Detroit, MI
MHSAA basketball: Cass Tech’s Stevie Hall erupts for 36 in opener
In basketball, a dominant performance from a star player can feel inevitable, no matter what a defense throws their way.
On Saturday, Dec. 6, during the Horatio Williams Foundation Tip-Off event at North Farmington High School, Detroit Cass Tech junior guard Stevie Hall could not be slowed by a long, athletic and swarming Belleville defense.
Hall erupted for 36 points to lead Cass Tech to a 61-54 win over Belleville in the season-opening game for the Technicians in the 2025-26 Michigan high school basketball season. The 6-foot-3 guard took control of the game in the second and third quarters, scoring 24 of his 36, including a personal 10-0 run in the third quarter to give the Technicians a 14-point cushion they held for the rest of the game.
“He’s been consistently playing that way,” Cass Tech coach Steve Hall, Stevie’s father, said. “We had some early-season [exhibition] games and he’s consistently played that way. It was good to see him come out and show the leadership he showed today.”
Belleville opened with a 15-9 edge after the first quarter, dominating the offensive glass against Cass Tech’s 2-3 zone and flustering them on the other end with their length.
To open the second quarter, Hall was aggressive, getting into the lane before whipping a one-handed pass to junior Ransom Thomas for a wide-open 3, and then getting to the foul line off a drive.
The two plays sparked a 10-0 Cass Tech run, capped by Hall stealing an inbounds pass for an easy layup. By the end of the quarter, Cass erased the deficit with three steals leading to buckets, tying the game at 27.
Hall continued filling it up in the second half with 14 points in the third quarter and eight points in the fourth, as Cass Tech’s defensive intensity picked up to pull away from the Tigers. He got buckets in every manner: backdoor cuts, attacking the basket off the dribble, catch-and-shoot 3s, lulling a defender to sleep with crisp crossovers and behind-the-back dribbles, before launching his lefty jumper.
“Being aggressive, but not too aggressive and turning the ball over and things like that,” Stevie Hall said. “Just keeping my composure, playing together with my teammates, really helped me out.”
Belleville found success in the paint, but couldn’t hit enough jumpers against Cass’ zone to keep pace in the second half. Junior Adam Coats led the Tigers with 19 points.
The Technicians played all 15 players on their roster and also switched up their look on both ends. They primarily played zone because of Belleville’s strong paint presence, and oscillated plays between Hall and Sebastian Thrower as the primary offensive initiator.
“I’m still trying to figure some things out right now,” Steve Hall said in terms of his rotation.
Both Cass Tech (1-0) and Belleville (0-2) gained valuable experience as they prepare for things to ramp up in December.
“We’ve got 10 games in December,” Steve Hall said. “We’ve got league games, games that have playoff implications. So you want to go into those as ready as you can.”
Xavier Pendergrass leads Waverly past Detroit King
Xavier Pendergrass rattled the North Farmington rims more than anyone during the two-day Horatio Williams Foundation event. The 6-foot-7 senior Lansing Waverly forward lived above the rim in a 75-71 win over Detroit King on Saturday.
Pendergrass finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks, including two in the waning moments as King furiously closed Waverly’s lead. He brought the crowd to its feet by stuffing King guard Steven Jones on a transition dunk attempt in the fourth quarter.
“For this game, [my team] needed me getting downhill and finishing at the basket and rebounding,” Pendergrass said. “So that’s what I did.”
Pendergrass is a leader for Waverly, which enters the season with an experienced group motivated by last season’s end. The Warriors finished 20-4 in 2024-25, but three losses came to league rival East Lansing, the Division 1 state champions, including in the district semifinals.
“The goal is always to win the conference,” Waverly coach Rod Watts said. “We’ve got East Lansing that we have to deal with to win our conference. Then win the district, and once again, East Lansing is in our district. We know it is not going to be easy.”
A win over a strong team in King helps bolster that confidence early in the season. Outside of Pendergrass controlling the paint, guards Cayden Ali (20 points), C.J. Gomez (12 points) and Derek Thomas (11 points) stepped up in the win.
Ali scored all 20 of his points in the first half before sitting most of the second due to foul trouble. Gomez came in to run point and calmly found his shot to keep King’s comeback attempt at bay.
“That’s a great confidence builder for [Ali], for a guy like him so we are really proud of that,” Watts said. “He was feeling it so much, he got a technical.”
On King’s side, there were plenty of teaching moments for coach George Ward’s group. The Crusaders trailed by 16 at halftime after giving up 26 second-quarter points, but started the second half with an 18-4 run. However, King could not maintain that intensity in the fourth, eventually falling in a tight game.
“When we got back in the game, we didn’t play smart,” Ward said. “I knew at some point our defense would get us back in it. Now, once you get back in, how smart are you going to be? It seemed like we were a little anxious, playing with some anxiety that we did not have to play with. That’s a learning lesson for the guys.”
Jones led King with 26 points. The 6-foot-2 guard finished strong in the paint and hit some late 3s to keep the game within reach. Derrick Kilgore had 19 points and Mareon Knott had 13 points.
“When [Jones] gets downhill, when he’s aggressive and assertive with the basketball, he makes us a much better team,” Ward said. “For him, the maturity level is going to be when he plays 32 minutes like that.”
Nominate a high school athlete for the Detroit Free Press boys and girls athlete of the week.
Jared Ramsey covers high school sports for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at jramsey@freepress.com; Follow Jared on X or Bluesky.
There’s a moment toward the end of the night where Bruno Mars is using that raspy tenor of voice of his to sing his 2012 hit “Locked Out of Heaven” as if he was launched out of a rocket. The crowd is hanging and swinging on every note, confetti is pouring down, Mars is over two hours into his set with barely any breaks, but his swagger feels so effortless. It was as if you could throw him a cup of ice water and he could go for another two hours.
For Mars, this is just another day at the office.
Saturday was the first of two nights in which Mars’s The Romantic Tour set up shop in the Detroit Lions’ Ford Field. The night started off with a 30-minute energetic DJ set from Anderson .Paak’s alter ego, “DJ Pee .Wee.” That was followed by another 30-minute set from singer Leon Thomas, who is fresh off Grammy Award wins for Best R&B Album (MUTT) and Best Traditional R&B Performance (“Vibes Don’t Lie”).
Mars, a 40-year-old native of Hawaii, has sold over 20 million albums and won 16 Grammy Awards. He’s always been a wild mix of James Brown and Justin Bieber — this generation’s impresario of funk with a mutant-like ability to create over-the-top pop hits. The Romanic, released on Feb. 27, is his fourth solo album and first project in four years.
Mars hit the stage right at 8:45 p.m. dressed in a casual crimson lounge suit and headband while accompanied by his band the Hooligans. From the jump the energy was magnetic. Mars dove right into songs “Risk It All,” “Treasure,” and “On My Soul” (he performed all nine songs from The Romantic). His stage presence and synchrony with the Hooligans was subtle and effective. They routinely swaggered into a choreographed doo-wop dance steps that were evenly spread out through out the night. At times there were multiple members playing trumpet and other times they were all on guitars. Mars himself jumped on the conga drums on “Cha Cha Cha,” played the guitar on “Something Serious,” and played the piano on “It Will Rain,” “Talking to the Moon,” and “When I was Your Man.”
Visually, there was cinematic camera work being displayed on two large LED screens positioned on both sides of the stage. This allowed all 48,000 attendees (no matter where their seats were) to take in the visual experience that was aided with laser beans, pulsating lights, cold sparks, and pyrotechnics.
Anderson .Paak joined Mars back on stage for the second hour of the show where they performed “Fly as Me” and “Smoking out the Window” along with most of the songs from their joint album An Evening with Silk Sonic. Toward the end of their hit, “Leave the Door Open” the duo went back and forth singing the line “come on over baby” as if it was a ballad duel. The moment highlighted both singers’ chemistry and showmanship.
But the night was all about Mars. He ended the show singing his mega hit “Uptown Funk” but also did an encore performance of “Dance With Me,” singing just as strong and effortlessly near the end of the night as he did at the beginning. His 150-minute set was polished without feeling robotic. Even though he’s stepped foot behind a microphone thousands of times, he never sounded like he was going through the motions. He was charismatic, engaging, and made Detroit feel like it was this tour’s only stop, not his ninth.
Related
4Warn Weather – Cooler temperatures remain across Southeast Michigan for the start of the workweek, however, we’ll turn much warmer into the weekend.
Skies turn mainly clear Sunday night with a light northwest wind. Temperatures will fall to the low 30s to near 40°.
You’ll want to cover your plants or bring them indoors as frost will be possible. A Frost Advisory will be in effect for most of Southeast Michigan from midnight tonight until 7 a.m. Monday.
Monday will look beautiful with mostly sunny skies. It’ll still be chilly though – afternoon temperatures will only reach the mid to upper 50s.
Winds Monday will be out of the north at 5-10 mph.
Temperatures will once again be in the 30s Monday night, so it will be another night to protect your plants.
We then recover nicely with most reaching the low 60s Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons. Although we’re a bit warmer, the next chance for rain will arrive Tuesday afternoon and linger into Wednesday.
Thursday brings back the sunshine and warmer weather. Highs will be in the mid 60s before we reach the low 70s Friday.
The upcoming weekend looks even warmer with highs near 80°, but we also see the next chances for rain.
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DETROIT, MICH (WXYZ) — In partnership with The ALS Association, downtown Detroit parks will shine red May 10–16 in recognition of ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) Awareness month.
A special kickoff event will take place from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 10, in Campus Martius Park. The event will allow families impacted by ALS to connect, learn about upcoming initiatives, and take part in a meaningful “END ALS” photo moment under the illuminated park lights.
You can reserve you spot by visiting:
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=JlhGrOr9-kWQmmR_rZc61S9MfqDjPeBKvKV5YBqkMypUQThNMEs5TVpLRUY5R1FLV0o1WFExN1U4Uy4u
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