VENTURES KEEP RECORD UNBLEMISHED, ENTER THE NEW YEAR ON WIN STREAK

The Madison Heights Bishop Foley boys basketball team is in cruise-control mode entering 2012.

The defending Catholic League-champion Ventures got an emphatic 70-57 win over previously-undefeated Melvindale on Friday night in the championship game of their own holiday tournament, pushing their record to a perfect 4-0, while not having beat a team all season by less than double-digits.

"We're playing real good basketball right now," said Bishop Foley head coach Marc West of his squad's early-season performance. "Our offense is in a nice groove and our defense has been very opportunistic and aggressive. That's a tough combination to deal with."

Heading the charge for the Ventures once again on Friday was senior forward Corey Green, a powerful and spry wing, in the midst of a monster start to the year. Against a big and athletic Melvindale defensive scheme designed to stop him, Green turned the tables and torched the Cardinals for 33 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

"Corey's just playing great in every which way you can think of," West said. "Every game, he does things on the court that amaze and impress me as his coach."

Green put the game on ice for Bishop Foley down the stretch. After Melvindale's Javon Thomas (28 points) drilled a 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer to make it 49-45, he drained a long 3 of his own to open the fourth and then connected of 5-of-5 free throws in the closing three minutes to sew things up.

As a team, Bishop Foley sank 12-of-15 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter.

Ventures senior guard Mike Oravetz put up 19 points, 17 of which came in the second half of play, to augment Green's dominant outing.

Last season as juniors, both Green and Oravetz were starters on the first-ever Bishop Foley boys hoops team to capture a Catholic League crown. One of the top young coaches in the area, West has guided the Ventures to four straight district championships.

Back on Wednesday, Bishop Foley throttled Stoney Creek 70-38 in one semifinal and Melvindale snuck past Birmingham Brother Rice in the other on a buzzer-beating lay-up off an out-of-bounds play.

West and the Ventures have a week off before they hit the court next for a showdown with neighboring-city rival Royal Oak Shrine at home on January 7.