Evening News photos by TOM HAWLEY
SMCC’s students, the “Catholic Crazies” cheer for the television camera’s at the quarterfinal game at Bangor High School. (Click image for more photos)
St. Mary Catholic Central beat Schoolcraft 71-62 Tuesday night to advance to the Class C state semifinals Thursday. The contest begins at 1 p.m. at Michigan State University.
We will be providing live coverage of the game that will include updates, photos and video. Follow the live blog below. To engage in conversation, ask questions or simply cheer on the Falcons, type in the reply box!
Good luck SMCC!
TWITTER: mdrabek1
Photo by Tom Hawley; interview after the game.
Game stats
SMCC points: Nwosu 10, Sherman 10, Albright 4, Windham 10, Woodson 15, Kegerreis 6
Beecher points: Phifier 14, Lucas 6, Pettes 6, Morris 29, Cooper 12, Wright 2, Hurd 2, Mickels 2
The Falcons fall 73-55. What a great state run. Congratulations, SMCC and what a fabulous season!
Sam O’Lear, Kyle Heller, Travis Vuich and Nick Burman can now say they played in the state semifinals
The crowd chants “Thank you seniors”
Randy Windham empties his bench. The starters get a nice hand from the SMCC fans.
54.3 Beecher 67-55
Woodson up for two, assist by Nwosu. Time out Falcons.
Sherman good for two. With 1:13 left, Beecher leads 66-53
1:32 Beecher 66-51
Foul on Beecher. Windham to the line. He misses the first. He makes the second.
1;49 left, Beecher 66-50
Foul on Albright. Beecher to the free throw line.
Woodson tips one in. SMCC trails 64-50 with 2 minutes left in the game
Beecher 64-48, 2:35 left
Foul on Beecher. Woodson to the free throw line. He misses the first.
Windham scores to make it 60-47, Beecher. There is 4:10 left in the game.
Nwosu good for two. SMCC still trails 58-45
Beecher 58, SMCC 43 6:07 left
Woodson scored 7 points in the third quarter and now leads SMCC with 10. Sherman has 8
End of three quarters: Beecher 54, SMCC 41
Windham good for two.
Mr. Basketball goes up for a dunk to put Beecher at a 54-39 lead.
The SMCC fans are chanting “boring” as Beecher stalls with the basketball.
Woodson good for two. Beecher 52, SMCC 39 with 2:00 left in the third quarter.
Foul on Beecher as Windham goes up for a shot. Bryce heads to the foul line. He makes the first.
Woodson for two. SMCC still trails 52-36
VIDEO: Third quarter play
http://www.blogsmonroe.com/sports/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/IMG_0037.mov
Sherman has 8 points and 7 rebounds
Time out Beecher. The Bucs still lead 52-31 with 4:16 left in the third quarter.
Nwosu for two. The Falcons still trail 48-27 with 5:30 left in the third
Second quarter photo by Tom Hawley
Horribe start to the second half. The Falcons trail 48-25
Time out SMCC.
Monte Morris is really good. I can see why he is Mr. Basketball
Beecher scores to take a 44-25 lead at the beginning of the second half.
The second half has started
Our fellow sports reporter Jeff Meade is roaming the SMCC crowd gathering information for a sidebar to put in tomorrow’s paper. He is currently sitting with SMCC football coach Jack Giarmo. Good work, Jeff!
Beecher has taken the court for halftime warm-up. The clock says 2:45 until game time.
The official scorekeeper must be tougher than me. They have SMCC with 12 turnovers.
Each team has 14 rebounds. Sherman has 5 and Albright 4 for SMCC.
If you have any questions or comments, please post them. Megan and I will do our best to answer.
Halftime scoring for Beecher: Morris 15, Phifier 10, Cooper 9, Lucas 4, Pettes 2.
Halftime scoring for SMCC: Justin Kegerreis 6 on a pair of 3-pointers, Nwosu, Albright, Windham and Sherman 4 each and Woodson 3.
I will post photos of the second quarter momentarily.
SMCC doesn’t look all that nervous playing on the big stage, they simply aren’t accustomed to the type of speed Beecher posseses. The Falcons have 10 turnovers at halftime. That is very uncharacteristic.
And Beecher scores again. Score is 40-25, FB
Beecher scores for two.
Albright for two. Beecher still leads 36-22 with 1 minute left to play in the first half.
Woodson still has not scored, but he is battling some tough luck. Several shots have gone in and out, including a 3-pointer moments ago. It’s 34-20 Beecher with 1:51 left in the half.
(Photo by Tom Hawley)
(Photo by Tom Hawley)
Sherman score for the Falcons. SMCC still trails.
Key call as the officials whistle Windham for an offensive foul after he hit a circus shots. The Falcons lost two points and the ball
Time out called by Beecher. SMCC trails 30-18 with 3:46 left in the second quarter.
Albright fouls for the Falcons. Beecher at the free throw line. He makes the first shot. Nwosu subs in for the Falcons. Beecher makes the second shot.
Windham gets an offensive foul. Beecher has possession. Score is still 28-18, FB
Jump ball. SMCC has possession. The Falcons throw it away. Beecher leads 28-18
Kegerreis sinks a three-pointer. SMCC still trails 28-18 with 5:20 left in the 2nd
Beecher scores to take a 28-15 lead
Both teams record a field goal. Beecher still leads 25-15 with 6:20 left in the 2nd
The second quarter just started. Beecher has possession.
End of one quarter: Beecher 23, SMCC 12
Monte Morris leads Beecher with 8, including a fall-away 3-pointer to end the first quarter.
I will be uploading photos of the first quarter momentarily.
SMCC first quarter scoring: Nwosu and Windham 4 each, Albright and Sherman 2. Woodson has yet to score.
Beecher at the free throw line. The Falcons still trail 20-12 with 35 seconds left in the first.
Flint Beecher has taken the lead. The score is 19-12 with 1 minute left in the first quarter
Nwosu ties up up the game. Beecher responds with a field goal. Beecher leads 14-12
Two baskets from each team results in a 12-10 game, Beecher leading.
Beecher sinks another three to take the lead. FB 10, SMCC 8 with 2:38 left in the first
Beecher sinks a three to make it 8-7.
SMCC leads 8-4 with 3 left in the first. It looks like the Falcons are shutting down Mr. Basketball early in the game.
SMCC is still in the lead with 4:06 left in the first. Beecher just fouled. Windham at the line. He makes the first. He sinks the second.
FB is at the free throw line. Albright gets the foul for SMCC. The Falcons still lead 6-4
Bryce Windham scores for the Falcons. SMCC is in the lead 6-2
SMCC takes the lead, score is 4-2
SMCC ties it up with a basket from Bradley Sherman. Score is 2-2
FB leads 2-0 witha dunk with 7:30 left in the first quarter.
Beecher will start Mr. Basketball Monte Morris along with Jalen Pettes (5-10, sr), Emmanuel Phifier (6-1, jr.), Eric Cooper (6-0, sr.) and Markell Lucas (6-4, sr.)
No changes in the SMCC starting lineup. It will be Bryce Windham, Chinedu Nwosu, Kevin Woodson, Jeff Albright and Brad Sherman.
The clock says 9 minutes until tip-off.
VIDEO: SMCC warming up. Game time in 10 minutes
http://www.blogsmonroe.com/sports/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/IMG_0032.mov
VIDEO: SMCC fans cheer before the game!
http://www.blogsmonroe.com/sports/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/IMG_0030.mov
Our team has arrived at Michigan State’s Breslin Center for St. Mary Catholic Central’s Class C state semi-final game against Flint Beecher. I will be doing the game story, Jeff Meade is talking to fans for a story on Page 1A, Tom Hawley is taking pictures and Megan Drabek is coordinating our web coverage. Keep following this blog for all of the latest information and photos.
The teams are out on the court warming up for the game. Our seats on press row are literally four feet from the floor. Megan and I will have to pay close attention. We could get hit by a loose ball or a flying player.
Go FALCONS! I’m an ’87 grad living out in Tempe, AZ – I will be looking forward to following the game on this feed – Make us proud boys…
Woodson only has 3 pts? What is going on?
Photos look awesome! Great job!