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Sports

Marian Eliminated, Boys Hockey Teams Continue to Dominate

Birmingham Unified and Brother Rice varsity hockey teams pull off big wins Wednesday night while the girls from Groves and Detroit Country Day advance in basketball tournament.

It was a night of ups and downs for Birmingham-area girls basketball and boys hockey teams Wednesday night, as postseason play continued across Metro Detroit. Marian surprised many by falling out of the basketball tournament early with a loss to Southfield-Lathrup, while the boys of Brother Rice and Birmingham Unified hockey teams continued to steamroll their competition.

Boys hockey peaking at the right time

Birmingham Unified hockey coach John Weidenbach was worried about one thing going into Wednesday night's game with Troy Athens: the Athens goaltender.

“Their team has a really, really good goaltender,” Weidenbach said. “He’s experiencing 40 to 50 shots, on average, per game. It’s going to be tough, and a goalie can steal a game.”

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Turns out Weidenbach had nothing to worry about. His team allowed only one goal in their second pre-regional game and ended up winning 6-1. The win puts them into the Division 1 regionals for the first time in the coach’s four years at Birmingham. The team plays St. Clair Shores-Lakeview at the University of Detroit Jesuit on Saturday, with the start time yet to be determined.

The mood was the same at Brother Rice’s Division 2 preregional final against Warren-Mott Wednesday. The Warriors didn't mercy Warren-Mott , but they came close. The Warriors advanced to regionals with a 9-1 win, and will play the winner of Friday’s game between Grosse Pointe-South and Warren-De La Salle Saturday at Great Lakes Arena (start time also to be determined).

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Tonight, Detroit Country Day boys hockey plays Royal Oak-Shrine in its last preregional game at the Southfield Sports Arena at 6 p.m. Royal Oak Shrine eliminated Madison Heights-Bishop Foley in overtime 5-4 Tuesday to set up the finals.

Groves and Detroit Country Day headed to district finals, Marian eliminated

Having the home crowd advantage wasn’t enough for the Marian girls basketball team. The Mustangs fell 50-45 to Southfield-Lathrup Wednesday night, though Marian still finished tied atop the Catholic League.

On the other side of the Class A district tournament, the girls at had better luck Wednesday night. Falcons senior forward Morgan Pullins led the way with 29 points and helped her team pull out a 59-47 win over Andover.

As Groves' main offensive star, Pullins hasn’t shown any signs of the knee injury she suffered last season. She’ll need to have a big game again when the Falcons clash with Lathrup at 7 p.m. Friday if Groves is going to advance to the regional tournament.

Also in girls basketball, advanced in the Class B district over Clawson 58-35 Wednesday night. It wasn’t the cake walk they had in their first round, a 48-point win over Lamphere, but the Yellowjackets will continue their postseason run, playing Cranbrook Kingswood at 7 p.m. Friday.

Who's advancing and what's next:

  • Birmingham Unified varsity hockey team will play St. Clair Shores-Lakeview Saturday.
  • Brother Rice varisty hockey team will play the winner of Friday's match-up against Grosse-Point South and Warren-De La Salle Saturday.
  • Groves girls basketball team will play Southfield-Lathrup at 7 p.m. Saturday.
  • Detroit Country Day girls basketball team will play Cranbrook-Kingswood at 7 p.m. Friday.
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