The 4th Annual Michigan Mega Scrimmage will take place on Saturday morning at Grosse Pointe South HS, the 32 team Mega Scrimmage will have teams from across the state looking to get ready for the upcoming season. Here is a brief preview of 5 teams and 3 games that we are looking forward to watching this weekend.

St. Johns Red Wings
The Red Wings are coming off a 14-9 season which included an overtime loss to Williamston and close losses to DeWitt twice and Lansing Waverly last season. They return 4 starters in Senior Brooke Mazzolini, Juniors Erika Ballinger and Jamie Carroll and Sophomore Maddie Maloney. St. Johns is one of the best teams in the Capital Area Activities Conference that many people will hear about this year.

Wayne Memorial Zebras
When you go 0-21, many would think you still probably are years away from being competitive. However, that is not the case with Wayne Memorial. The Zebras really struggled on the offensive end of the floor averaging less than 13 points per game. Scoring will not be a problem for Wayne this season as they will unleash talented sophomore point guard Camree’ Clegg, who is very capable of averaging 20 plus points per game this season. Talented freshman Jenea Terry will also add some much needed fire power for Head Coach Jarvis Mitchell’s up-tempo offense.

Detroit Edison Pioneers
Head Coach Monique Brown is slowly building a solid program over at Detroit Edison which includes one of the top 2019 players in the state of Michigan, 6’1” Rickea Jackson. Jackson will be joined by sophomore sharpshooter Orthea Humphries. The Pioneers might be young but they will be fun to watch this season.

Dearborn Heights Robichaud Bulldogs
When you lose 3 starters off an 18 win team, naturally one would assume that the team is in rebuild mode and take a back seat, but that is not the case for the Bulldogs. They will still be a very good team this year. Leading the way for the Bulldogs will be Junior point guard Kayla Brown who averaged 15 points and 6 assists last season and her All-State backcourt mate Junior guard Kamaria McDaniel who will be out till January due to an injury. McDaniel averaged 22 points per game as a sophomore. 6’0” Senior Nicole Buffington will anchor the post along with Senior Lilla Miller, to give the Bulldogs a versatile and athletic frontline. 5’9” Junior guard Monae Palmer, a transfer from Ypsilanti Lincoln, will also give the Bulldogs some much needed perimeter scoring.

Williamston Hornets
The Hornets return 3 starters and a slew of players that have varsity experience from their last season’s 19-4 team, which included a huge win over Class B state runner-up Haslett. With Haslett moving up to class A, Williamston will have a legitimate chance to make a deep tournament run. Sophomores Allison Peplowski and Maddie Watters will be main contributors this year after starting as freshmen. They will get a chance to see how good they could be this weekend as they will face state powers Lathrup, Country Day and Arbor Prep. 

Games to Watch

Arbor Prep vs. Southfield Lathrup
These teams usually square off in the regular season, but will not play each other this year. Lathrup edged Prep last season 58-55, one of the few teams that has beaten Prep on its home floor. Both teams are highly ranked and produce many good players on their roster. This will be a fast pace game as both teams have the athletes to get up and down the floor.

Country Day vs. Williamston
Country Day will be the team to beat in the state of Michigan, as they return the core players off their 2015 Class B State Championship team. Williamston is a legitimate Top 10 team in Class B and also return several starters from last season’s 19-4 record. Their excellent record included a huge win over Top Ranked Haslett. I know this is only a scrimmage but Williamston can make a statement against the defending champs to let everyone know how good they really are. Don’t’ miss this one!

Toledo Rogers vs. Midland Dow
Rogers is the No.1 rated team from the Buckeye state and they are well deserving of it. They are simply loaded from top to bottom. The Rams have a strong post presence and one of the best 2019 players in the country in PG Zia Cooke. Midland Dow is one of the best teams from the state of Michigan which include post Kaylee Wasco who will have her hands full with Rogers’ frontcourt. This will be a huge test for the Chargers as they have hopes of getting to the Breslin Center in March and playing a team like Toledo Rogers will definitely let them know if they’re ready to compete at a high level. Another one not to miss!