Strong showing by home robotics team results in second-place finish

By Mark Laginess
The Belleville High School Team 6615 “Bellevillains” finished the 2025 FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Belleville District Event at BHS as part of the second-place alliance.
The March 14-15 competition was the team’s first participation in the 2025 season which followed a highly successful 2024 campaign, including a second-place finish in the State of Michigan competition and a trip to the World Championships in Houston, Texas.
In Michigan, with 619 FRC teams registered in the state, a total of 27 separate district competitions are held to give each team a chance to play in two of them.
For each district competition, up to 40 teams will compete, each playing in 12 qualifying matches. In these matches, three teams form an alliance and play against three other teams so that six robots compete at one time. Match alliances are randomized, and an alliance partner in one match may be an alliance opponent in another.
Following qualification rounds, 24 teams play in fixed alliances with the top eight teams serving as alliance captains who choose two other teams to play with them in a double-elimination playoff format.
FIRST seasons are generally themed on a real-world scenario adapted to a playing field which is slightly smaller than a basketball court. This year’s game is titled “Reefscape,” and the game elements are meant to refer to parts of an underwater coral reef. To score points, robots load “coral” (12” long PVC segments) onto a “reef” while cleaning “algae” (16” diameter teal rubber balls) from the reef. Points are scored based on the number of corals placed and algae removed. Near the end of the match, robots may earn additional points by climbing on a structure suspended below the “barge” which spans the playing field.
While they fared better during qualifying play on their home field in 2024, the BHS team’s record after this year’s qualifying rounds on the BellevilleMain, LLC, field was 7-4-1, good for 17th place out of 40 teams. Their strong and consistent qualifier performance, even in a loss, made them a quick selection for the playoff rounds by Alliance 3 captain Da Bears of Team 247 from Berkley High School. The third team chosen into the alliance was The Battering Rams of Team 6566 from Lamphere High School in Madison Heights.
In the first match of the playoffs, Alliance 3 scored a decisive 181-87 victory over Alliance 6, comprised of Steel Falcons (Team 7220, Livingston Christian School in Brighton), Code Red Robotics (Team 5567, Milan High School), and The Byting Irish (Team 7660, Fr. Gabriel Richard High School in Ann Arbor).
Alliance 3 followed that with a 150-126 win over Alliance 2, represented by The Atoms Family (Team 4405, Plymouth Christian Academy), Wings of Fire (Team 51, International Technology Academy & Pontiac High School), and Tech Tribe (Team 9182, New Boston Huron High School). That set them up for what would arguably be the most exciting match of the day against Alliance 1, made up of alliance captain Lightning Robotics (Team 862, Plymouth/Canton/Salem High School) and their partners The CREW (Team 7769, Oakland Schools Technical Campus Southeast) and Grizzly Robotics (Team 66, Ypsilanti STEMM Middle College). Despite scoring 214 points, Alliance 3 fell into the losers’ bracket when Alliance 1 bested them by eight points. The 222-214 match was, at the time, listed as one of the highest combined-score matches played in the world this season.
In their only loser’s bracket match, Alliance 3 soundly defeated Alliance 4, made up of Pontiac Firebirds (Team 10349, Pontiac High School), WARHBOTS (Team 6618, Flat Rock High School), and Robo Falcons (Team 8179, Dearborn Divine Child High School) by a score of 177-126. Their joy was short-lived, however, as Alliance 1 reeled off two straight match victories in the best-of-three finals to claim the district banner.
The finalist position was the Bellevillains best finish in the six district events held since 2018 on their home turf. Currently ranked 186th out of 619 teams in the state, Team 6615’s prospects for a return to the state championships could solidify with a strong showing at the Renaissance High School district event in Detroit on March 28-29. Following this last weekend of district competition, the state’s top 160 teams will travel to Saginaw Valley State University to compete for the state championship from April 3-5. The top 80 Michigan teams from this event will receive invitations to attend the world championships in Houston from April 16-19.
The Bellevillains and the Belleville District Event are supported by their many sponsors, including: BellevilleMain, LLC, Autokiniton, GM, Snider Electric, Sunbelt, Van Buren Public Schools, Van Buren Education Foundation, The Jahr Family, Intents Events, Waste Management, Belleville Kiwanis, Sumpter Ace Hardware, SME, Reflections on the Lake, Atchinson Ford, CRG Electric, Barnett Roofing, Moving the Mitten, Interstate Batteries, DTE, Hennessey Engineers, Hungry Howie’s, Kabob Garden, Holiday Inn Express & Suites, Kevin and Lisa Martin, St. Anthony Parish, Inspirations Hair Salon, Garden Fantasy, Burke Sales and Engineering, and Edward Jones McGovern Wealth Management Group.