Welcome to the TCC

Whiteford’s Jake DuPree would have to score 28 more points than Eric Cogan does in their final TCC games to steal the league scoring title away from him.
Cogan has scored 311 points in league play and DuPree 284. Both have one game left.
However, in the Monroe County Region, DuPree has the lead (when you count all games) with 369 points and Cogan has 368.

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As promised, here’s the tale of the tape for Saturday’s game.
CLINTON
Record: 12-5
TCC: 12-2
Streak: Won 7 straight
Last loss: Jan. 31 to Whiteford
Points for (all games): 62.7 per game
Points vs. (all games): 48.8 per game
Points for (TCC games): 71.1
Points vs. (TCC games): 51.2
Top scorers: Nate Dreslinski (202 points overall, 178 in TCC); Nick Greenwood (256/221); Rylie Robinson (164/145); Rick Smith (181/161).
Free throws: 189-221, 64.9%
3 pointers: 41 overall, 35 in TCC games
Top 3-point shooter: Robinson has made 24.
Season scoring high: 82 vs. Whitmore Lake
You need to know: Clinton started the season 1-4 and has not won outside the TCC.
SUMMERFIELD
Record: 16-3
TCC: 13-2
Streak: Won 5 straight
Last loss: Feb. 9 to Clinton
Points for (all games): 66.3 per game
Points vs. (all games): 53.0 per game
Points for (TCC games): 68.9
Points vs. (TCC games): 53.6
Top scorers: Eric Cogan (368 points overall, 311 in TCC); Tayler Glass (144/120).
Free throws: 213-326. 65.3%
3 pointers: 42 overall, 35 in TCC games
Top 3-point shooter: Jake Gilstorff has made 12.
Single game scoring high: 93 vs. Whitmore Lake.
You need to know: Eric Cogan has led the Bulldogs in scoring in 15 of its 19 games. Entering the game, he is the No. 1 scorer in the TCC and No. 2 in the Monroe County Region (see above post).

Monroe Evening News sports writer Niles Kruger has covered girls basketball for about 20 years for The Evening News. On Sunday, he will host a live chat about the upcoming girls basketball District tournament. Log on to www.monroetalks.com/livechat to participate or read questions and answers.

Summerfield is really putting together an outstanding season under coach Chad Secor.
The 16 wins the Bulldogs have already rank the team among the winningest in Summerfield history:
1994-95: 19-3 (TCC champion)
1972-73: 18-4 (District champ)
1966-67: 18-1 (River Raisin Conference champion)
1990-91: 17-6
2008-09: 16-3
1998-99: 16-8 (District champ)
1973-74: 16-6 (District champ)
Prior to Summerfield High School, Petersburg High School won 16 games in 1946, 17 in 1931, 18 in 1930 and 20 in 1928.

Summerfield and Clinton took care of business last night and won their TCC games, setting up Saturday’s game to decide the league champion.
Clinton, don’t forget, has one additional game remaining. The Redskins host Sand Creek Tuesday in its final TCC game (they have a non-league game vs. Blissfield next week as well).
Clinton beat Morenci 74-66 last night.
Summerfield got 23 points from Eric Cogan in its 68-40 win over Deerfield.
Jake DuPree scored 19 as Whiteford defeated Sand Creek 60-47 to stay just a game back of first place.
Whitmore Lake is at Britton tonight.
TCC championship scenarios:
1. If Summerfield beats Clinton, it wins the TCC championship outright.
2. If Clinton beats Summerfield, the Redskins will clinch at least a share of the TCC title and can win it outright by beating Sand Creek on Tuesday.
3. If Clinton beats Summerfield and loses to Sand Creek and Whiteford beats Madison Tuesday, Whiteford, Clinton and Summerfield would share the TCC title.

4. If Clinton beats Summerfield but loses to Sand Creek and Whiteford loses to Madison Tuesday, Summerfield and Clinton will share the TCC.

After a lot of consideration, here are my choices as four faces from each TCC team that I would put on each team’s “Mount Rushmore.”
There’s a lot to consider, but here’s my criteria: The four players I think about first when I think of each team. There’s a ton of great players not on this list. When you have only four slots, its tough. I also decided not to include coaches, although Bart Bartles (Britton), Jim Hartley (Madison), Larry Bruce (Morenci), Charlie Risner (Sand Creek), Ron Estes (Summerfield) and John Rice (Whiteford) each would surely make the list if you were counting coaches.
Today, I’ll give you my choices for Britton, Deerfield, Madison, Morenci and Ann Arbor St. Thomas:

BRITTON: Brad Maska, Scott Frayer, Nick Ivan, Jordan Cowen.
Maska was the obvious choice here – he was one of the league’s best-ever players. Frayer was the Tories’ best in the 1980s while Ivan and Cowen both had a couple of great seasons.

DEERFIELD: Brian Tennant, Troy Soldwish, Thomas McMahon, Brian Seegert.
Tennant was a great scorer in the 1970s and Soldwish once scored 55 points in a non-league game. McMahon started nearly every game for four years and Seegert was as steady of a league player as any in history.

MADISON: B.J. Kenyon, Chase Mann, Curt Zubke, David VanCoppenolle.
Zubke was part of some of Jim Hartley’s great teams at Madison, VanCoppenolle was one of the league’s first great 3-point threats, Kenyon was All-State in 1986 and Mann was a point-guard extraordinaire for Coach Jeff Webster.

MORENCI: Zach Craig, Kirk Bruce, David Craig, Ramie Emmons.
Could be the toughest team to whittle the list down to four. Craig and his dad make the list, as do Bruce and Emmons who played together on some of the highest scoring teams in league history.

AA ST. THOMAS: Len Lillard, Bill Lucas, Mark Richard, Pat Gallagher.
St. Thomas (now Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard) has only three years in the league (1974-1976), but they dominated play, losing only once. Lillard and Lucas were All-State, Richard and Gallagher All-TCC.

Ok — before I move on to Sand Creek, Summerfield, Whiteford and Whitmore Lake — let me hear your picks for the above teams.

There are three TCC boys games tonight:
Clinton at Morenci: The Redskins have emerged as more than just a TCC contender, but a team with a real shot at winning the conference title.
Summerfield at Deerfield: The Bulldogs need the win at nearby Deerfield to keep pace in with Clinton. A win by both teams sets up a TCC showdown Saturday.
Whiteford at Sand Creek: The Bobcats face the same team they will open the District tournament against — on the same court.

While it’s a two-player race to be the top scorer in Monroe County Region, Eric Cogan is beginning to pull away in his bid to become Summerfield’s first TCC scoring champ since Jared Boll.
Jake DuPree (Whiteford) currently is the top scorer in the Monroe County Region, with an average of 19.4 points a game through 18 games (350 points). Summerfield’s Eric Cogan is second at 19.2 (345 points) and DuPree’s teammate Brandon Albright is third with an average of 18.9 points (16 games, 302 points).
The Monroe Evening News scoring list counts all games played.
In TCC games only, however, Cogan is pulling away from the Whiteford duo. With two games remaining, Cogan has scored 288 points, DuPree 265 and Albright 256. Madison’s Jamison Webster has only one TCC game left and has scored 257 points.
Whiteford plays Sand Creek and Madison while Summerfield has Clinton and Deerfield remaining.

The Summerfield-Clinton start time for Saturday will be 5 p.m. for the JV game.
The game had been given a 2 p.m. starting time, but that has changed.
Later this week, I’ll be back here with a game preview and matchup breakdown.

Whitmore Lake made 18 3-pointers Monday in its 80-64 win over Sand Creek.
That gives the Trojans 190 3-pointers in TCC games — easily a new single season TCC record for 3-pointers in a season.
WL has made 228 overall, which would rank it No. 2 in state history for most 3-pointers by a team if the MHSAA Boys Basketball Record Book (http://www.mhsaa.com/games/recbbb.html) is updated.
St. Ignace holds the state record with 253 triples in 2000-01.
Here are the top single season TCC teams in terms of 3-pointers made (counting league games only):
1. Whitmore Lake, 2008-09, 191 (2 games remaining)
2. Whitmore Lake, 2007-08, 170
3. Morenci, 2006-07, 120
4. Britton, 2000-01, 105
5. Britton, 1999-00, 91
6. Britton, 1998-99, 90
7. Deerfield, 1997-98, 89
8. Sand Creek, 2001-02, 84

On a related note, Monday was the fourth time that Whitmore Lake made 18 3-pointers in a TCC game (which is the TCC single game record).

They also did it vs. Whiteford on Jan. 28, 2008; vs. Deerfield on Jan. 12, 2009; vs. Morenci on Jan. 26, 2009.