May 6th, 2008 Doug Donnelly
Michigan Basketball Bulletin (link is on the right) had some kind words about Ida’s Nic Jobe recently, saying the senior-to-be “is a good athlete” and called him a “perfect fill-in-the-gaps role player” after a recent camp appearance.
Jobe is playing on the Mustangs AAU team. I’d like to hear from other Monroe County region prep basketball players who are playing AAU basketball this spring/summer. What teams are you playing on? Who’s coaching? Drop me an e-mail to doug@monroenews.com or post in the comments here.
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March 13th, 2008 Doug Donnelly
FIRST QUARTER Richard’s first bucket came :26 seconds into the game. Guess who hit the triple? Josh Herbeck, the same Herbeck who made four 3’s vs. Dundee, four 3’s vs. SMCC and eight 3’s vs. Whiteford in the District/Regionals. It’s 5-3 Richard after Akunne scores on a fadeaway.Jeff Lemanski hits three. It’s 8-3 Richard, 5:07 left first quarter.Akunne has six points. It’s 12-11 Richard, minute left in opening stanza.End of first quarter. Kalamazoo Christian leads 13-12.SECOND QUARTER:Akunne hits 3-pointer. Irish lead 22-18. Akunne has 12 points. Three minutes left in half.Comets have a 26-24 lead. Akunne has 14 for Irish, but Comets have regained a lead late in half.Halftime: AA Richard 27, Kalamazoo Christian 26. Akunne has 14 points and six rebounds. Jeff Lemanski has 6 points, Herbeck 5. Another halftime note: K-Christian’s 6-foot-8 Stephen Gould has two points.THIRD QUARTER:About to start.Comets have made 7 three-pointers. Score tied at 29.Comets hit another three-pointer. They lead 32-29. Timeout Richard, just about midway through quarter.34-29 Comets. Ties biggest lead of game.Akunne scores five points. Irish miss layup chance, Comets come back and score. It’s 41-34 with two minutes left in third quarter.End of third: K-Christian leads 41-36. Akunne is only player from either team in double figures with 19. But, eight Comets have scored and they have hit 9 3-pointers.NOTE: Last time the Irish were in the semifinals, they came back from 20 points down to start the fourth quarter to win.FOURTH QUARTER:Around six minutes left, three-point Comet lead.Two-point game. Akunne has 21.Herbeck just picked up fourth foul. Comets lead 42-40Akunne makes pair of free throws, 46-44 game (Comets lead). Akunne has 24. 2:30 left in game.Just over two minutes remaining, Comet ball, they lead. Trying to go to 25-1.Akunne again scores. 48-46, Comets still lead. 1:30 left.Less than a minute remaining. K-Christian at the free throw line. Miss, but grab offensive rebound. Back to the line for K-Christian. They are up 50-46 with :44 left. Irish miss three-pointer, K-Christian grabs rebound and they lead, with ball. Thirty-two seconds left.Akunne scores again — he’s got 29. It’s 50-48 Comets up, :16 seconds left. Timeout.K-Christian makes two free throws. 52-48. 14 seconds left.FINAL SCORE: Kalamazoo Christian 54, Richard 48. Akunne had 29 for the Irish, but no one else reached double figures. Great season for them and, remember, nearly everyone on the team will be back next year.
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March 13th, 2008 Doug Donnelly
Most media sources are saying Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard has one state basketball championship to its credit. That’s only partially true. Gabriel Richard was Ann Arbor St. Thomas until the mid-1970s. As St. Thomas, the Irish won state titles in 1933 and 1974. The 1974 team was a member of the Tri-County Conference. The Irish beat Whiteford in the Regional. Sound familiar? The Irish beat the Bobcats in this year’s Regional. … Could be a sign. The 1991 team won the Class D state title. It was known by Gabriel Richard by then.
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March 13th, 2008 Doug Donnelly
Wish there were some Monroe County Region teams in this year’s state semifinals. There’s not. But here’s a look at the pairings. They are about to start.
Semifinals
CLASS A
East Lansing (18-8) vs. Saginaw (25-1), Friday, 1 p.m.
Detroit Pershing (21-4) vs. Romulus (22-3), Friday, 2:50 p.m.
CLASS B
Menominee (21-3) vs. Lansing Catholic (21-4), Friday, 6 p.m.
Flint Powers Catholic (19-7) vs. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern (24-2), Friday, 7:50 p.m.
CLASS C
Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard (21-5) vs. Kalamazoo Christian (24-1), Thursday, 1 p.m.
Negaunee (25-0) vs. Flint Beecher (18-7), Thursday, 2:50 p.m.
CLASS D
Muskegon Western Michigan Christian (22-3) vs. Cedarville (25-0), Thursday, 6 p.m.
Lawrence (23-1) vs. Detroit City (20-4), Thursday, 7:50 p.m.
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March 11th, 2008 Doug Donnelly
Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard beat Melvindale ABT 75-72 in overtime tonight. They advance to the semifinals.
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March 11th, 2008 Doug Donnelly
The Class C state tournament is the most wide open of any of the four classes at this point. All four quarterfinal games look like good matchups.Here’s an interesting note: Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard, which eliminated three Monroe County Region teams during its District (Dundee, SMCC) and Regional (Whiteford) run has played several teams that are still alive in the tournament. They include Orchard Lake St. Mary (19-5 an in Class A quarterfinal); Detroit Community (17-7, in Class B quarterfinal) and Flint Powers Catholic (17-7 and still alive in Class B quarterfinals). Richard lost to all three but playing that level of competition had to help it get where it is tonight. I think they could win a state championship for Coach Pete Schoch.
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March 5th, 2008 Doug Donnelly
ADRIAN — Whiteford was hit with two storms Wednesday.
First, snow kept the Bobcats out of school. Then, the shooting storm from Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard knocked Whiteford out of the state tournament.
Whiteford’s season came to an abrupt halt Wednesday as the 21-4 Bobcats fell to a legitimate Class C state title contender, Gabriel Richard, 72-46. The Bobcats fell behind early and never led the 20-5 Fighting Irish. The closest the Bobcats came was 3-2 deficit with 5:49 left in the first quarter. From then on, it was nearly all green for Whiteford.
In fact, seasoned sophomore Josh Herbeck and veteran junior Eso Akunne outscored the Bobcats by themselves. Herbeck made eight three-pointers and scored 30 points while Akunne added 27 markers. Akunne passed the 1,000-point career mark in the first quarter.
Herbeck was great, canning three-pointers like they were layups. The 6-2 guard opened the game’s scoring with a triple, hit another a minute later and had another before the first quarter ended. He opened the second quarter with, you guessed it, another 3-pointer and nailed his fifth first-half trey with 2:05 remaining in the first half as the Irish extended a 22-10 first quarter lead to 44-22 at the half.
Whiteford had no answer for outside shooting of Herbeck or the inside game of Akunne.
Akunne — First Team All-State according to Michigan High School Bulletin — scored a dozen points in the second half before exiting the game midway through the final period. Richard his 11 3-pointers as a team.
Whiteford, which won 20 games for just the third time in school history, was attempting to win its first ever Regional championship. Richard advances to the Class C quarterfinal at Whitmore Lake Tuesday.
During its tournament run this year, the Irish have eliminated three Monroe County region schools: Dundee, St. Mary Catholic Central and Whiteford.
Josh DuPree scored 11 points to share game-high honors for the Bobcats with senior Joel Bunge, who played a steady game with six rebounds and three assists. Dave Gust, the Bobcats’ second-leading scorer, was held below double figures for just the second time this season. He did lead Whiteford with 14 rebounds.
The Bobcats started five seniors in DuPree, Bunge, Gust, Kevin Fischer and Cody McCartney. Jake DuPree was the only underclassman with significant playing time until late in Wednesday’s game. Senior Greg Keeling also played his final game for the Bobcats.
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March 5th, 2008 Doug Donnelly
Whiteford’s game is a little more than two hours away. I’m headed to Adrian soon to watch. Check back later for a score and some info. It might be on the radio — 1600 AM (WAAM). Ann Arbor Richard’s semifinal game against Hanover Horton was broadcast on that station.
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March 5th, 2008 Doug Donnelly
Here are some pre-game notes for the Whiteford-Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard game:
Game notes:
Whiteford (21-3) vs. Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard (19-5)
6:30 p.m.
Class C Regional final
At Adrian Madison High School
WIN STREAK: Whiteford enters Wednesday’s game on a five-game win streak. … Richard has won its past nine games, including the Catholic League playoff tournament.
COACHES: Brad Stevens is 60-48 and is in his 5th season at Whiteford. … Pete Schoch is in his third year and is 51-18 for Ann Arbor Richard.
BACK-TO-BACK: Richard is in the Regional final for the second consecutive year. It also has won three consecutive Catholic League tournament championships.
ALL-STATE: The Michigan High School Basketball Bulletin (formerly www.bankhoops.com) has released its Class C All-State team. Tonight’s game features several players from that list, including a pair of first-teamers:
First Team: Eso Akunne (AA Richard)
First Team: Josh DuPree (Whiteford)
Eighth Team: Dave Gust (Whiteford)
Ninth Team: Josh Herbeck (AA Richard)
MORE POST-SEASON HONORS: Josh DuPree was named one of the Top 25 players in the area by The (Toledo) Blade.
TOP SCORERS: Josh DuPree and Dave Gust finished 1-2 in the TCC scoring race. It is the first time in TCC history that two players from the same team finished 1-2 in scoring. It is also the first time in Whiteford history that two Bobcats have scored more than 400 points (all games) in the same season. Gust enters the game with 470 points while DuPree has 497.
20 WINS: Whiteford has reached 20 wins for just the third time in school history. The 1982-83 team, which current Bobcat coach Brad Stevens played on, went 20-2. The 2002-03 Whiteford team went 23-1.
POINTS: Whiteford enters tonight’s game averaging 72.0 points a game. The Bobcats have scored 1,729 points – 24 off the team’s single season record.
POLL: Whiteford appeared in all eight Class C Associated Press polls this season, including a high of No. 6 on Jan. 22. They were ranked No. 17 – the lowest of the season – in the final poll on Feb. 26.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES: Dave Gust leads Whiteford in double-doubles this season with 12. Cody McCartney has five.
TOP SCORER: Only three different players have led Whiteford in scoring this year: Josh DuPree (13), Dave Gust (10) and Jake DuPree (1). Jake’s 18 point effort was in the District semifinal. For Richard, only Josh Herbeck (13) and Eso Akunne (12 – they tied once) have led the team in scoring in an individual game.
REGIONAL FINALS: Whiteford is appearing in just its second Regional final ever. The previous final was in 1986 when the Bobcats were beaten by 24-0 Concord, 66-55. The Bobcats entered that game 10-13, fresh off beating 20-2 Camden Frontier.
REGIONAL FINALS II: Richard has won six Regional championships in its history – all Class D. They were in 1997, 1991, 1990, 1988, 1974 and 1924. The 1974 and 1991 teams won state championships. Last season, Richard lost in the Regional finals to Detroit Community.
1,000 POINTS: Whiteford’s Josh DuPree has 1,231 career points. That ranks him second on the all-time school scoring list behind Eddie Sharpe (1,693) and ahead of Brad Nieman (1,208). He ranks ahead of his father, Everett, who scored 1,072 points in his career. Josh’s career high is 40 points (vs. Whitmore Lake).
1,000 POINTS: Irish junior Eso Akunne has 992 career points entering tonight’s game for Richard. He is trying to become the sixth Richard player (including Ann Arbor St. Thomas) player to reach that level. The list includes Len Lillard (1,442 career points), Rex Stanczak (1,289 points), Bull Lucas, Carl Pickett and Michael Wagner.
800 POINTS: Irish sophomore Josh Herbeck has 807 career points in his 49 career games.
700 POINTS: Dave Gust has 765 career points, ranking him No. 16 on the school’s all-time scoring list – one place behind Bobcat coach Brad Stevens on the school scoring list. His career high is 33 (vs. Britton). … Gust has averaged 22 points a game over the last 12 games and missed double figures once this year – when he scored 9 points vs. Deerfield.
ALL-TIME SERIES: Richard and Whiteford have met five times in school history, including once in a Regional. Richard (then Ann Arbor St. Thomas) beat Whiteford three times during the 1973-74 season, including 77-62 in the Regional semifinals. The Bobcats beat the Irish in 1979 and the Irish beat Whiteford in the first regular season game of the 2003-04 season.
FORMER CONFERENCE FOES: When Richard was Ann Arbor St. Thomas (the switch was made in 1977-78), it was in the Tri-County Conference (TCC). Whiteford has been in the TCC since 1975. The teams were only in the league one year together. St. Thomas went 33-1 in its three seasons, winning three league titles.
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March 4th, 2008 Doug Donnelly
One of the chapters in the 2008 Monroe County Region boys basketball reference guide (still on sale!) is on local teams to reach the quarterfinals.
Amazingly, only 13 teams in region boys basketball history have claimed Regional titles. Dundee is the last region team to do it, winning a Class C Regional in 1988 and advancing to the semifinals.
Prior to that, Erie Mason’s 1973 Regional title was the most recent. Dundee (1971), Dundee (1970), Monroe (1964), Dundee (1963), Milan (1945, 1947, 1948), Monroe (1940), Dundee (1937, 1938), South Rockwood (1936) and Petersburg (1928) are the only region teams to win Regionals.
So, Whiteford will be gunning to become the first region team in 20 years and just the second in 35 years to win a Regional when it takes on Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Adrian Madison.
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