
On Friday, March 24, two Michigan basketball powerhouses will face off against one another to decide who will make it to the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) State Finals.
The Detroit Cass Technicians will face off against the Grand Blanc Bobcats on Friday in Lansing, Michigan at the Breslin Center at Michigan State University.
Both teams come into the matchup as the clear winners of their individual conferences.
Cass Tech enters the semi-final of the tournament 10-0 in their conference and 26-1 including the tournament.
Grand Blanc enters with a 12-0 conference record and they currently hold onto a 25-2 record including the tournament.
Head coach for the Technicians, Steven Hall, has quite the résumé as he and his team enter this matchup. Hall has achieved a stunning record of 148-30, while his 20-year career record is at a whopping 363-100. Hall has coached five different teams in his 20-year coaching career but has been with Cass Tech on varsity for the last 7.
Things are a bit different as far as coaching goes for the Bobcats.
The Bobcats this season went 25-2, Head Coach Tory Jackson’s all-time record at Grand Blanc also happens to be 25-2.
Yes, it is his first year at Grand Blanc, however, it is not his first year coaching basketball. Jackson has an all-time record of 59-52 which doesn’t sound comparable to Coach Hall’s record, but Jackson has some other experience under his belt.
Coach Jackson played four years of high school basketball at Saginaw Buena Vista where he went all-state four times and won two state titles. He also played four years at Notre Dame and is 2nd all-time in steals and assists.
Jackson also spent a little time playing for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, an NBA G-League team. Before landing at Grand Blanc, Jackson coached at three other schools including his old stomping grounds, Saginaw Buena Vista for a year (2012-2013).
Something in Common
Both teams enter this game ranked first in their conference, which is obvious as both teams had a total loss combination of three games.
The thing is, they both have a loss to one common opponent. The Brother Rice Warriors.
The final score between the Warriors and the Technicians was 66-65 as the Warriors took home the win in overtime. At the time the Technicians were ranked No. 1 in the state as they took a heartbreaking loss from a late 3-pointer by star player Warren Marshall.
Brother Rice defeated the Bobcats by a total of 11 points, a final score of 56-45 as the Bobcats took their first of two losses on the season. After scoring 20 points in the first quarter the Bobcats were held to just 25 points for the rest of the game.
Key Players
Both teams come into the match-up with some serious firepower in their line-ups.
Starting with Cass Tech, they have multiple guards who have been on absolute tears on both sides of the ball.
Sophomore guard Darius Acuff leads all scorers on the team with 540 total scored points. He has been averaging 21.6 points a game while also averaging just under six assists (5.8). Acuff also has a total of 60 steals on the season and averages 4.2 rebounds per game.
His partner in the backcourt Kenneth Robertson is the second-highest scorer with 396 total points scored. Robertson averages 15.3 points per game and shoots at a high percentage from three at 41%.
For the Bobcats, their highest scorer this year has been, Senior forward, Tae Boyd with 385 points. Boyd shoots the ball at a very high percentage as he is 55.2% from the field this season and he averages 15.4 points per game.
Another key player for the Bobcats is starting guard, and one of the few captains on the team, RJ Taylor. Taylor has scored a total of 371 points for the bobcats and has also added up a high amount of assists with 162.
The Bobcats are unfortunately going to have to play this game without a two-year starter and Senior Nate Richardson as he has been out with a broken hand since the middle of February.
Game Time
The match-up between Detroit Cass Tech High School and Grand Blanc High school is on Friday, March 24 at the Breslin Student Events Center. Tip-off starts at Noon.


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