LSJ Blogs: Get Prepped

Out with the old, in with the new ...

Every December the LSJ prints its top stories of the year for each section. There will be some high school presence in the top sports stories, of course. But for my final post of 2010, here are my top 10 high school stories for the year. 

A few entries have multiple storylines grouped into one by subject so I could include more newsmakers total. And since I'm sure I'm forgetting something, feel free to let me know about it below. 

10. Noeker goes for four -- With individual state titles in both hurdles races, the 100 and 200, Pewamo-Westphalia's Cory Noeker nearly carried his team to the Division 4 track state title. The Pirates finished second by just three points, despite his earning 40 by himself. 

9. Comets three-peat -- Grand Ledge gymnastics won again, and again, and again. The Comets won their third-straight team state title by just more than a point over Farmington, and the next day Alexis Byington won her second-straight Division 1 individual all-around championship. 

8. Eagles fly -- The Olivet softball team, a year after pulling out of the state tournament because it had totaled too many regular-season competition points, came back to win the Division 3 state championship. Chelsea Sundberg was named the Miss Softball winner as the state's top pitcher. 

7. Earth-Quakers -- The Eastern boys basketball team continued its fast rise among the state's elite by winning its first league title since 1991 and posting its best season overall arguably since 1980-81. LaDontae Henton was named all-state for the third straight season. 

6. Redwings take down D2 -- St. Johns won its first wrestling state championship, by a point over Allegan in Division 2, and it was also its first team state title in any sport since 1926. Taylor Massa continued his perfect run through high school wrestling with his second-straight individual crown. 

5. Firsts at Ford -- Football still rules the high school sports landscape, so although Williamston and Olivet didn't win state titles this fall, their first-ever runs to the state finals at Ford Field were huge news in communities heavily involved in their high schools' athletics. 

4. Big Red Run -- Sexton made good on years of expectations with its first state semifinal run since 1972, and then first state championship game appearance since 1960. The Big Reds lost to Detroit Country Day in the final. Over the summer, junior point guard Denzel Valentine accepted a scholarship offer from Michigan State. 

3. Yellowjackets sting -- Ithaca also made its first football state final appearance this fall, but gets its own heading after defeating Monroe St. Mary Catholic for the Division 6 state title. The championship was the first for a mid-Michigan football team since Grand Ledge won in Division 1 in 2000. 

2. O'Keefe hits four digits -- Grand Ledge baseball coach Pat O'Keefe continued to add to his legendary career by going over 1,000 wins. He became only the second baseball coach in the state and 12th nationwide to do so. 

1. Home team brings it home -- The East Lansing girls basketball team capped a four-year run that began with its first quarterfinal appearance and included a state runner-up finish by winning its first state title -- 65-54 over Detroit Renaissance at the Breslin Center, just a few miles from the Trojans' home court. Senior Klarissa Bell was named the state's Miss Basketball. 

Honorable mentions: Six more area state champions brought home the big MHSAA trophies, including the Lansing Catholic girls and DeWitt boys golf teams (all five Lansing Catholic golfers finished among the individual top 10), the Holt girls bowling team (mid-Michigan's first-ever bowling state champ), the Pewamo-Westphalia cheer and girls track teams, and the Okemos girls lacrosse team, which won its second straight and is 54-0 over those two seasons. The Okemos girls water polo team won its championship as well (it is not an MHSAA sport). Also, Portland St. Patrick girls basketball coach Al Schrauben recently won his 500th game, joining just six others in his sport.

Basketball: Final Buzzer -- 12/17/10

Mid-Michigan couldn't have asked for more excitement on the final full hoops night for 2010. Here's a look at the highlights and updated LSJ rankings as 2010 comes to a close and "Get Prepped" takes a break until 2011. 

THREE POINTER

1. Boys: Okemos 79, Eastern 57 -- This switches the favorite in the CAAC Blue and continues an excellent start for the Chieftains. 

2. Boys: Sexton 65, Waverly 51 -- The Big Reds are not only arguably the best team in mid-Michigan, but with this win definitely in the driver's seat in the CAAC Red. 

3. Girls: Bath 34, Laingsburg 33 (from Thursday) -- This is the latest indication the Bees could follow up their history-making volleyball season with a CMAC girls basketball championship. 

Game ball: Another huge Okemos win, but we'll go with more of a supporting Chieftain. Junior center Taylor Moton is one of the players who must come up big to take some of the pressure off Okemos' oustanding guard tandem. He had 23 points against the Quakers. 

Upset alert: Ovid-Elsie girls 44, Freeland 40 -- The Marauders are hoping for their first winning season since 1993, and Freeland is a TVC Central favorite -- although it was missing Michigan State commit Tori Jankoska in this one. 

WOW factor: St. Johns girls 59, Jackson Northwest 36 -- The Redwings are definitely contenders again in the CAAC Red after beating a Northwest team with four starters back after winning 20 games last season. 

Three more that caught my eye:

1. Boys: Bath 52, Laingsburg 48 -- The top half of the CMAC is strong, but Bath now has the upper hand among those chasing favorite Fulton. 

2. Girls: Portland 38, Williamston 28 -- The Raiders handed the Hornets their first loss while holding onto the top spot in the CAAC White. 

3. Boys: Maple Valley 53, Kalamazoo Christian 30 -- If the Lions do some big things this winter, you heard it here first. Kalamazoo Christian is frequently a power, but Maple Valley has a powerful exchange student in 6-7 Otto Von Schwerdtner (12 points, 15 rebounds). 

State Journal rankings

GIRLS

Class A-B: 1. East Lansing, 2. DeWitt, 3. Waverly, 4. Grand Ledge, 5. Portland, 6. St. Johns, 7. Holt, 8. Okemos, 9. Williamston, 10. Haslett.

Class C-D: 1. Bath, 2. Pewamo-Westphalia, 3. Laingsburg, 4. Lansing Christian, 5. Portland St. Patrick, 6. Dansville, 7. Morrice, 8. Potterville, 9. Ithaca, 10. Fowler. 

BOYS

Class A-B: 1. Okemos, 2. Sexton, 3. Eastern, 4. Lansing Catholic, 5. East Lansing, 6. Holt, 7. Waverly, 8. Williamston, 9. St. Johns, 10. Haslett. 

Class C-D: 1. Fulton, 2. Bath, 3. Pewamo-Westphalia, 4. Laingsburg, 5. Portland St. Patrick, 6. Maple Valley, 7. Ithaca, 8. Dansville, 9. Lansing Christian, 10. Leslie. 

Week of Wrestling

It's December, so we're still about two months out from the most significant matches of the season. But a few results from Wednesday night may tell a story of what's to come.

Reigning Division 2 state champion St. Johns beat Mason 57-9 and Holt 49-19 -- incredible, considering not only that Mason and Holt are annually state powers, but as usual also ranked again this season.

Also, DeWitt downed Corunna, which is always strong and beat Portland in its other match during this double-dual.

We'll be at Saturday's Lansing Wrestling Officials Association Bill Allen Classic at Eastern, which features 18 area teams including Grand Ledge, Eaton Rapids, DeWitt, Williamston, Fowlerville and Portland. The big three mentioned above won't be there, but regardless, the winner of this tournament will feel pretty good about its chances when league duals get going in 2011.

March of Champions

Getting something together for the end of the year, I was taken a bit by surprise by this fact: Of 29 sports with state finals run by the MHSAA, mid-Michigan teams won titles in 11 sports, plus a 12th in non-MHSAA girls water polo.

Another impressive fact: The MHSAA has 15 girls sports, and area girls teams won state titles in eight during 2010.

Maybe they're not, but both on first impression seemed like especially strong showings for this area.

To refresh your memory, here's a rundown:

St. Johns wrestling

Holt girls bowling

Pewamo-Westphalia competitive cheer

Grand Ledge gymnastics

East Lansing girls basketball

Pewamo-Westphalia girls track

Okemos girls water polo

DeWitt boys golf

Okemos girls lacrosse

Olivet softball

Lansing Catholic girls golf

Ithaca football

Basketball: Final Buzzer -- 12/14/10

Compared to some of the big games coming up later this week, Tuesday's slate wasn't much. But as with every night of hoops season, there are always some great stories, and this one had its few as well. 

THREE POINTER

1. Boys: Okemos 77, Lansing Catholic 74 (2 OT) -- Two teams with tons of depth needed all of it in this chess match between outstanding coaches. 

2. Girls: Portland St. Patrick 44, Dansville 37 -- Make that 499 career wins and counting for Shamrocks coach Al Schrauben. 

3. Boys: Eastern 91, Williamston 60 -- There are the Quakers we know, and wow, against a strong Williamston team. 

Game ball: I prefer not to repeat on these, but it's impossible not to give it again to Okemos junior guard Chris Harrison-Docks after what I just saw. Not only does he put up 35 points, including almost all of them during the fourth quarter and two overtimes. But he won the game on a 25-foot 3-pointer that Lansing Catholic basically dared him to shoot in the closing seconds. Ball didn't spin a bit -- just fell through the net. That's about as good as it gets. 

Upset alert: Again, we're still figuring out what's an upset this season. But I think the Dansville boys have some potential, and Portland St. Patrick beat them 55-35. 

WOW factor: The 91 points by Eastern is pretty incredible. Williamston is going to contend in the CAAC White and could make some noise in Class B. But the Quakers came back in a big way after Saturday's close loss to Sexton. 

Three more that caught my eye:

1. Boys: East Lansing 83, Grand Ledge 64 -- Last week the Trojans scored 90 on Saline, and it's obvious this team can put up some points. 

2. Girls: Okemos 45, Lansing Catholic 36 -- Both of these teams are expected to do some good things this season, and the Chieftains have played really well at the start. 

3. Boys: Haslett 54, Mason 53 -- The Vikings are in the driver seat, already, in the CAAC Gold. That should make this an OK loss for the Bulldogs, even if disappointing because they came so close. 

Final five from the game I covered: Okemos 77, Lansing Catholic 74 (2 OT)

1. The ending was just bizarre. These two had attacked each other basically from the opening tip, and for Okemos to finish by holding the ball for 2 minutes while the Cougars sat back in a zone was something I hadn't seen in a while. It was one of those moments where you almost start laughing out of disbelief and anticipation of what will happen to break the stalemate. And then Harrison-Docks bombed that shot, and that just made it all the more incredible.

2. He said something I really liked because I guess you just don't hear high school players say this a lot about their coaches: "I just believe in everything Coach (Dan) Stolz says. He’s a great guy, he’s always been here for me throughout my career here at Okemos, so anything he says goes. If people are arguing with that, then they’ve got a problem with me, because Coach Stolz is my guy. I love him to death."

3. The best part of some of these games is watching the coaches counter each other, especially after watching both Stolz and Lansing Catholic's Darren Zwick for about a decade. You can't blame Zwick for giving Harrison-Docks that shot -- he was definitely hurting the Cougars off the dribble. We should focus instead on how Lansing Catholic came back after trailing all but a few minutes of regulation. I'm sure they won't lose many this winter. 

4. The big question about Okemos is who in the frontcourt will at least partially balance Harrison-Docks and senior shooting guard Mack McKearney. We might've seen part of the answer. Junior 6-5 center Taylor Moton had 10 points and five rebounds and junior 6-4 forward Jackson Miller had nine points and seven boards. Senior 6-5 forward Pat Garnett had eight points. All will be key if the Chieftains are to keep running with these top teams, and with Eastern up next. 

5. It's amazing how many pieces Lansing Catholic can maneuver around in the line-up. The one thing the Cougars don't yet have is a true full-time post. But a lot of teams would love to have 6-2 senior "center" Andrew Robeson, who had 14 points in this game and takes on any one, any size. 

Wait 'til next year ...

Why wait? With our all-area football honors in Sunday's paper, here's a quick look at some of the players who might be the stars in 2011.

Remember, these are only a few, and not necessarily who we'll choose as preseason all-area next fall. But they certainly made an impression this season.

QB Cooper Rush, Lansing Catholic -- Put up huge numbers in guiding Lansing Catholic to its best season in decades.

QB Brendon Smith, Leslie -- Threw for 2,107 yards and ran for 941 in his second year starting, and he's got one more coming up.

QB Jalen Brady, Grand Ledge -- You probably haven't heard of him yet. You will.

QB Lydell Trainor, Eastern -- Even if he doesn't end up at this spot, wherever he is, you'll know who he is.

RB Saylor LaVallii, Mason -- Led mid-Michigan with 1,807 yards rushing this fall and will be a significant all-state candidate.

RB Andrew Mullikin, St. Johns -- Speedy fullback ran for more than 1,000 yards in St. Johns' T formation.

RB Anthony Goodman, Sexton -- Could be the next great Big Reds back with the graduations of Dominique Hoyle and Onaje Miller.

WR Matt Macksood, Lansing Catholic -- Runner/receiver threat is the way early favorite for Offensive Player of the Year 2011.

WR Efe Scott-Emuakpor, East Lansing -- Combination of speed and leaping ability makes him a solid college prospect with a ton of catches over the last two seasons.

WR Kyle Bryson, Leslie -- All-state as a junior and should put up incredible numbers with another year catching from all-area quarterback Brendon Smith.

WR Tanner McCarn, Olivet -- State final standout will have a new quarterback but provide a reliable target for whoever takes over.

WR Mike Schutt, Owosso -- Another receiver who will have a new QB, but is coming off huge numbers as a junior.

OL Adam Coon, Fowlerville -- With two years of high school left, the main question is whether he'll play football or wrestle at the Division I college level.

OL Adam Robinson, Mason -- Could be the top blocker for the area's top rushing team this time next season.

OL Humphrey Akujobi, East Lansing -- Should be a leader for an offense that must replace most of its skill players.

OL Ben Steward, Holt -- Could be the next great Rams blocker and will be coming off an all-league selection.

OL Arthur Harris, Haslett -- If the Vikings get their running game rolling again, Miller will no doubt play a large part.

K Evan Fischer, Holt -- Area's best kicker this season should set at least one state record before his career is done.

DL Cody Arnouts, Grand Ledge -- Major contributor for one of the area's top defenses could play an even bigger role in 2011.

DL Josh Capen, Ithaca -- Controlled the middle for this season's Division 6 state champion as just a sophomore.

DL Josh Sefton Fowlerville -- Also an all-league running back this fall, should be a big part of the defense for the possible league favorite.

DL Kurtis Deuel, Portland -- Injuries took another year from this outstanding run-stuffer, but when healthy he's a force.

LB Connor Holbrook, Mason -- Will complete an outstanding four-year career as one of Mason's best defenders in recent memory.

LB Ethan Rennaker, DeWitt -- Not as sizable as graduated Panthers star Justin Braska, but will make a similar impact after making all-area this fall.

LB Kyren Kemp, Sexton -- Big-time playmaker should be the leader of next season's defense.

LB Gavin Smith, Pewamo-Westphalia -- Looking like a Division II college prospect already after a huge season for the Pirates.

LB Garrett Miniard and Lucas Slater, Ithaca -- Slater was among area leaders in tackles this season, while Miniard had a major impact during the playoff run.

LB Tyler Koenigsknecht, Fowler -- Made an immediate impact to the revived Eagles as just a sophomore, and bigger things are surely to come.

LB Chris Hagan, East Lansing -- Ranked among area's leading tacklers and will have an even bigger role with Tyler Tucker's graduation.

LB James Mills, Everett -- Put up great numbers as only a sophomore surrounded by a number of other young players.

LB Patrick Eldred, Charlotte -- Ranked among the area's leading tacklers each of the last two seasons.

LB Jack Powers, Carson City-Crystal -- Led his team's rebuilding effort this fall and has another season to provide a major boost.

LB Nick Porter, Williamston -- Will take on much bigger role on both sides of the ball with major graduations from this team.

LB Mason Sauls, St. Johns -- Will make major impacts on both sides of the ball for a team long in linebacker tradition.

DB Alante Sims, Waverly -- Another excellent athlete who should be significant on both sides of the ball.

DB Jaleel Canty, Everett -- The Vikings will be much better in 2011, and Canty should be a reason why after making all-league as a sophomore.

DB Chad Soja, Fowlerville -- Made all-league as a junior and could continue a long line of excellent Gladiators DBs.

DB Ryan Wieber, DeWitt -- One of the best from a junior class that must step in for some significant seniors.

DB Garrett Fuhrman, Eastern -- Getting college interest and has a motor that doesn't stop.

P David Brown, Ithaca -- All-state as a junior and also is an all-area caliber receiver and potential quarterback too.

Who else should we look out for? Fill us in.

Basketball: Final Buzzer -- 12/10/10

Some preseason league contenders got their first meetings out of the way -- and the results might've been a little different than many of us expected. 

THREE POINTER

1. Boys: Haslett 61, DeWitt 47 -- Haslett's boys make this blog for both games this week, first for a loss to St. Johns but then a big comeback win that could eventually decide the CAAC Gold title. 

2. Girls: Portland 49, Lakewood 28 -- The Vikings seemed like the ones to push Portland in the CAAC White, but it appears the Raiders quickly have found their stride. 

3. Boys: Okemos 70, Saginaw Buena Vista 64 -- If not for some big league games, this would be number one for the night because of its statewide significance. 

Game ball: Give three to Chieftains Chris Harrison-Docks (32 points), Mack McKearney (15 points, six assists) and Taylor Moton (12 points, 11 rebounds). Okemos has a loaded schedule during this first six weeks, but is off on the right start. 

Upset alert: Charlotte girls 46, Eaton Rapids 28 -- This season, Eaton Rapids has replaced a number of standouts of the last two, but regardless, I don't remember the Orioles taking one from their rivals in a while. 

WOW factor: I've noticed this quite a bit during the first two weeks of girls season -- big margins of victory in just about every game. The average margin in Friday's girls games was 21.3 ppg with one game decided by fewer than nine. Of Thursday's nine girls games, eight were decided by nine points or more. 

Three more that caught my eye: 

1. Boys: Laingsburg 57, Pewamo-Westphalia 56 -- It's early, of course, but this makes the Wolfpack the early leader to take on Fulton for tops in the CMAC. 

2. Girls: DeWitt 55, Haslett 42 -- These are the definite contenders in the CAAC Gold on the girls side, and DeWitt looks like the favorite. 

3. Girls: Potterville 57, Fowler 35 -- This Thursday night game was a big one for the Vikings given how well Fowler has played other good teams so far. 

Waverly Relays results

We'll have these in Friday's paper as well, but here are the full results from Wednesday's Waverly Relays.

Team scores-1. Holt 213, 2. St. Johns 200, 3. Okemos 194, 4. DeWitt 183, 5. Grand Ledge 177, 6. Mason 119, 7. Jackson 110, 8. Eaton Rapids/Charlotte 96, 9. Waverly/ Lansing Catholic 81, 10. East Lansing 66, 11. Everett 46, 12. Sexton/Eastern 18.

200 yd medley relay-1. Okemos    (Marsh, Lefler, Poland, Otis) 1:46.68, 2. St. Johns 1:51.88, 3. Everett 1:55.80, 4. Holt 1:56.72, 5. Mason 1:58.22, 6. Grand Ledge 1:59.82, 7. Jackson 2:03.04, 8. DeWitt 2:04.25, 9. Eaton Rapids/Charlotte 2:04.85, 10. Sexton/Eastern 2:09.95, 11. East Lansing High School 2:14.06, DQ: Waverly/ LC.

400 yd medley relay-1. DeWitt  (Launer, McCloskey, Schroeder, Hill) 4:12.27, 2. Grand Ledge 4:18.27, 3. Holt 4:21.65, 4. Okemos 4:23.55, 5. Waverly/LC 4:25.60, Eaton Rapids/Charlotte 4:52.34, DQ: St. Johns, East Lansing, Sexton/Eastern, Mason, Jackson, Everett.

400 yd freetyle relay-1. Holt (Smith, Tuttle, Kletke, Dawdy) 3:34.87, 2. Okemos 3:37.25, 3. Grand Ledge 3:43.70, 4. DeWitt 3:51.14, 5.  St. Johns 3:52.78, 6. Jackson 3:54.52, 7. Eaton Rapids/Charlotte 2:54.57, 8. Mason 4:14.85, 9 Waverly/LC 4:18.11, 10. East Lansing 4:52.36, 11. Sexton/Eastern 5:03.80, 12. Everett 5:28.83.

Diving-1. St. Johns 214.45, 2. Holt 196.05, 3. Okemos 180.95, 4. DeWitt 175.55, 5. Eaton Rapids/Charlotte 160.10, 6. Grand Ledge 138.50, 7. Mason 130.30, 8. Waverly/LC 98.45, 9 East Lansing 98.15.

200 yd butterfly relay-1. Okemos (Lefler, Marsh, Madan, Poland) 1:44.36, 2. Mason 1:45.30, 3. St. Johns 1:46.36, 4. Holt 1:46.02, 5. DeWitt 1:50.47, 6. Waverly/LC 1:50.85, 7. Grand Ledge 1:55.17, 8. Jackson 1:59.74, 9. Everett 2:01.21, 10. Eaton Rapids/Charlotte 204.15, East Lansing 2:57.84.

500 yd freestyly crecendo relay-1. St. Johns (Crosby, B. Grider, Spetty, N. Grider) 4:37.84, 2. Holt 4:44.03, 3. Jackson 4:52.42, 4. Grand Ledge 4:52.98, 5. Waverly/LC 4:54.42, 6. Okemos 4:56.68,  7. DeWitt 5:01.85, 8. Eaton Rapids/Charlotte 5:19.47, 9. Mason 5:30.05, 10. East Lansing 5:31.73, 11. Everett 5:53.20, 12. Sexton/Eastern 6:33.35.

200 yd backstroke relay-1. Holt (Dawdy, Majeske, Tuttle, Kalchik) 1:52.46, 2. St. Johns 1:52.70, 3. Grand Ledge 2:04.37, 4. DeWitt 2:05.91, 5. Jackson 2:06.28, 6. East Lansing 2:16.28, 7. Eaton Rapids/Charlotte 2:16.54, 8. Mason 2:25.89/ DQ: Everett, Sexton/Eastern, Okemos.

200 yd breaststroke relay-1. Okemos (Kuhlman, Macaluso, Lee, Lefler) 2:06.48, 2. DeWitt 2:06.59, 3. St. Johns 2:07.65, 4. Grand Ledge 2:07.85, 5. Holt 2:17.73, 6. East Lansing 2:20.75, 7. Mason 2:25.31, 8. Jackson 2:27.20, 9. Eaton Rapids/Charlotte 2:28.01, 10. Sexton/Eastern 2:28.58, 11. Everett 2:52.53.

200 yd freestyle relay-1. St. Johns (Harry, Denney, B. Grider, N. Grider) 1:33.86, 2. DeWitt 1:37.32, 3. Mason 1:37.45, 4. Holt 1:38.18, 5.  Okemos 1:39.38, 6. Grand Ledge 1:42.84, 7. Jackson 1:47.99, 8. Waverly/LC 1:55.62, 9. Eaton Rapids/Charlotte 1:57.78, 10. East Lansing 2:22.21, 11. Everett 2:34.59, DQ: Sexton/Eastern.

Basketball -- Final Buzzer: 12/7/2010

So much for Holt's boys possibly being down this season. The Rams are the biggest story of their opening night, although a couple key girls results are nearly as intriguing.

THREE POINTER

1. Boys: Holt 57, Waverly 56 -- It's only one game, but it's a big win for a Rams team with many more new faces than usual.

2. Girls: Waverly 63, Holt 47 -- Big comeback win for the Warriors after last Friday's loss to East Lansing.

3. Girls: Auburn Hills Avondale 55, East Lansing 52 -- The Trojans aren't used to losing this early in the season, but got a good experience on the road for their many new contributors.

Game ball: Eaton Rapids' point guard Travis Wells got the post-Alex era off right for the Greyhounds, scoring 29 points including making five 3-pointers in a 62-59 overtime win over Perry.

Upset alert: St. Johns boys 68, Haslett 54. There were rumors swirling that the Redwings could be much better this season. This seems to indicate those rumors are true.

WOW factor: East Lansing scored 90 points in a 35-point win over Saline. I don't know much about Saline, but first-game Trojans coach Steve Finamore got a lot out of his wide-open offense, including 12 3-pointers from his team, and 22 points from Devlin Bell.

Three more that caught my eye:

1. Boys: Bath 56, Olivet 43 -- I think the Eagles are going to be pretty good this season, which makes me think after this one that Bath might push Fulton in the CMAC.

2. Girls: Fowler 58, Saranac 42 -- After a close loss to Laingsburg, the Eagles came back with a big CMAC win against a team expected to make a move up the standings. Saranac's Kaitlyn Theisen did score her 1,000th career point in the loss.

3. Boys: Mason 70, Charlotte 53 -- Like Bath/Olivet above, Charlotte looks like it could be improved this winter, which must say some pretty great things about Mason on opening night.

Basketball: Final Buzzer: 12/3/10

Who knows if this night's results indicate anything about what might happen in March? But two of the expected state's best in both Class A and Class B matched up to highlight a fantastic opening Friday of the girls hoops season. 

THREE POINTER

1. East Lansing 44, Waverly 38 -- This would be the Class A portion of the above explanation, and the state champion is still number one locally after surviving an early scare. 

2. DeWitt 41, Portland 39 -- And this would be the Class B part. Two big wins for DeWitt this week; two tough losses for the Raiders. 

3. Pewamo-Westphalia 47, Dansville 44 -- The Central Michigan Athletic Conference gets rolling fast, and the Pirates got a big one to start things off. 

Game ball: DeWitt's Dena Droste was my second choice after Tuesday's win over Holt, and she gets it this time after hitting two free throws with 3.5 seconds left to lift the Panthers over Portland. She scored 15 points total. 

Upset alert: This isn't really one, perhaps, but let's say Corunna 33, Eaton Rapids 31. The Greyhounds' big win over Olivet on Tuesday makes them intriguing. But this win makes the Cavaliers 2-0 with those wins by a combined five points. 

WOW factor: The five CMAC openers were decided by an average of six points apiece. Two games were three-pointers and a third was decided by five. More than half the league's 10 teams look like possible contenders.

Three more that caught my eye:

1. Lakewood 53, Haslett 50 (2 OT) -- The Vikings' volleyball stars caught up quickly for the start of this season and have the opportunity to do some big things during the winter too. 

2. Bath 42, Saranac 34 -- The Bees are coming off their first volleyball league title, and might be P-W's biggest obstacles in hoops, with this a good win to start the CMAC season. 

3. Laingsburg 45, Fowler 42 -- We know Laingsburg is also a contender in the CMAC, which means Fowler must be pretty solid as well. 

Final Five from the game I covered: East Lansing 44, Waverly 38

1. East Lansing has graduated some significant classes the last two years, so for the first time in four years there isn't much familiarity on this team. But it's hard to think of a better leader than senior Deborah Hoekstra, who also is new after playing three years at Eastern, but has more experience than anyone on this team when it comes to building a winner. She helped the Quakers to their best finish in ages last year, and she'll guide the young Trojans as a new group tries to remain state contenders. 

2. Trojans sophomore Piper Tucker seems to have the same instincts that made older sister Sami Tucker such a force around the basket -- but without the task of having to play center like Sami did despite measuring roughly the same 6 feet. On a much taller team, Piper Tucker is a small forward, and will be a tough matchup over the next three seasons. She had 10 rebounds in this one. Freshman Meechi Thompson also was impressive -- she's the latest in a long line of outstanding freshmen guards who will learn how to run the show on the fly.  

3. Waverly gets Victoria Milton (formerly of Sexton) and Sylvia Maxwell (formerly of Eastern) on Jan. 17. Could they push the Warriors over the top? That's the plan, of course. They'll add to an already incredibly athletic group -- Carole Harris and Deanna Stickler-Gatson showed us what they could do last year, but add junior Taylor McKay to that group. She was all over the place in this one with at least five points, rebounds, assists and steals. 

4. East Lansing coach Rob Smith was sharp in using multiple zone defenses instead of the team's usual man-to-man and press. Aside from some big shots by Noelle Miles and Carli Reid late, Waverly struggled from the floor. Smith could've taken the risk of using his usual stuff, but the Warriors are built to at least equalize those schemes. This risk was maybe a little bigger, but paid off big too. 

5. Waverly junior forward Jasmine Wood is back after the knee injury that ended her sophomore season. The 6-footer showed glimpses of why she already has a Division I scholarship offer (Detroit) and on a few possessions did what she wanted in the post. By March, she could be the biggest difference-maker of all.