Ferndale Loses a Player.

Written Wednesday January 31st at 9:40 PM

The Eagles lost a player on Wednesday.

Ferndale’s Deondre Bonaparte has transfered from Ferndale to Ecorse according to a tweet from Endless Motor Sports.

The tweet read, “Big addition for Ecorse Basketball. 2019 guard Deondre Bonaparte has officially transferred in from Ferndale and will suit up for the Red Raiders next year. Skilled guard will immediately bring perimeter scoring and playing making ability @Kidddre”

The Eagles played Ecorse on December 16th at Ecorse in which the Red Raiders won 64-54.

This is a big loss for Ferndale but it’s not a killing loss for them. The Eagles are still a Junior heavy team and they have some quality players in Keelan Lucas, Will Scott, Teona McKeithen, and Brian Polozo.

The Eagles right now sit at 4-8 and 3-4 in the Blue. They will go on a three game road trip starting on Thursday when they go to Royal Oak. They are in a really tough district in Birmingham that involves powerhouse Birmingham Detroit Country Day.

It will be interesting to see what happens over at Ferndale for coach Tom Staten could they be better off without Bonaparte, that will be a question.

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

Tuesday Will be the Biggest Game in Hazel Park Boys Basketball History.

Written Saturday January 27th at 10:05 PM

Hazel Park has not really had a true basketball tradition.

Tuesday night will be the biggest game in school history in the small gym that makes up Hazel Park High School.

It wasn’t that long ago that the Vikings were in the Gold struggling to develop an identity where it only won one game five seasons ago.

A lot of the credit of the Vikings turnaround goes to the players that have paved the way for this program to shine in Carl Bow, David Hearns, Kyle Washington, Julian Jones, Khari Adams, Malik Allen, Maurice Jones, and Devin Pettus.

These players are the reason why Hazel Park is where they are at and why they sit unbeaten at 11-0 heading into their major showdown on Tuesday against Clarkston.

Bow, Pettis, and Hearns are very talented and athletic guards. They can score in a variety of ways, play defense, and control the game. Washington, Jones, Allen, Jones, and Adams are all wings or in the post. They can score, defend, and rebound.

Hazel Park only has 10 players on their team but they all get significant playing time.

Brendan Barrett is the Vikings head coach in his fifth year gives credit to these six players for developing the program and the culture in Hazel Park.

In their first season together, Hazel Park had some growing pains but the next year they went 18-4 winning the Gold crown.

It would be a prelude for the next season.

The Vikings went up two divisions from the Gold to the White. They finished 18-5, sharing the league with Troy. Hazel Park won a district title for the first time since 1965 on its home floor. However the Vikings fell to Detroit Collegiate Prep in the Regional Semifinals last season.

This season, the Vikings moved up a class from Class B to Class A and moved up to the Red which they would see the likes of Clarkston, West Bloomfield, and Troy. All of those teams went deep into the postseason with the Wolves winning the State Crown last season.

Hazel Park has played a vicious non conference schedule which included wins over Detroit Pershing (72-58), Detroit Henry Ford (60-57), Detroit Edison (62-56), Detroit East English Village Prep (86-72), and Detroit University of Detroit Jesuit (74-63.)

Detroit East English Village Prep gave Clarkston it’s only loss of the season 80-71 at North Farmington.

The Vikings will be in a tough district that will be at Detroit Renaissance. It will include Oak Park, Berkley, Detroit Renaissance, Detroit University Detroit Jesuit, and Warren Fitzgerald.

Clarkston and Hazel Park met last season at Clarkston with the Wolves winning 66-46. The Vikings had numerous injuries in the matchup and couldn’t keep up with Clarkston's depth and athleticism.

The Vikings believe this time around things will be different with Clarkston having to travel down Interstate 75 to Nine Mile and then to 23400 Hughes Avenue in Hazel Park for Tuesday’s matchup.

Then comes the problem, Clarkston travels very well.

This could be Hazel Park’s masterpiece to the puzzle if they can beat the Wolves at home to control the Red and become the unanimous top team in the State.

Clarkston though has had a history of beating upstart teams.

The Wolves are no pushover as the Vikings know well because Clarkston features the two things that can get Hazel Park into deep trouble, depth and height. As mentioned earlier, the Vikings have only has 10 players on it's team which could spark the word foul trouble. The Wolves have plenty of height and depth led by Wisconsin bound Taylor Currie and that's not mentioning the other bigs in Chase Wasilk, Hank Schimel, Matt Nicholson, Garrett Dellinger, and Tristen Mysen. That's not even mentioning the guards led by Michigan State recruit Foster Loyer along with defensive stopper CJ Robinson, and Nick Wells. 

And that's not mentioning Dan Fife, whom is Clarkston's legendary head coach.

What will happen inside what will be a packed Hazel Park’s gym will be a completion of the Vikings program that went from struggling bottom feeder to becoming one of the top teams in the State and playing a powerhouse program with the division title likely on the line.

These two teams will also meet on March 1st at Clarkston.

Tuesday will be the biggest game in Hazel Park’s history and they would like to send a message that they belong in that State title discussion.

Way Too Early Football Top 23.

Written Saturday January 27th at 2:00 PM

Hello all these are not my preseason rankings heading into the upcoming football season in the fall. We got a whole spring and summer to go through before the season starts. These rankings will change but these are the early Top 23. It will also describe what are the early season strengths and weaknesses are surrounding each team. Everything mentioned is on paper. Feel free to send responses, I greatly appreciate them.

Early Rankings.

1. Oak Park: Knights are loaded, question is can they win the big one in the playoffs.

2. Groves: Falcons are loaded as well but the only question will be the line.

3. West Bloomfield: Lakers still very talented. They will have to address their line this offseason.

4. Clarkston: Defending State Champs have the line but question for the Wolves will be the skill players.

5. Adams: Highlanders are replacing a lot but they have a quarterback name Carter Farris to keep an eye on.

6. Harrison: Hawks in their final season will have talent. Numbers will be a concern.

7. Avondale: Yellow Jackets have the pieces to make a run, only question will be the line.

8. Southfield Arts and Tech: Warriors have a ton of talent coming back but question will be mindset.

9. Orion: Dragons must replace a ton on defense but look strong on offense on paper.

10. Oxford: Wildcats return a lot but have a big question at quarterback.

11. Ferndale: Eagles lost a ton of skill players from last season but they have the lineman to still be very good.

12. Seaholm: Maples have the experience to be an early favorite in the Blue.

13. Bloomfield Hills: We’ll see what type of team the Blackhawks are without John Paddock and Jack Sape.

14. Berkley: The move to the Blue should help the Bears big time. Only issue is the lines.

15. Troy: Colts have to replace a ton of talent from last season’s playoff run. Only time will tell if Troy is for real or not.

16. Rochester: Falcons have the skill players but the question will be the lines.

17. North Farmington: Raiders should be better this season with a lot of talent back and great coaching. Line still a very concerning.

18. Royal Oak: Ravens have some talent returning but they need to replace some key positions including quarterback.

19. Stoney Creek: Cougars have to address a ton for new coach Nick Merlo including at quarterback where they will have a quarterback competition.

20. Troy Athens: Red Hawks are back to square one and they will have a new coach as well. They will very young this season.

21. Hazel Park: Vikings will be virtually a new team after losing a ton of seniors from last season.

22. Farmington: Falcons need to make a big step up this season.

23. Pontiac: Phoenix have the athletes, question will be the numbers.

Stoney Creek has their new Football Coach.

Written Monday January 22nd at 8:40 AM
Updated Tuesday January 23rd at 10:10 AM

The Stoney Creek Cougars have their new football coach.

The Cougars named Nick Merlo as head coach replacing Bob Lantzy whom spent two seasons at Stoney Creek posting a 5-13 record in his two seasons.

Merlo played football at Rochester and is the son of longtime Falcons coach Mark Merlo. Merlo is currently a Math teacher at Rochester High School.

Merlo was an assistant under Erik Vernon while at Rochester and worked in other various roles within the Falcons administration including the throws coach in Track and Field.

Merlo will be the third Stoney Creek coach in five seasons.

The Cougars will have a meet and greet with Merlo to the players and staff this afternoon.

Stoney Creek last made the playoffs in 2013 when Brad Zube coached the Cougars from 2012-2015, he is now coaching at Brandon. Lantzy whom coached at Utica Eisenhower for 43 years stepped down a few weeks ago.

The Cougars will be in the midst of a transition yet again with Merlo at the helm. Merlo will inherit a quarterback competition between Frank Potenza and Peyton Youngblood. He will also have lineman Jake Ropeda returning as well. Merlo have to address a defense that has been a problem as of late allowing 243 points in 2016 and 211 points last season. Also, the offense struggled only scoring 93 points last season.

Merlo had added a new theme to the Stoney Creek football program is called "Armor Up." He said in an email to yours truly that it "encompasses attitude and beliefs that helps us reach our goals and dreams. It's something that we will embrace for the next 30 years and will be the foundational piece to our program."

Stoney Creek will be in the White this upcoming fall. They will open up at home against Utica Ford. The Cougars will also have tough home games against Troy, Groves, Oxford, and Troy Athens and daunting trips to Oak Park, Harrison, Rochester, and Adams.

Merlo will have his hands full this upcoming season.

Thoughts.

I was surprised Stoney Creek would go the "conservative" route. I thought this would be more of a home run hire like they did with Lantzy and Zube in the past but the Cougars made the safe pick going with Merlo, a man that is well known within the Rochester community.

Now I love the guy, I think he will do a very good job but I’m not sure how the fan base is going to respond knowing that the Merlo name is well known around Rochester especially around the Big Blue community of Rochester.

One thing Merlo will have to fix besides the culture is the record against the city rivals. Stoney Creek is 6-14 all time against Adams and Rochester, including a 1-8 mark against the Highlanders.

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

Top 23 Basketball Teams Thus Far.

Written Saturday January 20th at 10:00 PM
Updated Saturday January 27th at 12:30 PM

Here are my top 23 teams for each the Boys and Girls Basketball seasons looking at each team's strength of schedule as a main focal point for where each team is at along with recent injuries affecting each team right now.

Boys.

1. Hazel Park (11-0): Vikings perfect record will be tested on Tuesday against Clarkston.

2. Clarkston (11-1): Wolves riding high heading into their showdown with Hazel Park.

3. Troy Athens (9-2): Red Hawks have won eight straight since losing to Troy.

4. Troy (8-3): Colts allowing 74 points to Hazel Park is very concerning heading into the stretch.

5. West Bloomfield (5-5): Lakers had a tough loss to Clarkston but it doesn't get any easier with Troy on Tuesday.

6. Oak Park (7-3): Knights have won six straight since losing to Chicago Hyde Park. The schedule looks very favorable down the stretch.

7. Rochester (10-2): Hunter Schlatter scored his 1,000 point for the Falcons. Schedule will be interesting with trips to Orion, Farmington, and Ferndale looming.

8. Orion (9-2): Dragons quietly going their business. Big test at Farmington on Friday looms.

9. Farmington (5-5): Tariq Humes exploded for 30 points in a win against Royal Oak. Suddenly the Falcons are looking dangerous.

10. Avondale (7-5): Yellow Jackets have been very inconsistent. Need to address this down the stretch.

11. Adams (7-4): Highlanders are 2-4 since their 5-0 start. That's not a good omen, need to get that fixed.

12. North Farmington (5-5): The Raiders got a bounce back over Southfield Arts and Tech. They need to address some things down the stretch.

13. Oxford (5-6): Wildcats FINALLY return home where they have a 4-1 record with their new scoreboard in place.

14. Stoney Creek (4-6): Cougars upset Avondale last week in Detroit but tough road games loom with Troy Athens and Seaholm this week.

15. Seaholm (4-6): Maples shocked Adams in overtime on the road last week. When healthy Seaholm is a different animal.

16. Groves (4-5): Falcons have lost four straight since beating Stoney Creek. They need to fix this going forward.

17. Berkley (10-2): Just a horrible loss to Orion last week and it may not get any better with a red hot Farmington team on Tuesday looming.

18. Ferndale (3-8): Playing seven of eight on the road is going to be tough for any team including the Eagles. Things will be fine for Ferndale.

19. Pontiac (3-8): Phoenix sent a message to Harrison beating them by 24 points and scoring 82 points. Maybe the shades of the glory days may be coming back???

20. Southfield Arts and Tech (1-10): Warriors lost by 18 to North Farmington last week. It won't get any easier for Southfield Arts and Tech either with the Red schedule and non league games with Groves and Southgate Anderson.

21. Bloomfield Hills (3-8): Blackhawks battling but wondering if the Red was the right division for them???

22. Harrison (2-9): Hawks are a mess right now but they have three straight home games coming up.

23. Royal Oak (4-7): Ravens have three of their next four games on the road starting with Orion on Tuesday. It could be interesting for Royal Oak.

Girls.

1. Clarkston (11-2): Kayla Luchenbach got her 1,000 points against Stoney Creek. Wolves rolling right now.

2. Groves (11-2): Falcons have won eight straight games and control their own destiny right now.

3. Royal Oak (10-2): Ravens saw their seven game winning streak snapped by Groves, now tied for the league lead.

4. Southfield Arts and Tech (9-5): Warriors love to run it up and down the court. It will be interesting when Clarkston visits on Thursday.

5. North Farmington (10-4): Raiders in mist of a six game road trip are off to a nice start on that trip.

6. Farmington (10-3): The Falcons need to call CM Punk as their agent. They are for real and no one is talking about them. They have Olivia Perkins and MaKayla Martin whom are legit.

7. Avondale (8-2): Yellow Jackets had a rough loss to Farmington but still control it's destiny if they win out.

8. Bloomfield Hills (6-5): Blackhawks relying on the three ball and have improved in the interior. Good signs for Bloomfield Hills.

9. Oxford (10-3): Wildcats lost a tough one to Groves but they are still in the White race and both Royal Oak and Groves have to come to Oxford. They are fine right now.

10. Stoney Creek (4-9): Cougars really struggling on the offensive end but hey defense wins championships.

11. Adams (2-9): Highlanders have some issues on the defensive end that they need to address.

12. Orion (3-10): Injuries are plaguing the Dragons right now.

13. Berkley (5-8): Bears surging in league. Out of league concerns me with this group.

14. Seaholm (2-10): That brutal non league schedule seem to be benefiting the Maples lately.

15. Troy (4-9): Colts have lost five straight, which is a cause of concern.

16. West Bloomfield (3-10): Lakers have lost five of their last seven games, that's not good.

17. Troy Athens (4-9): Red Hawks bounced back against Rochester but they are in a tough stretch right now.

18. Rochester (2-11): Falcons have lost four in a row. Not a good especially this late into the season.

19. Oak Park (5-7): Knights have been up and down lately.

20. Hazel Park (6-5): Vikings struggling with coaching transition. This was an experienced team coming into the season, surprised at the record so far.

21. Pontiac (2-8): If the Phoenix could put together a couple of wins in a row then things could be changing in Pontiac.

22. Ferndale (1-6): Eagles got a big win over Pontiac but can they keep it up.

 

OAA Football Coaching Vacancies.

Written Saturday January 13th at 8:30 PM

Well here is a football entry since we are in the offseason and the change is starting to begin. There are two coaching vacancies in the football world of the OAA.

Stoney Creek:

Stoney Creek is an interesting job considering that there is talent in Rochester but the Cougars are going to go with their third coach in four seasons this upcoming fall. The Bob Lantzy era ended after two seasons in which they were 5-13 in that span.

Who should Stoney Creek target???

Well the Cougars in my opinion they should look to their past where they were very successful under coach Brad Zube. Zube is now at Brandon and they have made the playoffs in the last two seasons. You got to wonder if one of Zube’s assistant coaches would come back to coach at Stoney Creek. Zube’s father Buzz coaches the Freshman team. Whomever the new coach is he will inherit a quarterback competition next season in Frank Potenza and Payten Youngblood to go along with lineman Jake Ropeta.

Troy Athens:

Troy Athens is an interesting job because there is talent in Troy but the participation levels have not been the greatest because there is a lack of interest in football. Josh Heppner stepped down from coaching a few weeks ago. He was 24-52 overall at Troy Athens.

Who should Troy Athens target???

Well Billy Keenest could be an interesting choice because he was Heppner’s offensive coordinator until last season when he became the head coach at Berkley. I don’t know if Keenest would leave Berkley. Also, the Red Hawks could look within its coaching staff. The Red Hawks will be very young next season led by their returning lineman David Deman.

Outlook and Thoughts.

It would be very interesting to see who takes over at both of these schools. Both schools are looking for fresh starts after having rough seasons. Also, both schools have city rivals in them with Stoney Creek having Rochester and Adams while Troy Athens has Troy in their backyard. The Red Hawks in the Red was beaten up badly while the Cougars struggled in the White. Stoney Creek and Troy Athens have great facilities at each of them. The Cougars and Red Hawks will be in the White and go up against the likes of Oak Park, Groves, Rochester, Harrison, and Troy next fall.

It also wouldn’t surprise me if both teams look outside the box for their next coach like a John Erksine at Harrison whom is ready to take a coaching job or maybe an assistant somewhere else whom is ready to take the job at one of these two schools.

Stay tuned to OAA Now for the latest on this developing story and once the coaching vacancies are filled we will update them as you all know.

Heppner Out at Troy Athens.

Written Saturday January 13th at 7:30 AM

The Troy Athens Red Hawks will be looking for a new football coach this fall.

Josh Heppner citing accurate sources has stepped down from coaching the team. Last year he stepped down from teaching at the school.

Heppner was coach of the Red Hawks from 2009 until 2016. He guided Troy Athens to the playoffs in 2011 when they were knocked out in a three overtime game against Romeo.

Heppner finished his career at Troy Athens with a 24-52 record in his seven seasons.

The Red Hawks spent all of Heppner’s seven season in the Red. Next season they will be in the White. They will open up the season against Oxford in August.

Troy Athens returns two way lineman David Demon back. It will be unknown whom coaches the Red Hawks next season.

The Red Hawks job is the second in the league to open up. Bob Lantzy stepped down a few weeks ago from Stoney Creek. It is unknown how that search is going.

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

Kithier's Injunction Denied.

Written Thursday January 11th at 11:30 PM
Updated Friday January 12th at 8:35 AM

The injunction that the Kithier family wanted was denied on Thursday by a Federal Judge in Detroit meaning that Thomas Kithier’s High School season is likely over as he remains ineligible for his senior year at Clarkston.

The judge sided with the MHSAA saying that the rules are the rules and that Kithier’s Constitutional rights were not violated saying it was not a fundamental right to play High School Sports and the transfer was athletically motivated.

Kithier is a future Michigan State Basketball recruit.

The Kithier family transferred from Macomb Dakota to Clarkston this past summer. The family said the move was for academic reasons because Macomb Dakota didn't have the courses that Kithier needs and Clarkston has them but the MHSAA found that the transfer was athletically motivated through the "links rule" citing his AAU link with fellow Wolves and future Spartan teammate Foster Loyer. Macomb Dakota did not sign the transfer waiver form making Kithier immediately eligible.

The transfer rule has been extremely controversial because the rule has not been enforced most of the time.

Kithier’s attorneys felt bad for Thomas but the lawsuit is far from over. “I think the judge felt bad for the situation and I think if it was up to her she’d change things but it’s not up to her” said Steve Fishman on of Kithier's attorneys.

Fishman blamed the MHSAA for the reason why his client is not playing. “Really the villain of this piece is the MHSAA that didn’t give a hoot about Thomas Kithier and made a ruling to prove that they could do it basically so no I don’t believe that there’s any other facts that we could have said that would have changed anything. If you listen to the judge’s ruling it was based solely on case law and a lot of case law is in this circuit and a lot of the case law is really old.”

Ven Johnson, Kithier's other attorney said that the family was disappointed by the outcome. “We’re working very hard on this to do everything we know how to do for the big fella to play. Right now, all that’s happened is the judge has said I’m not going to block the MHSAA. Now the rest of the lawsuit continues. Yes, his season is unfortunately done unless he goes back to Dakota and that’s a decision for he and his family to make and it’s pretty obvious to some of us. No decision is being made right now. We’re even thinking of filing an appeal, probably will not just because of the time involved.”

Scott Eldridge and attorney for the MHSAA said that the league used “selective enforcement” in ruling Kithier ineligible and had the facts the prove them. “We had three high school athletes who violated the athletically motivated transfer rule and they imposed the same 180 school day ineligibility ruling that included Mr. Kithier. Every State Athletic Association has rules and those rules are enforced and a lot of times they end up in court. This has happened for decades and is nothing terribly new to the MHSAA or any other state athletic association.”

Eldridge concluded that it was the Loyer-Kithier connection in AAU for All Ohio Red was the reason for the move. “That was the facts that ended up triggering that particular rule” he concluded.

Could Congress Get Involved????

The Michigan State House according to the Detroit News is considering getting involved in the case.

Michigan State House Representative Jim Tedder whom is a Republican from Clarkston whom used to coach wrestling and was a former teacher said he sponsored a bill that would stop State schools from prohibiting students from taking part in interscholastic high school sports simply because a student transferred from one school to the other regardless of the reason of transfer.

However, there are others that don’t want to get involved because some of them said that it isn’t well suited for the State Legislature.

Will the Lawsuit Continue???

According to Kithier’s attorneys the answer is yes and hopefully they can get a rule change to which transfers would be eligible to play right away regardless if it was athletically motivated or not.

The MHSAA filed a motion in court to dismiss the case on Tuesday.

Fishman mentoned that there are other options to WXYZ. "You go stop the next 100 people walking down the street and ask them two questions. One, do you think parents should put their kid in whatever school they want??? (open-enrollment) 99 percent of the people will say yes and if you ask them should Thomas Kithier be allowed to play??? 95 percent of the people are going to say absolutely, why not??? What difference does it make??? That's why the real problem is and maybe a legislative solution is one we have to go to."

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

Detroit News Articles.

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/high-school/2018/01/11/judge-declines-injuction-kithier-remains-ineligible/109369710/ 

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2018/01/11/michigan-house-bill-kithier-basketball/109361754/

WXYZ Story.
https://www.wxyz.com/sports/kithier-preliminary-injunction-denied-must-sit-senior-season