CLAWSON — The Arts and Technology Academy of Pontiac Lions roared out of the gate, and the Detroit Loyola Bulldogs never caught up as the Lions rolled to an 83-59 win in the Division 3 regional semifinals.
What was on paper a battle of top-15 teams, was not close once the teams took the court. The Lions — an honorable mention in the final Associated Press poll — scored the first seven points of the game, and after the No. 7-ranked Bulldogs got on the board midway through the first quarter, ATAP clamped down the defense even more, reeling off a 19-0 run to make it 28-4 and effectively put the game out of reach by the midway point of the second quarter. By halftime, it was 40-14.
Anchored by Lewis Lovejoy and Devonte Grandison, the ATAP defense simply smothered Loyola for almost the entire first half as Loyola only scored on consecutive trips down the floor once during the opening half.
“We preach defense me and Miss Cobb. We just came together,” assistant coach Zachary Kelso said. “Our motto is defense. Defense wins championships.”
“My guys were ready, prepared,” junior Dontrail Grandison said. “Our defense is great. I love our help side. We trust each other on ball. We trust each other back side. We’re getting better at everything. But we’re just trying to move on to the next round he added.
Basketball players
ATAP's Lewis Lovejoy (left) shoots for two of his 17 points as Detroit Loyola's Jai'Ron Foster defends during the Division 3 regional semifinal played at Clawson on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. Lions defeated the No. 7 Bulldogs, 83-59. (KEN SWART — For MediaNews Group)
And by the end of the night, the Lions would do just that.
The game became a full court, pressing affair after halftime, and the offenses picked up the scoring even as the defenses made them fight to get the ball up court. Led by Cody Champion and his 20 points, the Bulldogs made a couple of runs in the second half, but they only cut the deficit under 20 points once in the second half – cutting the lead to 18 points late at 74-56 – but the Lions reeled off nine straight to build the lead right back up.
Dontrail Grandison was the shooting star of the first half for the Lions. Grandison made seven straight 3-pointers to open the game and finished with a game high 25 points.
“My coach prepared me for this. He told me I was going to get a lot of shots. My team trusted me with those shots, and I had to hit them,” he said.
Lovejoy had 19 points, and Devonte Grandison was a dominant presence at the rim on both ends of the floor for ATAP, piling up 16 points, 16 rebounds and four blocked shots. Sherrod Magee added 14 points for the Lions.
Arts & Technology Academy of Pontiac improves to 16-3 overall and in Thursday’s regional final will face Center Line Prep Academy, a 73-49 winner over Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett in the other regional semifinal on Tuesday.
Photo gallery from ATAP vs. No. 7 Detroit Loyola in a D3 boys basketball regional semifinal
“Our guys worked hard all year for this,” assistant coach Margaret Cobb said. “We were prepared. They were ready, and we really are proud of them.”
The Lions are looking to make another run to the Breslin Center this year after having lost in last year’s final to Riverview Gabriel Richard.
“We’ve been here before. We were here last year. We were kind of disrespected because they had us underdogs for the first time, so we took it personal,” Kelso said.
Boys basketball regional semifinal scoreboard