DETROIT — Playing for the program’s first Catholic League basketball championship in a big arena can potentially stir up the nerves, but Clarkston Everest Collegiate’s players came into the game with the right mindset.
A lot of that had to do with what happened before they even set foot in the University of Detroit Mercy’s Calihan Hall, where Everest turned back Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes, 49-29.
The Mountaineers — along with their opponents in the St. Anne’s Division championship contest, as well as the Cardinal Division contenders Riverview Gabriel Richard and Jackson Lumen Christi — attended a special Mass together prior to Sunday’s game at Gesu Parish.
“That was great for our team — we try to keep the faith front and center,” Everest coach Rich Cross said. “Basketball is an extension of what we want these men to become — men of God, great men — and we just hope that the Everest basketball program is an extension of what we were trying to do tonight with those other teams.”
Fr. Daniel Kennedy, SJ, from University of Detroit Jesuit High School, celebrated the early afternoon Mass before the teams crossed McNichols Avenue to the nearby Detroit Mercy campus.
“Father did a great job of making some ties with Lent and basketball and the seasons that we’re going through,” Cross said. “Another thing we’ve talked about in our program was all the hard work that these teams have been doing, and how much respect we have for them, so it was great to be able to celebrate Mass with them.”
On the court, Everest (11-9) led start to finish in claiming their first title in 14 seasons as a varsity program. Senior forward Matthew Bautel was high scorer with 16 points, with each of his seven field goals coming from close-range under the hoop. He added two free throws.
“We just knew if we could punch the ball inside and they would collapse (on defense), I would find the shooters on the outside. If I had the one-on-one, I would go to work,” he said. “We were pretty comfortable out there. We were punching the ball inside, playing phenomenal defense, and that’s what this team is about.”
Everest led 13-9 after the first quarter, but distanced themselves by not allowing the Lakers (13-6) to score any points in the second, and went into the locker room with a 21-9 lead. Despite scoring on their first five possessions in the second half, the Lakers could not eat into the deficit, getting no closer than 11 points the rest of the way.
“All week we talked about getting the ball inside today,” Cross said. “We didn’t know how we were going to do it as the game unfolded, but we hit a lot of our shots early and it took a lot of pressure off of our guards — it was great.”
That’s not the only way Everest can win a game. At times this season, the Mountaineers have relied on their outside shooting.
“We try to play to our strengths,” Cross said. “We have fun with these guys; we tell them to cut it loose if they’re open. We have to live with the results, but if they have open shots, they’ve got to take them. A little different today, but it’s a total team effort — a testament to how they’ve played together.”
In addition to Bautel’s 16 points, Everest got nine from Zach Felix, eight from Patrick Cooper and six from Isaac Cross to claim their first Catholic League championship in basketball.
“It’s really special for the program; we’ve talked about it all the time,” Cross said. “The people that came before us that started the program — (athletic director) Ann Serra-Lowney, all the other great coaches that have been coaching the other sports at Everest. It’s the first St. Anne’s championship, the first basketball championship for us. It was really special for everybody, all the alumni here, and everybody in the program who had really made it possible all those years before us.”
Gabriel Richard reclaims Cardinal title, 54-48
While Everest played for its first trophy, Riverview Gabriel Richard is no stranger to the CHSL finals. The Pioneers made it four titles in five seasons by turning back league newcomer Jackson Lumen Christi, 54-48, to win the Cardinal Division bracket.
Lumen Christi dealt Gabriel Richard its only loss in league play when the two teams met on Jan. 26.
“We spent a lot of time the last few days getting prepared for this. They had our number at their place and the kids were pretty motivated to play them again, but that’s a great basketball team and they’re very well-coached,” Gabriel Richard coach Kris Daiek said. “I’m hoping we can see them one more time (in the state quarterfinals), and they’re probably thinking the same thing.”
Gabriel Richard (18-2) led 38-27 with four minutes to play in the third quarter, but Lumen Christi (17-3) chipped away at the deficit until Timmy Crowley’s three-pointer tied the game at 45 midway through the fourth.
“I thought we got very one-on-one in the third quarter and stopped doing what got us the lead, but I give credit to (Lumen Christi) too — they’re big and strong. They got themselves back into it,” Daiek said.
The Pioneers closed out the game with a 9-3 run over the final 2:50, with Antonio Sobush’s triple breaking the tie. Charles Kage added a lay-up, and Luke Westerdale (two), Drew Everingham and Kage sank free throws down the stretch.
“It came down to the composure,” Daiek said. “We try to practice that (situation) on a daily basis, either holding the lead or down with a minute to go. I trust those guys to make good decisions, plus we had two timeouts and the (possession) arrow, so I felt pretty comfortable to space it out a little bit and let those guys control it.”
Not only were the Pioneers hoping to avenge their prior loss to Lumen Christi, they wanted to start a new championship streak after Detroit Loyola snapped it last year.
“I’d be lying if I’d said we didn’t want to win this,” Daiek said. “I think we came in with a different mindset. We want to play our best basketball right now.”
Catholic League tournament expands this year
With the addition of Lumen Christi and five Toledo-based Catholic schools, CHSL officials found it necessary to re-establish a third division basketball championship, creating the St. Anne’s bracket, which matches qualifiers from the league’s Intersectional divisions. The Cardinal Division bracket consists of the qualifiers from the AA divisions, while the Bishop contains the schools from the expanded Central division.
The boys tournaments are now complete, with Orchard Lake St. Mary’s claiming the Bishop title over Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice, 58-55, on Feb. 17.
That same night, Ann Arbor Fr. Gabriel Richard won the Bishop championship over Toledo Central Catholic, 61-49. The girls Cardinal and St. Anne’s championships are still to be decided, taking place Feb. 24 at Calihan Hall. Semifinals are Tuesday and Wednesday (Feb. 20-21) at Warren Regina. Visit the Catholic League's website, chsl.com, for up-to-date pairings.
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