So without any further fanfare I guess we'll start with what is probably not only the biggest local sports story, but biggest news story of the year.  If you haven't figured it out yet... The Benton Harbor Lady Tigers Class A State Basketball Championship.  Sorry Niles Softball...

Obviously the Class A Player of the Year Destiny Williams led the Tigers with 31 points in the championship game, Deborah Meeks added 15 points for the Tigers.  The win came at the conclusion of the 20th season of coaching for Benton Harbor. Harvey's career coaching record is now a 322-146 (.688), and I'll tell you what, Lou would be a perfect 468-0 if they went by best dressed coaches.  Lou makes winning look good.

The win started celebrations around Southwest Michigan, not just in Benton Harbor, but all over the country.  Being honored at the Michigan Capital, the US Capital, and honored in the Blossom Parade.  Southwest Michigan fell head over heels for the team.  Destiny Williams will be moving on to the University of Illinois.

As for the rest of the season, I guess we'll start out when the season started back in August.  The two big stories prior to the 2008 football season was the St. Joseph Bears coming off of a trip to the MHSAA Semifinals, and the addition of field turf to Al Stockman Stadium in Lakeshore.  As it turns out the new turf at Lakeshore would be the site of one of the top high school football games in recent history.

Both St. Joe and Lakeshore came into the week 6 game with perfect 5-0 records, the first time in the history of the St. Joe Lakeshore rivalry that both teams have met with both teams undefeated that late into the season.  The game exceed all the pre game hype, Lakeshore wanted to show up St. Joe on their new turf after losing twice to St. Joe the year before, The Bears wanted to show the Lancers that the Bears were still kings of the mountain in the Big 16. 

Lakeshore jumped out to a 10-0 lead midway through the 2nd quarter on a Zane Metz 3 yard touchdown run and a 30 yard Kai Peng field goal.  St. Joe would start their comeback in the final minute of the first half as Sean Guinane threw a 13 yard touchdown pass to Matt Jewell to close the gap at halftime to 10-7.

The Bears special teams provided one of the plays of the game as Josh Weaver blocked a punt midway through the 3rd quarter.  St. Joe would find the endzone 5 plays later when Drake Smith scored on a 6 yard run.  Smith would add another touchdown early in the fourth quarter to give the Bears a 21-10 lead.

Lakeshore would start their comeback efforts when Coco Johnson scored on a 19 yard run, and Lakeshore would add the two point conversion to pull withing 21-18 with still 7 minutes to go. The Bears would be forced to punt on their next drive giving Lakeshore plenty of time to try to tie the game or take the lead.   Lakeshore drove down to the St. Joe 12 yard line before the only turnover of the game sealed the win for the Bears as Zane Metz couldn't handle the exchange from Quarterback Zak Wasserman.  The Bears recovered the fumble and ran out the last 47 seconds for the 21-18 win.  The Bears remain the only visiting team to win on the turf of Al Stockman Stadium.  All was not lost for Lakeshore, the Bears and Lakeshore would meet again in the playoffs (we'll get to that in a bit).

Elsewhere Coloma and Watervliet met for the 99th time at McDaniels Field in Coloma with Coloma escaping with an 8-6 win.  The 100th meeting will be this fall at Panther Stadium in Watervliet.

Berrien Springs went from almost dead and buried after losing their first three games of the season with the heart of the Lakeland Conference schedule still to come.  Berrien Springs won their next six games including a 35-19 win over Coloma, to earn a playoff berth and a shared Lakeland Conference title.  Berrien Springs would beat Coloma again 35-0 before falling to Hopkins in the district finals.

Now since we're talking about the playoffs, it's time for round 2 of St. Joe/Lakeshore.  The Lancers came into Dickinson Stadium along with a cold and stiff wind and rain and with the help of two late touchdown runs by Coco Johnson, Lakeshore would end the Bears three game winning streak with a 33-13 win.

Lakeshore would beat East Lansing to win the regional championship before falling to East Grand Rapids in the state semifinals.

The season didn't fare too well for River Valley or Benton Harbor, both teams going 0-9 for the second consecutive season.  Benton Harbor's Maurice Burton stepped down after the season.  Another St. Joseph assistant coach Larry Jackson was hired as the Tigers next head coach.  As for River Valley, it marked the last year as a member of the Lakeland Conference for football.  They will be playing as an independent team for this season but they still will be playing against most of the Lakeland Schools.

One last thing about the football season, we normally wouldn't worry about a JV team, but Michigan Lutheran embarked on the first leg of playing varsity football for the first time since 1984.  Michigan Lutheran's return to the football field is under the direction of former St. Joe assistant Tony Balbo.  Balbo's Titans will be playing a varsity schedule this season before joining the Red Arrow conference for football full time in 2010.

Now volleyball I can't really get that in depth.. After all... I only worked about 4 or 5 St. Joe matches, but Berrien Springs won the B district, over Lakeshore and St. Joe who've been some of the better teams in the Big 16.  But the Shamrocks run ended in the first round of the regionals against Sturgis.  Watervliet Grace Christian won the D district...But they ended up losing to eventual State Champion Battle Creek St. Phillip.

WINTER

December brought the start of the Basketball seasons for both boys and girls.  I've already talked about the Benton Harbor Tigers girls championship, just look at the top of this post.  The Tigers boys team is an interesting story in and of itself.  The Tigers went 5-16 a year ago under Marcus Mohammed.  A very unfamiliar position for the Tigers to be in.  Not only did the Tigers finish last in the Big 16 West but they also didn't win a divisional game.  It's hard to find out the last time the Tigers finished in last place in the conference in basketball... It's almost impossible...  But there they were coming into a season where they were considered underdogs.  The Tigers won their first three games, but struggled with Class C Bridgman in the opening round of their Holiday Tournament, but then they lost by two points to Ann Arbor Huron in the Holiday Tournament Championship game.  A highly anticipated showdown with Kalamazoo Central was snowed out a few times but the Tigers and Maroon Giants played a Classic in Kalamazoo that saw the Giants come out on top 55-48.  The Tigers were upset just two days later when Mattawan held off the Tigers for a 59-57 win in Mattawan.  

After the loss to Mattawan the Tigers went on to win their next 11 games, nine of them by double digits.  After winning the district title against Holland West Ottawa, Benton Harbor lost in the regionals against Grand Haven 52-41.  Benton Harbor's final record was 17-4, a complete turnaround from the 5-16 disappointment of the 2007-2008 Tigers.

Lakeshore also had to fight off some stretches of tough games. Lakeshore won their first 4 games but then lost 3 of their next four games, and then having to comeback from a 14 point deficit to defeat St. Joe in double overtime.   Lakeshore wasn't really blowing anybody out but they were playing good basketball until the last week of the season when losing at St. Joe and then being upset at home by Portage Northern to finish the season at 13-7.  The Lancers had the advantage as the districts started, the tournament was being held on the Lancers home floor.  Something that Lakeshore took advantage of in their opening round game against Buchanan.  The Lancers beat Lakeland Co-Champs Buchanan 71-51, but then the rubber match with arch rival St. Joe...

None of the Twin Cities' area teams struggled as much as St. Joe did during the season.  The Bears struggled to score points during the season, forward Matt Jewell who suffered a serious head injury during football season, didn't play with the usual energy as he did in previous seasons. In all the Bears struggled  during the midpoint of the season.  St. Joe had a 14 point lead at arch rival Lakeshore but ended up losing in double overtime.  Following that loss to Lakeshore the Bears would drop their next 6 games including a loss at Benton Harbor where the Bears only scored 3 points in the firs half.  The Bears started to turn thing around late in the year defeating Portage Northern, but then pulling off the 73-65 upset of Lakeshore at the Bear Den.  The Bears entered the Districts at 7-13, and weren't expected to do much. But the Bears had a reason to want to win districts, the Regionals would be on the Bears home floor, the Bears Would get the winner of Buchanan and Lakeshore.  After Lakeshore knocked off Buchanan to set up the "three-match".  The Bears after falling behind early took the lead and never trailed again as the Bears upset the Lancers on the Lancers floor 62-57. 

Entering the regionals the Bears were the underdogs once again as the Bears would face second ranked Zeeland East in the regional semifinals but the Chix, who would go on to finish as runner up, defeated the Bears 68-47.  Shortly after the season ended St. Joseph head coach Gregg Schaffer announced his resignation as the Head Coach of the Bears, a position he's held for 11 seasons. 

St. Joseph's Girls Basketball team saved their best for the tournament as well.  The Lady Bears finished the regular season at 5-15 and weren't expected to do much in the tournament, even though the Bear Den would be the site of the District Tournament.  St. Joe opened with Buchanan, a team they lost to early in the season, but the Bears pulled the upset of the Lakeland Conference Co-Champs 38-32.  St. Joe would defeat Edwardsburg 65-40 and faced arch rival Lakeshore in the finals.  The Bears lost to the Lancers twice during the season, the last of which came two weeks before the tournament started.  St. Joe blitzed Lakeshore early and never trailed as Four Lady Bears led the charge scoring in double figures.  Freshman Lindsay Peirce who missed the Bears last game with Lakeshore had 20 points, Sophomore Katie Mavis had 19.  Mavis provided the early fireworks that gave St. Joe a 26-12 lead at the half.  Mavis played all 32 minutes of the game for St. Joe. Junior Sami Sukupchak added 16 points and St. Joe's lone senior Kayla Mahler had 11 points.  The Lady Bears won their first district Title since 1994, which was the last one with Kim Knuth who is now an assistant coach for the Lady Bears.  The Bears would be defeated in the regionals by Holland Christian 49-22 at Otsego.

As for wrestling, Lakeshore and Niles were battling it out in the Big 16 West.  Lakeshore's Tyler Daniels won an individual state championship at 103 pounds.  His teammate Nick Humes was the runner up at 140 pounds. Lakeshore's wrestling team lost in the State Semifinals to Oxford 31-29.

SPRING

Now forgive me if the spring stuff is going to be a little short,  After football and basketball, I just need to get away from the high school sports for a bit as track is the only thing I really see.

The coldness of winter seemed to stick around well into the spring season,  St. Joe's girls soccer team won the Big 16 West Division, won the district title.

St. Joe's Baseball team pulled off the upset of Lakeshore and then really pulled off the upset of Niles in the District Finals.  The Bears would go and win the regionals with easy wins over Otsego and South Haven.  But fell to eventual State Champion East Grand Rapids 1-0 in 8 innings.  A couple of area baseball players were drafted in the Major League Baseball draft, Lakeshore's Zak Wasserman was taken in the 21st round by the San Francisco Giants, and Asaad Ali who of course is the son of Muhammad Ali was taken in the 40th round by the Los Angeles Angeles.  Evan Sharpley who has spent the last four years at the University of Notre Dame played his high school ball at Marshall was taken in the 50th round by the Seattle Mariners.

Now the area spring highlight in Berrien County was the state championship of the Niles Vikings softball team.  The Vikings came into the district tournament ranked 10th in the state, but on their way to the title, the Vikings beat top ranked Lakeshore, second ranked Wayland, as well as two more ranked teams.  Much of the success of the Vikings softball team can be attributed to the arm of pitcher Jenna Ignowski who was named Miss Softball in the state on the date of the state championship game.  Ignowski allowed just 1 earned run in the Vikings run to the title.  The Vikings beat Livonia-Ladywood 4-0 in the championship game at Bailey Park in Battle Creek.  It was the first state championship for Niles high school since 1964 when the Boys Golf team won the title.

Now I'm taking the summer off... maybe I'll post occasionally but see you in the fall...

I hate Penguins

So I will leave you with a line from the song that's been ringing through my head the last few days

Genesis - "Fading Lights"

Like the story that we wish was never ending
We know sometime we must reach the final page
still we carry on just pretending
that there'll always be one more day to go

Jenna Ignowski pitched another near perfect game for the Vikings and was named Miss Softball in the State of Michigan.  With good reason, she's only given up 1 earned run during the entire playoff run for the Vikings... ONE

It's the first State Championship in any sport for Niles high school since the boys golf team in 1964

Niles started the tournament ranked 10th in the state, on their way to the title the Vikings knocked off..

Number 1 - Lakeshore
Number 2 - Wayland
Number 5 - Hudsonville Unity Christian.

Not bad for the 10th best team in the state...

Brandywine and Eau Claire have named their head football coaches for the upcoming seasons.

The other area hiring is Tom Ferry at Eau Claire. I won't comment about the family situation... If you need to know more here is the link from the HP.

http://www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2009/05/27/local_news/536241.txt

I don't see this as a problem after all he used to be the head coach prior to his dismissal by the board because they wanted a more high tempo offense.  Well they're back to the Ferry offense because they had to let Matt Gudorf go because his maintenance position was eliminated by the board.

But Ferry is another benefit to have back, he knows the system and it won't take him long to get back into the swing of things as the season progresses.

First off, the schedules for 2009 High School Football season are pretty much finished, I am currently working on the WSJM football website as you read this.  But getting the final schedules for the 31 area teams is a little bit of work with the schedules seemingly changing from week to week.  Not to mention Lake Michigan Catholic's "home" games still have to find a "home" field as Dickinson Stadium in St. Joe is unavailable for two of the four LMC home games in 2009.   LMC's four home games are 9/3 vs. Cassopolis, 9/25 vs. Centreville, 10/16 vs. New Buffalo, and 10/23 vs. White Pigeon.  The two games in October can't be played at Dickinson Stadium in St. Joe as the Bears have home games against Lakeshore and Portage Northern.  But after looking at the schedule of LMC, Lakeshore, St. Joe and Watervliet.  Here's what should happen...

LMC's game's on 9/3 vs. Cassopolis and 9/25 vs. Centreville should be played at St. Joe, the Bears are at Harper Creek and Benton Harbor respectively.  The Lakers 10/16 game vs. New Buffalo should be at Lakeshore and the 10/23 game should be at Watervliet.  LMC usually has a game every year in Watervliet because of the catholic school in Watervliet.  But a lot of this could be avoided if LMC wasn't so opposed to be playing on Saturday.  Now when I say Saturday, I'm not talking about Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.  I am talking Saturday Night at 7:30 at Dickinson Stadium in St. Joe.   Dickinson has always been LMC's "Home" stadium, but the new administration at LMC is somewhat opposed to playing Saturday games.

Think about it.  Yes there is College football to deal with on Saturday, but not Saturday night, the area teams have already played by then, Notre Dame, Michigan and Michigan State are all usually done by 6 pm.  Plus when you are the only game in the area on Saturday night, you will have a ton of people from the area who will show up to watch the game.  For some reason LMC doesn't see that, they are trying to play all of their games on Friday night, but when you think of the problems of waiting for St. Joe, Lakeshore, Watervliet, even Benton Harbor to finalize their schedule every year to find a place to play your games has to be a unnecessary headache for the LMC football program.   Did I mention the added gate and concession income?

Another benefit would be exposure, when you are the only high school game in the area, you'll get the only high school coverage in Sunday's paper, plus maybe  even a few football games would be aired on the airwaves of WSJM AM-1400 The News and Talk of Michigan's Great Southwest!!!! (Cheap plug I know).

Maybe I'm not privy to the real reason as to why the Lakers still continue to roam from home to home to home each season.  Oh, did I mention playoff games??

Michigan Lutheran Football goes varsity... mostly.

In 2008, the Michigan Lutheran football program played for the first time since 1984.  The Titans played a JV schedule of 6 or so games a year ago.  Well this year the Titans will be playing for keeps at the Titans will be playing 5 varsity games. Two games against River Valley, and games against Wyoming Lee, Covert, and LaLumiere,  There are also two JV contests against the White Pigeon and Centreville JV team.  Now the Titans aren't playoff eligible just yet, but the Titans new football team will most likely get that chance in 2010 when the current Red Arrow/St. Joe Valley football agreement ends, as well as the addition of River Valley to the Red Arrow in 2010.  The Titans will be most likely be the sixth team in the new Red Arrow.

MHSAA to look at using instant replay in basketball

The MHSAA announced that the board is looking at allowing the use of instant replay to review potential game winning buzzer beating shots at the end of the fourth quarter and overtime games at the MHSAA finals.  Here is the story that I saw on the news wire here at the station this morning...

"Michigan is likely to get instant replay starting next season for last-second shots in high school basketball championship games.  Michigan High School Athletic Association spokesman John Johnson says a committee would have to approve the change, but replay technology exists and could be used in semifinals and finals.  A rule change by the National Federation of State High School Associations allows replay for review of a shot attempt at the end of the fourth quarter or overtime. It would be used only when the last-second shot would affect the outcome of the game.  The change was prompted by controversial finishes in 2008 championship games in Michigan, Ohio and South Carolina."

All I can say is... How about football too?  I can think of a few St. Joe playoff games where it would have helped the Bears.

NHL

Now this isn't high school sports but I really have a lot to say in the matter.  That is the situation with the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes.  In case you don't know, the Coyotes are in financial ruins, owner Jerry Moyes has filed for bankruptcy, the NHL said no they're not because the NHL is in control of the team.  Well in the bickering on who controls the team, Canadian billionaire Jim Balsille who makes a big chunk of change from those Blackberry devices, made a conditional offer to buy the team IF they would allow the team to be moved to Hamilton, Ontario. 

If you need a history lesson, the Phoenix Coyotes are the previously relocated Winnipeg Jets who moved to the desert 12 years ago.  They Coyotes haven't made the playoffs... well for a while, and a majority of the fans showing up for their home games are actually relocated, vacationing, or visiting fans of the opponent that night (as in Detroit and Chicago).

Now a few things that bug me are the (we'll say) "Brass" by Balsille who is making his third attempt at buying and moving an NHL team to his backyard.   Hamilton may be in Canada, and Southern Ontario may have a plentiful hockey rich fan base. But there are also three other NHL teams nearby.  Detroit, Buffalo, and Toronto.  Buffalo would have their territory infringed on by the Hamilton team. 

Also, take a look at these two photos from the Arizona Republic.

These are from the "Save The Coyotes" rally held last week, a whopping 200 people showed up to "Save The Coyotes."  If you look at some of the signs, it says "OUR NHL TEAM," or "OUR COYOTES."

OUR TEAM???
OUR TEAM???
OUR TEAM???

That's not your team... Technically it was WINNIPEG'S TEAM!!!  The Winnipeg Jets team was basically stolen from the fans of a real hockey market and moved to Phoenix.   The lure of Phoenix was supposed to be a new arena and greater profits.   Well they did get the new arena... 8 years later.  And the team has LOST  money every year since moving to Phoenix.   If anybody deserves to get the Coyotes... It's Winnipeg.  NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman reportedly told a Coyotes lawyer that he would rather Winnipeg get the team back instead of Hamilton.  I've been to the arena in Hamilton.  Copps Coliseum does have the capacity to host an NHL team, but the arena is nothing like the new modern facilities that teams nowadays enjoy.   Copps Coliseum is 30 years old, around the same age as Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.   If you're going to move for greener pastures.  I would rather have a new arena than a remodeled 30 year old facility.

And to the 200 or so fans that showed up to "Save the Coyotes."  No matter how many people you get to sign petitions, wearing T-shirts, making calls, will ever matter.  If you need a lesson, all you have to do is ask the 35,000 fans that did the exact same thing you are trying to do for the exact same NHL franchise.  The Winnipeg Jets held a rally in 1995 for the same reason and 35,000 supporters tried to entice the team to stay... It didn't work.

So to the 16 and two thirds dozen "Save to Coyotes" supporters.  Give us a break.  Let's end the biggest mistake the NHL has made and allow this team to fade into hockey oblivion, like the California Golden Seals, Minnesota North Stars, Colorado Rockies, Atlanta Flames, Hartford Whalers, Cleveland Barons, and Kansas City Scouts.  Add the Coyotes to the list... please.  Give us back the Jets.

That's all for now..

LET'S GO RED WINGS

Beckman, as it turns out, interviewed for the position at Eau Claire.   If you need a refresher... Lake Michigan Catholic and Eau Claire are both rivals in the Red Arrow Conference.

Lake Michigan Catholic became aware of Beckmans interview and less than a week after finding about about the interview.  Beckman was called and was told by the Lakers that he was no longer the head coach of the basketball team.

Now, I don't have a problem with a coach intervewing for another position.  Provided of course he's not doing it IN THE SAME CONFERENCE.  It's not really a move up... Both are Class D schools so what's the lure???

Beckman's decision proved costly.  He was ready to leave a job for another job, but because of his decision he doesn't have any job.

Geisler wasn't only the man who refilled the vending machines at the station, but he also was one of the best area referee's.  Geisler worked many years as a basketball referee for the area conferences.   He also was one of the best softball and baseball officials, not only did he work MHSAA games, but he worked a lot of the tournament games at the annual tournaments at Eaton Park.

He also was one of the guys who worked on the chain crew during St. Joe football games and his sons both played at St. Joe.

I wanted to express my condolences to the entire family.  He will be missed by everyone who knew him and while many people didn't always agree with his calls while refereeing, they too will miss him.

The annual event was previously held late in the season, but a few years ago, due to declining interest from area schools, much of it because it was held so close to the state meets. 

The Meet is now held a lot earlier in the track season, making it possible for teams to put out their best athletes against the best that Berrien County has to offer.

The best athletes in Berrien County will be in action this Friday at St. Joe's Dickinson Stadium.  The Rotary Club always puts on a great event, and this year's will be no exception.

As expected Benton Harbor won the district at Jenison, you can probably say it was "Destiney,"   Williams had 32 points to lead The Harbor to the district crown, the Tigers beat Holland 67-24.  The Tigers next face Muskegon Mona Shores at Grand Rapids Northview High School on Tuesday.

Another expected win was the Michigan Lutheran Titans advancing, but you wanna talk about waiting until the last minute.   ML had to rally from a 2 point deficit with 20 seconds left and defeated Watervliet Grace Christian 34-30 at Covert.

A few surprises.

Rachel Sheffler's last game at Watervliet probably came a little earlier than expected as the Panthers lost to Brandywine in the C District final at New Buffalo.  Brandywine won 53-48.

Now this one really isn't a "surprise" but the Niles Vikings won their first District title since moving up from Class B as they defeated Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 61-53,  the Vikings lost earlier in the season to the Knights.  The Vikings get the surprise in the more important of the two games.

Now THE SURPRISE

During tournament time, you're likely to hear the phrase "It's tough to beat a team three times in a year."   Generally that's true, you rarely play a team three times in a year, let alone beat them three times in a year, but this phrase couldn't be more true than it was in the Class B district final at St. Joseph High School.

It's hard to believe that the St. Joe Lady Bears, a team with the history of the Lady Bears, some of the great players that have played, like Tracey Bloodworth and a former Miss Basketball Kim Knuth, and the legendary coach Rick Bloodworth has not won a district title since 1994.  Tracey Bloodworth, now a new mother Tracey Dorow, the head coach of Ferris State University.  Kim Knuth who was all everything at the University of Toledo, is now an assistant coach.  It's been that long.

But the Lady Bears faced arch rival Lakeshore in the Class B district final at the Bear Den on Friday.  A team that St. Joe had lost 5 straight games to.  Including twice this season.   But the Lady Bears would not let that continue as St. Joe had 4 players in double figures.  Freshman Lindsay Peirce, daughter of former St. Joe Lady Bear great Amy Porritt (Peirce) had 20 points, Sophomore Katie Mavis added another 19 points.  St. Joe started the game on a 10-2 run and never looked back as the Lady Bears ended their district drought at 14 seasons with a 66-54 win over Lakeshore.

St. Joe is off to play in the regionals at Otsego High School against Holland Christian, the Maroons are 19-4 on the season, so it'll be another uphill battle for the Bears.  The Bears have been battling an uphill battle all year long.  After a 4-17 record last year under first year head coach Jeff Wallace, the Bears would have to try to improve on that in a very tough conference and non conference schedule.  Try playing Benton Harbor and Niles twice a year, along with the Lakeland Conference Champs Buchanan.  The schedule wasn't the only thing that was rough on the Bears, St. Joe hasn't really had the numbers and the depth chart most other teams have,  St. Joe lost 1 of 2 seniors for medical reasons halfway through the season, some injuries and other circumstances left the Lady Bear basketball program with only 6 players on the freshman and 6 on the JV team.   St. Joe had to suspend the rest of the Freshman season with 3 games left to field a full JV and Varsity team. 

It's been an uphill battle for the Lady Bears, and this victory wasn't just a district title, it shows that no matter how bad the regular season was.  Everybody is back to 0-0 and it's a new start.  The Bears certainly got a new start at things and a district championship is just a first step for this group of Young Bears in the rebuilding of the Lady Bears basketball program from top to bottom.  Plus St. Joe loses only 1 senior going to next year.

 Now for the Boys

Class A
Benton Harbor's turnaround season will take them to Holland West Ottawa and they will have the winner of the Hudsonville/Grandville game on Wednesday.  James Black and Aaron Clayborn will definitely be two of the Tigers to watch.

Class B

At Lakeshore.   I think you can say there are a number of teams that could win this tournament, and as luck would have it, three of those "favorites" are on the same side of the bracket.  Host Lakeshore faces Buchanan on Monday at 8, the winner gets St. Joe.   Now Lakeshore as the host is yes...a favorite, Buchanan is the top of the Lakeland is another favorite... But St. Joe???

Yes St. Joe, I know I am showing my maize and blue colors (SJHS Class of '93), but St. Joe has been playing a lot better as of late, and it's this the time of year you want to be playing well.  The Bears defeated Lakeshore last week 73-65.  The Bears could be a favorite if they play the way they did against Lakeshore, not the collapse of Friday at Niles.  On the other side of the Bracket, you'll find Berrien Springs, Edwardsburg and Dowagiac,  I think you'll see Berrien in the title game against... take your pick from the other side.

Recently the Vicksburg Bulldogs defeated Portage Central 61-60 in double overtime.  Portage Central had a 60-58 lead with just a few seconds left until Vicksburg won the game on this amazing shot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGKB_bJXAsY

Notice how the ball goes around the rim a few hundred times before going through the hoop.

A few weeks ago, the St. Joe Lady Bears beat Bridgman 50-47 and St. Joe's Katie Mavis tied the game at 47 with 10 seconds left, and then with 1.4 seconds left St. Joe got the ball back and Mavis hit the game winning three pointer to win it as time expired to give the Lady Bears the win.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd4naQRIrYE