Class D: Districts from hell

The schools may be small, but the stakes are high. Here are the state’s Class D districts from which it may be toughest to emerge.

Fowler
13-6 Fulton reached the state semis last year. Senior guard Colton Antes is their all-state candidate this time. The most likely final here has Fulton facing the Fowler-Vestaburg winner. Vestaburg is 13-3 while Fowler comes in at 12-7 with the best big man in the district, junior Jeremy Pung.

Martin
Both Martin and Climax-Scotts are 15-5, and Martin has home court advantage. But is that enough in their first-round matchup to contend with 6-2 C-S senior Dallas Forberg and his 23.5 points per game? The winner will likely see 16-3 Kalamazoo Heritage in the final.

Suttons Bay
18-2 Frankfort has an opening round bye as the try to reach Breslin for the second time in three years. The Panthers flashed their March bonafides by recently taking the best Class C team in Northern Michigan, McBain, to overtime. They’ll play the Suttons Bay-Leland winner. If 13-7 Suttons Bay can establish their pace and get good shots for sophomore guard Thomas Hursey. Frankfort’s leading scorer is a sophomore guard himself, Jaylon Roger. Frankfort awaits the Suttons Bay-Leland winner, and will likely play Northport, 13-6 and with a rare league crown, in the final.

Bellaire
The probably semifinal between 19-1 Bellaire and 17-3 Boyne Falls will decide this one. Bellaire has one of the top prospects on pure talent in Class D, 6-3 junior Gabe Meriwether, while 6-2 Boyne Falls senior Marcus Matelski is looking to prolong an already ridiculously prolific career.

Mesick
At 17-2 Onekama sits atop as king of this bracket, opening with .500 Fife Lake Forest Area. The other semifinal will likely be between 13-6 Bear Lake, and a team they recently beat rather easily 13-6 Buckley. But if Buckley’s personnel get it going on the same day, their young talent is the best in this district.