Mid-Michigan Lakers

Here are the practice times for all three teams for the week of April 16:

U-15: Monday 7-9 p.m. at Central Church of the Nazarene in Flint Township (1261 W. Bristol Road) & Wednesday night from 6:30-8 p.m. at The Cage Fieldhouse in Swartz Creek. The gym at Central Nazarene is just east of the main church.

U-16: Tuesday 7-9 p.m. at Central Church of the Nazarene in Flint Township (1261 W. Bristol Road).

U-17: Monday 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at Mott Community College & Tuesday 7-9 p.m. at Central Church of the Nazarene in Flint Township (1261 W. Bristol Road).

Please make every effort to attend these practices, as our second tournament is this weekend. Also, please make arrangements to submit your team payment to your coach prior to the GR tournament.

– Jared Field

MOUNT PLEASANT, Michigan –There are a lot of people who think that teams at the AAU level don’t play defense, don’t play hard. That’s certainly true in many cases, but let’s be clear: teams that win play defense; teams that win play hard all the time.

The U-17 Mid-Michigan Lakers probably shocked a lot of people on Sunday afternoon in Mount Pleasant. Two people who weren’t shocked were setting on the bench. Coach Marcellus Miller and Ivan Brouwer knew what they had on the roster, and their team proved it has what it takes to compete with the best.

The Lakers went 7-0 in the tournament, winning the bulk of their games by double digits en route to the title.

In the championship final, the Lakers led CDBA by 10 at the half and cruised to an 82-75 victory. The Lakers were led by a powerful foursome in Markell Lucas (Flint Beecher), JD Tisdale (Swartz Creek), and the Lapeer West boys, Cullen Turczyn and Zeshawn Jones-Parker.

Lucas scored a team-high 21 points and Tisdale added 19 points (14 in the second half) with five assists and four rebounds. Turczyn scored 17 points with four assists and three steals. Jones-Parker was the player of the game on the defensive end and scored 14 points with five boards.

Great job everyone! We couldn’t be more proud of you.

On Sunday versus ACB, U-16 coach Tim Tenneriello drew up the famous inbounds play that earned Valparaiso one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history.

Valpo versus Ole Miss (1998):

MML U-16 versus ACB (2012):

Saturday at the Up North Challenge was highlighted by the U-17 team’s win over All-Michigan. JD Tisdale (Swartz Creek) had a triple double and Cullen Turczyn (Lapeer West) scored 17 points to lead the way for the Lakers.

MT. PLEASANT, Michigan — The U-17 Mid-Michigan Lakers scored a solid victory over CMAS in their first game at the Up North Challenge on Friday. The Lakers led 9-0 early, struggled through the rest of the first half before pulling away to a 52-37 victory.

The team was led by JD Tisdale (Swartz Creek) and his game-high 20 points. The team as a whole turned in an excellent defensive performance in the second half, holding CMAS to only 16 points. The defensive effort was punctuated by a couple volleyball spike blocks by Zeshawn Jones-Parker (Lapeer West).

Markell Lukas (Flint Beecher, above) hit a huge 3-pointer in the second half that deflated the opposition and effectively put the game out of reach.

The U-17 team will play twice on Saturday: at 10:30 a.m. vs. Northern Exposure & at 6 p.m. vs. All- Michigan. Both games will be played at Morey Courts in Mt. Pleasant.

Players –

Please take a few minutes to read the following article written by former D-1 coach George Raveling. Please submit your thoughts about the article in the comments section.

Life is about getting things done not about living in the past. You make your own luck in life by your God given talent, work ethic, and your character.