Oakland snapped a three-game losing streak Friday night with a 75-70 win over Delaware State in the Las Vegas Invitational. The Golden Grizzlies (2-4) won despite losing senior Erik Kangas to an ankle injury in practice Thursday.

Coach Greg Kampe said he was unsure how long Kangas would be out, but was hopeful he could play Tuesday at Southern Utah.

Freshmen Drew Maynard (21 points) and Blake Cushingberry (11 points) both scored their career highs in the win. Maynard made his first start of the season and got going early scoring Oakland’s first five points and 14 in the first half.

“I got a couple open looks early and I hit. It felt good,” Maynard said. “We got a big win after being down nine points at half. We came out did the right thing, battled through adversity and pulled it off so it felt good.”

The Grizzlies outscored Delaware State 42-28 in the second half after allowing the Hornets, who came into the game averaging 51.6 points game, to score 42 points in the first half and hit eight 3-pointers.

Oakland switched to a man-to-man defense in the second half despite not practicing it all season. The switch worked as the Hornets shot 37 percent in the second half.

The improved defense and the inspired play by Dan Waterstradt (10 points in the second half) were the two keys to the win.

“I think Waterstradt was the MVP, if I had a game ball to give,” Kampe said. “He came out strong to start the second half and he had really been struggling with his jump shot. He came out to start the second half banging down a couple shots and was very emotional, and we started playing. We played an outstanding second half, we really did.”

The win gives Oakland a chance to salvage its current 15-day, seven-game road trip after losing its first three.

“It says a lot about the leadership we have on the team,” Waterstradt said about winning without Kangas and Nelson. “(Johnathon Jones) and Kangas helping out on the bench with the coaches. And a lot about our young guys. I told them after the game that I was really proud of them. Drew Maynard stepped up huge. Blake Cushingberry hit a few shots when we were missing a couple, and he knocked them down. He just helped us out because they keyed in on JJ and didn’t let him touch the ball really. It says a lot about this team to face adversity in the first half. We played good defensively, we got out of our main defense and got out after a team that we felt we were better than. It was a good thing.”

Oakland will play Southeast Missouri State Saturday at 5 p.m. in the lower-bracket championship game of the Las Vegas Invitational.

Check theoaklandpress.com Saturday for a complete game story.

My thoughts on the game
g Oakland had every reason in the book to throw in the towel in the second half, but did just the opposite. This team has a lot of pride and displayed it in the second half.
Maynard and Cushingberry are two huge parts of the team with Nelson out and even more so if Kangas misses an extended period of time.
It was just a matter of time before Cushingberry hit a few 3-pointers after shooting 0-for-16 in Oakland’s first five games. A lot was put on the freshman shoulders with the injury to Nelson and maybe coming off the bench relieved some of the pressure or motivated him. Only Cushingberry could answer that, but his 3-pointer with 2:31 left in the second half was the shot of the game.
g Oakland needs to get used to teams game-planning on stopping Johnathon Jones and punish teams that choose to double team him.
Having Keith Benson back on track would be a huge boost. He had 15 points and six rebounds in the win. But Will Hudson was quiet with four points and two rebounds.
Oakland has been unable to get a good performance out both of Benson and Hudson.
Up and downs are to be expected with young big guys, but if those two really getting going with consistency the sky is the limit for Oakland.
g In my opinion the Grizzlies may need to scrap the zone defense against teams with shooters like UMKC and North Dakota State. Oakland is giving up 9.3 3-pointers a game in its first six games. With the team’s athleticism, playing man-to-man against Summit League opponents might be the way to go.
Kampe won’t scrap the zone and rightfully so, but it’s just a thought heading into league play next week.

Division 1: Lake Orion vs. Rockford - Rockford handed Lake Orion its first loss of the season, 17-7, back in Week 1 at Eastern Michigan University. The Dragons have won 12 straight since then and have looked better each week. Lake Orion is hungry for its first state title in school history and looked like a team on a mission in its 38-0 pounding of Dearborn Fordson. Rockford is trying to win its first state title since 2005. Pick: Lake Orion

Division 2: Warren De La Salle (13-0) vs. Muskegon (13-0) – Pick: Muskegon
Division 3: East Grand Rapids (12-1) vs. Inkster (12-1) – Pick: Inkster

Division 4: Birmingham Detroit Country Day (11-2) vs. Holland Christian (13-0) – The Yellowjackets return to the state championship game for the second straight season, something not many people predicted would happen. Country Day has given up just 13 points in the state playoffs, while Holland Christian has racked up 166 points and is averaging 41.5 points per game in the playoffs. The Yellowjackets will need to contain Holland Christian’s offense to be successful. Pick: Holland Christian

The opponent - Delaware State has a had a rough start to its season. The Hornets (0-5) have lost their first five games by an average of 25.8 points per game and their closest game was an 18-point loss Lehigh. Delaware State even lost an exhibition game to Cheyney (a Division II school), 67-64.

Senior guard Donald Johnson (6-foot-4) is the Hornets leading scorer at 9.4 points per game. Johnson is one of three returning starters from last year’s Delaware State team that finished 14-16. Junior forward Frisco Sandidge (8 points, 6.6 rebounds) and sophomore guard Trevor Welcher (5.6 points, 2.3 assists) are the other two returning starters. Senior forward Arturo Dubois (8 points, 6.6 rebounds) and junior guard Marcus Neal (6.1 points, 4.1 rebounds) are the Hornets other two starters. Delaware State was picked to finish third in MEAC preseason poll.

Key matchup – Oakland Drew Maynard vs. Delaware State Donald Johnson. The loss of Derick Nelson has left the Golden Grizzlies without a consistent third scorer, but Maynard could prove to be the guy. Maynard scored a career-high 11 points against Kansas State and will be making the first start of his career against Delaware State. If Maynard can get going offensively it will provide a huge boost. Johnson is the Hornets leading scorer and will need to have a big day for his team to pick up its first win.

Matchup history – Oakland and Delaware State have never met. Oakland is 1-0 all-time against MEAC team. The Grizzlies defeated Morgan State, 83-79, in double overtime back on Dec. 22, 1972. A side note is when Oakland made the NCAA tournament back in 2005 and was the No. 16 seed against North Carolina, Delaware State was also a No. 16 seed and played at the same site in Charlotte, N.C. The Hornets fell to Duke.

The skinny – Oakland needs to pick a win after losing three straight to BCS schools. The Grizzlies have two games in Las Vegas as part of the Las Vegas Invitational before kicking off conference play next week at Southern Utah and at UMKC. It would be good for the team’s confidence to pick a pair of wins heading into the two December league games. The Grizzlies have also had two days off, something they haven’t had in their last two games. Oakland’s game against Delaware State is the fourth game of a 15-day, seven-game road trip and one of nine straight road games to start the season.

The opponent — Kansas State has nine returning players from last year’s team that reached the second round of NCAA tournament, but the nine players back had a combined 33 starts to their credit entering the season. Despite some inexperience, the Wildcats (4-0) have been impressive in their first four games, with wins over Flordia A&M, SE Missouri State, Emporia State and Cleveland State. Kansas State’s closest game has been a 10-point victory at Cleveland State, and it is averaging 83.8 points per game, while giving up just 61 per game.
The Wildcats have six players averaging in double figures. Freshman forward Jamar Samuels, who comes off the bench, leads the team at 13.3 points per game and also averages 6.5 rebounds. Sophomore guard Jacob Pullen averages 12 points and 4.5 assists, junior Denis Clemente (a transfer from Miami, Florida) averages 12 points a game and senior forward Darren Kent averages 11.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Sophomore forward Dominique Sutton (a high school teammate of Oakland’s Matt Samuels) averages 10.8 points and 6.5 rebounds and junior guard Fred Brown is scoring 10.5 points a game.

Key matchup — Oakland’s Johanthon Jones vs. Kansas State’s Jacob Pullen. Sutton is the Wildcats top defender so he could guard Jones some as could Clemente. Kansas State will undoubtedly try to slow down Jones, who is averaging 19.3 points per game. Jones will need to try to get his teammates involved so the Wildcats can’t just key on him. Pullen is also a key player in the Wildcats’ offense as a both a passer and a shooter. He has six 3-pointers this season, but has proven he can get hot quick.

Matchup history — Oakland lost its only meeting with Kansas State, 76-69, in Manhattan, Kansas back on Dec. 6, 2004. The Golden Grizzlies are 1-11 all-time against the Big 12 with their lone win being a 90-58 win over Texas A&M on Dec. 6, 2003. Kansas State is 27-3 all-time against Summit League teams, including 20-0 at home. The Wildcats have lost to Oral Roberts twice and to Southern Utah once.

The skinny — This is Oakland’s third game in three different cities in a span of six days. The Grizzlies could be a little jet lagged, while Kansas State has had a few days to rest since its win over Cleveland State on Saturday. The Wildcats have displayed a balanced offense so far this season with multiple weapons at their disposal. Oakland on the other hand has struggled to find a third-scoring option behind Jones and Erik Kangas (15.5 points per game). The Grizzlies will need a big game out of someone besides Jones and Kangas to have a chance, and to take the pressure of them.
Will Hudson had a solid game against Iowa in his first start of the year, finishing with six points and five rebounds. Keith Benson, who looked good in the Grizzlies first few games, found himself in coach Greg Kampe’s doghouse and played just 12 minutes against Iowa. Freshman Blake Cushingberry (0-for-12 on 3-point attempts this season) has struggled to find his shot this season as has senior Dan Waterstradt (2-for-10 from the field this season). Drew Maynard is averaging 5.3 points a game and is shooting 50 percent (5-for-10) from 3-point range, but is playing just 18 minutes a game and has battled foul trouble.

1. Oakland (1-3) — Win at Oregon is the biggest in the conference so far this season. The Grizzlies have also played Cleveland State and Iowa tough. Johnathon Jones (19.3 points per game) leads the conference in scoring
2. North Dakota State (1-1) — The Bison lost on the road to Idaho, which is their only Division I opponent thus far this season. We’ll know more about NDSU after road games to Northern Arizona and Minnesota this week.
3. IUPUI (2-2) — The Jaguars are the only Summit League team not below .500, but have two non-Division I wins. Freshman Alex Young (13.5 points per game) has been impressive early.
4. Oral Roberts (1-2) — The Golden Eagles got embarrassed in the second half at Creighton and gave up 54 second-half points, which is not typical of their normally tough defense.
5. UMKC (1-3) — The Kangaroos scored a nice win at Wichita State, but then lost by 18 to Florida Atlantic. Sophomore Reggie Hamilton is going to be a special player in this league.
6. IPFW (1-2) — The Mastodons played No. 5 Michigan State tough and picked up an overtime win over Eastern Illinois. David Carson and Ben Botts are both averaging over 13 points a game.
7. Centenary (1-3) — First-year head coach Greg Gary has the Gents playing tough. The trio of Nick Stallings, Chase Adams and Gary Redus is averaging a combined 43.6 points per game.
8. Southern Utah (1-2) — The Thunderbirds lost a tough one at Tennessee Tech last week and losing by 14 at Florida is a solid showing. Lone win is over Mesa State
9. Western Illinois (1-3) — The Leathernecks had a rough day at Cincinnati last week and will play three games this week, at Florida State on Tuesday and two games in Las Vegas. David DuBois (18.5 points per game) is second in the league in scoring and 10th in rebounding (5.8).
10. South Dakota State (1-3) — Sophomore Anthony Cordova is easily leading the league in rebounding at 10.8 per game and junior Garrett Callahan is fourth in the league in scoring at 17.5 per game. Lone win is against Mayville State.

Iowa just seemed to have an answer for every Oakland run Sunday in a 66-57 victory over the Golden Grizzlies. Oakland battled back to make it a one-possession game multiple times in the second half and every time the Hawkeyes responded.

The Grizzlies trailed by nine, 36-27, and pulled within one, 37-36, with 12:45 left in the second half. But Iowa was able to build its lead back to 10, 53-43, with 5:44 left.

Oakland pulled within two, 53-51, with 2:54 left and had a chance to tie or take the lead, but Johnathon Jones forced a tough shot that missed.

A 3-pointer by Anthony Tucker and some clutch free-throw shooting pushed Iowa’s lead up to 11, 62-51, with 46 seconds left. Oakland tried to foul and prolong the game, but the Hawkeyes shot 8-for-11 from the free-throw line in the final 1:05.

“I'm very, very disappointed in how the game ended,” Oakland coach Greg Kampe told Oakland Athletics. “We had the game exactly where we wanted it. Jones made a horrible decision when we had the ball with a chance to take the lead. We ran a set, and he refused the set and turned it down with a 6-foot-6 guy on him and took a jump shot, when he should have taken that ball to the basket and let the referee make a decision, or maybe he makes it. He's great going to the hole and he settles for a jump shot.

“Then we come down and they are about to get a shot clock violation and they throw up some bomb, and (Anthony Tucker) gets an offensive rebound and we foul him. That was a huge play, because now they take it out and get another shot and make a 3. We get that rebound, I call timeout, and we run something inside, and hopefully we make a basket. The game went from one point to nine, there was nothing we could do.”

Jones led Oakland with 21 points and five assists and senior Erik Kangas added 18 points.

Sophomore Will Hudson had six points, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals in his first start of the season. But Hudson was Oakalnd’s only inside presence. Sophomore center Keith Benson had his worst game of the season, scoring one point in just 12 minutes of action.

“I was really disappointed in (Keith) Benson,” Kampe said. “I ended up just not playing him. He didn't come ready to play. He's young, and we are doing a bunch of stuff that is hard. He looked lost out there on the floor so I just took him out. But he'll be fine, he's young and he will learn from it.”

Iowa hit 10 3-pointers in the win, led by five from Tucker, who finished with 19 points. Jake Kelly hit three 3-pointers off the bench and finished with 16 points.

“They're in their gym and they're going to make shots,” Kampe said. “They made 10 of 25 and I thought we did a great job in defending them. We didn't lose the game because of our defense, we lost the game because we made critical errors at critical times and because we couldn't make a shot.

“We've played four games now and two scrimmages, and we can't make shots,” Kampe added. “I've got a very good shooting team, we just can't put the ball in the basket. How many (shots) went half way in and out, and look at the free throw line. Johnathon Jones is a great free throw shooter and he's 3-for-6 from the free throw line and we’re 6-for-11. If we're 11-for-11, or 10-for-11 in the game like we should be, it's a different game.

“It's all coming down to shooting, we have to shoot the ball better. It would be nice if we could play a home game and get that going, but that's not going to happen. We have two road league games at the end of this and we've got to be ready to play them.”

The loss to Iowa was the second game of a seven-game, 15-day road trip for Oakland and the second of three games in five days. The Grizzlies played at Syracuse on Nov. 21 and play at Kansas State on Tuesday.

“We went from one end of the country to the other, and then back in to the middle,” Kampe said of his team’s travel since the win at Oregon. “So yes, that has something to do with it, but it's going to make us tougher and better. We have to get through it. If I knew that Derick Nelson was going to get hurt the day before we left and we weren't going to be able to practice and get stuff in, I wouldn't made this schedule. But that's what happened and we didn't know this would happen. We're still not shooting the ball well.”

Note: Kampe was critical of Iowa’s practice facility, which Oakland was forced to use due to the women’s team hosting the Hawkeye Challenge.

“When we got here Friday, we practiced in one of the most gawd-awful places I’ve ever been in,” Kampe told the Des Moines Register.

Apparently the practice gym doesn’t even have a regulation 3-point line and the school is attempting fundraisers to build a new campus practice facility.

The Summit League as a whole has struggled out of the gate this season. Conference teams are a combined 4-24 against Division I opponents so far this season and 9-24 overall. IUPUI (2-2) is the only team not currently below .500 and both of its wins are against non-Division I opponents. Most teams have faced tough competition, but things won’t get any easier. Here is a quick rundown of this past weekend’s action.

Idaho 78, North Dakota State 69
The Bison really struggled down the stretch in this road loss to Idaho. A Ben Woodside layup tied the game, 66-66, with seven minutes left, but NDSU scored just three points of the way.
“The last seven minutes we scored three points,” North Dakota State coach Saul Phillips told The Forum. “I thought we had some decent looks, but weren’t able to convert on them.”
Brett Winkelman and Mike Nelson each scored 17 points for the Bison (1-1). Michael Tveidt added 14 points and Ben Woodside finished with nine points, seven rebounds and eight assists.
Kashif Watson led four Vandals in double figures with 19 points.
“It’s a frustrating loss, it’s a disappointing loss, but at the same time it’s only tragic if we don’t take it and learn from it and get better,” Phillips told The Forum. “We’ve got a game on Tuesday against Northern Arizona. … We’re still convinced we’ve got some special things to do. We just got beat by a team that knocked down some shots tonight.”

Creighton 87, Oral Roberts 65
Oral Roberts did not get its five-game road trip off to a good start. The Golden Eagles led 35-33 at halftime, but were outscored 54-30 in the second half.
“We lost our composure,” Oral Roberts coach Scott Sutton told the Tulsa World. “I would expect that out of some of our guys, but we had some upperclassmen that once things started going bad, we weren't tough enough to fight through it. You expect that with some of the newcomers that played, but we're a bit frustrated and disappointed with some of our guys that have been through these type of games on the road before.”
Creighton (3-0) shot 30 percent (9-for-30) from the field in the first half, but then shot 65.4 percent (17-for-26) in the second half.
Freshman Dominique Morrison led Oral Roberts (1-2) with 20 points. Marcus Lewis added 14 points and six rebounds and Robert Jarvis finished with 13 points on 4-for-15 shooting, including 1-for-8 in the second half.

IPFW 81, Eastern Illinois 77 (OT)
The Mastodons picked up their first win of the season in overtime after suffering losses to Xavier and No. 5 Michigan State to start the season.
A pair of David Carson free throws with 25 second left in the second half forced overtime. The Mastodons never trailed in the overtime period.
“Our defense has to improve,” IPFW coach Dane Fife told The Journal Gazette.. “I think our defense was pretty good down the stretch, but it’s still way too easy to score baskets on us.”
Carson finished with 21 points. Sophomore Ben Botts added 15 points and sophomore Zach Plackemeier had 12 points and nine assiss, and also came up big defensively, shutting down Eastern Illinois’ Romain Martin in the final four minutes of the second half and overtime. Martin scored 28 points in the first 36 minutes, including six 3-pointers.
“I walked into the locker room after the game and told the team they owed Zach a debt of gratitude for saving their hind end,” Fife told The Journal Gazette.

Tennessee Tech 69, Southern Utah 68
Southern Utah lost a heartbreaker on the road. Senior Tyler Quinney split a pair of free throws with 34 seconds left to the tie the game at 68, but Tech’s Will Barnes then split a pair of free throws with six seconds left to give his team the one-point win.
“It’s a close game, but you should win a ball game like this,” Southern Utah coach Roger Reid told KSUU announcer Art Challis. “We got to improve from here.”
Quinney led the Thunderbirds (1-2) with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and he played all 40 minutes despite being in the hospital with an eye injury earlier in the week.
“I didn't think Tyler was going to play today,” Reid said. “He had a gutsy performance since a lot of guys wouldn’t have played tonight. I give him credit because of his tenancy and heart.”
Junior Eules Thompson added 18 points and five rebounds and junior Davis Baker had 16 points and six rebounds for Southern Utah.
Daniel Northern led Tech (3-0) with 15 points and seven rebounds.

Florida Atlantic 77, UMKC 59
UMKC shot 22.6 percent in the first half and couldn’t dig itself out of an early hole in the road loss.
Sophomore Reggie Hamilton led the Kangaroos with 22 points, six rebounds and five assists. Freshman Latreze Mushatt (Saginaw Arthur Hill) added 13 points and senior Dane Brumagin finished with six points.
Shavar Richardson led Florida Atlantic (3-1) with 18 points.
UMKC will play three games in three days starting Monday night as part of the CBE Classic.

Cincinnati 74, Western Illinois 46
Cincinnati began the game on a 12-0 run and never looked back in a Global Sports Classic first round game.
Senior Josh Rivers scored 14 points and senior David DuBois had 13 points and five rebounds for the Leathernecks (1-3).
Alvin Mitchell led the Bearcats (3-0) with 19 points.

IUPUI 92, IU East 55
Junior Robert Glenn led IUPUI (2-2) with 16 points and five rebounds, junior Jon Avery added 14 points and four rebounds and sophomore Leroy Nobles had 12 points and five rebounds.
"We wanted to win this game on the defensive end," IUPUI Head Coach Ron Hunter told IUPUI Athletics. "We got after them and got some easy buckets. I knew if we pressed them defensively, the offense would come to us and we set the tone early."
Tyler Rigby and Cory Sitton each scored 13 points for IU East, which is a NAIA level team.

Northwestern State 69, Centenary 66
Centenary came close to winning its first two games in the LSU Invitational, but fell short. Chase Adams hit a 3-pointer to pull the Gents within one, 67-66, with four seconds left, but Charles Clark’s layup sealed the win for Northwestern State.
Adams finished with 20 points, six rebounds and five assists, sophomore Gary Redus added 17 points and senior Nick Stallings finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds for Centenary (1-3).
“Centenary made it very, very difficult for us. Stallings, Adams and Redus are just as good as any players we'll see this year, and they are well-coached,” Northwestern State coach Mike McConathy told the Shreveport Times. “We earned the win, but we were fortunate to get it.”
Michael McConathy led the Demons (2-1) with 17 points

Drake 75, South Dakota State 65
Garrett Callahan had 21 points and five assists, Kai Williams added 13 points and eight rebounds and Clint Sargent scored 14 points for South Dakota State (1-3)
Jonathan Cox led Drake (2-1) with 15 points.

Summit League schedule
Monday, Nov. 24
Centenary at Wichita State
Western Illinois at Florida State
UMKC vs. Bradley at Fort Meyers, Fla.

Tuesday, Nov. 25
Oakland at Kansas State
North Dakota State at Northern Arizona
Oral Roberts at Louisiana-Lafayette
IUPUI vs. Eastern Illinois at Conseco Fieldhouse
IU East at IPFW
Seattle Pacific at Southern Utah
UMKC vs. Richmond at Fort Meyers, Fla.
Upper Iowa at South Dakota State

Wednesday, Nov. 26
UMKC vs. Florida Gulf Coast at Fort Meyers, Fla.

The opponent — The Iowa has a young team this season under second-year head coach Todd Lickliter. The Hawkeyes (3-0) start three true freshman and a sophomore. Freshman guard Anthony Tucker (15.3 points) and freshman guard Matt Gatens (12.7 points, 6 assists) are Iowa’s two leading scorers. Tucker (6-4, 200) hit seven 3-pointers in Iowa’s win over The Citadel, while Gatens (6-5, 215) has been the team’s best passer.
Senior forward Cyrus Tate (6-8, 255) mans the middle for the Hawkeyes, he is averaging 10.3 points a game and is the team’s leading rebounder at 7.3 per game. Tate, who averaged 8.3 points a game last season, is the team’s leading returning scorer from last season.
Freshman forward Aaron Fuller (6-6, 210, 8.7 points per game) and sophomore Jeff Peterson (6-0, 192, 6.6 points per game) round out Iowa’s starting lineup. Sophomore guard Jake Kelly (5.7 points, 3 assists) and junior guard Jermain Davis (5 points) are the Hawkeyes top two guys off the bench.
Iowa is currently 3-0, but has played against weak competition. Iowa’s three opponents — Charleston-Southern (1-2), Texas-San Antonio (1-2) and The Citadel (1-2) — are a combined 3-6 and all three wins were against non-Division I opponents.
The Hawkeyes are traditionally tough at home and have won 44 of their last 54 at home.

Key matchup — Oakland’s Keith Benson vs. Iowa’s Cyrus Tate. The loss to Syracuse proved the Golden Grizzlies need a third scorer to help shoulder some of the load off Johnathon Jones and Erik Kangas. Benson needs to be that guy and has shown flashes that he can be, but continues to be plagued by foul trouble. Tate is giving up two inched to Benson, but will have a strength advantage. Tate played his best game in Iowa’s only close contest, scoring 18 points on 8-for-9 shooting in a 73-67 over Texas-San Antonio. Benson (8 rebounds a game) and Tate are both their team’s leading rebounder so this will also be an important matchup on the glass.

Matchup history — This will be the first meeting between Oakland and Iowa. The Golden Grizzlies are 2-16 all-time against the Big Ten, with their last win over a Big Ten opponent being a 97-90 win over Michigan back on Nov. 17, 2000. The Grizzlies have lost 10 straight to Big Ten opponents. Iowa is 19-1 against current member of the Summit League, with its lone loss being to South Dakota State.

The skinny — Oakland will be playing its second of three games in six days against BCS opponents. The Grizzlies really struggled in the first half against Syracuse and will need to carry some of their momentum from the second half into the Iowa game. If Oakland falls behind early, coming from behind at Carver-Hawkeye Arena may be too much to ask. Iowa has not faced nearly as tough competition as the Grizzlies have thus far this season, which could prove to be a factor. Iowa’s three freshman (Tucker, Gatens and Fuller) have played well in the team’s first three games and will play huge roles against Oakland.

Good week for the Gents
Centenary picks up its first win of the season with a 81-77 win over Troy Thursday in the LSU Men’s Classic. It was also the first win for new head coach Greg Gary.
“Our guys did a tremendous job because we got down by 13 early and were able to get it back to within one (41-40) at the half,” Gary told The Shreveport Times. “That gave us some momentum in the second half and we executed down the stretch.”
Nick Stalling led the Gents with 31 points.
Centenary also battled Northwestern State tough before falling 69-66. Chase Adams scored 20 points in the loss.
Earlier in the week Centenary picked up some good news when guard Mitch Marquis (Tyler, Texas) signed a national letter of intent. Marquis is ranked the No. 90 point guard in the nation by ESPN.com.
“I love what coach Gary is doing with the program and with the offense, where he likes to move the ball around,” Marquis told Centenary Athletics. “He loves people who like to get after it and that’s the type of basketball I like to play.”
The Gents also have a verbal commitment from Charles Winborne (Boosier City, Louisana), who is the No. 127-ranked shooting guard by ESPN.com.

Roos upset Wichita State
UMKC picked up an impressive road victory over Wichita State. The Kangaroos (1-1) had four player scored in double figures and shot 50 percent from the field in the win.
“We weren’t taking as many jump shots,” senior Dane Brumagin told The Wichita Eagle. “We just put our head down and drove.”
Brumagin finished with 12 points, sophomore Spencer Johnson had 14, freshman Latreze Mushatt (Saginaw Arthur Hill) added 13 and Reggie Hamilton finished with 11.
The win also gave UMKC confidence it can win on the road. The Kangaroos didn’t buckle under the pressure of playing in front of over 10,000 fans.
“It proved we can play with anybody when we run the stuff that we run and we play 100 percent,” Brumagin told The Wichita Eagle.
UMKC also picked up a nice recruit in the early signing period, Matt Webb, a 6-foot-7, 247-pound forward from Missouri. Webb averaged 21 points and 13 rebound per game as a junior for Summit Christian High School in Missouri. He is an McDonad's All-American candidate.

IPFW throws scare into Spartans
The Mastodons had upset on their mind against No. 5 Michigan State Wednesday night before the Spartans went on a 13-0 in the second half to put the game out of reach.
Sophomore guard Ben Botts led IPFW with 22 points, David Carson added 17 and Deilvez Yearby finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo praised the Mastodons after the game.
“I don’t want to take anything away from IPFW because I did like the way they handled themselves,” Izzo told The Journal Gazette. “Those guys played with some energy and some heart. The Carson kid really played well. We did a pretty good job on Botts early; he did a good job later on.
“(Fife’s) got a good team. If he gets the (Jakari) Johnson kid back, I hope this is a year where Dane makes some really big strides, because he deserved to have a big crowd for this game; I think it should have been bigger for him. … All and all, his kids played really well — better than our kids played.”
The attendance at IPFW for the game was 6,704 in the 13,000 seat Memorial Coliseum.

Oral Roberts signs Bell-Holter
The Golden Eagles signed Damen Bell-Holter, a 6-foot-10, 245-point center from Ketchikan, Alaska. Bell-Holter is currently playing at New Hampton prep school. He averaged 28.2 points, 16.8 rebounds and 4.5 blocks as a senior and was the No. 31-ranked center in the country by ESPN.com coming out of high school.
“Damen has a tremendous upside,” Oral Roberts coach Scott Sutton told Oral Roberts athletics. “He can score under the basket and also owns the ability to step out and hit an occasional 3-pointer.”
Oral Roberts also received some good news when it found out freshman Dominique Morrison likely won’t miss anytime after taking a nasty spill against John Brown. Morrison had to have some of his teeth wired to keep them straight and will have to wear a mouthpiece.
The Golden Eagles play five-straight road games starting with Saturday’s game at Creighton.

Summit League results/schedule
Monday, November 17
Oakland 82, Oregon 79 (OT)
Oral Roberts 82, John Brown 58
Tuesday, November 18
Baylor 90, Centenary 55
North Dakota State 128, Mayville State 64
Wednesday, November 19
UMKC 66, Wichita State 63
VCU 72, South Dakota State 56
Western Illinois 75, Eureka College 57
Michigan State 70, IPFW 59
Thursday, November 20
Centenary 81, Troy 77
Florida 64, Southern Utah 50
Friday, November 21
Syracuse 86, Oakland 66
Northwestern State 69, Centenary 66
Saturday, November 22
Eastern Illinois at IPFW
Oral Roberts at Creighton
Southern Utah at Tennessee Tech
IU East at IUPUI
UMKC at Florida Atlantic
North Dakota State at Idaho
Western Illinois at Cincinnati
Sunday, November 23
Oakland at Iowa
South Dakota State at Drake

The opponent — Syracuse (2-0) is just outside the top 25, earning 97 points in the Associated Press poll, which is good for 30th in the nation. The Orange were predicted to finish 8th in the Big East preseason coaches’ poll, which is still impressive considering seven Big East teams are currently ranked in the top 25 and four are in the top 10.

Syracuse returns four starters from last year’s 21-14 team, if you include junior guard Eric Devendorf, who missed most of last season with a knee injury. The Orange are led by the trio of Devendorf (18 points per game), sophomore point guard Jonny Flynn (22 points) and junior forward Arinze Onuaku (14.5 points). The trio scored 66 of Syracuse’s 76 points in its, 76-71, win over Richmond. Junior forward Paul Harris (9.5 points and 7.5 rebounds) is the fourth returning starter and 6-foot-8 senior Kristof Ongenaet has started the first two games, with junior guard Andy Rautins the first player off the bench.

The Orange don’t have a ton of height, 6-foot-9 Onuaku is the tallest starter and second tallest player on the team. The tallest is 6-11 sophomore Sean Williams, who has played two minutes this season.

Key matchup — Oakland senior Erik Kangas vs. Syracuse’s Eric Devendorf. There is no question the matchup between Oakland’s Johnathon Jones and Syracuse’s Jonny Flynn is huge, but the Kangas-Devendorf matchup could prove to be the difference maker. Both players can hit multiple 3s in a hurry and change the whole momentum of a game. Both teams like to play a zone defense and nothing hurts a zone more than a hot 3-point shooter. Kangas has hit just 35.7 percent of hits 3s this season, but that likely means nothing. Devendorf is hitting 45 percent of his 3-point attempts this season and had four against Richmond.

Matchup history — This will be the first meeting between Oakland and Syracuse. The Grizzlies are 0-6 all-time against the Big East. Syracuse has played just one Summit Leauge team in its history, falling to Oral Roberts in the first round of the NCAA tournament back in 1974.

The skinny — The Oregon win was huge for Oakland’s confidence in this brutal schedule to start the season, but it also serves notice to future opponents to not take the Grizzlies lightly. Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim has probably told his team all about Oakland’s win over Oregon, plus the Orange survived somewhat of a scare against Richmond earlier this week so will likely be less prone to take a team lightly. The Grizzlies will need to hit their outside shots, limit Syracuse’s 3-pointers and sophomore Keith Benson will need to have a big game inside and avoid foul trouble, which has been a problem in the first two games. A big part of Syracuse’s gameplan will likely be shutting down Jones, so he will need to make good decisions and find open shots for his teammates if he can’t find any for himself.

Note: I will be on ESPN Radio 1260 in Syracuse Friday at 3:25 p.m. to talk about the Grizzlies. You can listen online at http://www.espnradio1260.com/default.asp

To see my preview of Oakland's road trip click here

Class A
Birmingham Marian (64-8-1) vs. Grosse Pointe North, 7:15 p.m. Friday — Marian has not lost a single game and looks poised to make a repeat appearance in the finals. The Mustangs have challenged themselves against tough competition all season to prepare themselves to get Battle Creek. Grosse Pointe North has yet to face a team as tough as Marian in the state playoffs. Pick: Marian
Jension (63-6) vs. Livonia Churchill (49-3), 5:30 p.m. Friday — A matchup between the last two state champions. Pick: Churchill

Class B
Holland Chrisitan (48-12) vs. Ida (47-9-2), 5:30 p.m. Thursday — Pick: Holland Chrisitan
North Branch (70-4) vs. Fruitport (45-1), 7:15 p.m. Thursday — Pick: North Branch

Class C
Unionville Sebewaing (33-7-7) vs. Schoolcraft (40-9-2), 2 p.m. Thursday — Pick: Schoolcraft
Monroe St. Mary CC (26-19-4) vs. Calumet (52-3-1), 3:45 p.m. Thursday — Pick: Calumet

Class D
Pellston (46-8-6) vs. Lutheran Westland (45-5-5), 2 p.m. Friday — Lutheran Westland
Battle Creek St. Philip (59-7-5) vs. Bay City All Saints (17-19-4), 3:45 p.m. Friday — Pick: St. Philip

Division 1
Lake Orion (11-1) vs. Dearborn Fordson (12-0), 7 p.m. Saturday at Troy Athens — There is nothing flashy about Lake Orion, it just finds ways to win. The Dragons have won by a combined 10 points in their three playoff game and seven of those points were in 7-0 win over Utica Eisenhower in the district semifinals. Fordson has won its three games by 10 or more points, but hasn’t blown anybody out of the water. Its unusual this game is being played at night. I thought the whole rule about playing semifinal games on a Saturday was to avoid night games in the colder weather. It’s been cold around here the past few days, which could play a factor. The team that can run the ball effectively should come out on top. Pick: Lake Orion
Livonia Stevenson (10-2) vs. Rockford (11-1), 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Spartan Stadium — Pick: Rockford

Division 2
Southfield (11-1) vs. Warren DeLaSalle (12-0), 1 p.m. Saturday at Berkley — Don’t be too quick to count out Southfield. DeLaSalle dominated the Catholic League Central Division this season, but the league appeared to be down this season. The Bluejays are full of playmakers, who can change the whole complexity of a game in seconds. Southfield has won two close games to get here, if it can keep this one close until the end then the Bluejays could make their first appearance at Ford Field. Pick: DeLaSalle
Muskegon (12-0) vs. Davision (9-3), 1 p.m. Saturday at Spartan Stadium — Pick: Muskegon

Division 3
Bloomfield Hills Lahser (11-1) vs. Inkster (11-1), 1 p.m. Saturday at Birmingham Seaholm — Not to discount all of Lahser’s accomplishments this season, but it has not seen a team as talented as Inkster all season. The Knights dominated the OAA’s lowest division and their toughest test in the playoffs has been Warren Fitzgerald. Inkster won its first two playoff games by a combined score of 102-0 before winning defeating Trenton 16-13 last week. Pick: Inkster
East Grand Rapids (11-1) vs. Stevensville Lakeshore (11-1), 1 p.m. Saturday at Ostego — Pick: East Grand Rapids

Division 4
Birmingham Detroit Country Day (10-2) vs. Croswell Lexington (9-3), Saturday 1 p.m. at Macomb Dakota — Country Day is one win away from making its second straight trip to Ford Field. The Yellowjackets’ defense has given up just seven total points in three playoff games and will be amped to get another shot at a state title after falling to Marine City last year in the title game. Croswell-Lexington has found ways to win thus far in the playoffs, with two one-point victories, but its magical run could come to an end. Pick: Country Day
Holland Christian (12-0) vs. Grand Rapids Catholic Central (9-3), Saturday 1 p.m. at East Kentwood — Pick: Holland Christian

Division 5
Standish-Sterling (12-0) vs. Ovid-Elsie (11-1), Satuday 2 p.m. at Midland — Pick: Standish-Sterling
Muskegon Oakridge (12-0) vs. Jackson Lumen Christi, Saturday 1 p.m. at Battle Creek Central — Pick: Oakridge

Division 6
Montague (11-1) vs. Saginaw Nouvel (12-0), Saturday 1p.m.at Alma College — Pick: Saginaw Nouvel
Leslie (11-1) vs. Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central (10-2), Saturday 1 p.m. at Withington Stadium, Jackson — Pick: Catholic Central

Division 7
Traverse City St. Francis (11-1) vs. Ravenna (10-2), 1 p.m. at Ferris State — Pick: St. Francis
Ubly (12-0) vs. Reading (12-0), 1 p.m. at Howell — Pick: Ubly

Division 8
Crystal Falls Forest Park (12-0) vs. Frankfort (11-1), 1 p.m. at Superior Dome — Pick: Forest Park
Muskegon Catholic Central (12-0) vs. Beal City (11-1) Pick: Catholic Central

Two days after a disappointing 2-for-16 performance against Cleveland State, Oakland point guard Johnathon Jones showed why he is a preseason mid-major All-American in a 82-79 overtime win at Oregon late Monday night.
Jones had 32 points on 13-for-23 shooting and scored the biggest hoop of the game, a jumper from the corner with eight seconds left in overtime that put the Grizzlies up two possessions, 82-77.
“We couldn’t do anything with Jones,” Oregon coach Ernie Kent told the Register-Guard. “Other than him, it was a pretty evenly played game, but he did a terrific job.
“We just had no answers to be able to shut him down. It seemed like every time they needed a bucket, he was the guy hitting big shot after big shot after big shot.”
Jones also played a key role defensively, guarding Oregon’s Tajuan Porter (Detroit Renaissance) as Oakland played a box-and-one defense. Porter shot 3-for-5 with three 3-pointers in the first half, but in the second half and overtime, Porter shot 1-for-4. He finished with 17 points.
“(Jones) can play anywhere in the country," Oakland head coach Greg Kampe told Oakland Athletics. “He proved it on a Pac-10 floor, and one of the hardest places to play in the country. JJ was the best player on the court tonight.”
Porter, who played against Jones in high school, told The Oregonian Jones has really improved since their high school battles.
“There was no stopping him,” Porter said. “There was nothing we could do really. He just hit shots. Ain’t too much else I can say about that.”
Jones said he didn’t do anything different Monday than he did against Cleveland State.
“Same shots (as Monday), they just went in,” Jones told the Register-Guard.
The home loss ended Oregon’s streak of 16 consecutive non-conference victories at home. The Ducks had not lost a home non-conference game since Portland State beat them back on Dec. 27, 2005. Oregon was 11-1 at home last season.
The win should boost the confidence of Oakland’s freshman, who have been forced to play more minutes with Derick Nelson out.
“We had to learn how to win,” Kampe told Oakland Athletics. “When Derick (Nelson) got hurt, we became a young team. We had two freshmen, three freshmen, four freshmen on the floor at one time, and they have to learn how to win. This is going to go a long way to make us a good team.”
Freshman Blake Cushingberry started his second straight game and finished with nine points and five rebounds, and hit two pressure-packed free throws to put Oakland up three, 68-65, with 21 seconds left in the second half. The free throws proved to be huge when Porter was fouled shooting a 3-pointer on Oregon’s next possession and made all three to tie the game with five seconds left.
Junior Erik Kangas finished with 18 points and hit three free throws with 33 seconds left in the second half to put Oakland up, 66-65. Sophomore Keith Benson had 10 points and eight rebounds, but fouled out with 4:09 left in the second half.
Freshman Drew Maynard had six points and four rebounds, freshman Matt Samuels scored his first two points as a Grizzly and freshman Ilija Milutinovic saw his first action of the young season, playing seven minutes.

Just two Oakland County volleyball teams remain alive in the quarterfinals and both are looking for a repeat trip to Battle Creek. Pontiac Notre Dame Prep is the defending Class B champion and Birmingham Marian fell in the Class A finals last season. Here are the predictions.

Class A
Birmingham Marian (63-8-1) vs. Flushing (49-9), 7:30 p.m. at Holly — The Mustangs eliminated Flushing last season in the quarterfinals in a tough five-game match. A fact I’m sure Flushing has not forgotten. The Mustangs will need big games out of the Lovell sisters and Alex Cocklin to pull this one out. Pick: Marian
East Kentwood (61-9-1) vs. Jension, 7 p.m. at East Kentwood — Pick: Jension
Livonia Churchill (48-3) vs. Carleton Airport (47-7), 7 p.m. at Novi — Pick: Churchill
Grosse Pointe North (39-12) vs. Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse (32-17-1), 7 p.m. at Grosse Pointe North — Pick: GPN

NOTE: Teams should not be allowed to have home games in the quarterfinals. At this point it should be at neutral courts. I know these are picked way in advance, but Jension and L’Anse Creuse shouldn’t have to play road games this late in the playoffs. Just my opinion.

Class B
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (47-12-3) vs. Ida (46-9-2), 7 p.m. at Livonia Ladywood — Boy did Notre Dame Prep prove me wrong in its win over Marysville. Not only did the Fighting Irish win, but they did it three-tight games. Ida is a talented team so go ahead prove me wrong again defending champs. Pick: Ida
Plainwell (47-10) vs. Holland Christian (46-12), 7:30 p.m. at Allegan — Pick: Holland Christian
North Branch (68-4) vs. Lake Odessa Lakewood, 7 p.m. at North Branch — Pick: North Branch
Fruitport (44-10) vs. Petoskey (38-8-3), 7 p.m. at Big Rapids — Pick: Fruitport

Playoff record — Regional finals: 4-2; Regional semifinals: 13-2; District finals: 12-4; District finalists: 25-5

The opponent — Oregon is coming off a 66-64 win over Northern Colorado in its season opener on Saturday. The Ducks return two starters from last season in junior guard Tajuan Porter (13.9 points per game last season) and junior forward Joevan Catron (8.8 points and 5.7 rebounds last season).
Oregon, which was picked to finish seventh in the Pac-10 preseason poll, is a young team. The Ducks started two freshman (Matthew Humphrey and Michael Dunigan) and a sophomore (LeKendric Longmire) against Northern Colorado, and played freshman Josh Crittle, freshman Kamyron Brown and sophomore Garrett Sim significant minutes. Longmire led Oregon with 15 points and Dunigan added 13 points.
Orgeon head coach Ernie Kent will be going for history. Saturday’s win tied Kent with Hall of Famer Howard Hobson with 212 career victories at Oregon, so a win tonight will give Kent the school record.

Key matchup — Oakland’s Johnathon Jones vs. Oregon’s Tajuan Porter. With Derick Nelson out for Oakland, Jones and Porter are their respective team’s leading returning scorer. Both struggled in their season openers. Jones shot 2-for-16 and finished with eight points and six turnovers in the Grizzlies’ 58-55 loss to Cleveland State. Porter shot 1-for-10 and finished with five points in Oregon’s win over Northern Colorado. Jones frustrated the Detroit Renaissance grad in their head-to-head meeting last season. Porter shot 1-for-9 from the field and scored three points, while Jones had 12 points and eight assists in a 68-62 Oakland win. Porter, who had family and friends in the crowd last year at The Palace, has likely been waiting for this game and another shot at Oakland so expect an inspired effort from him.

Matchup history — Oakland defeated then No. 23 Oregon 68-62 last season at The Palace of Auburn Hills in the only meeting between the two schools. It was the Grizzlies first win in school history over a top 25 team. Oakland is 1-1 all-time against Pac-10 teams.

The skinny — The Ducks were tough at home last season (11-1) and the 7 p.m. Pacific (10 p.m. Eastern) start could play a role. Since turning Division I the Grizzlies have played just one game in the Pacific time zone, a 74-53 loss to UCLA in 2006. Jet lag could be an issue for Oakland. The Grizzlies had just one day of rest, which included a plane ride across the country, between its loss to Cleveland State and Monday night’s game. Oakland will need a strong start, like it had against the Vikings to set the tempo. Both teams will play freshman significant minutes so the team that limits its mistakes will likely come out with the win.

The opponent — Cleveland State is the preseason favorite in the Horizon League after finishing second last year and reaching the NIT. The Vikings are No. 9 in the mid-major preseason top 25, but will rely heavily on senior forward J’Nathan Bullock (Flint Northern) and Cedric Jackson, who were both named to the preseason All-Horizon League first team. Bullock (14.8 points, 6.6 rebounds) was also named a preseason mid-major All-American by collegeinsider.com and Jackson (13.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists) was an honorable mention.

Kampe’s key to the game — Rebounding. The loss of senior forward Derick Nelson will hurt Oakland’s ability to rebound, as Nelson was the team’s leading rebounder last season (7.3 per game). Cleveland State outrebouned its opponents last season by an average of 34.7 to 31.6, with Bullock leading the Vikings in rebounding last season with 6.6 per game.
“We’ve got to rebound without Derick,” Oakland coach Greg Kampe said. “That’s their strength. We have to rebound. Their strength is getting rebounds and not let you have any. We have to live and die with defense and we have to be able to score the ball.”

Key matchup — Johnathon Jones vs. Jackson. Jones (14.9 points per game last year) may to shoulder more of the scoring load with Nelson out and Jackson was the Vikings’ second leading scorer last season (13.9 per game). Jones (6 assists per game) and Jackson (4.9 per game) were also their team’s best passers last season. To make the matchup even more exciting both players are also very strong defensively. Jones normally guards the opposing team’s best perimeter player, while Jackson is also known for his defense and was a Horizon League All-defensive team selection last season. Jackson is bigger at 6-foot-3, 190 so Jones will have to rely on his speed.

Matchup history — Oakland is 0-2 all-time against Cleveland State. Both meetings came during the Grizzlies transition period to Division I. The Vikings won the first meeting, 81-67, at the O’Rena on Dec.9, 2000 and then defeated Oakland again the next year, 87-73, at Wolstein Center.

The skinny — This was going to be a tough opening game for Oakland even without the loss of Oakland. Freshman Drew Maynard and Blake Cushingberry were expected to contribute this season, but with have step up even more in the absence of Nelson. The Grizzlies will need to contain the Vikings big two (Bullock and Jackson) to have a chance.

Oakland suffered an unfortunate setback this week in practice when senior forward Derick Nelson broke his foot. Oakland coach Greg Kampe said it was broken bone in the fourth metatarsal and the early prognosis is he will be out 4-8 weeks, but he will know more when Nelson has a bone scan on Monday.
The loss is a serious blow to the Golden Grizzlies, who are one of the preseason favorites in the Summit League and open the season with nine straight road games. Nelson was the team’s leading scorer (17.3 per game) and rebounder (7.4 per game) last season, and was a preseason first-team Summit League selection.
It is also the second straight season Oakland has suffered a serious injury at the start of the season. Last season guard Erik Kangas, who was a preseason first-team Summit League selection last season, broke his collarbone 11 minutes into Oakland’s first game.
Oakland opens the season Saturday night at Cleveland State.

Oral Roberts home games available in Metro Detroit
Oral Roberts home games will be broadcast nationally on Fox College Sports this season, Oral Roberts, Golden Eagle Broadcasting and Fox College Sports announced Friday. Fox College Sports will televise all Golden Eagle home games live.
Fox College Sports will also carry the weekly ORU Sports Report, airing it Fridays at 6 p.m. and Saturdays at 2:30 p.m. when live events do not conflict.
Fox College Sports is available in 42 million households across the country on most major cable systems including Time Warner, Comcast and Charter Communications, as well as DirecTV (Ch. 617). FCS consists of three channels: FCS Atlantic, FCS Central and FCS Pacific.

The next George Hill?
IUPUI freshman Alex Young has already earned some serious praise from head coach Ron Hunter. Hunter told the Indianapolis Star, “He's special. It's the 'it' factor, and either you have 'it' or you don't. George Hill had it; this kid has it.
“He plays like one of those old-school guys who knows how to play and has a presence about him. I love George Hill, but if you ask me, this kid is ahead of where George was as a freshman, and it's not even close.”
Young is a 6-foot-5 shooting guard, who averaged 18.6 points and 13.7 rebounds for Northwest High School and was named the Indianapolis Public School Player of the Year. Young had 17 points (6-for-10 from the field) and six rebounds in IUPUI’s loss to Northeastern and 15 points and four rebounds in a win over Michigan Tech.
The Jaguars will need Young to step up early after senior point guard and leading returning scorer Gary Patterson broke his non-shooting hand. IUPUI hopes freshman Larry Stone can fill in while Patterson is out and get some valuable experience.

IPFW’s Yearby anxious to play
Kansas State transfer Deilvez Yearby is anxious to play meaningful games after sitting out last season. The 6-foot-6 Yearby is a talented player, who IPFW head coach Dane Fife thinks can really make an impact this season.
“He can make us better, there's no question,” Fife told the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. “The things he can do are something we do not have. And his combination of athleticism and size make him potentially one of the top players in this league if he puts it all together. He's someone who could be of great value.”
Yearby’s biggest obstacle has apparently been his work ethic. Fife admitted to the Journal Gazette that there were times in his mind that Yearby was off the team. But apparently Yearby, who graduated from Detroit Central, put in the effort over the summer and is looking forward to the start of the season. IPFW opens at Xavier on Friday night.

Major Payne
Southern Utah signed seven new players over the offseason in hopes of easing the blow of losing leading scorer Geoff Payne, but it has been two veterans that have looked good during the exhibiion season.
Junior Davis Baker scored 35 points against Montana Westerna and 20 against Adams State.
“It's nice having Davis back because he can float around from the perimeter and play inside," Southern Utah coach Roger Reid told The Spectrum. "He's not going to score 30 every night, but he if can come up with 15 and explode from time to time we'll be fine."
Senior Tyler Quinney has also looked solid with 18 points and nine rebounds against Adams State and 17 points and 11 rebounds in a 98-92 win over Montana Western.
The Thunderbirds added some serious size in the early signing period by inking two Australian big men in 6-10 225-pound Matt Hodgson and 7-foot 200-pound Nathan Crombie.
Reid on Hodgson (courtesy of Southern Utah Athletics): “When we saw Matt we were really impressed, we thought we would be very fortunate to sign him,” Reid said. “He could play for a lot of people. He’s a true center with a 7-foot-nine inch wingspan. He’s strong around the basket but he can also step out and shoot the ball. On the other end of the floor he has a good defensive presence. He still has a lot of work to do to be the player he can be — remember, he’s only 17 years old — but he has all the tools to be a very good basketball player. He’s also a good student with a great family”
Reid on Crombie: “Nathan is a legitimate 7-footer, a great athlete who runs the floor as well as any guard on our team,” Reid noted. “He’s got good quickness and a nice touch out to 15 or 16 feet; I think he also has the ability to develop an even better jump shot even though we don’t really see him as a jump shooter.”

Bison ink three
North Dakota State signed three recruits in the early signing period, 6-9 forward Jordan Aaberg from Rothsay, Minn., 6-0 guard Nathan Zastrow from Manitowoc, Wis. and 6-3 guard Mike Felt from Redwood Falls, Minn.
Bison head coach Saul Phillips is excited about all three recruits. Here is what Phillips said about the recruits to The Forum.
On Aaberg: “He is oozing with potential,” said Bison head coach Saul Phillips, who said Aaberg will most likely redshirt next season. “We are just starting to the see the emergence of a special player.”
On Zastrow: “He’s the kind of kid who looks like the nicest kid in the gym but will rip your heart out to get the basketball,” said Phillips, who feels Zastrow will more than likely play next year. “He’s a tough-nosed kid who knows how to compete.
On Felt: “His shooting form is as good as I have seen in a high school player,” said Phillips, who said Felt will most likely play next year. “He’s sneaky athletic and can throw in a dunk every once in awhile too.”
Don’t know what type of competition Felt is facing but he averaged 30.3 points a game last year, including a 56 points game.

To sign or not to sign
Oral Roberts has yet to sign any recruits in the early signing period. The Golden Eagls have a verbal commitment from Damen Bell-Holter, a 6-foot-9 center from Ketchikan, Alaska. According to the Tulsa World, Bell-Holter plans on signing sometime during the early signing period and planned on attending Oral Roberts this fall, but is at a prep school in New Hampshire after being declared an NCAA academic nonqualifier. Bell-Holter averaged 28.3 points and 16.8 rebounds as high school senior.

The regional finals are here. Teams are just three wins away from a state title. But my question is, what is up with all the Saturday games? Of the 32 regional finals, 20 are on Saturday. I know next week's semifinals are required to be on Saturday, but high school football is supposed to be a Friday night tradition. I would like to see what the attendance numbers are like for Friday night games vs. Saturday afternoon games, which have to compete against college football games for fans. I know on semifinals week this year, fans will have to decide between high school games and the Michigan State-Penn State and Michigan-Ohio State matchups. But most high school fans are loyal to their team, especially at this point in the season. Here are my picks for this week.

Division 1
Region 3
Lake Orion (10-1) at Sterling Heights Stevenson (10-1), Friday 7 p.m. — The OAA Red champion Dragons versus the MAC Red co-champion Titans. The winner takes home bragging rights for its respective league and moves one step closer to Ford Field. Stevenson avenged its lone loss of the season last week by defeating Macomb Dakota and are averaging 44.8 points per game in during its current six-game winning streak. The Dragons have won 10 straight and have given up more than 20 points just twice this season. Stevenson is Lake Orion’s third straight MAC Red opponent and MAC teams have typically been a thorn in Lake Orion’s side, especially in regional finals. Pick: Stevenson

Division 2
Region 3
Lakeland (9-2) at Warren DeLaSalle (11-0), Saturday 1 p.m. — Lakeland is in unchartered territory after winning its first football district title in school history. DeLaSalle on the other hand is hoping to get back to the state finals, which it reached in 2006. The Eagles, who rely heavily on their offense, could struggle to score against the Pilots, who have allowed just six points in each of its first two playoff games and allowed more than 14 points just once all season. Lakeland is going to need its defense to keep it low scoring to have a chance. Pick: DeLaSalle

Wyandotte Roosevelt (10-1) at Southfield (10-1), Saturday 1 p.m. — Alright show of hands, who had Southfield going this far at the beginning of the season. Just Tim Conley, huh? Even after making it this far, it seems like the Bluejays are still not getting respect. Last week’s overtime win over Dearborn was impressive and nobody will be able to deny Southfield is the real deal with a win this week. Roosevelt has won two tough playoff games against one-loss teams, including a win last week over Southgate Anderson that avenged is only loss of the season. Pick: Southfield

Division 3
Region 4
Warren Fitzgerald (10-1) at Bloomfield Hills Lahser (10-1), Saturday 7:30 p.m. — The OAA Blue champion Knights vs. the MAC Silver champion Spartans. Fitzgerald has been tough defensively, shutting out its first two playoff opponents and not allowing more than 18 points in a game all season. Lahser has averaged 32.8 points per game during its current 10-game win streak, but in its two toughest games (Ferndale and Lapeer West) the Knights have scored a combined 27 points. The Knights offense will have to be at the top of its game to pull this one out. Pick: Lahser

Division 4
Region 3
Marshall (8-3) at Birmingham Detroit Country Day (9-2), Saturday 1 p.m. — Of all the Oakland County teams left, Country Day is my best bet to make it to Ford Field. The Yellowjackets showed they can put points on the board during the regular season and have grinded out two low-scoring games in the playoffs. Marshall upset a solid Goodrich team last week and looks like it has turned things around defensively after allowing 77 points in its first two games of the season, both losses. Pick: Country Day

Division 7
Region 4
Royal Oak Shrine (11-0) at Ubly (11-0), Saturday 1 p.m. — Shrine hasn’t just beaten teams this season, but embarrassed them. The Knights have won their first two playoff games by a combined scored of 63-6 and have won its 11 games by an average of 29.3 points a game. Ubly can relate. The Bearcats have won their two playoff games by a combined scored of 111-14 and has won its 11 games by an average of 38.6 points per game. This would make a great Division 7 state championship game, let alone a regional final. Homefield could prove to be the difference, and by the way, what does Shrine have to do to get a home playoff game? The Knights missed this one by 0.333 playoff points. Pick: Shrine

Bonus (non-Oakland County) picks
Division 1
Hartland (9-2) at Rockford (10-1), Saturday 1:30 p.m. — Pick: Rockford
Livonia Stevenson (9-2) at Canton (10-1), Friday 7 p.m — Pick: Canton
Detroit Southeastern (10-1) at Dearborn Fordson (11-0), Friday 7 p.m. — Pick: Fordson

Division 2
Davison (8-3) at Midland (10-1), Saturday 7 p.m. — Pick: Midland
Lowell (11-0) at Muskegon (11-0), Saturday 1 p.m. — Pick: Muskegon

Division 3
Bangor John Glenn (9-2) at East Grand Rapids, Saturday 2 p.m. — Pick: East Grand Rapids
East Lansing (8-3) at Stevensville Lakeshore (10-1), Saturday 1 p.m. — Pick East Lansing
Chelsea (9-2) at Inkster (10-1), Saturday 1 p.m. — Pick: Inkster

Playoff record: District semifinals: 24-6, 16-4 Oakland County; District finals: 10-8 overall, 6-3 Oakland County

Class A
Region 3
(At Grosse Pointe South)
Southfield vs. Grosse Pointe North, 6 p.m. Thursday — Southfield has had another memorable season, but haven’t faced a team as tough as Grosse Pointe North in the playoffs. The Norsemen, who compete in the MAC Red, are more battle tested, which could be the difference. Pick: Grosse Pointe North

Region 5
(At Lake Orion)
Birmingham Marian vs. Troy, 7 p.m. Thursday — Troy is coming off an emotional win over OAA Red rival Clarkston on Tuesday, while Marian defeated Catholic League foe Farmington Hills Mercy for the third time. Marian has nearly its entire team back from its state finalist team last season and that experience will serve them well. Pick: Marian

Region 6
(At Lakeland)
Novi vs. Livonia Churchill, 7 p.m. Thursday — Novi is looking to make its second straight run to Battle Creek after reaching the Class A semifinals last season, while Churchill, the 2007 winter state champions, is looking to redeem itself after falling in regionals last season. The Wildcats have been up and down this season, while the Chargers have been pretty steady. Thursday’s result will depend on which Novi team shows up. Pick: Churchill

Class B
Region 11
(At Pontiac Notre Dame Prep)
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep vs. Marysville, 7 p.m. Thursday — Notre Dame Prep denied Marysville its 20th straight regional title last season on its way to winning the Class B state championship. The Vikings have likely been looking forward to this game for an entire year and unless the Fighting Irish find out Molly Coldren has some eligibility left, they could be in for a long night. Pick: Marysville

Class C
Region 19
(At Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest)
Royal Oak Shrine vs. Allen Park Cabrini, 8 p.m. Thursday — A rematch of the Catholic League C-D championship game, which Shrine won, 3-1. The Knights have defeated Cabrini three times this season so they will likely get the Monarchs best shot, but will it be enough? Pick: Shrine

Class D
Region 27
(At Auburn Hills Oakland Christian)
Auburn Hills Oakland Christian vs. Lutheran Westland — The No. 6-ranked Lancers will host No. 3 Lutheran Westland in what should be a great Class D matchup. Both teams fell in the regional finals last season, but that obviously won’t happen this year. Pick: Westland

Playoff predictions record
Regional semifinals: 13-2; District finals: 12-4; District finalists: 25-5

Scheduling nine road games to start the season was never Oakland coach Greg Kampe’s intention, but as they say, ‘When opportunity knocks, you have to answer the door.’

The opportunity in this case was for Kampe to help out a couple of other college programs, while benefiting Oakland at the same time.

The Golden Grizzlies were originally scheduled to host Rochester College to open the season and play at Cleveland State on Dec. 16. But Syracuse asked Oakland to switch its two dates so it could played Cleveland State in December and offered to play Oakland again next season for making the switch. As a result the Golden Grizzlies open up the season at Cleveland State on Nov. 15 and host Rochester College on Dec. 14.

“I didn’t even realize it was nine in a row on the road until somebody said something to me after it was done because we made some changes late in it,” Kampe said at Oakland’s media day. “We were supposed to open at home against a non-DI (opponent), but we did somebody a favor and because we did a favor, we get Syracuse the next two years.

“We are going to make $200,000 playing Syracuse. That makes sense. And our players want to play Syracuse. It’s going to help us in recruiting. I think of all the games we play, the Syracuse game is the one they are excited the most about. Play in the Carrier Dome and play against a national program, and that’s considered one of the best there is.

“All of a sudden you look at that schedule and, ‘Wow, I didn’t realize there was nine in a row.’ But I’m the one that did it. Our non-league schedule for us, is to make us tough. That’s what we are trying to accomplish. We want to be tough because in our league, a one-bid league, it’s three days. And if you’re not tough, you’re not going to win.”

Kampe and his coaching staff always use Oakland’s tough non-conference schedule to help entice them. Potential recruits know if they come to Oakland they will get a chance to play some of the best teams in the country and have a chance to beat them.

Kampe’s current group of players look forward to testing themselves against the best because they can learn more from it than by beating an inferior opponent.

“A nine game road streak, you really find out the character of your team on a trip like that,” Oakland senior Derick Nelson said. “You see where you team is at. Everyone sees where everyone is mentally. Those nine games we will find out where we are at and how strong of a team we are. If we stick together through that, then we will have a good season.”

“Personally, I’m really excited to get out there on the road,” senior Dan Waterstradt said. “I’m tired of beating up on the same guys everyday. It will be fun to get out to Oregon and Cleveland State. It’s nine games in a row. It’s scary, but it’s a lot of fun. It breaks the monotony of everyday and going to class. We can get some pretty good Monopoly games going. I’m looking forward to it.”

Oakland’s non-conference schedule doesn’t get easier after the long road trip to start the season. The Grizzlies play their first two homes games against Toledo and Rochester College before heading to Green Bay on Dec. 18.

Then Oakland tests itself against three intrastate schools, facing off against Michigan at The Palace on Dec. 20, at Eastern Michigan on Dec. 22 and against Michigan State at The Palace on Dec. 27.

The Grizzlies played all three last year, dropping a close one at Michigan State, beating Eastern Michigan at home and suffering what Waterstradt called an “embarrassing” 103-87 loss at Michigan. Oakland is hoping to avenge those losses on a neutral floor this season.

“I think it’s really important to us, especially with what happened last year,” Waterstradt said. “Personally I’m really (ticked) off. We should have beat (Michigan State). We kind of let that slip through our fingers. That should have been the first win over a top 25 team and we should have picked up our second one around Christmas time.
“Even though those games are around Christmas this year, we are going to be extremely focused. Hopefully we can pick up two ‘Ws’ because last year we had a heartbreaker and one that was kind of embarrassing. We went to Michigan and took one on the chin.”

The Grizzlies are 1-4 all-time against Michigan and have never beaten the Spartans in six tries, a fact the Oakland players are well aware of.

“For our program it’s huge. We have never beaten Michigan State,” senior guard Erik Kangas said. “We’ve beaten Michigan and we’ve beaten Texas A&M and those schools. Michigan State is one that we really want.”

Class A
Region 3
(At Grosse Pointe South)
Detroit Cass Tech vs. Grosse Pointe North, 5 p.m. —Pick: Grosse Point North
Southfield vs. Detroit Denby, 6:30 p.m. — The Bluejays were my team to watch in my state playoff preview and are a serious threat to win this regional. Don’t know much about Denby, but Southfield should get the victory. Pick: Southfield

Region 4
(At Royal Oak)
Fraser vs. Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse, 5:30 p.m. — Pick: Fraser
Royal Oak vs. Sterling Heights, 7 p.m. — The winner of this game will have a tough time beating Fraser or L’Anse Creuse, but anything can happen. The Ravens finished in the middle of the pack of the OAA White, while Sterling Heights finished in the middle of the pack MAC Blue. Should be a close one. Pick: Sterling Heights

Region 5
(At Lake Orion)
Troy vs. Clarkston, 5:30 p.m. — The top two teams in the OAA Red standings hook up for another match. The Wolves defeated Troy, 3-0, back on Sept. 18. A lot has changed in the almost two months since that match, but I don’t think the end result will. Pick: Clarkston.
Birmingham Marian vs. Farmington Hills Mercy, 7 p.m. — A rematch of a classic Catholic League A-B championship match, which Marian won in five games. The Marlins will be eager for revenge, but the Mustangs have their eye on getting back to Battle Creek. Pick: Marian

Region 6
(At Lakeland)
Walled Lake Northern vs. Livonia Churchill, 6:30 p.m. — Walled Lake Northern upset KLAA North champion Lakeland in a district final, but upsetting Churchill, the KLAA Association champions, will be much a tougher task. Pick: Churchill
Novi vs. South Lyon, 8:30 p.m. — The two KLAA Central rivals split their two regular season meetings. Both teams have a ton of talent so I’m predicting this one goes five games. Pick: Novi


Class B
Region 10
(At Onsted)
Bloomfield Hills Lahser vs. Ida, 5:30 p.m. — The Knights are a dangerous team in Class B after facing some stiff competition in the OAA Red all season, but Ida is a tough squad. Pick: Ida
Dearborn Divine Child vs. Chelsea, 7:30 p.m. — Pick: Divine Child

Region 11
(At Pontiac Notre Dame Prep)
St. Clair Shores South Lake vs. Marysville, 5 p.m. — Pick: Marysville
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep vs. Hamtramck, 7 p.m. — The defending Class B champions should win easily here, but will likely once again have to get through powerhouse Marysville in the regional final. Pick: Notre Dame Prep

Class C
(At Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest)
Region 19
Royal Oak Shrine vs. Detroit Henry Ford Academy, 6 p.m. — The Catholic League C-D champion Knights shouldn’t have any trouble in this one. Pick: Shrine
Allen Park Cabrini vs. TBA — The MHSAA web site didn’t have an opponent for Cabrini listed so I won’t have a pick or should I say it’s TBA.

Class D
Region 27
(At Auburn Hills Oakland Christian)
Auburn Hills Oakland Christian vs. Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett, 6 p.m. — The Lancers are always tough on their homecourt and should be able to get past Liggett. Pick: Oakland Christian
Birmingham Roeper vs. Lutheran Westland, 7:30 p.m. — The Roughriders were a Cinderella story last season when they advanced to the Class D state championship game last season, sadly I don’t think the slipper will fit this season. Pick: Westland

Oakland’s frontcourt is hoping to have more of an impact offensively this season after seeing the perimeter players score a bulk of the points last year.

Senior forward Dan Waterstradt, who averaged 5.7 points per game last season, was the Golden Grizzlies highest scoring post player. Waterstradt told reporters at media day that people can expect a lot more from the frontcourt players this season.

“I know last year, we had our issues finishing the basketball and we struggled getting points down low so teams could kind of target these three guys (Johnathon Jones, Erik Kangas and Derick Nelson),” Waterstradt said. “They were like, ‘That’s the big three, don’t worry about the big guys they’re not going to score.’ This year I think you can expect a lot more.

“Will Hudson has a got a lot stronger. He can finish around the basket. Keith Benson as well. He is long and athletic, and we are going to get him the ball in different opportunities for him to, basically, dunk on people. Get us excited and get the crowd excited. Bringing in Ilija (Milutinovic) and Jay Thames. I think we are going to be a more balanced team. We can get the ball inside and out. Hopefully, we can get these guys to pass us the ball. I’m just throwing that out there.”

Last season the Grizzlies entered the season with five tall and potentially talented post players, but senior Patrick McCloskey was the only one that played meaningful minutes for Oakland.

This season, sophomores Benson (6-foot-11, 225 pounds) and Hudson (6-9, 225) have a year of experience under their belts and Waterstradt has a year of experience at Oakland after transferring in from Rutgers and sitting out the 2006-07 season.

Oakland coach Greg Kampe has always maintained that it takes a little longer for a big guy to develop, but once they develop they get really good fast. That’s something fans could see happen this season for Benson and Hudson.

Benson started 20 games last season and played in 29 games overall, missing just the two Summit League conference tournament games. Benson averaged 5.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, and his 40 blocks were one shy of the Oakland single-season record.

Benson showed flashes of his potential at different points last season. Once during a five-game streak in December he played at least 10 minutes in each game and over 20 minutes three times, with his best game being a double-double (17 points and 13 rebounds) performance against UMKC. But then Benson played 10 minutes or less in seven straight games.

He turned things around in a 14 point, four rebound and three block performance against Western Illinois, in which he played 23 minutes and shot 5-for-5 from the field. He then played solid minutes and contributed the rest of the season, until the finale at UMKC, where he played just three minutes. He was then benched for the conference tournament because of ‘his defensive play’.

Hudson also showed flashed last season. Hudson played in all 31 games, making two stars and averaged 3.5 points and three rebounds per game. He scored in double figures twice and averaged 6.1 rebounds per game in the final eight regular season games.

Waterstradt was easily the most consistent Oakland post player. He averaged 5.7 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, and shot 45 percent from the field and 81.8 percent from the free-throw line. Waterstradt’s best game of the season came in the first round of the conference tournament where he had 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting and seven rebounds, and helped spark the team and frustrated Western Illinois with his intensity and hustle.

Waterstradt said he expects the frontcourt to take more strides this year and praised the entire team’s work ethic.

“Our work ethic on the court is a little bit different,” Waterstradt said. “In the two years that I have been here, Kampe talks about we get an off-day, we comeback and the practices usually aren’t up to the standards of before we took that off-day. We have had a few off-days so far early in the season and we come back with just as much energy or more energy and intensity, every time we practice. That has to do with the level of players we have and their character.”

The Oakland frontcourt also welcomes in the highly anticipated Milutinovic and Thames. Milutinovic turned down a six-figure offer to play professionally in his native Serbia to come to Oakland. He possess superior ball-handling, passing and shooting skills for a big man, but has to add strength after shedding some extra weight once he got to Oakland.

“Ilija has as good of ball-handling skills and ball skills of any big man I’ve ever seen,” Kampe said. “I’m not sure he is physically ready. He got here in July and he’s dropped from 270 to 250. Now we have to get him back to 275.

“His biggest issue is, we have to Americanize him. He has to learn and understand how the game is played here. He’s a very smart kid. He is very likeable. He’s worked very hard and to lose that weight, obviously shows his work ethic. He is somebody that is going to be a very special player at Oakland University. Is it going to be this year? Probably not. But it’s going to happen.

“What we’ve got to do is just teach him how we play the game here,” Kampe added. “He’s got to learn to defend and understand defense a little bit different than he’s used to. Everybody has to remember he hasn’t played in two years. He’s been playing prep school ball for two years, which is a whole different animal from what we do. In a normal year, in 23 of the 25 years that I’ve been here, Ilija would have come in and been a starter. But that’s how good we are. Keith Benson has really improved and is good. Will Hudson is good. Stradt is good. We’ve got players. We don’t have to force feed him like we would have in many of the teams that I’ve coached.”

Thames, who is currently 6-9, 220, also has to add strength and adjust to the college game.

“I think Jay Thames is probably better than I thought he was going to be as a freshman,” Kampe said. “I think Jay Thames has a chance to be an outstanding player, an all-league player at Oakland University. His issue is … he’s not physically ready.”

Oakland held its annual media day Friday and a lot of interesting comments came out of a press conference that lasted over 30 minutes. Head coach Greg Kampe and players Johnathon Jones, Erik Kangas, Derick Nelson and Dan Waterstradt delved into such topics as the recruiting class, the schedule, expectations and several other issues. So much information came out of media day that I couldn’t possibly fit it into the one article that appeared in Saturday’s Oakland Press, so I’ve decided to tackle a few of them in updates each day this week leading into the Grizzlies season opener at Cleveland State. I will start off today with the recruiting class.

Oakland coach Greg Kampe thought his recruiting class could be the best he ever had when Lake Orion’s Drew Maynard, Romeo’s Blake Cushingberry and Port Huron Northern’s Jay Thames all signed in the early-signing period last season. But Kampe’s coaching staff continued to work hard on the recruiting trail and in the spring added point guard Matt Samuels from Washington D.C., center Ilija Milutinovic, a native Serbian who played for a prep school in Kansas City and transfer Larry Wright from St. John’s, who averaged nearly 10 points a game as a sophomore.

“We got two players that are ranked in the top 100 in country,” Kampe said. “We have never really done that. We have had some player come in. I don’t think JJ was ranked as one of the top 100 players. I don’t think Derick Nelson was. They probably should have been. I think when you talk about a recruiting class, you talk about the propaganda that goes with them. Once they get on our campus that stuff is all over. Nobody cares about that anymore. But what’s come true out of these players is, they are good players.

“We’ve got size, we’ve got strength. The biggest thing is if you look at Matt Samuels, Drew Maynard and Blake Cushingberry, three of those freshman, they don’t look like they are 18 or 19 years old. They are physical. They got size. They are not kids. When JJ got here, he weighed a buck and a half I think. As good of a player as he was, he had to get bigger and stronger. We don’t have to do that with these guys. Drew Maynard is big and strong already. There’s things he has to do to get better, but we don’t have to fix their bodies first. Usually with freshman you have to fix their bodies and then help them play basketball.

“Ilija came in at 275 pounds,” Kampe added. “He’s down to 250. Now we got to get him back to 270, but we have to get him with strength back to 270. That’s what made that recruiting class so good.

“Larry Wright is part of that class, but can’t play this year, he averaged 10 points a game as a sophomore in the Big East at the toughest position to play in that league. So you know he’s a good player.”

The recruiting class made Oakland — which returned five starters in Jones, Kangas, Nelson, Waterstradt and sophomore Keith Benson, and sophomore Will Hudson, who played in all 31 games last season — a very deep team, especially for a mid-major program.

“We believe that we are going to win over a long period of time if we can find a way to play 10 guys,” Kampe said. “Johnathon Jones has played 37-38 minutes a game since he’s been here. If I can get that down to 30 minutes a game, I think he’ll be more productive. He’s got great numbers, but I think you’ll see his numbers go up because he doesn’t have to take plays off. He doesn’t have to rest. In past years, he has had to do that because we just haven’t had someone who can come in and run the point. A tired Johnathon Jones, trying to figure out when to go hard and when not go hard, on the court was better than the alternative. We don’t have to worry about that anymore so we can get Johnathon playing at top speed for three quarters of the game. That’s going to make him a better player, his numbers will be higher and he’ll be more efficient.

“If we can get 10 guys that are going to play, and we can figure out a way to spread out those minutes, I guarantee at crunch time you’re going to see our veterans out there. I trust them. I know we can win with them. The young guys are going to have to prove themselves to us. They are very good. They are very, very good. If we are going to be good, it’s going to because those guys supplement what we have.”

Kampe knows he will have to patient with his freshman, something fans might not be considering all the hype. None of the freshmen’s past accomplishments matter now that they are on Oakland’s campus. They will have to earn their minutes, just like every other player.

“In coaching trust is very important. You have to trust your players and they have to trust you,” Kampe said. “Obviously we have a long history with certain players, we trust them. Those young guys are going to have to earn my trust. They can only earn it through performance and their actions. How they handle the games themselves, how they handle being a part of our program

“Sometimes I’m pretty tough on these guys. You’ll notice it’s usually with the younger guys, not with the older guys. As they get older, the trust is there. I know how they are going to act and I let them go. So in crunch time you are going to play the guys you trust. Any coach is going to do that.

“Could a Maynard or Cushingberry be on the floor? I’ve seen Cushingberry in our practices makes many, many shots in a row from deep and if he’s doing that, I’m not that stupid that I’m going to take him out. I’m going to leave him in there. It’s possible they will get some opportunities. But for the most part late in a game, you know the ball is going to be in JJ’s hands and we are going to try to get Kangas a shot or Nelson a drive. It’s pretty simple.”

The pressure is on for teams hoping to win a district title and for me after my stellar 24-6 performance in predictions last week (16-4 in Oakland County matchups). We will see what teams, and if I, can handle the pressure in the next few days.

Division 1
Region 2
District 1
Saline (7-3) at Canton (9-1), Friday 7 p.m. — Pick: Canton
District 2
Novi Detroit Catholic Central (6-3) vs. Livonia Stevenson (8-2), Friday 7 p.m. — Both teams are always tough in the playoffs. Both teams played Novi this season, with Catholic Central beating Novi, 15-12, last week, while Stevenson fell to Novi, 28-27, back in Week 6. The only thing you can take from that, is this is going to be a close game. Pick: Catholic Central

Region 3
District 1
Romeo (8-2) at Lake Orion (9-1), Friday 7 p.m. — Lake Orion’s freshman quarterback Sean Charette continues to impress, but Romeo could be his toughest test to date. The Bulldogs have won in big fashion the last two weeks after losing two weeks in a row, but the Dragons haven’t lost since Week 1. Pick: Lake Orion
District 2
Sterling Heights Stevenson (9-1) at Macomb Dakota (9-1), Friday 7 p.m. — Pick: Dakota

Division 2
Region 3
District 1
Birmingham Brother Rice (7-3) at Lakeland (8-2), Friday 7 p.m. — The Eagles have to get through perennial power Brother Rice to earn their first district championship in school history. Brother Rice finished third in the CHSL Central, but could beat the OAA White and KLAA North champions in back-to-back weeks. Pick: Brother Rice
District 2
Grosse Pointe North (8-2) at Warren DeLaSalle (10-0), Friday 7 p.m. — Pick: DeLaSalle

Region 4
District 1
Dearborn (7-3) at Southfield (9-1), Saturday 1 p.m. — The Bluejays are in position to win their first football district title in school history. Beating Dearborn, which has faced tougher competition this season, won’t be an easy task, but Southfield has done nothing but prove doubters wrong all season. Pick: Southfield
District 2
Wyandotte Roosevelt (9-1) at Southgate Anderson (9-1), Friday 7 p.m. — Pick: Southgate Anderson

Division 3
Region 4
District 1
Lapeer West (7-3) at Bloomfield Hills Lahser (9-1), Saturday 7 p.m. — I don’t know Lahser’s record in home playoff games on Saturday night, but it’s got to be pretty impressive. West is coming off an emotional one-point win over Linden so there could be a bit of a letdown, we shall see.. Pick: Lahser
District 2
St. Clair Shores Lake Shore (7-3) at Warren Fitzgerald (9-1), Saturday 7 p.m. — Pick: Fitzgerald

Division 4
Region 3
District 1
Marshall (7-3) at Goodrich (10-0), Saturday 1 p.m. — Pick: Goodrich
District 2
Birmingham Detroit Country Day (8-2) at Detroit Southwestern (9-1), Saturday 1 p.m. — Country Day has won six straight after staring off the season 2-2 and has scored over 40 points in four of those six week. The Yellowjackets might not put up 40 against Southwestern, which has only give up more than six points twice this season, but should escape Southwestern with the ‘W’. Pick: Country Day

Division 6
Region 4
District 1
Manchester (8-2) at Blissfield (9-1), Friday 7 p.m. — Pick: Blissfield
District 2
Madison Heights Bishop Foley (6-4) at Monroe Catholic Central (8-2), Friday 7 p.m. — Bishop Foley will have its hands full considering the two common opponent games it shares with Catholic Central. The Ventures lost to Allen Park Cabrini, 24-18, in Week 1, while the Falcons beat Cabrini, 59-7, last week. And Bishop Foley fell, 39-20, to Dearborn Divine Child in Week 6, while Catholic Central beat Divine Child, 41-19, in Week 9. Pick: Catholic Central.

Division 7
Region 4
District 1
Dryden (10-0) at Ubly (10-0), Friday 7 p.m. — Pick: Ubly
District 2
Royal Oak Shrine (10-0) at Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest (10-0), Friday 7 p.m. — Both teams are having historic seasons, but one will come to an end Friday night. Northwest is averaging 35 points a game this season, while Shrine is averaging just over 35 points a game. Defensively, the Crusaders are giving up an average of 10.3 points per game, while the Knights have given up an average of seven points per game. Add it all up and this should be a great Division 7 game. Pick: Shrine

Division 8
Region 4
District 1
Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart (10-0) at Beal City (9-1), Friday 7 p.m. — Pick: Beal City
District 2
Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes (6-4) at Deckerville (9-1), Saturday 7 p.m. — The Lakers eliminated Deckerville last season in the district finals so the Eagles will be anxious to avenge last year’s loss. But come playoff time, it’s not wise to pick against the Lakers. Pick: WOLL

Class A
District 4
(at South Lyon)
Predicted final: Pinckney vs. Ann Arbor Huron
Winner: Ann Arbor Huron

District 9
(at Fenton)
Predicted final: Fenton vs. Holly
Winner: Fenton

District 19
(at Southfield)
Predicted final: Southfield vs. Detroit Henry Ford
Winner: Southfield

District 20
(at Hazel Park)
Predicted final: Ferndale vs. Berkley
Winner: Berkley

District 23
(at West Bloomfield)
Predicted final: West Bloomfield vs. Farmington Hills Mercy
Winner: Farmington Hills Mercy

District 24
(at Farmington)
Predicted final: Livonia Churchill vs. Farmington
Winner: Livonia Churchill

District 25
(at Novi)
Predicted final: Novi vs. Plymouth
Winner: Novi

District 26
(at Troy Athens)
Predicted final: Troy vs. Rochester
Winner: Troy

District 29
(at Bloomfield Hills Andover)
Predicted final: Birmingham Marian vs. Birmingham Seaholm
Winner: Birmingham Marian

District 30
(at Lakeland)
Predicted final: Walled Lake Northern vs. Lakeland
Winner: Lakeland

District 31
(at Waterford Kettering)
Predicted final: Clarkston vs. Oxford
Winner: Clarkston

Class B
District 40
(at Livonia Clarenceville)
Predicted final: Livonia Ladywood vs. Bloomfield Hills Lahser
Winner: Bloomfield Hills Lahser

District 43
(at Pontiac Notre Dame Prep)
Predicted final: Pontiac Notre Dame Prep vs. Warren Regina
Winner: Notre Dame Prep

Class C
District 74
(at Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest)
Predicted final: Royal Oak Shrine vs. Madison Heights Bishop Foley
Winner: Royal Oak Shrine

Class D
District 106
(at Birmingham Roeper)
Predicted final: Birmingham Roeper vs. Warren Michigan Collegiate
Winner: Birmingham Roeper

District 107
(at Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes)
Predicted final: Auburn Hills Oakland Christian vs. Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes
Winner: Oakland Christian