To go along with the Mr. Basketball update from yesterday I
thought I would give a Michigan high school power rankings since most teams are
half way through the season. The
preseason favorites are still holding up quite nicely so far. However, the problem with the playoffs is
that they are broken up by location and not by trying to get the best
championship game. It is likely that the
best two teams in each class will meet before the semi-final round, which means
the regionals and quarterfinals will have some quality matchups.
Class A:
1. Detroit Pershing, 12-0
The Doughboys are led by a Division 1 laden back court of
Martez Walker and Khalil Felder. This is
the easy choice right now since Pershing has played one of the toughest
schedules and their record is still unblemished. Quality wins include Romulus, Detroit
Consortium, Detroit Community, Detroit Douglass, Detroit Southeastern, and
Flint Beecher. The only matchup they are
missing from that resume is Detroit Country Day.
2. Romulus, 8-1
The Eagles have been the preseason favorites each of the
past 3 seasons, but they have yet to bring home the trophy at the end of the
year. I personally think a lot of that
falls on their head coach. Romulus has
quality wins over Dearborn Heights Robichaud, Lansing Sexton, Detroit
Community, and Indianapolis Cathedral. If
the Eagles can finish their season with only 1 regular season loss they could
push for the number 1 spot again. They
have upcoming games against Detroit Country Day, Detroit Consortium, Rochester,
and Saginaw.
3. Arthur Hill, 11-0
The Lumberjacks are back folks, Saginaw High has been
dominating the basketball hotbed over the past few seasons but Arthur Hill will
be a state contender the next three seasons because of top sophomore Eric
Davis. While Hill hasn’t played nearly
the competition the top two have played to this point, they also haven’t lost
yet. On a side note, it is looking like
Arthur Hill has the clearest path to the state finals where they should meet
either Pershing or Romulus. A win over
Saginaw is the best victory so far, but the Lumberjacks still have to play at
Detroit Country Day and at Saginaw.
Honorable mention: Rochester Adams 9-0, Saginaw 12-1,
Detroit Southeastern 9-3, and Detroit Cass Tech 10-1
Class B:
1. Detroit Country Day, 10-2
The Yellow jackets took a backseat to Lansing Sexton the
past 2 seasons, but are back on top in 2012-13.
While the top end talent might not be the best Kurt Keener has had
during his time at DCD, but this team is extremely balanced. Country Day is led by Edmond Summer, Mory
Diane, and Poet Thomas. The two losses
have come at the hands of La Lumiere from Indiana and Detroit Consortium. The quality wins are Walled Lake Western and Southfield
Christian. The Yellow Jackets still have
games against Inter-City Baptist, Romulus, Orchard Lake St. Mary, Arthur Hill,
and Melvindale AB&T.
2. Godwin Heights, 9-0
The Wolverines are one of the best teams on the west side of
the state. So while they do not play the
gauntlet of schedule that the teams around them do, they are collecting
impressive wins at each stop. The
quality wins have come against Wayland, Tri-Unity Christian, and NorthPointe
Christian.
3. Harper Woods Chandler Park Academy, 8-3
CPA is led by future Wolverine Derrick Walton. While this might be the best team Chandler
Park has assembled, they lack a powerful post presence which will make their
matchup with Detroit Country Day in the regionals pretty difficult. The three losses have come against Detroit
Southeastern, Detroit Pershing, and Saginaw.
The quality wins are Detroit Cass Tech, Rochester, and Toledo Rogers. The remaining schedule is pretty favorable,
so look for CPA to finish with at most 4 losses in the regular season.
Honorable mention: Stevensville Lakeshore 9-0, Lansing
Sexton 6-2, Dearborn Heights Robichaud 6-2, and Dowagiac 9-1
Class C:
1. Detroit Consortium, 7-2
The Cougars might be the most talented team in the
state. Thy have played an extremely
tough schedule so far and have only lost twice.
They are led by Mr. Basketball contender Vincent Hunter and all world
freshman Josh Jackson. Consortium has
lost to Detroit Pershing and Evansville Harrison from Indiana. The quality wins have come against Detroit
Douglass, Hyde Park from Chicago, Toledo Scott, and Detroit Country Day. They
also have upcoming games against Romulus, Dearborn Heights Robichaud, and Detroit
Community.
2. Flint Beecher, 10-1
Monte Morris leads the Bucs for his 4th and final
season. I know Consortium is loaded with
talent, as they have been the past two years, but the Bucs are a solid team
with great leadership. Beecher is still
in a conference so their schedule is a little restricted for non-conference
opponents. Even still, the Bucs led
Detroit Pershing by 18 points until Khalil Felder went off. Beecher has good wins against Flint Powers
Catholic and Flint Northern.
3. Grandville Calvin Christian, 11-0
The Squires always seem to rack up a lot of regular season
wins and are near the top of the rankings, but they have struggled to get out
of regionals. Maybe this year will be
different? Calvin Christian has quality
wins over Grandville, Grand Rapids South Christian, Wyoming Tri-Unity Christian,
and Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian.
Honorable Mention: Muskegon Heights 9-1, Traverse City St.
Francis 11-0, Melvindale AB&T 6-0, and Detroit Loyola 6-2
Class D:
1. Allen Park Inter-City Baptist, 9-1
The Chargers have been near the top of the rankings for the
past few seasons, but they have ran into the eventual state champions early in
the post season. It is looking like
Inter-City is one of the favorites to make the finals this season. They have lost to Grosse Point University
Ligget, but have beat Southfield Christian.
The Chargers also have an upcoming game against Detroit Country Day that
should give a good litmus test.
2. Wyoming Tri-Unity Christian, 8-2
The Defenders are probably the most known Class D team in
the state. They are at it again this season.
Tri-Unity has lost to Grandville Calvin Christian and Wyoming Godwin
Heights. The Defenders have wins against
Jenison, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, and Hudsonville. Tri-Unity has some big strong post players
that could give the smaller, quicker east side teams some problems once they
meet at the Breslin.
3. Southfield Christian, 6-4
The defending Class D champions have had a rough year so
far, but once they start playing only other Class D teams in the tournament the
Eagles should be poised for another deep run.
They are led by sophomore point guard Bakari Evelyn who is starting to
get noticed by a lot of Division 1 schools.
Southfield Christian has lost to Southfield-Lathrup, Walled Lake
Western, Detroit Country Day, and Inter-City Baptist. The Eagles do have wins over Orchard Lark St.
Mary and Southfield.
Honorable Mention: Climax Scotts 10-0, Cedarville 10-1,
Frankfort 8-0, and Sacred Heart Academy 8-1
Statewide:
1. Detroit Pershing
2. Romulus
3. Detroit Consortium
4. Detroit Country Day
5. Saginaw Arthur Hill
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