Hitting The Ground Running

A pair of head boys basketball coaches new to the area recorded their first wins at the helm of their respective hoop programs Friday night.

North Farmington's Todd Negoshian's Raiders defeated Ecorse 58-55 and Ra' Redding Murray's Walled Lake Western squad upended Novi Franklin Road Christian 69-29.

This is Negoshian's first head coaching job, replacing his father Tom after 25 years leading North Farmington on the hardwood. Murray was the head coach at Detroit Crockett in the early-to-mid-2000s, taking the Rockets to a final four in 2003 before taking a brief respite from the game and returning this year to resurrect the Western cage contingent.

While they were prepsters themselves, both Murray and Little Nogo were star players – with Murray playing at Detroit Mumford in the 1980s and Negoshian at Walled Lake Central in the late 1990s.

Both North Farmington and Walled Lake Western are expected to contend for league crowns this season.

North Farmington lost on Tuesday by three points down at River Rouge. Friday was Western's opening contest of the campaign.

Coming off a 28-point effort in North Farmington's opener, senior forward Dorrell Foster registered a double-double against Ecorse of 15 points and 10 rebounds. Junior point guard Caleb Hogans, who had 18 points on Tuesday, put in a game-high 20 points and dished five assists in the Raiders' win on Friday. Sterling Sharp, North Farmington's spry junior wing, knocked down four straight trifectas to open the second half.

Without the services of star junior center Miroslav Jaksic until January, Western showed off its various other weapons on Friday, seeing three players of its own reach double figures in the stat sheet.

Warriors' senior forwards Aaron Prim and Cam Vieaux were all over the floor against Franklin Road doing damage. Prim, like Jaksic, a high-profile transfer, racked up a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds. Vieaux, a star wide receiver on Western's final four football team this past fall notched 18 points and grabbed five boards, on the night. Western's junior floor general, Korey Wade, scored 10 points and gave out five assists.

Next up for Coach Murray and his Warriors is another out of conference battle with Farmington Hills Harrison, followed by a tough match up with Brighton. Little Nogo and the Raiders face-off with league foe Southfield-Lathrup for their next game on Tuesday