Well the more things change, the more they stay the same. One look at the participants in next week's state finals at Ford Field shows that there won't be much new, as teams that are used to being there will be competing for state titles once again. But before Kosmo officially looks ahead to next week, he has the business of handing out his 3 stars for Saturday's semifinal games. Third star Derek Delaura, Lake Orion Yes the Dragons may have lost to Cass Tech, but Delaura proved Kosmo wrong. He thought that all a team had to do against Lake Orion was stop the run and force Delaura to beat them. Well, Delaura made some big plays in the 34-27 loss, throwing for a touchdown pass on the last play of the first half and then another to tie the game at 21-21. Nice job, Mr. Delaura. Second star Grant Niemiec, Orchard Lake St. Mary's Where have we seen this before? Another dominant performer by what Kosmo feels is the state's best player in Division 3-4 this year. Niemiec ran for 181 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a win over Battle Creek Harper Creek in the state semifinals. Oh, and he was once again a force at linebacker. First star Jon Malone, Novi Detroit Catholic Central If Malone was selling popcorn, the place would've sold out of that because of how outstanding he was in everything he did. On offense, he caught a touchdown pass and made two more receptions that set up touchdowns. On defense, he had an interception. If that wasn't enough, Malone returned a kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown as well. Not too shabby and worthy of being selected as the brightest semifinal star.