Laingsburg vs. Jackson Lumen Christi – – Boys Basketball – – MHSAA Division 3 Regional Final – – The Bleacher Denizen – – March 7, 2024 – – by Chuck Krafft

Tonight, your Bleacher Denizen is at Jackson Lumen Christi High School where the Lumen Christi Titans will play the Wolfpack from Laingsburg in the Regional Final game.

While we wait for the game to start, I hope you will enjoy this piano version of “Feed the Birds” from “Mary Poppins” from my You Tube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw2KWzZEUZA

The Laingsburg Wolfpack enters this game with a perfect 25-0 record. They are led by Zander Woodruff, who is a fine ball handler and an athletic perimeter defender. He is an amazing three point shooter who can shoot them off the dribble and has a lot of moves to shoot them even when he is defended well. He is capable of major hot streaks from the outside.

Cam Ballard is an aggressive perimeter defender and an excellent ball handler with a strong basketball IQ. He also brings a good three point shot to the Wolfpack. Ty Randall is an excellent all-around athlete who can defend any position anywhere on the court. He is willing to take charging fouls and is generally pretty tough. He is an excellent rebounder who gets his share of putbacks and can hit the three point shot as well.

Vance Klont can hit the three point shot. Jackson Audretsch is an excellent post defender and strong rebounder.

Jackson Lumen Christi finished in a tie for first in the Detroit Area Catholic League AA Division, which is a really rugged league – – one of the finest in Michigan! They had a 21-4 overall record. Lumen Christi Assistant Coach Tyler Aldridge provided me with some information about the Lumen Christi Titan players.

Kasen Burgess is a team captain. He is a fine perimeter defender who is a threat to slash to the basket to score. Luke Tropea has a great basketball IQ. He watches film and is always prepared for his opponent. He is a solid perimeter defender who brings a good three point shot to the Titans. Luke Smith is a tough, physical defender and rebounder in the post.

Timmy Crowley has a great basketball IQ and is a good leader. He scores well near the basket or from the outside and is a good passer. Lundon Hampton is a freshman who starts for the Titans. He is tall enough to defend near the basket and quick enough to defend the perimeter. He is a threat to score by slashing to the basket and is also a good passer.

Amarion Clay is a high energy perimeter defender. He is a good passer who can hit the three point shot. Gannon Shore has a great three point shot, especially from the corner. He is a tough perimeter defender with an excellent basketball IQ. Kadale Williams is an extremely competitive and athletic perimeter who is difficult to stop when he slashes to the basket.

Britton Hampton is a fine, physical perimeter defender who can slash to the basket to score. J.J. Brown brings an accurate three point shot to the Titans. Isaac Maki is a good rebounder who can score in the lane or from the outside. Wes Learned can score near the hoop or from the perimeter. Pierre Gray, Jr. has been injured this season; he is a great teammate who has been a positive presence for the Titans.

Aiden Pastoriza has a broken wrist and will not play tonight. He has a college football scholarship. When he’s healthy, he is a good shot blocker, defender and rebounder in the post. His brother Alex Pastoriza is also injured and can’t play tonight. He is a fine perimeter defender and ball handler when he is healthy.

It is now time to review the events of this Regional Final through the occasionally clear lenses of an Aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league when he attempted to play basketball in the days of yore. He was starting to develop as a three point shooter, but everything fell apart when the Basketball Powers That Be changed the rules so that he was no longer permitted to use a catapult to launch the shot. Everything went downhill from there – – –

Lumen Christi wins the opening tap. The Titans miss a layup. Zander Woodruff blocks a Titan putback. Luke Tropea knocks a Wolfpack pass into the lane out of bounds; Laingsburg retains possession. Laingsburg misses an eight foot shot from the side of the lane. Lumen Christi misses a threeball from the corner. Lundon Hampton gets the offensive rebound for the Titans.

Lumen Christi misses a layup and fouls on the rebound. Vance Klont passes to Mitchell George, who hits a layup to give the Wolfpack the first two points of the game. Kasen Burgess drives and hits a layup for Lumen Christi to tie the game at 2-2.

Laingsburg misfires on a triple try from the wing. Luke Smith catches an inbound pass and hits a layup for Lumen Christi. Zander Woodruff is fouled on a driving layup and hits two free throws for Laingsburg. Timmy Crowley passes to Luke Smith, who hits a layup to give Lumen Christi a 6-4 lead.

Laingsburg misfires on a threeball from the wing. The rebound goes out of bounds and Lumen Christi takes possession. Lumen Christi misses an eight foot shot from the side of the lane. A Laingsburg outlet pass sails too far and out of bounds. Kadale Williams passes to Lundon Hampton, who hits a layup to give the Titans an 8-4 lead.

Laingsburg misses a three point shot from the wing. Zander Woodruff pulls down the offensive rebound for the Wolfpack. Ty Randall passes to Zander Woodruff, who hits a three point shot from the wing for Laingsburg. Kasen Burgess passes to Timmy Crowley, who hits a three point shot from the corner to give Lumen Christi an 11-7 lead.

Laingsburg misses a threeball from the side. Lumen Christi misses a three point shot off the dribble from the wing. Zander Woodruff passes to Jackson Audretsch, who is fouled on a layup and hits one of his two free throws for Laingsburg. With 2:40 to play in the opening quarter, Lumen Christi has an 11-8 lead.

Lumen Christi is fouled on a driving eight foot shot in the lane, but misses two free throws. Britton Hampton gets the offensive rebound for the Titans. Lumen Christi misfires on a triple try from the corner. Laingsburg is fouled handling the ball, but misses two free throws. Lumen Christi misses a jump shot. The Wolfpack misses a layup. Lumen Christi misses a three pointer from the top of the key. Zander Woodruff drives and hits a layup to shave the Titan lead to 11-10.

Lumen Christi misses a three pointer from the wing. The rebound goes out of bounds and Laingsburg takes possession. Britton Hampton knocks the ball away from Laingsburg and Gannon Shore picks is up for Lumen Christi. Gannon Shore is fouled on a fast break layup and hits one of his two free throws to give his Titans a 12-10 lead with 42.7 seconds remaining in the quarter.

Laingsburg misses a ten foot shot off the dribble in the lane. Cam Ballard blocks a Titan threeball from the wing as the first quarter buzzer makes its presence known.

After one quarter, Lumen Christi leads 12-10.

Laingsburg has the ball to start the second quarter. Timmy Crowley steals the ball for Lumen Christi. Jackson Audretsch gets his hand on the Titan outlet pass and Lumen Christi loses the ball out of bounds. Laingsburg misses a jump shot off the dribble from the free throw line. Kason Burgess drives and hits a layup for the Titans. Laingsburg misses a seven foot driving hook shot. Kadale Williams is fouled on a driving six foot shot in the lane. He hits one of his two free throws for Lumen Christi. Lundon Hampton hits a putback to give the Titans a 17-10 lead.

Timmy Crowley blocks a Laingsburg layup. Lumen Christi misses on a threeball from the side. Kasen Burgess grabs the offensive rebound for Lumen Christi. Lumen Christi drives and dishes a pass out of bounds. Ty Randall passes to Zander Woodruff, who hits a sixteen foot shot from the wing for Laingsburg to trim the Lumen Christi lead to 17-12.

Kasen Burgess passes to Lundon Hampton, who hits a layup for Lumen Christi. Laingsburg misses a jump shot from the free throw line. Lumen Christi misses a twelve foot shot off the dribble from the side. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Titans get another opportunity. Ty Randall steals the ball for Laingsburg and the Titans foul as they try to recover the ball. Laingsburg misses a twelve foot shot off the dribble from the baseline.

Mitchell George blocks a Titan shot in the lane; the loose ball goes out of bounds and Lumen Christi gets another opportunity. The Titans miss a three point shot from the wing. The rebound goes out of bounds and Laingsburg takes possession. Cam Ballard bursts into the lane and hits a six foot jump shot for Laingsburg. Lumen Christi misfires on a threeball from the wing. Zander Woodruff hits a fast break layup to trim the Lumen Christi lead to 19-16.

Lumen Christi misses a layup. Kasen Burgess grabs the offensive rebound for the Titans. Amarion Clay fires and hits a threeball from the corner for Lumen Christi. Laingsburg loses the ball out of bounds. Kadale Williams banks in a threeball off the dribble from the top of the key and Lumen Christi has a 25-16 lead.

Zander Woodruff drives and makes a six foot shot from the baseline for Laingsburg. Lumen Christi misfires on a triple try from the wing and fouls on the rebound. Laingsburg misses a six foot turnaround shot in the lane. Lumen Christi misses a three point shot from the wing as the halftime buzzer sounds off.

At halftime, Lumen Christi has a 25-18 lead.

Zander Woodruff has 13 points to lead the Laingsburg scoring.

Lundon Hampton leads Lumen Christi with 6 points. Kasen Burgess, Luke Smith and Kadale Williams each have 4 points.

As there is no halftime entertainment, I hope you will enjoy a couple videos from my You Tube Channel.

Hopefully you are not “Too Old to Cut the Mustard” like me in this novelty video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6GOgZAHqxI

“A Man Like Me” is an original tune about an office worker with Walter Mitty fantasies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTdeYRUEOkc

Lumen Christi inbounds the ball to get quarter number three underway. The Titans miss a ten foot runner in the lane. Laingsburg misses an eight foot shot from the side of the lane. Ty Randall knocks the ball away from Lumen Christi and Zander Woodruff grabs it for Laingsburg. Zander Woodruff banks in a three point shot from the top of the key to trim the Lumen Christi lead down to 25-21.

(For some reason, banking in shots from the top of the key area seems to be a thing tonight. I wasn’t close enough to hear whether or not the players called, “BANK!” when they released the shot. HMM.)

Kasen Burgess ignores the Bleacher Denizen’s consternation about banked shots and hits an eight foot shot off the dribble from the baseline for Lumen Christi. Laingsburg misses a threeball from the top of the key. Zander Woodruff gets his hand on the Titan outlet pass, but Lumen Christi is able to save its possession.

The Titans miss a driving layup. Luke Smith grabs the offensive rebound for the Titans. Zander Woodruff steals the ball for the Wolfpack. Laingsburg misses an eight foot shot off the dribble in the lane. Ty Randall is fouled on a putback and hits two free throws for Laingsburg to trim the Lumen Christi lead to 27-23 with 5:31 remaining in the third quarter.

Zander Woodruff knocks a Titan pass out of bounds; Lumen Christi gets the ball back. Kadale Williams is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of his two free throws for Lumen Christi. Laingsburg drives and dishes a pass out of bounds. Lumen Christi misses a layup. Laingsburg misses a driving layup. Zander Woodruff hits a putback to cut the Titan lead to 28-25.

Kadale Williams drives and hits a layup for Lumen Christi. Laingsburg is assessed with a traveling violation. Kadale Williams hits a three point shot from the wing for Lumen Christi. Zander Woodruff drives and hits a six foot shot in the lane for Laingsburg. Lundon Hampton passes the ball to Britton Hampton, who relays the ball to Kadale Williams, who hits a layup to give Lumen Christi a 35-27 lead.

Zander Woodruff hits a three point shot off the dribble from the wing to pull Laingsburg back to within five points of the Titans. Kasen Burgess inbounds the ball to Lundon Hampton, who hits a layup for the Titans to boost their lead tor 37-30.

Laingsburg misses a layup. Lumen Christi misses a three point shot from the wing. The rebound goes out of bounds and Laingsburg gets the ball. The Wolfpack misses a three point shot from the top of the key. Aiden Maddaloni blocks a Titan driving layup. The loose ball goes out of bounds and the Wolfpack takes possession. Laingsburg misses a six foot shot off the dribble in the lane. Kadale Williams is fouled and hits two free throws for Lumen Christi. With 14.6 seconds to play in the quarter, Lumen Christi has a 39-30 lead.

Laingsburg misses a three pointer from the top of the key. Lumen Christi inbounds the ball, but has no time to shoot.

With three quarters in the books, Lumen Christi has a 39-30 lead.

Lumen Christi inbounds the ball to open the fourth quarter; they commit a traveling violation. Laingsburg misses a three point shot from the wing. Jackson Audretsch draws an offensive foul from the Titans. Kadale Williams gets his hand on the ball and knocks it out of bounds; Laingsburg retains possession. The Wolfpack misses a three point shot from the corner. Lumen Christi throws its outlet pass too far and out of bounds. Ty Randall drives and hits a six foot banked hook shot to trim the Lumen Christi lead to 39-32.

Lumen Christi misfires on a threeball from the wing. Timmy Crowley grabs the offensive rebound for the Titans. Lumen Christi travels with the ball. (Basketball cliches can be interesting. Somehow, I’m not sure that traveling without the ball would be terribly newsworthy.) Kadale Williams knocks the ball away from Laingsburg, but the Wolfpack is able to recover. The Wolfpack misses a three point shot from the wing. Kasen Burgess passes to Amarion Clay, who hits a three point shot from the corner to boost the Titan lead to 42-32.

Cam Ballard drives and hits a reverse layup for Laingsburg. Lundon Hampton hits a fast break layup for Lumen Christi. Laingsburg misfires on a triple try from the wing. Zander Woodruff forces a tieup. The Possession Arrow and its Legal Staff vote to allocate the ball to Laingsburg. Ty Randall drives and hits a layup to cut the Titan lead to 44-36.

Lumen Christi throws a pass out of bounds. Laingsburg misses a three point shot from the corner. Kasen Burgess passes to Damarion Clay, who hits a three point shot from the corner for Lumen Christi. Zander Woodruff is fouled on a six foot shot in the lane and hits one of his two free throws. With 2:49 left on the clock, the Lumen Christi lead is at 47-37.

Lundon Hampton passes to Damarion Clay, who hits a fast break layup for Lumen Christi. Laingsburg misses a threeball from the side of the lane. Laingsburg quickly commits its second, third and fourth foul of the fourth quarter to put Lumen Christi into the situation where they will have to shoot free throws on the next foul. Kadale Williams is fouled and hits one of his two free throws to give Lumen Christi a 50-37 lead with 2:11 left on the clock.

Zander Woodruff hits a long three pointer off the dribble past the top of the key for Laingsburg. Jackson Audretsch steals the ball for Laingsburg. The Wolfpack misses a six foot shot from the side. Cam Ballard hits a putback for the Wolfpack. Lumen Christi is fouled, but misses two free throws. With 1:34 remaining, Lumen Christi has a 50-42 lead.

Kasen Burgess gets his hand on the ball and Laingsburg ends up losing it out of bounds. The Wolfpack ties up the ball; the Possession Arrow and its Legal Staff vote to return the ball to Lumen Christi. Jackson Audretsch steals the ball and passes to Zander Woodruff, who hits a layup for Laingsburg. Kasen Burgess is fouled and hits one of his two free throws to push Lumen Christi to a 51-44 lead with 56.7 seconds to play.

Lumen Christi fouls on the rebound from the missed free throw. Zander Woodruff is fouled on a twelve footer off the dribble from the side and hits one of his two free throws for Laingsburg. Timmy Crowley is fouled and hits one of his two free throws for Lumen Christi. Kadale Williams steals the ball for the Titans. Timmy Crowley is fouled and hits one of his two free throws for Lumen Christi to give the Titans a 53-45 lead with just 16.5 seconds left.

Lucas Matthews passes to Elliott Wilsey, who hits a ten foot shot from the baseline for Laingsburg. Lumen Christi runs the last few seconds off the clock.

Lumen Christi wins this regional final by a 53-47 score and will play Riverview Gabriel Richard in the quarter final on Tuesday March 12.

Laingsburg’s Zander Woodruff led all scorers with 30 points. Cam Ballard and Ty Randall each added 6 points. Mitchell George and Elliott Wilsey each scored 2 points. Jackson Audretsch tallied 1 point.

Kadale Williams led the victorious Titans with 15 points. Amarion Clay added 11 points including 8 in the fourth quarter. Lundon Hampton joined his teammates in double figures with 10 points. Kasen Burgess tossed in 7 points. Timmy Crowley added 5 points and Luke Smith scored 4 points. Gannon Shore added 1 point.