Lansing Christian at Perry – – CMAC Boys Basketball Co-Game of the Week – – The Bleacher Denizen – – January 26, 2026 – – by Chuck Krafft

Tonight, the Bleacher Denizen is headed to Perry where the Ramblers will host the Pilgrims from Lansing Christian. I guess because I am also covering a CMAC boys’ game tomorrow, this will need to be the Co-Game of the Week. I may need to request a ruling from the commission that regulates internet blog article titles to see if I could call them both “The Game Of The Week!” The mind boggles!!

As we wait for the game to start, I hope you will enjoy this original tune from my You Tube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTdeYRUEOkc

It’s a freezing day today and I was only sure the game would be played when I got a message this afternoon. There is plenty of ice and snow to go around for sure!! Your Bleacher Denizen was pleased that the roads were not as bad as he feared as he made the drive from Lansing to Perry to watch the game. (However, he did not get on the expressway so he was able to drive at a safe speed.)

Coming into this game, Perry has a 3-6 record in the CMAC and is 5-7 overall. I have seen them earlier this season and gotten this information from Coach Scott Selbig.

Anthony Cochrane is a versatile scorer who can slash to the basket or hit three point shots in big numbers. Trey Selbig runs the point. He is tall for a point guard uses his length to be a big factor in the Perry defense. He is a good ball handler and passer who can slash to the basket or hit the three point shot. Jacob Adkins rebounds well and scores on slashes to the basket.

Alex McEwan is the big man in the post where he is a tough rebounder and defender. Aydin Sloan, Brady Doerner and Alex Torrez are capable three point shooters. Dylan King is a versatile defender who can cover any position.

Lansing Christian enters this game with a 1-8 record in the CMAC and has a 3-8 overall record. Charlie Baker is a big and versatile player who provides a commanding presence in the post where he is a strong defender, rebounder and scorer. He also is a strong ball handler who can shoot the three point shot. Noah Bruno is a quick shooting guard who has three point range. He is also a strong ball handler and passer.

Jack Crawford is a poised player who always hustles, rebounds aggressively and can shoot the three point shot. Cole Crawford is a versatile player who can defend on the perimeter or in the post, where he is a good scorer. Jack Bajema rebounds and defends well in the post. Maddox Mosley can hit the three point shot.

Luke Meyer is an aggressive perimeter defender. Jamin Block recently joined the varsity; he is a good ball handler who can shoot the three point shot. Ben Rottman is a versatile player who can score from the three point line or at the basket, but he is sick and out for tonight.

There was also a freshman and a JV game tonight. In the freshman game, Lansing Christian used a 17-3 edge in the fourth quarter to overcome a six point Perry lead and win the game 48-40.

Hudson Rockafellow led the Perry freshmen with 10 points. Bayze Lairmore, Reid Schneider and Gaven Ross each contributed 8 points. Nixon Wisely scored 4 points. Tripp LaRue added 2 points.

Eli Mosley led the victorious Lansing Christian freshmen with 19 points. Mark Van Drie joined his teammate in double figures with 13 points. Caleb Ritter added 6 points. Adam Buchinger and Eli Zajicek each tossed in 4 points. Henry Marl tallied 2 points.

I got to the JV game just before halftime. Perry had a 22-14 lead at halftime. Christian outscored Perry in the third quarter 15-12 to close the Rambler lead to 34-29. Perry outscored Christian in the fourth quarter and won the JV game by the final score of 50-41.

Justus Vierling led the Pilgrim freshmen with 10 points. Elijah Bajema and Ben VanderGalien each contributed 8 points. Bronson Tracy added 7 points. Jameson Crawford scored 6 points. Eli Mosley had 2 points.

Max Grennell tossed in eight three point baskets on his way to a 25 point game to lead Perry. (Informally, I heard that he tied a Perry record; I did not find out which one.) Trenton Duchene joined his teammate in double figures with 12 points. Levi Ostrander pitched in with 9 points and Chase Miller scored 4 points.

It is now time to look at the events of this game through the occasionally accurate lenses of an Aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league in the days of yore when he attempted to play ball. It seems that the Coach insisted that the Bleacher Denizen play aggressive defense even when he thought he was tired. After one time when the Bleacher Denizen tried to take a catnap when the ball was out of bounds, the coach presented him with a pillow and blanket and invited him to sleep on the bench! (Alas, there is no rest for the weary.)

Christian wins the opening tap. The Pilgrims drive and dish the ball out of bounds. Perry misses a driving layup. Christian misses a threeball from the wing. Sam Mustapha grabs the offensive rebound for the Pilgrims. Aydin Sloan steals the ball for the Ramblers. Cole Crawford steals the ball and hits a fast break layup to give Christian the first two points of the game. Perry misses a layup. Noah Bruno throws in a threeball off the dribble from the wing to give his Pilgrims a 5-0 lead.

Trey Selbig hits a three point shot from the wing to give Perry its first three points of the game. Alex McEwan knocks the ball away from Christian and Dylan King picks it up for Perry. Perry misses a layup. Dylan King grabs the offensive rebound for the Ramblers. Perry misses a ten foot shot in the lane.

Dylan King ties up the rebound for Perry. The Possession Arrow is impressed with his hustle and decrees that Perry shall get the ball. Perry misses a three point shot from the wing. Charlie Baker spins and hits a ten foot shot from the side of the lane to boost the Pilgrim lead to 7-3.

Perry misses a three point shot from the wing. Christian misses a driving layup. Perry misses a jump shot off the dribble, but gets the offensive rebound. (Your Aging Bleacher Denizen was not able to take notes fast enough to get the offensive rebounder’s name and apologizes for this.) Perry misses a threeball from the wing and gets the offensive rebound. Charlie Baker steals the ball for Christian. The Pilgrims miss a three point shot from the wing. Trey Selbig passes to Alex McEwan, who spins and hits a six foot shot from the side to cut the Pilgrim lead to 7-5.

Christian misses a three point shot from the wing. Jack Crawford grabs the offensive rebound for the Pilgrims. Christian misfires on a triple try from the wing. Anthony Cochrane passes to Aydin Sloan, who hits a reverse layup for Perry to tie the game at 7-7.

Christian misses a threeball from the wing. The rebound goes out of bounds and Perry takes possession. Trey Selbig drives and hits an up and under layup to give Perry the lead. He is fouled on the play, but misses his free throw. Jacob Adkins gets the offensive rebound for the Ramblers. Perry misses a layup. Dylan King grabs the offensive board for Perry and passes to Jacob Adkins, who throws in a threeball from the corner to give Perry a 12-7 lead.

Jamin Block is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of his two free throws for Christian with 24.5 seconds remaining in the opening quarter. Luke Meyer knocks the ball away from Perry and Charlie Baker picks it up for Christian. Christian heaves a long shot as the first quarter buzzer decides it is time to end the quarter.

After one quarter, Perry has a 12-8 lead.

Perry inbounds the ball to open the second quarter. Trey Selbig drives and dishes the ball to Dylan King, who hits a layup for the Ramblers. Christian misses a driving ten foot shot from the side. Noah Bruno grabs the offensive rebound for the Pilgrims. Christian misfires on a triple try from the side. Trey Selbig drives from the side and hits a layup to give Perry a 16-8 lead.

Christian misses a threeball from the top of the key. Perry misses a fast break reverse layup. Alex McEwan blocks a Christian six foot shot. Perry misses an eight foot shot off the dribble in the lane. Christian misses a layup. Trey Selbig passes to Alex McEwan, who hits a layup to boost Perry’s lead to 18-8.

Christian misses a three point shot from the top of the key. Jack Crawford knocks the ball away from Perry and Sam Mustapha picks it up for Christian. Dylan King steals the ball for Perry. The Ramblers miss a three point shot from the side. Jamin Block passes to Cole Crawford, who hits a fifteen foot shot from the baseline for Christian. Alex McEwan passes to Trey Selbig, who throws in a threeball from the side to give Perry a 21-10 lead.

Christian misses a driving eight footer in the lane. Perry misses a threeball from the side. Alex McEwan pulls down the offensive rebound for the Ramblers. Perry commits an offensive foul. Trey Selbig steals a Pilgrim pass. Cole Crawford blocks a Perry layup. Alex McEwan taps a Christian pass out of bounds; the Pilgrims retain possession. Christian misfires on a threeball from the side. Perry misses a driving layup. Jack Crawford drives and dishes the ball to Charlie Baker, who hits a layup to shave the Perry lead to 21-12.

Perry misses a driving layup. Christian misses a jump shot off the dribble from the free throw line; the rebound goes out of bounds and Perry takes possession. Perry misses a three pointer from the side. Alex McEwan gets the offensive rebound for the Ramblers. Perry misses a layup. Alex McEwan gets his hand on Christian’s inbound pass, but the Pilgrims recover. Jack Crawford is fouled and hits two free throws for Christian to cut the Perry lead to 21-14 with 41.6 remaining in the opening half.

Trey Selbig drives and dishes the ball to Alex McEwan, who hits a layup for the Ramblers. Christian misses a driving reverse layup. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Pilgrims get another opportunity. Christian misfires on a threeball from the side. Perry does not have time to shoot before the halftime buzzer decrees that it is time for the second quarter to end.

Perry has a 23-14 lead at halftime.

Cole Crawford and Charlie Baker each have 4 points to lead the Christian scoring.

Trey Selbig has 10 points and Alex McEwan has 6 points for Perry.

Perry introduced its youth players and did a contest where people throw ducks to see who can get closest to midcourt during halftime. For those of you who were not able to see or hear the halftime activities, I hope you will enjoy these tunes from my You Tube Channel!

“Blues Stay Away From Me” written by the Delmore Brothers and covered by countless bands in various genres. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TtsKUnqw7g

Here is a piano solo of “Rose of San Antone” based on Floyd Cramer’s piano hit! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAyGsC_FuNo

Christian inbounds the ball to get quarter number three underway. Trey Selbig gets his hand on the ball, but the Pilgrims recover. Trey Selbig draws and offensive foul from Christian. Perry misses a three pointer from the side. Dylan King gets the offensive rebound for the Ramblers. Charlie Baker knocks the ball out of bounds; the Ramblers retain possession. Perry misses a layup. Alex McEwan pulls down the offensive rebound for the Ramblers. Trey Selbig drives and hits a six foot banked shot from the side to boost the Perry lead to 25-14.

Noah Bruno passes to Jack Crawford, who hits a layup for the Pilgrims. Jamin Block steals the ball for the Pilgrims. Christian misses a three point shot from the side. Aydin Sloan drives from the side and hits a layup for Perry. Christian misses a threeball from the side. Alex McEwan tosses the ball to Steph Curry – – – – – (Oops, that’s actually Trey Selbig, but the way he has been scoring tonight, it’s a natural mistake.) who hits a three pointer from the side to lift Perry to a 30-16 lead.

Christian misses a twelve foot shot off the dribble from the side. Perry misses a driving layup. Noah Bruno drives and dishes the ball to Jamin Block, who hits a threeball from the side for Christian. Perry misses a ten footer from the side of the lane. Dylan King grabs the offensive rebound for the Ramblers. Trey Selbig hits a layup to give Perry a 32-19 lead.

Jamin Block hits a twelve foot shot off the dribble from the side of the lane for Christian. Trey Selbig drives and hits a layup for the Ramblers. Anthony Cochrane knocks a Christian pass out of bounds; the Pilgrims retain possession. Noah Bruno passes to Charlie Baker, who hits a layup to cut the Perry lead to 34-23.

Charlie Baker blocks a Rambler layup. Perry recovers the loose ball. Charlie Baker steals the ball for the Pilgrims. Christian misses a three point shot from the wing. Luke Meyer hits a putback for the Pilgrims. Perry misses a three point shot from the corner. Alex McEwan grabs the offensive rebound for the Ramblers. Perry misses a layup. Noah Bruno drives and hits a reverse layup to chop the Perry lead to 34-27.

Trey Selbig passes to Brady Doerner, who hits a three point shot from the top of the key for Perry. Christian misses a three pointer near the top of the key. Perry fouls on the rebound. Alex McEwan draws a charging foul from the Pilgrims. Perry misses a driving layup. Alex McEwan is fouled on a putback and sinks two free throws to boost Perry to a 39-27 lead with 50.3 seconds to go in quarter number three.

Alex McEwan knocks a Pilgrim pass out of bounds; Christian retains possession. Cole Crawford drives and dishes the ball to Charlie Baker, who hits a layup for the Pilgrims. Perry misses a layup. Christian misses a rushed jump shot from the free throw line as quarter number three comes to a close.

With three quarters in the books, Perry has a 39-29 lead.

Perry has the ball to start out the fourth quarter. Trey Selbig gets into the lane and hits a six foot shot for the Ramblers. Christian misses a threeball from the wing. Trey Selbig is fouled on a driving layup and hits two free throws. With 7:09 remaining in the game, Perry has a 43-29 lead.

Jamin Block drives and hits a layup for the Pilgrims. Dylan King passes to Anthony Cochrane, who hits a three point shot from the corner for Perry. Dylan King blocks a Christian layup. Alex McEwan is fouled on a layup and hits two free throws for Perry to give the Ramblers a 48-31 lead with 6:16 remaining.

Anthony Cochrane knocks the ball away from Christian and Alex McEwan picks it up for Perry. Charlie Baker blocks a Rambler layup. Noah Bruno passes to Charlie Baker, who tosses in a three pointer from the wing for Christian. Perry misses a three pointer from the corner. Christian misses a three pointer from the wing. Jacob Adkins passes to Trey Selbig, who is fouled on a layup and hits one of two free throws to put Perry up 49-34 with 4:49 left on the clock.

Christian misses a threeball from the side. Noah Bruno grabs the offensive rebound for the Pilgrims. Christian misses a ten foot banked shot from the side. The rebound goes out and Perry gets the ball. Noah Bruno steals the ball and passes to Cole Crawford, who hits a layup to shave the Rambler lead to 49-36.

Perry misses a layup. Alex Torrez guards a Pilgrim dribbler, who loses the ball out of bounds. Perry is whistled for a traveling violation. Christian misses a three point shot from the corner. The rebound is tied up. The Possession Arrow declares that the ball belongs to Christian. The Pilgrims miss a three point shot from the corner. Jack Crawford gets a hand on the ball and Charlie Baker picks it up for Christian. Charlie Baker passes to Jack Crawford, who hits a layup to cut the Perry lead to 49-38.

Alex McEwan hits a layup for Perry. Jack Crawford is fouled on a driving reverse layup and hits two free throws to shave the Perry lead to 51-40 with 1:49 remaining in the game.

Charlie Baker knocks a Rambler pass out of bounds; Perry retains possession. Jacob Adkins is fouled and hits two free throws for the Ramblers. Alex McEwan steals the ball for Perry. Trey Selbig is fouled and hits one of his two free throws for Perry. Christian commits a traveling violation. Anthony Cochrane is fouled and hits one of his two free throws for Perry. Christian throws a pass out of bounds. Perry runs out the last few seconds on the clock.

Perry wins this CMAC matchup 55-40.

Charlie Baker led the Christian scoring with 11 points. Jamin Block and Jack Crawford each supported their teammate with 8 points. Cole Crawford scored 6 points and Noah Bruno added 5 points. Luke Meyer tallied 2 points.

Trey Selbig erupted and led the Perry scoring with 25 points. Alex McEwan joined his teammate in double figures with 12 points. Jacob Adkins put in 5 points. Aydin Sloan and Anthony Cochrane each added 4 points. Brady Doerner had one threeball for 3 points. Dylan King added 2 points.