Class A & B Semifinal Preview

The first day of semifinal games is half over, so why not look forward to tomorrow’s matchups.

Class A

Rockford (21-5)vs Romulus (22-3)

Rockford is the other Cinderella story here in this year’s semifinals.  They were able to knock off multiple teams that upset high ranked teams (Grand Haven beat Petosky, Okemos beat Lansing Eastern).  Rockford will play tough defense and will want this game to be low scoring.  Romulus is far more talented, with 3 players on the roster who are getting Division 1 looks.  Romulus’ biggest problem is themselves.  They have been one of the most talented teams in the entire state for the past 3 years, yet in the past they have choked in the playoffs.  The young coach, Nate Oats, lets the team get away from him when they hit some adversity.  Rockford has a chance to frustrate Romulus, but in the end EC Matthews and company win relatively easy.

L’Anse Creuse North (22-4) vs Saginaw (24-2)

This is another game where there is a heavy favorite.  Saginaw has been the team to beat so far this year in Class A.  It is not a normal Saginaw team, where they have a Mr. Basketball candidate and a bunch of athletic players for support.  This team goes 8 deep and each one of them could step up to score 15 points.  If someone is having a bad shooting night, they will simply rotate another guy in who will be on.  They started slowly against OLSM, but brought one player off the bench and he took over.  He knocked down 3 triples in the 2^nd quarter  to blow open the game.  L’Anse Creuse has been the underdog for the past 3 games, and will be for the semifinal as well.  So far they have been able to overcome the odds and advance.  They haven’t ran into a team like Saginaw yet though.  I like Saginaw and first year coach to move on, especially after Draymond Green called into their practice yesterday. 

Class B

Lansing Sexton (25-1) vs Detroit Country Day (21-5)

This should be the best semifinal game out of all 8.  They are arguably the best 2 teams in the state right now.  DCD has won their playoff games by an average of 30 points.  Sexton is not much behind them.  They both have a variety of college bound talent.  Both teams like a higher paced game, so I expect this one to be played in the 70s.  I think Sexton just has too much depth for DCD.  This is becoming one of the better rivalries in the state over the past few years.  The winner of this matchup has claimed the title the last 2 seasons, and this will likely make it 3.

Muskegon Heights (20-6) vs Stevensville Lakeshore (23-2)

This is Heights time of year, it seems like every year they are at the Breslin in March.  They have rode an easy playoff schedule to this point.  Stevensville (like Heights) played above average competition throughout the regular season, but that has continued in their playoff run.  This game should be a very interesting matchup with the style differences of these two teams.  Heights wants to push the ball and score 80, while Stevensville does not have the athletes for that.  They play great team defense and want the game to be in the 50s.  it will be exciting to see which style wins out.  Usually defense will be able to control the tempo of the game, but the athletes from Heights might overwhelm S-L too much.  I have seen Heights play Sexton too many times, so I am pulling for Stevensville in this one, but this game is a tossup. I definitely think it will be close.