Time is running short, so I'm going to scale back this fall. Here are my predictions on each of the four divisions - Top 10 teams and flight finalists. Good luck to all this weekend.

DIVISION 1
Novi 30, Ann Arbor Pioneer 25, Bloomfield Hills 22, Ann Arbor Huron 22, Troy 20, Northville 18, Brother Rice 14, Grosse Pointe South 13, Port Huron Northern 10, Clarkston 9, Grandville 5, Traverse City Central 4, Eisenhower 3, Midland 2, Grand Blanc 2, Troy Athens 1, Holt 1, Livonia Churchill 1, Rockford 1, Caledonia 1, Kalamazoo Central 1, Utica 0

Flight Finalists
1S  — Connor Johnston (Northville) d. Koushik Kondapi (Novi)
2S  — Alex Wen (Novi) d. Chris Adams (PHN)
3S  —  Constantine Hemmrich (Bloomfield Hills) d. Sid Amarnath (Novi)
4S  —  Brad Silverman (Bloomfield Hills) d. Henry Fuchs (AAP)
1D  —  Maxx Anderson-Daniel Yu (Novi) d. John Sullivan-Nick Costakis (GPS)
2D  —  Aditya Chitta-Robert Chen (Novi) d. Austin Choi-Robert Dong (AAH)
3D  —  Gabe Kleer-Josh Lee (AAP) d. Michael Song-Spencer Liu (Troy)
4D  — Matt Kelley-Henry Zhou (AAH) d. Nikhil Kaila-Grant McLean (AAP)

My thoughts
It took Novi a long, long time to get its first tennis state championship. It may take just one year to get #2. The Wildcats certainly earned their great seeds with solid wins over Troy, Ann Arbor Pioneer and Bloomfield Hills. Getting good seeds can mean all the difference. Bloomfield Hills was seeded top-four in all four singles and picked up another two seeds in doubles. Troy has seven seeds, but none higher than a 4-seed. The Colts will have to overachieve to finish in the top three.

Related
State finals preview
Novi regional story/photos
Clarkston regional story/photos

DIVISION 2
Portage Central 31, Midland Dow 26, Forest Hills Central 26, U-D Jesuit 20, Seaholm 19, Groves 18, Forest Hills Northern 17, Okemos 15, North Farmington 8, Grosse Pointe North 6, Wyandotte-Roosevelt 5, Holly 3, East Lansing 3, Walled Lake Western 2, Riverview Gabriel Richard 2, Gibraltar Carlson 1, Farmington Hills Harrison 1, Lakeview 1, Warren Cousino 0, Zeeland East 0, Temperance Bedford 0, Port Huron 0

Flight Finalists
1S  — Bill Duo (Portage Central) d. Connor Genschaw (FHC)
2S  — Michael Szabo (Midland Dow) d. Ben Orwin (Portage Central)
3S  — Tyler Conrad (Midland Dow) d. Michael Caserio (U-D Jesuit)
4S  — Jacob Wiltjer (FHC) d. Aditya Middha (Midland Dow)
1D  — Louis Wyre (U-D Jesuit) d. Kento Hirakawa-Cameron Raedy (Portage Central)
2D  — Andrew Latessa-Will Geller (Seaholm) d. Joey Liu-Sahil Tandon (Portage Central)
3D  — Brian McHale-Josh Belfer (FHN) d. Elijah Lentz-Cody Lewis (Portage Central)
4D  — Peyton Herbert-Mike Battiste (FHC) d. Kyle Wang-Andrew Beering (Portage Central)

My thoughts
It's been 7 years since Portage Central last won a state title (2007). I don't see any reason why the Mustangs won't win another on Saturday. The seeds favor them in a big way. Midland Dow has a great singles lineup, and both Forest Hills Central and Northern have rock-solid doubles lineups. But no one is more complete than PC. I think U-D Jesuit can make a splash here and there (3-singles and 1-doubles) and Seaholm's Andrew Latessa and Will Geller are on the verge of capping off a spectacular season at 2-doubles.

Related
State finals preview
Groves regional story/photos
Holly regional story/photos
North Farmington regional story

DIVISION 3
Cranbrook 39, Country Day 33, Holland Christian 23, East Grand Rapids 15, Coldwater 13, Haslett 13, St. Joseph 12, Allegan 11, Forest Hills Eastern 11, Hamilton 9, Parma Western 6, Petoskey 6, Trenton 5, Charlotte 5, Chelsea 4, St. Clair 3, Coopersville 2, Armada 1, Cadillac 0, Yale 0, Grand Rapids Christian 0, Hudsonville Unity Christian 0

Flight Finalists
1S  — Marc Sable (CK) d. Noah Karoub (DCD)
2S  — Benji Jacobson (CK) d. Jakob Gahn (DCD)
3S  — Michael Khaghany (DCD) d. Michael Bian (CK)
4S  — Justin Luo (CK) d. Alex Mettler (DCD)
1D  — Nolan Trepeck-Matthew Gerard (CK) d. Damian Runkle-Adams Junn (DCD)
2D  — Chase Ghesquiere-Steven Meng (CK) d. Ryan Murakawa-Ricky Warnicke (DCD)
3D  — Brandon Kerr-Colin Petzold (CK) d. Kavon Rahmani-Joe Zhang (DCD)
4D  — Andrew Du-Jacob Yellen (CK) d. Millind Rao-Anirudh Chitale (DCD)

My thoughts
After four years atop the Division 3 world, it's time for Detroit Country Day to step aside. Cranbrook is back and will win its 19th boys state tennis title. Its doubles, and singles, lineups are the best in the state - all divisions. Sable and Jacobson are a lethal combination at 1-2 singles. And the 1-2 doubles teams may be even better for the Cranes. Novi is going for its second straight state title in Division 1, and should get it. And this Cranbrook team handled Novi, fairly easy, 6-2. There's no doubt that DCD is the second best team in the state - and it will prove that as well.

Related
State finals preview
Cranbrook regional story/photos

The tennis postseason is here - if you can believe it. The season has come and gone so quickly. Now it's time to see if all the hard work has paid off. Regionals are being held today (Thursday) and Friday. I will now give my predictions (below).
To qualify, a team must finish among the top two at its regional, or finish with 18 or more points. At those regions where there are eight teams or fewer, any team with 10 or more points - in addition to the automatic qualifiers - also makes it out.

CLICK HERE TO READ MY REGIONAL TENNIS PREVIEW
CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST STATE TENNIS RANKINGS

DIVISION 1

at Livonia Stevenson - Thursday
(Birmingham Brother Rice, Dearborn, Dearborn-Fordson, Detroit Cass Tech, Livonia Churchill, Livonia Franklin, Livonia Stevenson, Wayne Memorial, Westland John Glenn)
Automatic qualifiers: Birmingham Brother Rice, Livonia Stevenson
Additional qualifiers: None
My thoughts: It's kind of nice that Brother Rice is shipped south - instead of north to Clarkston. Now the state needs to send West Bloomfield south or Rochester Adams east to disperse the immense talent in Oakland County.

at Novi - Friday
(Brighton, Hartland, Howell, Lakeland, Northville, Novi, Novi Detroit Catholic Central, Walled Lake Central, Walled Lake Northern)
Automatic qualifiers: Novi, Northville
Additional qualifier: None
My thoughts: Novi swept the region last year and it's quite possible the Wildcats could do it again. They are the best team in the state. Northville will join them. It's entirely possible Catholic Central could sneak in as well. I think it falls just short.

at Grosse Pointe South - Thursday
(Fraser, Grosse Pointe South, Sterling Heights-Utica Ford II, Sterling Heights Stevenson, Troy, Troy-Athens, Warren Mott, Warren-Cousino, Warren-De La Salle)
Automatic qualifiers: Troy, Grosse Pointe South
Additional qualifier: Troy Athens
My thoughts: Kind of a repeat of last year, the Colts will take the regional title. South will score well. And Athens will get another well-earned trip to Midland.

at Clarkston - Thursday
(Bloomfield Hills, Clarkston, Lake Orion, Rochester, Rochester Adams, Stoney Creek, Waterford Kettering, Waterford Mott, West Bloomfield)
Automatic qualifiers: Rochester Adams, Bloomfield Hills
Additional qualifier: None
My thoughts: Last year Clarkston joined Adams and Bloomfield Hills in advancing on to Midland. I don't see that happening this year. The Wolves, along with Rochester, Lake Orion and West Bloomfield will eat each other alive - and steal valuable points from each other in the process. It's a shame one or two of these teams can't be shipped to another region.

DIVISION 2

at Birmingham Groves - Thursday
(Avondale, Berkley, Birmingham Groves, Birmingham Seaholm, Detroit U-D Jesuit, Royal Oak, Southfield, Southfield-Lathrup)
Automatic qualifiers: U-D Jesuit, Birmingham Seaholm
Additional qualifier: Birmingham Groves
My thoughts: Don't have the draws in front of my, but I'm sure they're balanced. If the seeds played out as they are potentially laid out, it's possible four teams could get through. But it's highly unlikely that would happen. Jesuit, Seaholm or Groves could win this regional. My money - or lack thereof - is on Jesuit. But not by much. I don't see any team scoring more than 17 or 18 points.

at Holly - Friday
(Alpena, Bay City-Central, Davison, Fenton, Flint-Kearsley, Flushing, Holly, Ortonville-Brandon, Swartz Creek)  
Automatic qualifiers: Holly, Flushing
Additional qualifier: None
My thoughts: I see a repeat of last year's regional, which the Bronchos won by two points over Flushing. Holly is coming off a Flint Metro League title, where it beat out Flushing.

DIVISION 3

at Cranbrook - Thursday
(Cranbrook, Detroit Country Day, Detroit Mumford, Ferndale, Madison Heights Lamphere, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, Redford Union, South Lyon East)
Automatic qualifiers: Country Day, Cranbrook
Additional qualifier: None
My thoughts: I'd like to think Notre Dame Prep would have a chance - as it has in the past - of scoring enough points to advance out. But Country Day and Cranbrook are rock solid this year and I see it being another dual between the two schools in the flight finals. That being said, the Fighting Irish will have to wait another year.


OTHER REGIONS
West Bloomfield Jewish Academy is competing in Ann Arbor. And when nearly a third of the field are teams from that city, it doesn't bode well for the Jaguars. No. 1 ranked Greenhills will win it. Gabriel Richard or Rudolf Steiner will also qualify. And over at Almont, Clawson is part of a small field, but a very capable one, led by Liggett.

PHOTOS FOR PURCHASE:  Check out our tennis home page and look through our photo galleries. If you like a photo and would like to purchase a copy, you may do so by clicking on the "Purchase Photos via SmugMug" button on the bottom right. Or check out our stories/photo galleries listed below:

OAA Red tournament - with photos
OAA Red tournament photo gallery
OAA White tournament - with photos
OAA White tournament photo gallery
Country Day vs. Brother Rice
Troy vs. Groves
Rochester tennis feature
Royal Oak vs. Lamphere
Novi Quad (Brother Rice, Troy)
Brother Rice vs. Cranbrook
Troy Athens vs. Groves
North Farmington vs. Berkley
Bloomfield Hills vs. Cranbrook
Cranbrook gallery
Country Day gallery

Groves senior RB Ross Williams.

The top-10 finalists for the new Michigan High School Football Player of the Year award have been announced. And there are three Oakland County representatives on the list. Walled Lake Western's Kyle Bambard, Southfield's Lawrence Marshall and Birmingham Groves' Ross Williams made the cut.
Spearheaded by MLive, the award was created to honor the best player in the state of Michigan, regardless of class or position. A selection committee of 21 coaches and 34 journalists from around the state (including Keith Dunlap and myself here at The Oakland Press and MIPrepZone) have been monitoring a watchlist throughout the season. That list has now been pared down to 10. Soon it will become a list of four. We will keep you abreast of how the process is going. Below is a list of the top-10 players.

THE LIST
Kyle Bambard, Walled Lake Western senior QB/K
Jayru Campbell, Detroit Cass Tech junior QB
Brian Cole, Saginaw Heritage junior RB/DB
Alex Grace, Saginaw Swan Valley junior RB
Sean Koski, Macomb L'Anse Creuse North senior QB
Lawrence Marshall, Southfield senior DE
Kyler Shurlow, Lowell senior QB
Travis Smith, Ithaca senior QB/DB
Deshaun Thrower, Muskegon senior QB
Ross Williams, Birmingham Groves senior RB