Cheerleading State Preview.

Written Saturday February 25th at 8:30 PM

Well this Friday’s Division One State Competitive Cheerleading meet will have an OAA feeling to the mix as half the field are OAA teams.

Rochester, Adams, Stoney Creek, and Orion are the four league teams that are in the State Finals at the Delta Plex in Grand Rapids.

The Falcons whom are the defending State Champs won the Troy Athens Regional with a 788.72 performance, outdueling the Highlanders whom were second with a 786.10. The Cougars were fourth with a 783.52 performance.

The Dragons were in the Brighton regional had to overcome a poor first round performance with a solid second and third rounds to finish fourth with a 780.98. Grandville won the Regional followed by Hudsonville, and Brighton.

Grandville, Sterling Heights Stevenson, Hudsonville, and Brighton are the other teams that are going to Grand Rapids as well.

It will be a wide-open field in the State Finals but experts say that Grandville and Rochester are the favorites but don’t count anyone out.

It will be an interesting State Final on Friday, we’ll see what happens.

Girls Basketball District Preview.

Written Thursday February 23rd at 11:20 AM

Here are the district previews for Girls Basketball. The BOLD teams are OAA Teams and not my picks who will win.


District 21 @ Farmington

2/27 Harrison vs. Farmington Hills Mercy 7PM

3/1 North Farmington vs. Farmington 5PM

3/1 Harrison/Farmington Hills Mercy vs. West Bloomfield 7PM

3/3 Final 7PM

Thoughts: When looking at this district, got to look at the Catholic League Champions Farmington Hills Mercy being the favorite. The Marlins have a ton of talent back and is well coached led by Gary Morris. The team with the best shot at eliminating Farmington Hills Mercy is North Farmington because of Sam Cherney and Kierra Crockett. Harrison is a darkhorse team because they have players led by Nila Warren, Teddi Pickens, and Olivia Perkins. If they can stay healthy then they might have chance to upset the Marlins. West Bloomfield has concerns in the interior with the departure of Jamila Elam whom transferred out but they have the guards and shooting to compete with anyone. Farmington has had a rough season despite beating Troy to close out the season but this district could be too much for the hosts.

PICK: It will be a North Farmington/Farmington Hills Mercy final. Everyone is going with the Marlins but for me I like Jeff Simpson’s crew to pull off an upset and move on. PICK: North Farmington.

District 25 @ Troy

2/27 Seaholm vs. Groves 5:30 PM

2/27 Avondale vs. Troy 7PM

3/1 Groves/Seaholm vs. Bloomfield Hills 5:30 PM

3/1 Avondale/Troy vs. Birmingham Marian 7PM

3/3 Final 7PM

Thoughts: Could this be the year that coach Jeff Rubin finally gets his Bloomfield Hills Blackhawks over the hump??? Well it won’t be an easy one to say the least and that’s because I think Birmingham Marian led by their superstar player Olivia Moore got a great draw with either Avondale or Troy they will play in the district semifinal while the Blackhawks might have to deal with most likely Groves in the district semifinal. That's not to say that the Catholic League runner-ups have a cake walk because they don't, the Mustangs have to be careful of the Colts or Yellow Jackets because both teams have the talent to upset Birmingham Marian. Avondale has had an rebounding season under first year coach Phil Dawson and has a star in the making in Olivia Russell. Troy has Megan Lenihan and Danica Murray for coach Simon Bato. Groves is a sleeper for a few reasons. The Falcons are a very good team, athletic, quick, and junior heavy. Groves won the Gold this season and has a player not a lot of people know about in Shea Carter among others for coach Amos Thompson's team. Seaholm could give the Falcons problems but without Mackenzie Harbort I don't think the Maples will pose a challenge despite winning the Blue for the second straight season. The Blackhawks have a lot of motivation, ton of experience, and they would love to get another crack at the Mustangs.

PICK: Groves/Bloomfield Hills will be a crazy matchup to say the least in the district semifinal but I think the Blackhawks with Amanda Sape will be too much for the Falcons. Bloomfield Hills will have their rematch with Birmingham Marian. The Blackhawks will get a bonus with Sape being healthy and playing to her full potential. I don't know why Tom Markowski thinks the Mustangs will get to the Regional easily. I severely disagree with Markowski that it will be Birmingham Marian that will be moving on, it will be the modern North Dakota State that will be moving onto the Regional. PICK: Bloomfield Hills.

District 23 @ Warren Cousino

2/27 Sterling Heights vs. Warren Regina 5PM

2/27 Warren Mott vs. Warren Cousino 7PM

3/1 Sterling Heights/Warren Regina vs. Royal Oak 5PM

3/1 Warren Mott/Warren Cousino vs. Troy Athens 7PM

3/3 Final 6PM

Thoughts: This district has the defending Class A. State Champions in here in Warren Cousino and they host the district. The Patriots have Kate McArthur and Kierra Flecther and they will want to repeat what happened last season. The team that could give Warren Cousino a game is Royal Oak. The Ravens have Samantha Potter, June Donnellon, and Jessica Adams. Troy Athens is a possible darkhorse team. Sterling Heights is improved, Warren Regina is decent, and Warren Mott is not that good.

PICK: This will be a Warren Cousino/Royal Oak district final. I know Ravens coach Brian Sopota is a defensive genius but I think Fletcher and McArthur will be too much for Royal Oak to handle. PICK: Warren Cousino.

District 31 @ Orion

2/27 Clarkston vs. Pontiac 5:30 PM

2/27 Waterford Kettering vs. Orion 7PM

3/1 Clarkston/Pontiac vs. Oxford 5:30 PM

3/1 Kettering/Orion vs. Waterford Mott 7PM

3/3 Final 7PM

Thoughts: This is an interesting district when you look at the teams and what they have went through this season. Waterford Kettering is not the same team it was last season losing three of their last four despite not having Lilla Schoof. The Captains shared the Kensington Lakes Activities Association North with Walled Lake Western this season, which is unusual by their standards with the Defense Department. Waterford Mott has had an up and down season despite losing four of their last five games coming into the tournament. Clarkston has had a strong season winning 15 games but a 500 finish in February at 3-3 on the season. Orion has had a tale of two seasons with the departure of Maddie Novak whom transferred out mid-season. The Dragons went 5-5 without her and is very young with only one Senior on the team for coach Kevin Kopec. Oxford has been playing better, going 7-3 in February. Pontiac is up and down but have won three straight games, including wins over Oak Park and Hazel Park. This could be an interesting district to keep an eye on.

PICK: Waterford Kettering better be careful of Orion. Looking at this district, remember 2007 when it was the Captains that upset the Dragons in Waterford Kettering. I think that could very well happen here. Orion would love to get another shot at Waterford Mott after what happened last season. I think Clarkston got a great draw and could march its way to the district final but they better be careful of Oxford. The Wildcats are playing better despite losing to Clarkston in the final game of the regular season. This will be a competitive district but the experts see a Waterford Kettering/Clarkston district final. I don’t know if I see it but it will be the Wolves that move on because of their height advantage inside. PICK: Clarkston.

District 30 @ Utica

2/27 Stoney Creek vs. Utica 6:30 PM

3/1 Adams vs. Rochester 5PM

3/1 Stoney Creek/Utica vs. Utica Eisenhower 7PM

3/3 Final 7PM

Thoughts: Stoney Creek is the Rodney Dangerfield of Girls Basketball. They have played a brutal non-conference schedule. The Cougars had to take their lumps, had a scoring drought where they scored less than 30 points six times this season but it looks like coach Kellen James team has turned the corner a little bit. The most dangerous threat to Stoney Creek's district title defense will be Utica Eisenhower. The Eagles are a solid team led by Malynn Kosnik. They also play in the very tough Macomb Area Conference Red. Utica Eisenhower has wins over Grosse Pointe South, Romeo, and Macomb Dakota. Utica is decent but the Cougars handled the Chieftains pretty easily 53-25 last December at Stoney Creek. Adams has had a long season going winless in the Red but they seem to turn it around a bit led by Maggie Rogers, Ryian Owusu, and Hannah Simard. Rochester has had a long season but they have the talent and health to compete and could very well surprise someone.

PICK: It’s sad to see that a district semifinal will be the impromptu district final. Stoney Creek and Utica Eisenhower will be seeing each other in the district semifinals pending if the Cougars can get by Utica which I think they will. The Stoney Creek/Utica Eisenhower winner will see Adams in the district final. The Cougars did take a bit of a setback as Emily Solek injured her knee against West Bloomfield in the regular season finale but I expect her to play through the injury. I can’t go against history and history tells me that James will be wearing a Brock Lesnar T-Shirt in the small gym of Utica High School. PICK: Stoney Creek.

District 24 @ Detroit Renaissance

2/27 Southfield Arts and Tech vs. Warren Fitzgerald 5PM

2/27 Hamtramck vs. Berkley 7PM

3/1 Southfield Arts and Tech/Warren Fitzgerald vs. Oak Park 5PM

3/1 Hamtramck/Berkley vs. Detroit Renaissance 7PM

3/3 Final 5:30 PM

Thoughts: Southfield Arts and Tech has improved since the calendar turned to February, including winning the Red but there could be a possible rematch with Detroit Renaissance that looms for the Warriors once the district final looms pending if both teams get there. Berkley could be a dark-horse candidate. The Phoenix beat Southfield Arts and Tech 66-51 at the Motor City Roundball Classic in December. It will be interesting when these two will meet again on Detroit Renaissance's home floor. I don’t think anyone else in this district will present a challenge to either the Warriors or the Phoenix.

PICK: It will be Southfield Arts and Tech vs Detroit Renaissance in the district final. The Warriors will be a different team with Deja Church fully healthy along with Alexis Johnson and Cheyenne McEvans but looking at the matchup they got size problems and the Phoenix have size, speed, and home-court as well. Sorry coach Michelle Jackson-Marshall but Detroit Renaissance will be moving on. PICK: Detroit Renaissance.

District 43 @ Detroit Mumford

2/27 Detroit Henry Ford vs. Detroit Mumford 4:30 PM

2/27 Ferndale vs. Hazel Park 6:30 PM

3/1 Detroit Mumford/Detroit Henry Ford vs. Detroit University Prep 4:30 PM

3/1 Ferndale/Hazel Park vs. Ferndale University 6:30 PM

3/3 Final 5PM

Thoughts: Detroit Mumford will be the favorite heading into this district because they play in the always tough Detroit Public School League. They went to the Detroit Public School League Final before falling to Detroit Martin Luther King this season. The Mustangs have talent in the form of Tiaria Earnest, Jaquila Jackson, Adoreya Williams, and Zamaria Polk, along with home-court. The team that could give Detroit Mumford fits is Hazel Park even though this is not a strong district. The Vikings have had a successful season under first year coach Chris Stroud despite losing three straight games to close out the season. Ferndale is the dark horse even though they struggled down the stretch this season. It will be interesting to watch.

PICK: This will be a Detroit Mumford/Hazel Park district final. The Vikings have had a good season but at the end of the day it is the Mustangs that will be moving on. PICK: Detroit Mumford.

McDevitt to Step Down as Oxford's Wrestling Coach.

Written Wednesday December 22nd at 10:25 PM

The Wildcats will have a new wrestling coach coaching them next season.

Current Oxford coach Paul McDevitt will be stepping down after the end of the wrestling season to spend more time with his family and also focus at his job as principal at Leonard Elementary School in Oxford.

The Wildcats will be competing this weekend at Central Michigan University in the Division One team State Championships and then individuals next weekend at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

McDevitt was an all state wrestler at Holly. He took over Oxford 20 seasons ago when the program only had eight wrestlers in the program. Since then McDevitt has turned the Wildcats into a State Power, which included the 2011 Division One State crown and a runner up appearance in 2012.

He has coached numerous state and all county wrestlers including Prescott Line and Dylan Smith.

McDevitt leaves behind a legacy in Oxford but the Wildcats program will always be grateful for what he has done with the program.

The Wrestling Community morns one of their own.

Written Monday February 20th at 8:50 PM

The wrestling community lost one of their own last week.

Falcons head coach Frank Lafferty passed away from cancer. He was 67 years old. Lafferty was laid to rest on Monday in Clarkston.

He started his 13th season as the head coach of the Falcons but had to step away to battle with cancer. Rochester football coach and assistant wrestling coach Eric Vernon took over the team on an interim basis.

Lafferty was an assistant at Clarkston under coach Mike DeGain for 12 seasons before getting the Rochester job.

Lafferty was a State Champion on the 1967 State Championship team at Pontiac Northern. They had their reunion last November according to the Oakland Press's Marvin Goodwin. He also was a member of the United States Navy.

The wrestling world lost a great person and his legacy will live on forever.

The story from the Oakland Press is here.

http://www.theoaklandpress.com/sports/20170220/wrestling-community-mourns-as-lafferty-laid-to-rest

Basket Brawl at Hazel Park.

Written Friday February 10th at 10:40 PM
Updated to Include the Detroit Free Press Story on Wednesday February 15th at 4:10 PM

There was a basketball game that took place on Thursday night that turned into a brawl at Hazel Park.

The referees ended up calling the North Farmington/Hazel Park crossover game with 1:13 left in the contest with the Raiders leading and eventually winning over the Vikings 75-58.

According to WXYZ, the incident started when a Hazel Park female student tossed a plastic bottle of tea onto the court, which caused the game to be suspended.

Tension started to get onto the court between the officials and Hazel Park parents with heated words exchanged. According to the Vikings surveillance tape, it showed that the parent (a man) got into the face of the officials but one of the officials pushed him. The parent looked shocked and stunned after the official pushed him. After the pushing incident, the Hazel Park parents and students emptied the stands onto the court as the officials ran to the locker room with the parents, students, and players going after the officials.

Police was called to the scene.

The North Farmington players, coaches, and officials had to be given a police escort out of the Hazel Park gym.

The game was poorly officiated according to Hazel Park's side of things. "This is the first time it is ever gotten that bad. Officiating was poor in my opinion. I have never seen a game officiated like that. It was lopsided all night. By far the worst I've ever seen" said Vikings coach Brendan Barrett to MIPrepZone's Jason Schmidt.

Hazel Park was up 7-2 early in the game but they fell behind by seven points at 19-12 and with nine team fouls called against them. The Vikings trailed by nine 36-27 at the half.

According to the Detroit Free Press's Perry Farrell, during the game, the Hazel Park announcer made inflammatory comments against North Farmington players, coaches, and the officials. He encouraged fans to help them control the situation saying it was eight on five, meaning the five Raiders players and the three officials along with making the atmosphere hostile toward the North Farmington players and officials. He has since been fired from announcing games.

Hazel Park only has ten players on the team.

The Vikings got the game within one point at 37-36 but the Raiders went on a run to get their lead back to nine. Late in the third quarter the officials gave the Hazel Park bench a technical and then Vikings Athletic Director Dr. David Muylaert was given a technical and was ejected from the gym.

According to Farrell, the officials stopped the game to have Muylaert tell the announcer that he could no longer announce the game but Muylaert walked to the court screaming at the officials, which led to his ejection.

Muylaert was ejected from a previous game last season against Bloomfield Hills.

North Farmington would then put the game out of reach outscoring Hazel Park 25-14 in the final quarter.

Barrett added to MIPrepZone about his bitterness with the officiating but gave credit to his team for fighting back "We tried to fight back but when you're at a disadvantage playing eight on five the whole night then it's hard to comeback from."

Hazel Park Superintendent Dr. Amy Kruppe said to WXYZ that the situation involving the incident was a personal matter. Muylaert sat out the Vikings game at Avondale on Tuesday to in which Hazel Park won 66-62 over the Yellow Jackets.

Kruppe said what she saw on the surveillance video to MIPrepZone was that it was the official, not the parent was the aggressor. "From the video I can see the whole thing, the video shows an adult and a referee having words and that official pushing the adult. It had nothing to do with our Hazel Park students. The MHSAA (Michigan High School Athletic Association) official put his hands on someone first. He shoved the parent first and the parent stepped away. The MHSAA official was the aggressor." Kruppe talked to Muylaert via phone after he was ejected from the game explaining his frustration with the officiating of the game.

Kruppe said that the female student who threw the cup onto the court was disciplined. "One of our students threw a bottle and has been disciplined, that was inappropriate. Our AD (Athletic Director) made a comment to the referee, which was inappropriate. There were three adults that made some decisions in retrospect, wish they did not. The MHSAA has to make a decision what to do with the official" Kruppe said to the Detroit Free Press.

The MHSAA got the officials report and will be contacting those who where involved in the incident according to WXYZ. According to the Detroit Free Press, the MHSAA was still investigating the incident and no disciplinary action was given as of yet.

North Farmington coach Todd Negoshian, who's team was in the Class A State Finals last season was disappointed and hopes to never see what happened again as he talked to MIPrepZone "It's sad to see in our society you have a great game like that and fans have to ruin it. It's unfortunate for the kids and hopefully it's a lesson for the kids of what you don't want to be when you grow older."

Stay tuned to OAA Now for the latest updates on this developing story.

Here is the WXYZ story of the Brawl.

http://www.wxyz.com/news/region/oakland-county/hazel-park-and-north-farmington-basketball-game-descends-into-basket-brawl

Game recap from MIPrepZone.

http://www.miprepzone.com/oakland/results.asp?ID=20604

Hazel Park Superintendent Response.

http://www.miprepzone.com/oakland/results.asp?ID=20610

The Detroit Free Press Story about Hazel Park's Announcer Fired.

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/high-school/2017/02/15/hazel-park-david-muylaert-basketball-brawl/97941632/

With Mach's retirement does Division One Open Up???

Written Thursday February 9th at 12:10 PM

Does the retirement of Novi Detroit Catholic Central coach Tom Mach really open up Division One this upcoming season???

Mach retired on Wednesday after spending 41 years at the Catholic School. He won ten State Championships and been to 17 State Finals as coach of the Shamrocks.

Mach finishes his coaching career as the fourth winning coach all time in State History with 320 wins and 97 losses.

It will be interesting whom the Shamrocks go with as their next head coach. He could change the offensive philosophy up, traditionally Novi Detroit Catholic Central is a run first football team.

But are the Shamrocks vulnerable now that Mach is gone???

That is an interesting question.

There are a few teams that could be threats to Novi Detroit Catholic Central especially in their district if they get to the playoffs. City rival Novi has had a resurgence in recent years along with their arch rival Northville, Plymouth has been to a State Final in their history, Canton is a powerhouse, and Saline has been a State Finalist before.

That’s not mentioning Detroit Cass Tech.

The Technicians are the defending Division One State Champs. Detroit Cass Tech brought in five Division One prospects from Southfield Arts and Tech, along with one from Birmingham Brother Rice, and one from Birmingham Detroit Country Day.

Any OAA Schools Possibly involved in Division One.

Northern Oakland County and Northern Macomb County will always have a strong say whom will be in the Division One State Finals. There are powerhouse programs in this area, that have not only won State Championships and have had State Final appearances.

In Macomb County, you have Macomb Dakota, Chippewa Valley, Utica Eisenhower, and Romeo. All of those programs are expected to be very good this season.

In Oakland County, you have powerhouse programs like Clarkston, Orion, and Adams in there. In the central and southern part of the county you have programs like West Bloomfield and Southfield Arts and Tech that are starting to emerge as powers.

It will be interesting to see how the Shamrocks will look like in 2017, so we’ll see what happens.