March 15, 2012

BOYS BASKETBALL: Rockets end regional drought in 2OT

New Haven meets Shelby in quarterfinals

By George Pohly
Macomb Daily Sports Editor





VASSAR -- They fuss at each other some of the time, but New Haven coach Tedaro France has Rayshawn Griffin’s back, and the Rockets’ junior knows it.

Griffin, a Macomb County Tier 2 First Team All-Star, shook off a mid-game shooting slump and canned a short jump shot with five seconds left in the second overtime Wednesday night to lift the Rockets to a 59-57 victory over Saginaw Nouvel Catholic and their second regional basketball championship in school history.

Griffin scored the Rockets’ first 10 points of the Class C game at Vassar High, and then scored only six points in the second and third quarters combined, but he was the one France wanted to shoot the basketball with the game on the line.

“Rayshawn has ice in his veins,” France said. “He can miss 12 straight shots, but when the game is on the line, I want the ball in his hands. He’s that type of player. I know he’ll step up and make the plays.

“Tonight he made a big shot that took us somewhere we haven’t been for 22 years.”

The Rockets, who won their other regional championship in 1990, defeated Nouvel despite 27 points from 6-foot-6 Panthers’ senior Trevor Bohnhoff, whose positioning and moves helped foul out three New Haven big men, including junior starters Jamael Bell and Sychar Sterling.

But if there was a flaw in Bohnhoff’s game, it was at the free throw line.

He missed four foul shots in the overtimes, including two with the Panthers leading 57-55 and 2:31 left in the second extra period, as Nouvel was 12-of-25 from the foul line as a team.

That gave the Rockets, who also had backup center Paul Evans foul out, an opening, and they tied the game 57-57 as Rico Cook and Aurelion Cukaj, the fourth player to draw the task of guarding Bohnhoff, made a free throw apiece.

Cukaj made his foul shot, his only point of the game, with 1:32 to play, after he missed his first attempt.

Following the made free throw, New Haven forced a five-second violation against the Panthers.

The Rockets worked time off the clock, almost lost the ball with 38 seconds left, and then called a timeout.

After the stoppage, the Rockets worked the ball around the perimeter and got it to Griffin, who drove into the lane and made a leaning jumper that gave New Haven its first lead of the second OT.

Nouvel had to go the length of the floor after a timeout, and all the Panthers could muster was a 3-point attempt that went over the backboard.

“I’m very happy, emotional,” Griffin said after the Rockets (21-3) picked up individual medals and the regional trophy. “I can’t believe we got this win. I’m so happy.”

Griffin said he wanted to win for France, who played on New Haven’s 1995-96 team that went undefeated in the regular season but lost to Reese in a regional at Sandusky.

“He got me to where I am today as a player,” Griffin said. “I’ve got to listen to him. This is where he lost at, so I did it for him, and the team.”

Griffin said he wasn’t worried when his shots were off target in the middle quarters.

“It’s all mental,” he said. “Mental toughness. That’s what a great player has to have.”

During a mid-game timeout, France looked at Griffin and asked, “Are you all right?”

Griffin nodded affirmatively.

“He looks at me, and I look at him,” France said. “I’m on him so much. He and I go back and forth at practice. But that’s how he got to be the player he is. This is what we prepared for.

“He got cold for a minute, but when the game is on the line I want the ball in his hands. He kept his composure. I’m so proud of him.”

New Haven was appearing in a regional final for the second consecutive year.

The Rockets beat Nouvel in a regional semifinal game at Reese last season, but lost their next game, to Saginaw Buena Vista.

Since 1969, the sophomore year of two-time county Player of the Year Eli Sims, who watched the Rockets beat Nouvel, New Haven was 1-7 in regional finals before Wednesday’s victory.

“Regionals have been the thorn in our side,” France said. “To finally get over the hump is unbelievable. I really don’t know what to say right now. Emotions are running wild.

“Our town is behind this team so much. The school, the fans, the parents do such a great job supporting the team.

“I take my hat off to the kids. They played their best game in a long, long time. They fought hard.”

Vantrell Williams had six assists for New Haven. Bell took 14 rebounds.

Joseph Buchalski had 13 points for Nouvel, which led by nine points on multiple occasions in the third quarter.

“I thought we handed it to them,” Nouvel coach Dale Roberts said after his team finished 16-8. “We get the big kids to foul out and we take a 3 (late in the game) with a three-point lead when we should have gotten the ball to Trevor, where we have a size advantage. We’ve got to play smarter than that. But hey, they battled back. New Haven’s a good team.”

The Panthers, Roberts said, made 68 percent of their free throws for the season.

“What did we shoot tonight?” he asked. “Whatever it was, it wasn’t good.”

New Haven plays Shelby in a quarterfinal game at 7 p.m., Tuesday, at Delta College.

Saginaw Nouvel 10 12 15 10 4 3 - 57

New Haven 13 8 10 16 4 5 - 59

SAGINAW NOUVEL (16-8): Garrett Graham 6, Joseph Buchalski 13, Joshua Buchalski 1,Nick Hammis 10, Trevor Bohnhoff 27. Totals: 22 (1) 12-25 - 57.

NEW HAVEN (21-3): Rico Cook 16, Rayshawn Griffin 27, Tedaro France III 3, Jamael Bell 9, Vantrell Williams 2, Paul Evans 1, Aurelion Cukaji 1. Totals: 18 (4) 11-21 - 59.

March 12, 2012




Members of the New Haven Rockets were all smiles after claiming the district championship trophy Friday. (Photo by DAVID DALTON)




By Shelley Watkins, For The Voice

Members of the New Haven Rockets were all smiles after claiming the district championship trophy Friday. (Photo by DAVID DALTON)

During warm-ups, New Haven coach Tedaro France II said the keys to beating Vassar would be defense and flat out hustle.

He wasn’t kidding!

His Rockets did just that and much more Friday night to claim the Class C district championship against the Vulcans 58-31 in front of the home crowd. The victory was a second-straight title for New Haven and ensures the district trophy remains in the hallway on Gratiot Avenue for another year.

The Rockets held Vassar to just nine points in the first half, while helping themselves to 27 before hitting the locker room. New Haven’s defense was pressing and tenacious, leaving little room for the Vulcans to move or think.

“We played very, very hard on defense and that was the key to the game,” France II said. “The whole year these kids have buckled down and sacrificed themselves to play great team defense. They played great team ball, coming out and setting a great tempo. I preach defense, defense, defense in practice and they came out and did it.”

Junior standout Rayshawn Griffin ignited the gym in the first half by scoring 18 points and added another eight in the second for a total of 26 on the night.

“Winning the championship means a lot to me,” said Griffin. “I did it for my team and my coaches and I’m glad it happened. Coach stresses defense and says defense wins championships; that’s what we do. We were prepared.”

Griffin also grabbed six steals in the course of the evening, a fact that France II is quick to highlight.

“Rayshawn has been a sparkplug for us all year; he’s a prolific scorer,” said France. “But the one thing about him is that he plays defense. A lot of big scorers don’t play defense. He’s a great player, a great kid and he works really hard.”

New Haven’s Jamael Bell was huge on the boards grabbing 11 and added eight points, while juniors Vantrell Williams (seven steals, six assists, four points), Tedaro France III (five assists, five points), Sychar Sterling (six rebounds, five steals, six points) and Rico Cook (seven points) all had strong outings.

“This title means a lot to me,” said France II. “When I first took over the team, the program was down. The last four years we’ve brought it back. Now we have a back-to-back and it’s great to see the fans back out here. We have great fan support from the parents and the whole town. I’m so proud of the school, the town and the kids. They’ve worked so hard for this.”

Senior Gavin Greer topped Vassar’s scoring list with eight points in the loss.

“We had 30 turnovers and it lead to a lot of easy buckets for them,” Vassar coach Chuck Fabbro said. “The turnovers killed us. I thought when we were able to get them in a half-court game we were able to defend them a little and we beat them on the boards. We’ve had some trouble scoring this year and that’s sort of been our nemesis.”

Vassar graduates five seniors this spring including Zachary Case, Kevin Pratt, Gavin Greer, Tim Palmer and Joshua Peplinski.

“Our seniors have meant so much to our program,” said Fabbro. “A few years back we were 2-19 and this is their third district championship in four years. We’ve come a long way in five years and we’re going to miss them big time. These five guys are as good of human beings that I’ve ever coached.”

“One of these days we’re going to win one,” added Fabbro. “But it wasn’t going to be today.”

New Haven advanced into the regional semifinal Monday, squaring off against Reese at 6 p.m. at Vassar. That game was played after press time for this edition. To find out how it turned out, go tovoicenews.com.

New Haven 12 15 14 17 - 58

Vassar 6 3 16 6 - 31

NEW HAVEN: Rico Cook 7, Rayshawn Griffin 26, Tedaro France III 5, Sychar Sterling 6, Jamael Bell 8, Vantrell Williams 4. Totals: 24 (4) 6-7 - 58.

March 6, 2012

By Andrew Benoit, Staff Writer

The fact that L’Anse Creuse North had already wrapped up a MAC Red title and the fact that New Haven had narrowly missed out on a MAC Gold title of their own didn’t seem to matter. Both teams sported identical 16-3 records but that didn’t seem to matter either.

All that mattered was the Rockets wanted to send a message loud and clear that they could hang with the heavy hitters in the MAC conference and Friday night’s 72-60 home victory over the Crusaders sent that message loud and clear.

The game technically meant nothing to either team but both coaches surely wanted the win and the momentum heading into the first round of the state playoffs. The game was exciting from start to finish with both teams going on scoring stretches despite New Haven carrying the lead for much of the game.

New Haven head coach Tedaro France said his team entered the game treating it as if it was their championship game after missing out on the Gold title by one game to Mount Clemens.

“My guys worked so hard knowing that (LCN) were the MAC Red champs,” France said. “We missed our goal by one game so tonight was our MAC championship game playing against them.”

Leading the way for the Rockets offensively was Rayshawn Griffin with 28 points and Jamael Bell with 20 points.

Although the Crusaders matched up athletically fairly close with the Rockets, the pace of the game right from the start concerned L’Anse Creuse North head coach Jay Seletsky.

“I thinkthe biggest point of the game was their tempo. We’re giving up 45 points per game and they had 45 with three minutes to go in the third quarter,” Seletsky said. “They controlled the tempo the whole game and really caught us.”

Although the Crusaders won arguably the most difficult league in the county, Seletsky said confidence is a problem.

“For a team with 16 wins I think that at times we don’t play with the confidence that we should and that’s something we’re addressing now,” he said.

The Crusaders will need that confidence as they begin district play on March 5 against St. Clair on the road. The Saints finished right behind New Haven in the Gold and lost a triple overtime game to the Rockets on Feb. 7 so it will not be an easy road for LCN.

New Haven, however, will be hosting their district and will open with the winner of Dryden versus Memphis.

Although New Have won’t have a league title trophy to add to their collection, the win should serve to propel them on to a postseason run. How will that run start? According to France, by getting back to work.

“Bounce back, watch the film and go from there,” he said.      

Contact Andrew Benoit by phone at (586) 716-8100, ext. 303 or  andrew.benoit@voicenews.com. You can also contact him on Facebook or Twitter @VoiceofBenoit.