By John Raffel
MaxPreps.com
Detroit Pershing has suddenly emerged as a clear threat to established Class A girls basketball powers like Detroit Martin Luther King and Detroit Renaissance to take home a Class A title.
Pershing, coached by Lisa Blackburn, is off to a 10-0 start and is ranked among the top Class A schools in Michigan.
"Last year, we had a good start, too," Blackburn said. "We got off 8-0 before losing our first game."
Pershing lost a 6-foot-2 guard to an ACL injury in the preseason, but Blackburn has received strong support from 6-0 senior center Seddiah Blair, senior foward April Goins and 5-11 point guard Jalesa Jones.
"Our strength is our quickness and the play of our guards. We're trying to work on being better defensively," Blair said. "We have good guard players."
Pershing trailed Detroit Kettering in a game earlier this month and was down by 12 at halftime before coming back.
"People are looking at us," Blackburn said. "We have five more league (Detroit City League) games before we go into the playoffs. We hope to go into the playoffs undefeated."
Boys Basketball
Ann Arbor Pioneer is making its claim for being a state boys basketball power in Class A. Coach Rex Stanczak's team has started off impressively.
"This is my third year and some of the kids have been with me for those three years," Stanczak said. "We've beaten some pretty good teams."
Those wins included a 52-39 verdict over Temperance Bedford on Thursday, improving Pioneer's record to 10-0.
"We've played some good defense," Stanczak said. "We're only giving up an average of 40 points per game. We're also forcing 27 turnovers a game and holding our opponents to 35 percent shooting from the floor.
"On offense, I think we've taken care of the ball very well. We're also getting a ton of assists. We're really sharing the ball. We have seven guys who can lead us in scoring on any night."
Matt Johnson is averaging 11.5 points a game, while Zach Williams is averaging nine points and 9.7 rebounds a game.
Hockey
Mona Shores has been a Division 2 power in past Michigan prep hockey seasons and new coach Charlie Link is hoping to bring home another title for his team in March.
One positive aspect of the season was a recent 5-4 win in overtime over East Kentwood, a Division 1 power, that usually contends hotly against Mona Shores for the O-K Conference title.
Mona Shores has started out 6-4.
"We have so many new players. We lost 16 seniors from last year," Link said. "We have 18 new kids this year. But we have a lot of pretty good players. We'll have ups and downs."
J.C. Boyd and Adam Lemoche have been among Mona Shores' top scorers this season while defensive captain Brock Carlson has also had a good year.
Mona Shores lost 4-3 in overtime last season to Grosse Pointe South in the state finals.
Mona Shores was also the 2004 runner-up but won the title in 2000.
Wrestling
Rockford is off to a 16-0 and appears to be in the position to challenge for another title under coach Don Rinehart.
"We have a pretty strong base," Rinehart said. "We're pretty balanced all the way through. We have five wrestlers with 20 wins or more."
Kyle Waldo at 112 pounds is a promising wrestler for the Rams who is coming off a knee injury. Jake Byers is 20-1 at 119 pounds and was eighth in the state last season. Zach Johnson at 125 is a two-time All-Stater and is 9-1 since coming off from a knee injury.
Adam Bonner is a freshman at 135 pounds with a 17-2 record. Ian Martin at 130 pounds is a senior with a 19-5 record. John Johnson, a sophomore at 145 pounds, was a state qualifier last year and is 22-0. Also at 22-0 is sophomore Jake Dorella at 152 and Ben Bennett at 171 pounds. Bennett is a two-time state champion.
Joe Stefanski, a sophomore at 215 pounds, is 20-2. Junior heavyweight Jesse Somset is 21-1.
"We want to defend our state title," Rinehart said. "But we have to focus on one match at a time."
