Local coaches discuss their Breslin Center experience on the eve of Huron's trip

“I think the danger, and I think we felt it some that year, was that our goal was to get to the Breslin and you have to make sure you don’t let down once you get there,” said Stanczak, whose team lost to eventual state champion Saginaw High in a semifinal. “We made a really conscious effort to make sure that that didn’t happen and I think that you have to do that.”

Schoch, whose team lost a semifinal to eventual champion Kalamazoo Christian, agreed.

“It’s the big goal, to get to the Breslin Center. Once you get there, you gotta remember that your season is not over," he said. "Just getting there is just the first part. You want to finish the job once you get there.”

Townsend said he stressed that message to his Pioneer team before their successful trip to the Breslin Center, which included a semifinal win over Detroit Denby and a 54-47 title game win over Saginaw Arthur Hill.

“What we didn’t want was, it’s just enough to go up there and be in the final four,” Townsend said. “What we tried to get across to the kids was, we’re still hungry, we’re still greedy, we’re not going to be happy until we win.”

Star power is often the story of the finals, or at least the one that gets the most headlines. Huron isn't a star-led team. While AJ Mathew, Dante Williams and Jalen Bouma all average more than 10 points a game for Huron, rarely will any of them go for 20; and players like Matt Hastings, Kyle Baker and Mike Lewis can steal the show on any given night. Townsend’s team was led by USA Today All American Lavelle Blanchard and in the finals went up against Saginaw Arthur Hill, led by Mr. Basketball and eventual NBA All Star Jason Richardson, and Stanczak’s squad fell to a Saginaw High team that was heavily dependent on Michigan State-bound Draymond Green. Still, both coaches think balance is just as important as the lead man.

“If you look at (the 1999 final) that we played in, there were four Division I players in that game that received scholarships. You had five Division II players that received scholarships,” Townsend said. “So it was definitely star led, but there were other kids on that team.

“You definitely had the No. 1 voted guy for Mr. Basketball in Jason Richardson and the No. 2 voted guy (Blanchard). It was everything the state could want, but there was really no advantage,” he said. “We were like, ‘OK, you’ve got the No. 1 player, well, I’ve got the No. 2 player’, now it comes down to if my two through eight was better than your two through eight. To win the state championship, a team definitely needs balance.”

Stanczak thinks a team that counts on contributions from so many players, like Huron, can be harder to coach against.

“I absolutely think you can do it (without a star) and I think sometimes it’s better because you have that balance and it’s harder for the other team to prepare for,” Stanczak said.

“Now the danger is, if things sputter, is there a designated person that’s going to go get you offense? I think Huron has that with A.J. Mathew. Even though he doesn’t shoot the ball 20 times a game, he is a guy that I think, if the chips are down, they can have him go make a play. I don’t see them having that danger.”

Playing in the Breslin Center itself can present its own set of obstacles, the coaches said.

“The background is certainly different because it’s more open than your typical high school gym,” Schoch said. “So you have to acclimate yourself to being able to shoot without having the gym wall a few feet behind the basket.”

Stanczak believes playing in the Riverdome may have prepared the River Rats for that problem, which he and Schoch both said they thought effected their players in the opening part of their respective games.

“Because they have that mini-arena, they might not be affected as much because they’re used to that far away background, which is a little different than most high school gyms,” Stanczak said.

While playing at the Breslin Center is a dream for most of the players, Townsend thinks a different type of dreaming helped his team’s dreams come true. He said visualization was one of the most important aspects of his team's preparation.

“We pulled out Michigan State games and watched them a little bit, even though I’m a Wolverine, because I wanted them to see the court. I wanted them to go home and visualize being on that court, visualize making shots and visualize guarding and visualize setting screens. Just visualize it," Townsend said.

"We even did a thing where we practiced the way we were going to celebrate the championship. I really believe the visualization was really important because the guys told me that. They came up after we won it and were like, 'It's just how we thought it would be.'”

The game time -- Huron will play Southfield at 12:55 p.m. Friday and would play at 4 p.m. Saturday if they should make the final -- is another break from the norm for the players and coaches.

“It is a different rhythm there’s no question about it,” Stanczak said. “You go through the tunnel, there’s TV cameras, the coach is being grabbed left and right for interviews.”

Schoch agreed that the change in routine is something that needs to be prepared for. Townsend said he felt years of a similar routine had already accomplished just that.

“Most of our players had played AAU, so they would play games at eight in the morning. 10 in the morning. We always had open gyms at one o’clock,” Townsend said. “Any time is a great time to play basketball. They want that game at 1:30 in the morning, we’ll be right there ready to get it done. It don’t matter. Just throw the ball up, let’s start the game.”

Schoch didn’t want to throw out any bold predictions, and because of NCAA compliance rules, Townsend can’t comment on any current high school teams, coaches or players.

Stanczak, however, was willing to weigh in.

“I’ve said all along that once Huron won the district I thought they were going to the state finals.

“I do not think that Southfield will beat Huron. They have a really good player (Carleton Brundidge), but Huron will not play against a guy like they played against Tuesday night,” in reference to Arthur Hill’s USC-bound guard Maurice Jones. “If they can win against Maurice Jones, they can win against anybody.

“I expect Huron to win (Friday) and fairly comfortably. I think their issue is going to be can they beat Kalamazoo Central in the finals?”

Pete Cunningham covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by e-mail at petercunningham@annarbor.com or by phone at 734-623-2561. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.