Top Games This Week and Boys and Girls Top 21.

Written Monday December 30th at 9:40 PM

Happy New Year to all and here is my Top 21 which includes all the Holiday Tournament games except for one game that will be played and updated after tomorrow around 6:30 PM.

Here are the rankings.

Boys Top 21

1. Troy (4-1): Colts need more than Brody Parker if they want to be successful. That happened against Saginaw.

2. Clarkston (2-1): Wolves needed a 42 point performance from Fletcher Loyer to beat Roseville. There are a lot of concerns surrounding Clarkston.

3. North Farmington (5-0): The Raiders have been doing all of this without Basheer Jihad which makes this start even more impressive.

4. Southfield Arts and Tech (5-0): Daryl Buchanan has the Warriors rolling thus far.

5. West Bloomfield (3-1): Lakers rule the city of Detroit. Numbers prove it.

6. Ferndale (1-3): Eagles have played a tough schedule but they need to fix some things.

7. Groves (4-2): Falcons took a bad loss to Detroit Pershing last week.

8. Oak Park (2-1): Knights survived a decent Dayton Thurgood Marshall squad but now they head for Muskegon this weekend.

9. Stoney Creek (4-1): Cougars have a big one looming on Friday in Okemos.

10. Farmington (1-4): Ah what happened against Detroit Martin Luther King Falcons, that’s not you guys???

11. Lake Orion (2-1): Dragons are your true Jekyll and Hyde.

12. Oxford (2-1): Wildcats need someone to step up and help Trey Townsend.

13. Bloomfield Hills (4-2): Blackhawks have a tough January looming, good luck.

14. Adams (2-3): Highlanders had a tough outing against Saginaw Heritage last week.

15. Berkley (3-1): Bears have won three straight since the opening night loss to Troy but their win against Center Line who has been struggling lately doesn’t make me feel good inside.

16. Troy Athens (2-2): Red Hawks need more balance if they want to be successful.

17. Seaholm (2-2): Maples will look to start 2020 strong.

18. Pontiac (1-2): Phoenix earned a big win against Detroit Cornerstone so their reward is to play at Clarkston.

19. Rochester (0-3): When you start three sophomores there is going to be growing pains.

20. Royal Oak (2-4): What happened to the Ravens against Marine City Cardinal Mooney???

21. Avondale (0-4): Yellow Jackets haven’t even been competitive in their games thus far.

Girls Top 21

1. Troy Athens (6-0): It will be a very interesting 2020 for the Red Hawks.

2. Southfield Arts and Tech (4-3): Warriors need someone besides McEvans, Worthy, and Willis to get it going.

3. West Bloomfield (5-2): Lakers suffered a tough loss to Ann Arbor Huron but they will be fine going forward.

4. Clarkston (5-2): Wolves closing the gap in the Red. They will be fine going forward.

5. Berkley (5-2): Bears loss to Rochester creates competition in the Blue with Rochester. I think Berkley is fine though moving forward.

6. Royal Oak (4-2): Ravens have lost two tough games. They should be fine going forward.

7. Oxford (4-2): Wildcats picked up a huge win over North Farmington to finish 2019 strong.

8. Lake Orion (2-2): Dragons came back from 17-3 down to lead Adams at one point. Says a lot about this team.

9. North Farmington (5-4): Raiders have lost four straight games. Not a good sign heading into 2020.

10. Avondale (3-4): Ah what happened to the Yellow Jackets at Carleton Airport on Friday night???

11. Adams (3-3): Highlanders have been a very odd team to figure out.

12. Troy (4-2): Rumors have been swarming, could Kendal Zeiter come back and play for the Colts???

13. Stoney Creek (2-4): Cougars have played a tough schedule, they’ll be fine going forward.

14. Rochester (2-4): Falcons have been battle tested lately.

15. Groves (2-4): Falcons have been competitive lately but didn’t look good against Waterford Mott.

16. Bloomfield Hills (4-4): Keelen Fife will be a name to watch for the Blackhawks in 2020.

17. Oak Park (3-2): Knights have been up and down lately.

18. Farmington (1-4): Falcons got their first win of the season last Friday night.

19. Ferndale (2-2): Eagles have been making some progress in developing a program.

20. Seaholm (2-3): Maples upset loss to Oak Park still has me baffled here.

21. Pontiac (0-4): The Phoenix have been blown out in three of their four games, not good.

Top Games (Boys)- Jan 2^nd thru 4^th

Farmington at North Farmington (Friday): The Falcons had a rough 70-29 blowout loss to Detroit Martin Luther King. The Raiders have been rolling without Bashir Jihad. This rivalry game has been interesting in the past, could it be again going forward.

Clarkston vs Flint Carman Ainsworth at Grand Blanc (5:15 PM, Saturday): This looks to be a good one between the Cavaliers and the Wolves. Clarkston bounced back behind Fletcher Loyer’s 42 point game against Roseville. Flint Carman Ainsworth is coming off a tough loss to Flint Beecher but they are talented as well. It will be a good one in Grand Blanc on Saturday.

Stoney Creek at Okemos (Friday): This will be a fun game over at Okemos. The Chieftains a very good scrappy team that should give the Cougars some trouble. They gave Ypsilanti Lincoln everything they could handle last week. Stoney Creek is going to need to bring their A game into Ingham County if they want to pull off the upset.

Bloomfield Hills at Detroit University-Detroit Jesuit (Friday): The Blackhawks will need to bounce back after losing two straight games however it will be a tall order as they head to Detroit University-Detroit Jesuit to take on the Cubs who is starting to click. The schedule in January is brutal for Bloomfield Hills so they need this one in the worst way.

Utica Eisenhower at Troy Athens (Friday): This is a big game for both teams as they try to get their seasons back on track. The Red Hawks are coming off a tough loss to Detroit Communication Media Arts while the Eagles are off to a tough start. It will be very interesting to see how things shape up in this game.

Oak Park vs Detroit Henry Ford at Muskegon (4 PM, Saturday): The Knights have a huge game looming on Saturday afternoon against Detroit Henry Ford. Oak Park had to survive last week winning 70-67 over Dayton Thurgood Marshall. Detroit Henry Ford had a really bad loss to Stoney Creek last week. They should provide a tough test to Coach Bobby Thompson’s team.

Pontiac at Clarkston (Thursday): The Phoenix and Wolves are two different teams. Although it hasn’t been the same as the rivalry days back in the 2000’s and 2010’s. It’s always nice to see Pontiac and Clarkston get together.

Top Games (Girls)- Jan 2nd thru Jan 4th

Troy Athens at Sterling Heights Stevenson (Friday): The Red Hawks put their unbeaten record against the Titans on Friday night. If Troy Athens plays like they did against Troy then expect more of the same in this game.

My Podcast
https://soundcloud.com/user-539915961/oaa-now-12-30-19