Birmingham Teams See Success in Girls Basketball Openers

Birmingham Marian and Detroit Country Day girls varsity basketball teams both picked up huge wins in the opening round of the district tournament.

The Mustangs beat 63-26 while the Yellowjackets beat Madison Heights-Lamphere 66-18. Both wins were expected — Seaholm and Lamphere combined for only five wins this season.

Country Day plays Clawson, who had a bye in the first round, on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Yellowjackets will be a big favorite again, but don’t expect coach Frank Orlando’s squad to overlook a weaker opponent in these early rounds.

“You got to bring the A-game every time,” Orlando said. “People are going to be ready to play us. We’re going to have to pay attention to detail and prepare properly.”

The girls at Country Day have their eyes set on a fourth straight Class B championship appearance and third title in four years.

Marian won’t have an easy draw in its district semifinal game. They face a solid Southfield-Lathrup team that won the Oakland Activities Association (OAA) Red division by going undefeated in their division (17-3; 16-0 OAA Red). The Mustangs' advantage will be playing in front of its home crowd — the game will be at Marian High School on Wednesday at 7:15 p.m.

Groves is the only Birmingham team lucky enough to have drawn a bye on Monday. The Falcons' opponent on Wednesday, in the early game at Marian (5:30 p.m.), will be Andover. Andover beat Royal Oak in a tight game 48-44 on Monday.

Who's advancing and what's next:

• Detroit Country Day girls basketball team will play Clawson at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
• Marian plays Southfield-Lathrup at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday.
• Groves girls basketball plays Andover at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.