DETROIT — Basketball fans will have an opportunity Saturday, Dec. 10, for an early-season peek at four Central Division squads competing in the “Calihan Challenge” played at Calihan Hall on the University of Detroit Mercy campus. Tickets are $10 and good for the entire day.
Warren De La Salle, the defending state Division 1 champion, will square off against Ypsilanti Lincoln at 3 p.m.
At 12 noon, Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice tips off against Detroit Voyageur followed at 1:30 p.m. by Novi Detroit Catholic Central versus Detroit Country Day.
University of Detroit Jesuit and Clarkston will wind up the afternoon’s activity at 4:30 p.m.
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Prep, the fifth Central Division team, won its season opener Monday night, 57-50, against Detroit Renaissance.
Shamrocks record three shutouts en route to sixth CHSL hockey title
Catholic Central combined a potent offense and a hard-lined defense to capture its sixth straight Catholic League hockey championship Dec. 3 at Wyandotte Yack Auditorium.
The invincible Shamrocks exploded for four second-period goals in a 6-0 shutout of Riverview Gabriel Richard to win the Bishop Division trophy after shutting the door 9-0 in a quarterfinal match against Dearborn Divine Child and 6-0 against Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood in the semi-final.
Catholic Central has outscored the opposition 42-3 in winning its first seven games of the season.
They hammered Hartland 7-1 and beat Brother Rice 6-2 wrapped around a pair of back-to-back shutouts in Ohio, 3-0 against St. Edward in Cleveland and 5-0 versus Gilmore Academy in Gates Mills, about 25 miles east of Cleveland.
The No. 1-ranked Shamrocks have 16 more contests on their schedule before the Michigan High School Athletic Association playoffs begin Feb. 20, when Catholic Central will be seeking the Division 1 title to go along with the state championships it won in 2019 and 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic knocked out the 2020 season.
Senior forward Landon West accounts for 25 percent of Catholic Central’s attack with 11 goals. Juniors Jackson Walsh and Nolan Galda have five goals each. Senior Andrew Urbain has four.
Seniors Kyle Moore and Luca Naurato share goaltending duties. Moore has deflected all 33 shots coming at him for three shutouts. Naurato has a 95 percent save rate in four victories and two shutouts.
Gabriel Richard (3-3) reached the Bishop Division final by beating Brother Rice 5-4 and St. Mary’s Prep 6-3. Richard will be in Gaylord Dec. 9-10 for the Division 3 Showcase. The Pioneers will face Midland Dow on Dec. 9 and Alpena the next night.
Cicerone’s successor wins her first game
Michelle Lindsey won her first game in her debut as Mary Cicerone’s successor coaching Bloomfield Hills Marian's basketball team. The Mustangs defeated Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett 62-29 on Dec. 1.
Cicerone retired earlier this year after 39 years and 707 victories. Lindsey, a 2009 alum of Marian, had been an assistant to Cicerone for the last 10 years.
Two days later, she lost her first game, 57-46, to Oxford. The Mustangs are the defending CHSL Bishop Division titlists.
A new 'old' lacrosse coach at De La Salle
Chris Ferrari, who coached lacrosse at De La Salle in 2005-2010, has returned to coach the Pilots this spring. He led De La Salle to the Division 2 state semifinals in 2005, 2006 and 2010. His 15-year overall coaching record is 142-115.
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