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The Grand Rapids Press reports that:

Dwaun Anderson pulled one of the biggest upsets of the high school basketball season when the Suttons Bay guard was named today as the 31st winner of the Hal Schram Mr. Basketball award.

Anderson became the first player from a school north of Saginaw to win the award. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound guard, who led his team to last year's Class C state championship game, has signed to play at Michigan State.

“To be honest, I wasn’t even expecting to get it,’’ Anderson told the Detroit Free Press, which administers the award in conjunction with BCAM. “I just figured that no one from downstate really knows me, so I figured someone from down there would get it.”

You can also read more in the Freep. Anderson averaged 20 points, 10 rebounds and 4.8 assists his senior season and is the third consecutive Mr. Basketball to sign with Michigan State, joining 2010 recipient Keith Appling and 2009 winner Derrick Nix.

Here's a video of a pretty impressive dunk by Anderson and you can also watch some highlights from last year.

Update Thursday, March 17th Last night Leland fell to Manistee Catholic Central in the Regional final 55-43. Congratulations on a great season Comets!

Update Tuesday, March 15th Last night Leland rode a hot hand from Calvin Gibson to defeat Bellaire in the regional opener. The Comets play in Cadillac Wednesday night in the regional final!

Update Monday, March 14th On Friday night Leland defeated St. Mary 55-41. The Comets now travel to Cadillac TONIGHT at 6 PM to face Bellaire.

Update Thursday, March 10th Last night Leland crushed Grand Traverse Academy 81-40 in the opener and Lake Leelanau St. Mary fought past Northport 34-30. The Comets and the Eagles meet Friday at 7. In Class C action, Leelanau was blanked, with Suttons Bay capping a disappointing season with a 72-69 loss to TC St. Francis and 2011 Northwest Conference Champion Glen Lake falling to Elk Rapids 73-60.

Update Tuesday, March 8th Last night was a good night for Leelanau: Suttons Bay, Glen Lake & Northport all advanced!

The Michigan High School Athletic Association has details on the Boys Basketball District Tournaments.

In Class D Boys action at TC Christian, the Northport Wildcats face TC Christian at 7 PM tonight (Monday, March 7). Leland will play Wednesday night (March 9) in the first game at 6 PM vs GT Academy with Northport playing St. Mary’s in the second game at 7:30. TC Christian will have their cafeteria open and will provide dinner for fans or players at a cost of $5each or $20 per family.

In Class C action at Glen Lake tonight, the Suttons Bay Norseman face Kalkaska at 5:30 PM. In the 7 PM game, the Glen Lake Lakers meet Fife Lake/Forest Area. On Wednesday the Suttons Bay will play Traverse City St. Francis at 5:30 and the Glen Lake faces Elk Rapids at 8 PM.

Finals in both Districts are Friday night and we'll keep you updated as to the results right here!

Suttons Bay went down to its first defeat of the season in the regional title game on Friday night as Iron Mountain cruised to a 41-17 victory. You can read about it in the Traverse City Record-Eagle, and congratulations on another great season by the Norsemen!

Although Iron Mountain wasn't good news for Suttons Bay football, Iron Mountain native Tom Izzo had great things to say about Suttons Bay basketball star Dwaun Anderson, who formally committed to Michigan State University last Thursday:

"This was Dwaun's dream coming true," Suttons Bay basketball coach Todd Hursey said. "It's special for a small town player to get a Big Ten scholarship, but Michigan State is one of the premier programs in the country. They're ranked No. 2. They're in the Final Four all the time."

Anderson, who worked on his strength and jump shot during the off-season, led Suttons Bay to a Class C state final appearance last season. He is part of a nationally-ranked class that includes 6-6 forward Brandon Dawson of Indiana, 6-6 forward Brandon Kearney of Detroit and 6-foot guard Travis Trice of Ohio.

"If you look at the four guys we got, they're all winners," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said at a news conference. "They've all either been state champs or been to state semifinals. And they've all been pretty well coached. That was a big thing to me. And the real big thing, they all wanted to be here."

Anderson, who likes to attack the basket, averaged 20 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists last season.

"A phenomenal athlete," Izzo said. "Not under the radar, because he was recruited by a lot of schools. But under the radar because he's from Suttons Bay, where you're just a stone's throw from Iron Mountain (Izzo's former high school).

Here's a YouTube highlight reel for Dewan from last year:

The Michigan State University Spartans basketball team has once again reached the NCAA Final Four. In honor of this, the State Theatre in Traverse City has reworked their Easter Weekend movie schedule (free movies for those stuck at home!) so that you can come and join 600 other crazed Spartan fans and cheer on the team this Saturday on the biiiiiiig screen. Tip off is at 6:07 pm and the doors will open at 4:30 pm.

They are offering this event free of charge, and you can pick up your free ticket beginning at 5 PM sharp today (Wednesday) at the box office. You can also call 231-947-3446 and they'll put tickets aside for you. Limit four tickets per person.

The Suttons Bay Norsemen defeated the Rudyard Bulldogs 76 to 63 in a Class C quarterfinal last night at Lake Superior State University.

The Record Eagle reports Dwuan Anderson scored an impressive 30 points, had 13 rebounds.:

While Anderson was the star, the Norse proved to have too much size and depth for the Upper Peninsula's No. 1-ranked Bulldogs. The Norse led by as many as 14 points in the second half, although the Bulldogs did get as close as seven points midway through the third quarter.

The Norsemen will now take on the Bridgman Bees in the MHSAA Semi-Final at MSU's Breslin Center in East Lansing tomorrow, Thursday, March 25 at 2:30.

Photo credit: Fan photos from Dwaun Anderson by Tara Noffsinger

The Norsemen used their superior height and athleticism in the fourth quarter to pull away in an 80-60 victory in the Class C regional championship game at Traverse City West. Suttons Bay will now play Rudyard at Lake Superior State University on Tuesday, March 23 for the quarterfinal match of the 2010 Class C State Tournament.

Mlive reports:

Mason County Central, the Cinderella story of this year's boys basketball tournament, was in position to pull off a major stunner on Wednesday night.

The Spartans, who had a 5-15 record entering the tournament, were down by just four points, 56-52, against No. 8 Suttons Bay.

But the Norsemen used their superior heighth and athleticism in the fourth quarter to pull away in an 80-60 victory in the Class C regional championship game at Traverse City West.

The Record Eagle said:

Suttons Bay closed the game on a 24-6 run, thanks to 12 points from Dwaun Anderson.

"That's pretty much my role," Anderson said. "It's what I have to do, even if I feel like I can't. I've always got to push myself for my best. Tonight, I didn't think we came out good enough, so I had to turn it on."

Anderson was also key in a second-quarter run that gave the Norsemen momentum going into the half. The Spartans built a 29-23 advantage with Anderson on the bench with two fouls, but he returned for the last three minutes. He immediately drove the baseline and threw down a one-handed dunk from underneath the basket.

Suttons Bay beat St Francis to win the Boy's Basketball District Title on Friday. The Record Eagle reports:

Dwaun Anderson -- who wears 22 for Suttons Bay -- scored a lay-up in the closing seconds Friday as the Norsemen won their first district basketball since 2003 with a 53-51 victory Friday night in the Class C final in front of a packed house.

Suttons Bay will play Boyne City tonight at Traverse City West at 7:30.

Also, Leland took the district title beating  Northport 69 to 36 on Friday.  Leland will play Manistee Catholic Central tonight at Benzie Central High School

Leland coach Jason Stowe expected a fantastic game last night and while the 54-52 loss was a heartbreaker, there's no doubt that the game (tied 22-22 at halftime) delivered all that excitement and more. It came down to a final shot and was a tremendous game.

If Ellsworth is the number one team, I think it's pretty clear that Leland was #2 - congratulations on a great season, Leland!

Leland Wins Regional Opener

Last night Leland captured the regional opener with an 85-67 victory over Hillman. The Record-Eagle reports that 6' 4" Comet center Galen Whittaker led the way with a season-best 32 points and 16 rebounds. Leland will meet 23-0 and number one Class D Ellsworth in the regional final on Wednesday night at 7 PM.

Leland won the regional crown a year ago, but coach Jason Stowe knows repeating will not be easy. He came away impressed with the Lancers.

"They're No. 1 in the state," Stowe said. "They haven't lost yet. They're a very impressive team. They like to dribble drive. They have great athletes, great shooters, They know how to win -- and that goes a long way this time of year.

"I expect a battle. I think it's going to be a fantastic game."

So does Ellsworth coach Tex Drenth.

"As well as we played (Monday), we'll have to step it up Wednesday night," Drenth said. "Leland's a superb team. This will be the best team we've faced all year. We'll have our work cut out for us, but we're up for the challenge."

Leland Captures District Crown

On Friday night Leland captured the Class D District title with an 81-55 victory over Lake Leelanau St Mary.

Leland rode a balanced attack to fend off repeated charges by a determined Eagles squad.

The Comets (17-7) move on to meet Hillman in the Regional opener tonight at 7 PM at Traverse City West Senior High. The winner of tonight's game will meet the winner of Mio vs Ellsworth on Wednesday at (I think) 7:30.

In other news, Suttons Bay fell by a score of 60-46 to Forest Area. The Record-Eagle has an article on the game.

Check below for complete scores from all games!

Boys Class C at Kalkaska
Glen Lake lost a heartbreaker to Forest Area - 40-39
Suttons Bay beat Kalkaska 84-72 on Wednesday
Finals: Forest Area 60 - Suttons Bay 46

Winner plays Monday night in Gaylord

Boys Class D at Lake Leelanau St Mary
Lake Leelanau St Mary defeated Leelanau School 70-28
TC Christian fell to Leland - 83-50
Wednesday: St Mary 51 - Northport 38
Wednesday: Leland 80 - Grand Traverse Academy 27
Finals: Leland 81 - St Mary 55

Winner plays Monday night at Traverse City West

Lake Leelanau St Mary, our last surviving girls team fell in regional action last night to Johannesburg-Lewiston by a score of 63-34. Congratulations on a great year, Lady Eagles!

Girls Class D at Northport
Monday:  Northport 56 over Grand Traverse Academy 23
Wednesday: St Mary 50 - TC Christian 32
Wednesday: Leland 50 - Northport 31
Finals Friday, March 6 at 7:00PM, St Mary vs Leland

Girls Class C at Kingsley
Monday:  Glen Lake 54 over Forest Area 38 - Monday, March 2
Monday:  Kingsley 58 over Traverse City St Francis 53 - Monday, March 2
Wednesday: Glen Lake 65 - Suttons Bay 37
Wednesday: Kingsley 69 - Kalkaska 41
In the finals Glen Lake fell to Kingsley, 47-31

March 12

The Record-Eagle has a feature on  Leland's 72-45 loss at the hands of Muskegon West Michigan Christian in the Class D quarterfinal:

"I thought we were playing some of our best ball as of late, but we just did not get it going tonight. I give West Michigan Christian credit. They took us out of our game. We had a hard time shooting it over the top. We had a hard time getting it inside. They're a fine basketball team."

Marcus Whittaker paced Leland with 22 points.

"They played great defense," Whittaker said. "Defensively, they were prepared

Congratulations on a great year, Comets!

March 10

The Record-Eagle has a cool feature titled Links to the past that compares Leland's team with the Northport team that Leland coach Jason Stowe played on:

"I was joking with the kids about the unheralded guy hitting that last second shot," Stowe said, "because 20 years ago on the exact same court, the exact same basket, I got the chance to do the exact same thing."

Stowe's buzzer-beater in 1988 propelled Northport to a 67-65 win over Glen Lake in a Class D district final at Central a victory the Wildcats used as a springboard to winning a state championship.

March 6

The Record-Eagle reports that Leland Comets (21-4) pulled out a 48-46 thriller over Bellaire to win the Regional championship. Leland will face Muskegon West Michigan Christian Tuesday's quarterfinal at Traverse City West at 6 PM. Check out Larsen lifts Leland to regional title for more (including photos).

March 4

Leland survived a charge by Mio and went on to a 83-59 victory in the first round of Regionals last night. They will meet Bellaire (who managed to hold off a tough Posen club 67-60) on Wednesday at 7 PM at Traverse City Central.

March 3

Leland captured the District title on Friday night at Northport, handling St. Marys 76-28 to become the last team standing in the 2008 high school basketball tournament.

Leland faces Mio tonight in the Regional opener at Traverse City Central at 7:30 PM with the regional final on Wednesday.

For a nice preview of the tournament road ahead for the Comets, check out Boys' Class D District survivor going to T-C in the Leelanau Enterprise.