If I'm a Class A boys basketball squad the absolute last team I want to run into in the state tournament is Novi Detroit Catholic Central.

The Shamrocks are without question playing their best ball of the season and could very well be the hottest cage crew in the entire state right now.

That means TEAM DYER is DANGEROUS with a capital "D". LOOK OUT!!!!

Since opening the season with a rough patch due to most of the team shaking off the residual rust from a deep playoff run in football, CC has rebounded to find its footing in a major way.

Led by a terrific and battle-tested senior class, the Shamrocks have reeled off wins in eight of their last nine games, including pulling back-to-back upsets in the past five days.

Back on Sunday, CC unseated defending Catholic League champion, Warren De La Salle, in the CHSL Finals at Calihan Hall, beating the Pilots 62-51.

Then on Thursday ROCKNATION did it again, upsetting PSL champs Detroit King, 56-48 in the Operation Friendship game, which annually pits the winners of the PSL and Catholic League against each other in a city-suburb bragging rights brawl in the days leading up to the start of the tournament.

CC (14-6) trailed for most of the game on Thursday until all-state forward Kyle Cooper jumpstarted a rally that would vault the Shamrocks past King in the affair's final minutes.

King was on top 45-43 with six minutes left, but Cooper's 3-point play on the ensuing possession pushed CC's into an advantage on the scoreboard it hadn't seen since the first half and didn't give up the rest of the way. Cooper's hoop, foul and free throw sparked a 13-3 run by the veteran-laden Shamrocks to end the game. The senior forward who is headed to play his college ball in the GLIAC at Hillsdale fueled his team in the stat sheet with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

The last time CC won the Operation Friendship game was in 1968. On Sunday down at Calihan, TEAM DYER raised the program's first Catholic League championship banner in 15 years.

Besides Cooper, the Shamrocks have a deep and balanced lineup. When you team Cooper up with fellow senior and co-captain Matt Doneth, CC has one of the most intimidating forward tandems in the state. Doneth, a four-year starter, scored eight points and snared nine boards on Thursday against King. The senior backcourt of point guard Richie Katkic and shooting guard Chase Janer is reliable and fundamentally sound. Both can knock down the 3 and create off the dribble. Junior forward Jack Dillon (8 points, 8 rebounds vs. King) has had a breakout season, learning the tricks of the trade from Doneth and Cooper. Dave Racey, another senior SIR-GRIND-A-LOT can play either guard spot and acts as the team's defensive specialist. Sophomore Mitch Katkic (Richie's younger brother), junior Aaron Hess and senior Ryan Skrowonek have all played valuable reserve roles in this recent BLUE CREW hot streak.

These guys know a thing or two about, as my man Charlie Sheen would say, WINNING!!!

Last year, this same group won a district title before falling in dramatic fashion in the final seconds of the SWEET 16 to league rival Orchard Lake St. Mary's. As a freshman in 2009, Doneth started on the Shamrocks ELITE 8 squad.

This past fall on the gridiron it was more of the same. With Cooper under center at quarterback and Doneth (signed with Cornell for football) and Racey as his top two targets down field, CC won a CHSL crown and advanced all the way into the Class A state championship game.

Your boy Burney wouldn't be shocked to see the 2012 CC HOOPSTER BRIGADE playing for another state title at the Breslin Center up in East Lansing come a couple weeks from now either. In fact, I'll go as far as say, TAKE IT 2 THE BANK!!!

MARK THAT DOWN!!!

BLUE CRU ATTACK........GO BLUE!!!