Blogs > Burney's Bytes
Burney's Bytes will focus primarily on the local preps sports scene, but will also touch on some college and pro athletics, mostly in regards to athletes who hail and have played high school sports in Oakland County. My goal for the blog is to be conversational and anecdotal, a more relaxed and free formal take on high school athletics than you see in regular game day coverage.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Was there a more appropriate on-the-court statement made this season than the OAA Red ending in a three way-tie between Clarkston, Southfield, and Southfield-Lathrup?
Wolves senior quarterback....er…….. point guard Tyler Scarlett had a flashback to the fall gridiron campaign on Friday night, going all TYLER SCARLETT on the visiting-SL Chargers for 19 points and a perfect 9-9 from the free throw line. Is this kid clutch or what? Michigan Tech got itself one heckuva competitor when they inked this first-class athlete!
The play of Farmington's Darin Jackson these past few days or so has been reminiscent of a prep-version of Jason Kidd. And that's no exaggeration. CLARIFICATION – Jackson has been racking up the stats at a prolific clip. Following up a triple-double late last week, Jackson stuck it to an athletic-BH Lahser defense, busting up the Knights for another great all-around outing of 10 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds.
Birmingham Seaholm got some great supporting cast-performances from the backcourt of sophomore point guard Christian "Master P" Pino and senior shooting guard Buddy Ellis in its 45-36 OAA-White clinching win over RH Adams on Friday night. Pino, who I've decided to nickname, "Master P" for obvious reasons – his last name starts with the letter P and for the fact that he is a master Point guard – , hauled down eight rebounds (he's only 5-6) and handed out six assists. Ellis knocked down a big 3-pointer to provide his team a second half lead they wouldn't give up and gave out four assists in a five point-outing on Senior Night.
It was nice to see Carlton "Captain Amazing" Brundidge and Southfield bounce back from a heartbreaking-loss to North Farmington on Tuesday night with a big win over West Bloomfield on Thursday to conclude their more than stellar season in style. Brundidge got his "Boom Boom Pow"-on against the grit-laced Lakers, recording a bodacious double-double by dropping 37 points and snaring 12 boards. God is this kid good – Captain Amazing is the ultimate finisher. When CB gets into the lane, HE DOES NOT MISS PERIOD!!!! He knows how to use his big-framed body too and is deceptively quick off the dribble for sporting such a top-heavy frame. Oh, yeah, don't put him at the line either, cause HE DOES NOT MISS THERE EITHER. And the scariest thing of all is that amazing as it sounds, HE's BETTER THAN HE WAS LAST YEAR.
Way to go Tom Staton and the Ferndale Eagles, the turnaround is complete. With the squad's win over Hazel Park on Thursday night, they finish the OAA Blue season undefeated at 14-0.
Speaking of great program rejuvenation jobs, I love me some Pete Matayla and FH Harrison hoops this year. Matayla got his team to a 14-6 finish and will be a force to be reckoned with in the state tournament next week.
In one of the best storylines to come out of district week in girls basketball was the resilient tale of the Birmingham Roeper Roughriders. Straight from the "Just When You Thought They Were Out of The Picture, They Come Back & Stick It In Your Face" department, head coach Ernie Righetti's 'Riders captured their second district championship in the last three years with a 66-50 win over Detroit Urban Lutheran on Friday night. What's so amazing about the feat was the fact that Roeper was well-below the .500 mark just six weeks ago. One of the big reasons for the stumble from the team's combined 43-3 record between 2007-2009 was the loss of all-state forward Ashli Pearson, originally thought to be out for the season with a foot injury. Luckily for Righetti, his star player's diagnosis proved false and Pearson rehabbed quicker than normal, finding herself back into the Roughriders line-up in late-January. Buoyed by Pearson's return, the Riders' finished the regular season strong at 10-10 and behind her season-high 27 points on Friday will raise Righetti's 11th career district banner. Righetti's boys squad is going into next week's boys state tournament sporting an 18-2 record and if they win their district it will be the first time the 27th year head coach, who has headed both girls and boys programs since the early-1980s, claims district titles with both teams in the same year.
In non-conference action on Thursday night, Holly defeated a very good Flushing team, 51-39 to bring the curtain down on its regular season. The Bronchos are 16-4 heading into the state tournament and have compiled the best two season span in school history, combining to win 35 games. Super-transfer Thomas "The L-Train" Lovachis, headlined Holly's offense with 15 points, four assists and four rebounds. He topped his night off with devastating one-handed jammer-roo in the lane to close the game out. All-conference senior forward Lance Hopkin chipped in with 13 points and seven rebounds for the Bronchos, who are seeking the school's first district title in Class A competition.
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