By John Raffel
MaxPreps.com
Boys basketball gets under way this week and returning All-State players like 6-foot-11 center Sean Jones from Carson City-Crystal, located 35 miles northwest of Lansing, will begin helping their teams battle for state title contention.
But Jones, who has signed a national letter of intent to play college basketball at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, knows one goal that he already has for late February when the postseason starts: a longer playoff experience.
Jones' Eagles captured a district title his sophomore season. As a junior, Jones led the squad to a 19-1 regular-season record and the Central State Activities Association (CSAA) title.
But CC-C unexpectedly lost in the first round of the playoffs.
"It didn't end at all the way we wanted it to," Jones said. "We had a good regular season and took the league title. We were disappointed with the postseason."
Jones is confident the Eagles can have a better season even though they have a tougher schedule, especially now that they're members of the Central Michigan Athletic Association (CMAC), which includes defending Class C state champion Bath, another Lansing-area team.
"We want to improve every day and keep getting better," said Jones, whose team has a non-league game against Saginaw Nouvel, who played Bath in the March 2007 state finals. "We'll have a tough game over the holidays with Port Huron Northern, a Class A school. It will be a challenge for us."
When his high school career ends, Jones, knows where he'll be playing. The 6-11 giant averaged 17.3 points, 10.5 rebounds and 5.l blocked shots per game last season and hit 67.2 percent of his shots. He verbally committed to Drake in August and signed his letter last week.
"We are excited to add Sean Jones to our 2008 recruiting class," Drake coach Keno Davis said in a statement. "Our staff believes with his size and tremendous work ethic he has unlimited potential."
"Drake made it very clear that they wanted me," said Jones, who also seriously considered an offer from Central Michigan University. "Drake has a great program and I like the Missouri Valley Conference."
Girls Basketball
Girls basketball in Michigan, being played for the first time during the winter, tipped off last week. Among the teams getting off to a 2-0 start was Grand Rapids-area school Lakeview, which was a state power throughout the 1990s and hopes to get back to that level this season under new coach Korey Kohler.
Lakeview's most recent win over the weekend was a 67-30 verdict over Remus Chippewa Hills.
"We did a good job in that game of causing turnovers and capitalizing on them," Kohler said. "We only had 13 turnovers, which is good, and we had an advantage in the paint. Also, all of our players scored in the game."
"Turnovers killed us against Lakeview," Chippewa Hills coach Aaron Dore said. "We did not handle their defensive pressure very well and we got into trouble with that."
During Lakeview's 2-0 start, leaders included Stephanie Shaw, who has been hitting 44.4 percent of her three-point attempts, and Keala Kaaikala, who had eight steals and 11 rebounds in a season-opening victory over Pewamo Westphalia.
"Steph has worked hard and has become a well-rounded player," Kohler said. "Keala's defense and rebounding was key in our win over PW."
Hockey
Grand Rapids Catholic Central has reached the Division 3 title game each of the past two seasons, but has come up short in both appearances.
This winter, Catholic Central would prefer a state title. The team enters this week with a 4-0 record for the season and boasts one of the best goalies in the state. Adam Janecyk, who has started for Catholic Central since his sophomore season, returns for his senior year with a goals against average of under 2.00 and a saves percentage of .920.
"One thing about Adam is that his work ethic is unbelievable," Catholic Central coach Alan Kranzo said. "That has a lot to do with his success. He really sees the puck well. The advantage he maintains from post to post is that he's a big goaltender. He uses his size (6-0, 190) well. He can move laterally very well if he needs to do that.
"I feel blessed to have coached him for five years. His competitiveness is incredible. I've never coached a player with all the poise that he plays with. He's such a humble player. His work ethic gets better and better every year."
Janecyk, an early-season candidate for Michigan's Mr. Hockey award, was in the net when CC lost to Cranbrook-Kingswood 2-1 in the 2007 prep Division 3 title game.
"I definitely want to win a state championship," Janecyk said. "I want to play my best in every game. I think I'm pretty competitive. I get up for the big games."