. Speaking of firepower. Junior Clarkston transfer Andrew Caldwell (6-4) added more offensive versatility to a Powers team that didn’t really need it. He has helped the Chargers weather early injuries against an ambitious schedule.

Pick- Flint Powers Catholic has the perimeter scorers to keep up and handle Summit’s pressure. They also have a size advantage on the Dragons. Adding in Powers experience in this round from last year. I’m going to give the ever so slight nod for Flint Powers Catholic to return to the Breslin Center.

Quarterfinal #6 @ Hamilton
Grand Rapids South Christian vs Marshall

The Detroit Catholic League has a storied conference tournament. The parochial schools in Grand Rapids don’t do that. Perhaps because they essentially have this portion of the bracket. Don’t get me wrong, public schools like Whitehall and Godwin Heights have the talent to break up this hegemony. I just don’t see it happening this year.

While I really like Hudsonville Unity Christian. Their recent Hamilton loss has me wondering if they are playing their best basketball going into March? With South Christian’s recent victories over Division I state contenders Grand Rapids Rapids Northview and Belleville. I’m fairly confident that the Sailors and Carson Vis (Western Michigan) are. All four losses came before February and they have fully shaken off the football rust.

The bottom of the bracket has the been the domain of Benton Harbor for quite some time. The Tigers have the talent to do it again. However they are young and the field around them has gotten stronger. If there is a favorite, it might be JJ Frakes (Oregon) and Berrien Springs. Paw Paw is very good, but young and they do not feature a lot of height. Watch out for them next year. South Haven is much improved and could be a factor as well.

I’m going to take my biggest swing of this four part series. I just like Marshall when I see them. They might not be dynamic enough athletically, but they are a skilled group that has played a lot of basketball together. Senior Austin Burns (6-5) is extremely versatile and underrated. This is the prototype of a Cinderella squad. I’m going to take plunge with a Red Hawk team that ended their season on a nine game winning streak.

Pick- The slipper falls off in Hamilton. That line feels like a Broadway play but I digress. You know what is a good story though? Carson Vis getting to play in the Breslin Center after missing the Sailors trip two years ago with a gruesome double arm fracture. I have hunch doing it in Hamilton’s gymnasium might give a little extra motivation as well.

Quarterfinal #8 @ St Clair County CC
Warren Lincoln vs Imlay City

The top of this bracket is a three team battle between Warren Lincoln, Detroit Old Redford, and Detroit University Prep. I’m giving the nod to the defending state champions for a litany of reasons. First and foremost, that banner from last year isn’t hanging by accident. They are really good and return much of last year’s core.

They have an easier road to get to the regionals. Old Redford and UPrep will probably have to face each other before getting to the Abe’s. UPrep had an extremely long lay off to end the season. That could go either way. Despite a Division III finals appearance from last year. Old Redford is still a young squad. A team with talented juniors like JaQuan Stennis and Drew Wilson can beat anyone. However, I’m going to go with the seniors from Warren Lincoln for one more year.

The bottom half is much more wide open. Center Line might have the best player in 6-8 senior Terez Holmes. St Clair junior Braylon Frantz will have a claim to that next year. Detroit Country Day might have been a factor before injuries struck. Pontiac Notre Dame Prep opened some eyes in handing Oxford their only loss of the season.

I’m going to go with the team hosting the regional, Imlay City. On the surface, a team with eight losses seems like another big swing in this bracket. I wouldn’t classify it as that. They played an extremely difficult schedule. They have size and senior leadership in the form of Zander Nash (6-7) He has a deep rotation around him as well. I’ve been a believer in Yale all year. If they can get past both Yale and Croswell-Lexington in the district. The Spartans will return to their home court. Well aware Center Line has a recent victory over Imlay City. However the Panthers enter March on a two game losing streak as well.

Pick- Warrren Lincoln is too much for Imlay City. The Abe’s of Warren Lincoln make a return trip to the Breslin Center.

Semifinal #1
Kingsford vs Flint Powers Catholic

Flint Powers Catholic and Kingsford faced off last year in the quarterfinals. Perhaps I’m being a little selfish in this projection. Frankly the 81-77 track meet was one of the more entertaining contests I saw all year. Not going to lie, seeing a repeat at the Breslin Center would be fun.

Both teams are better this year. Kingsford’s losses speak to how good Upper Peninsula basketball was this year. Powers has worked in two key transfers seamlessly. The key will be the matchup between Gavin Grondin and Powers’ engine, senior point guard Javontae Ross. It appeared Ross wore Grondin down a bit in last year’s contest. Look for Kingsford sophomore Jett Buckley to live up his name and try and slow down the uber quick Ross. Buckley didn’t play in last year’s game and could be an x-factor. For Powers, literal “twin towers” Jesse and Dempsey Cull will need to stay out of foul trouble.

I think they will. Powers will squeak by and advance one round further than last year. It will be their first finals appearance since winning the whole thing in 2009.

Semifinal #2
Grand Rapids South Christian vs Warren Lincoln

The story for the Sailors won’t be Carson Vis. He is going to get his. Warren Lincoln doesn’t need to worry about Markus Blackwell (Eastern Illinois) Da’Marion Bozeman, and Geon Hutchins (Northern Iowa) (pictured at top of article) That trio is going to get theirs. The game will be won in the “long and short” of it.

Cam the Sailors senior duo of Davis Kemper (6-7) and Isaac Schrotenboer (6-6) exploit a size advantage down low? On the other end can diminutive point guard Moses Blackwell control tempo and push the pace at times against the bigger South Christian? That is where the game will be decided. Simply put, I have seen Moses Blackwell win too many games to stop expecting it now. Warren Lincoln makes a return to the final game.

The Final

A rematch of last years semifinal won by Warren Lincoln. This has been a long one, so I’ll keep it simple. I’m done picking against Warren Lincoln. Some players are born with a knack for shooting, some natural defenders. The heartbeat of this team just knows how to win basketball games. Perhaps a certain alliteratively named alum shows up this year. That might be the only drama as Warren Lincoln goes back-to-back.