Record-setting Whitaker leads Dundee into finals of regional
FLAT ROCK – Braiden Whitaker has scored more points than anyone in Dundee boys basketball history.
But he is also a generous teammate.
Sometimes too generous of a teammate.
“He loves to pass, sometimes to a fault,” Dundee coach Jay Haselschwerdt said. “I had to tell him, ‘This is the time when great players take over a game.’”
Whitaker listened.
On the night that the senior broke a school record for career points that had stood since 1958, Whitaker scored six points in the fourth quarter to help the Vikings come from behind to nip Dearborn Heights Robichaud 47-45 in the semifinals of the Division 2 regional at Flat Rock.
“In the first half, we were off,” Whitaker said. “We scored, what 16 points? That’s not us. That’s not me.”
Whitaker scored Dundee’s second basket of the night to give his team a 5-0 lead and break Norm Weyher’s school record for career points.
More: Whiteford boys reach regional finals for third time in school history
But Whitaker only had two free throws the rest of the first half and the Vikings went into the locker room at halftime down 23-16.
He scored a pair of buckets in the third quarter, then came through when his team needed him most down the stretch.
A Whitaker basket with 4:10 remaining knotted the score at 39-39, then moments later he went hard to the basket and converted a three-point play.
A steal and score by Ethan Layton pushed the Viking lead to 44-39.
“Momentum is big in basketball,” Whitaker said. “When I got the And-1, then Ethan hit a layup, everyone was really excited.”
Adam Spare scored a key basket with 1:07 left to help Dundee hold off Robichaud.
“We haven’t won a regional game since the 1980s,” Haselschwerdt said. “That’s pretty cool. I am happy with the guys.”
Actually, Dundee's last victory in a regional tournament came in 2009 when Doug Hand's Vikings beat Whiteford 58-53 in the semifinals before falling to Hanover-Horton in the championship game. Haselschwerdt was thinking of Dundee's last regional title in 1988 under Ernie Sellers.
Whitaker led the offense with 14 points while Ryan Zanger his a trio of 3-pointers as part of an 11-point night and Layton scored six of his nine points in the fourth quarer.
The career points record was a distant second to the win in the minds of Whitaker and his teammates.
“We didn’t think about (the record),” Haselschwerdt said. “He was more worried about the team, but obviously it’s a big deal.”
Whitaker already has broken school records for points in a game and season this season. Weyher’s standard of 1,281 points set in 1958 was one of the oldest records in the Monroe County Region.
“That’s before I was born,” Haselschwerdt noted.
“It’s amazing,” Whitaker added. “I love Dundee so much.”
Whitaker hopes to soon find out more about the man who held the record for so long.
“We eat at Subway almost every day,” he said. “Coach went there before us today and someone who works there said, ‘I hear that Braiden Whitaker kid is about to break my dad’s record,’” he said. “When we went in we asked if she was working, but she wasn’t. I am going to go there tomorrow.”
Dundee takes a 21-4 record into the 7 p.m. Thursday final against 16-8 Detroit University Prep, which toppled No. 5 Romulus Summit Academy 60-54 in Tuesday’s first game.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Whitaker sets record, takes charge down stretch in Dundee win
