Mad props to head coach Shane Finney and his Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Cranes squad who brought home the school's first boys basketball conference title in a quarter of a century. The Cranes beat down Harper Woods 64-28, to win the Metro Conference for the first time since 1985. Sterling Morrow was well, sterling, for the Cranbrook cage crew, pumping in 13 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists. Along with his brother Steven, the Morrow brothers have been the catalysts for the Cranes conference championship and their 13-5 overall record so far. The Metro Conference will disband at the conclusion of this season and Cranbrook is set to join the Catholic League next year. Finney should get credit for adding stability and resilience to the Cranes boys hoops program. In each of the last two seasons, the team has lost all-conference standouts to graduation – Xander Strek (Grinnell College) and Matt Broder (Michigan for baseball) in 2008 and Eric Fishman (Kalamazoo College) in 2009 - and its failed to alter the quality product the C-Brookers have been able to put on the floor.  Great job, coach Finney!!

I'm going to nickname Waterford Mott's senior forward Emmanuel Simpson, "Manny The Rock," because even though Simpson's game isn't flashy, he's a rock of consistency on the court for Corsairs head coach Derek Wiley. Simpson had a mega-outing Friday night, collecting a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds in Mott's win over Grand Blanc in the KLAA Tournament Semi-Finals.  Get busy my main man, Manny!

Rochester's Allante Thompson keeps getting better every time he hits the floor as he slowly developing into one of the better young post-players in the county. Thompson notched a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds in the Falcons 59-47 defeat of Troy.

Speaking of impressive double-doubles, Clarkston's Matt Kamieniecki went buck wild in C-Town's victory on the road at North Farmington, getting mad loose for 25 points and 17 rebounds.

Darin Jackson of Farmington did Simpson, Thompson, and Kamieniecki one up and dropped the ever-enviable and elusive triple-double in the Falcons 60-44 win over Hazel Park. Jackson was all over the floor, collecting 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 dimes. Farmington should be commended for the job it's been able to do since the start of second semester. The Falcons have been playing as well as anybody in their conference and currently reside at a more than respectable 11-6 overall record and a 8-4 mark in the OAA Blue.

Josh Fugate finally had his breakout game in his new Holly uniform, getting nice to the tune of 15 points in the team's 68-58 win over Oxford. Bronchos head coach Lance Baylis decided to bring Fugate – a junior transfer from Lakeland – off the bench on Friday and it worked. Fugate is an ace assassin from downtown and can effectively get to the rack too if you overplay his 3-point game. Michael Fugate, Josh's big brother, is doing his thing up at Saginaw Valley State for the Cardinals hoop squad.

On one final note: Good luck to Madison Heights Bishop Foley in its quest to take home the school's first boys CHSL crown in recent memory, when the Ventures venture into Calihan Hall on sunday to square off with Detroit Loyola in the conference tourney final. I honestly think Foley could come out of this game with the hardware. In fact, i'm going on record and calling a SUPERSONIC UPSET SPECIAL and declaring that the Ventures will end up raising the banner. Get busy double-time my main man, Jordan Walker (25 points in the semi-final on Tuesday), and pop a 30-spot in the spotlight for your homeboy, Burney!