Class B: Districts from hell

Wayland junior Avery Hudson and his seemingly limitless range will try to knock off defending state champ Godwin Heights on Monday.

Here are some of the state’s most competitive and entertaining Class B districts for the MHSAA tournament, which opens Monday.

Harper Woods
Class B is weak overall, so when you have a couple decent Detroit PSL teams likely meeting in one semifinal though Osborn is 9-10 and Denby 11-7 they’d be the favorites in a lot of places. The other semifinal will probably be 16-3 St. Clair Shores South Lake and 12-6 Chandler Park Academy. Both have all-state candidates, Chandler Park’s 6-3 senior Jalen Martin and South Lake’s junior guard Ricky Dixon.

Fowlerville
Lansing Catholic is led by 6-7 senior all-state candidate Tony Poljan, 17-1 and in the semifinals will look to avenge last year’s district upset to Fowlerville. 16-3 Williamston has all-state candidate senior guard Riley Lewis with an opening round bye. Monday’s opening game features a young Sexton team that has taken its lumps all year and 10-9 Perry.

Croswell-Lexington
This district has some of the best looking records in Class B, as 16-4 Yale opens with 16-3 Richmond, with the winner facing 17-3 Imlay City. Yale and Richmond split in the regular season; Yale and Imlay City also split; while Imlay City swept Richmond. Yale has the best player in the gym, senior all-state candidate guard Cody Kegley.

Grand Rapids South Christian
The district championship will really be played at 7:30 Monday, with a state semifinal-caliber matchup of 17-2 Wayland and 17-3 Godwin Heights, the defending Class B champion. They played a terrific game in last year’s districts, at Godwin. 6-7 Wayland junior Zack Niewkoop will be a tough cover for the shorter Wolverines, while Godwin Heights has the advantage in depth. There are a couple of point machines in the backcourts, with Wayland junior Avery Hudson and Godwin sophomore Lamar Norman.

Leslie
The host school is 18-2 and has a high school Ben Wallace in 6-8 senior Dylan Patton and an athletic senior shooting guard Zac Latter. The open with 11-9 Olivet, with breakout 6-2 junior Delbert Redfield. Eaton Rapids will play that winner, while the other semifinal is 15-5 Stockbridge against one-win (!) Lumen Christi.

Buchanan
Guard play will be the call of the day in one semifinal where 16-3 Dowagiac awaits 14-4 Benton Harbor. At 6-10, senior Braden Burke is the matchup with no answer here from 12-7 Stevensville Lakeshore.