State Finals: Class A

The script couldn’t have been written any better for the Saginaw High Trojans, it was a perfect ending to a perfect season.  The Trojans capped their 25-1 season and their second straight State Championship with a 90-71 win over Detroit Pershing. 

The Trojans found early success as guards Mike Green and Daniel West didn’t waste any time to let it rain from downtown.  The Trojans were up 11-2 before Pershing even knew what hit them.  A Dell Ward dunk woke up the Doughboys and Pershing crawled back within 15-10.  Saginaw countered back with a 7-2 run to close out the quarter and a tip in as the buzzer sounded from freshman Tommie McCune gave Saginaw a 22-12 lead.

Saginaw pretty much put the game away in the second quarter with an 18-5 run; Daniel West headed the run with eight points.  Mike Green dropped in two more 3-pointers in the final 1:36 of the second quarter to give Saginaw a commanding 51-33 lead at the half.

Guards Keith Appling and Ward were able to get Pershing’s transition offense going in the third quarter and Pershing got back with 14 points.  Draymond “Day-Day” Green wasn’t going to let Pershing get any closer.  A jumper and an offensive tip back, both from Day-Day pushed the lead back to 18 points.  Pershing continued to fight and get back with 12 or 13 points but Saginaw would never let them get closer than that.  With a minute and a half left the celebration began as Coach Lou Dawkins pulled his senior stars and the chants “Back 2 Back” echoed in the Breslin center.          

 

BREAKDOWN

Game Ball- Day-Day Green #32 Day-Day concluded his Trojan career with 21 points, 19 rebounds, and 4 assist.  The Trojan guards were able to sit beyond the arc and fire away because they knew Day-Day had the paint under control.

Mike Green, #20 Saginaw- Day-Day took the game ball with his effort on both ends, but it was Mike who paced the offensive attack.  The junior shooter hit four 3-pointers in the first half to help build the19 point lead.  He finished the game with a game high 29 points to go with 4 steals and 4 boards.

Daniel West, #12 Saginaw- D-West did a fantastic job of running the point.  He made 7-of-11 shots, and 4-of-6 were 3-pointers, showing he could have easily done more scoring but instead he shared the ball and controlled the tempo.  His stat line read 21 points, 6 assist, and only 1 turnover.      

Teveon Whitson, #54 Saginaw- the 6-3 sophomore forward gave the Breslin crowd a sneak preview of next year’s team.  He entered in the final minute and quickly went to work by pulling down a board, making a steal, and hitting a jumper. 

Dell Ward, #1 Pershing- the Western Michigan commit was the only Doughboy that found consistent success against Saginaw.  He was able to get to the basket to create scoring opportunities for his team.  He led Pershing with 23 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assist.  

Keith Appling, #32 Pershing- it’s no doubt that this super soph. is special but at times he got caught up rushing things.  He did manage to put up 17 points but more importantly he will gain experience from this game. 

Derrick Nix #50 Pershing- Nix did a solid job of taking away Day-Day’s post game.  Nix is a load to handle on the block.  The pace of the game made Nix a little uncomfortable but he will be fine down the road.  In only 15 minutes he had a double-double of 12 points and 10 boards.

 

State Finals: Class B

Max Gover wasn’t having the Championship game he had dreamed of; he only had two points on 1-of-7 shooting going into the games final 15 seconds, but then the senior hit the most important shot of his life.  He dribbled right and took an off balance fade away shot from 14 feet out that swished right through the net to give Lansing Catholic a 54-53 lead and delivered the school’s first basketball State Championship.   

When the year started nobody in the world would have guessed Lansing Catholic and Flint Powers would have played for the State Championship but both teams showed their toughness and heart as the fought till the buzzer sounded.  Like most great games it was tough to see someone loose.

A big reason why Powers was able to advance to the Breslin Center was because of Shane Moreland who has taken his game to another level during the Chargers’ tourney run.  Again Moreland carried his team, this time with 11 first quarter points to give Powers an 18-14 lead after one quarter of play.

In the second quarter Austin Nichols grabbed the spotlight for his Cougars.  Nichols took control of the game’s tempo and set up teammates like Mike Repovz to give Lansing a 32-29 halftime lead.

Powers open the second half with consecutive lay-ups from Tyler Moreland and Patrick Lucas-Perry to regain the lead and Powers was able to take that lead into the fourth quarter. 

Eight straight points from the Moreland brothers (four a piece) gave Powers a 52-48 lead with 2:21 left to play.  The Cougars were forced to foul and send Powers to the line to keep the clock from ticking away.  The plan worked as Powers was couldn’t get their free throws to fall.  Baskets from Repovz and Nichols tied the game at 52-52 with 1:05 to play.  A free throw from Lucas-Perry gave Powers a one point lead with 41 seconds left to play.

Lansing Catholic took over possession of the ball with 31 seconds to play and the Cougars ran the clock down till Gover pulled off his heroics with 13 seconds left.  Powers was able to get a shot off at the buzzer but the shot rimmed off.   

 

BREAKDOWN

Game Ball- Max Gover #23 the 6-5 wing wasn’t playing extremely well but the game winner will be remembered forever in Lansing Catholic history.  Gover finished with four points but the final two were the biggest of the game. 

Michael Repovz, #42 Lansing- 18 points and 10 boards on 9-of-10 shooting.  The 6-5 wing forward has a nice mixture of skills and fundamentals. 

Tyler Moreland, #1 Powers- Tyler was the heart and soul of this Powers team so it will be tough to replace him.  It was an honor to watch this kid throw it on the line and play with so much passion all season long.  Davenport got a steal by getting this combo guard.  Ty finished with 14 points.   

Shane Moreland, #2 Powers- “Sugar” sparked Powers with 11 first quarter points but they kind of went away from him in the second half.  He ended the game with 19 points, 7 boards, 5 steals, and 3 assist.  Shane had a terrific tourney run and his stat line proves he’s more than a shooter. 

Patrick Lucas-Perry, #20 Powers- not bad for a freshman season!  P.L.P. did a phenomenal job at the point.  He wasn’t faded by the atmosphere or the pressure at all while keeping the ball in his hands a majority of the time.

 

State Finals: Class C

Through out the tourney Beecher has continued to rally back in the fourth quarter to live another day.  The Bucs are well coached and have used a ‘team first” mentality, along with discipline and defensive pressure to quickly dissolve those deficits.  It looked as if Beecher was about to do it again in the “Class C” State Championship but with the score tied at 46-46, it was Kalamazoo Christian who scored four straight points to take the commanding lead.  The Comets then knocked down four straight free throws from Mike VanderPloeg and Corey Scheffers to claim the State Championship.

Kalamazoo Christian was the over all favorite to win “Class C” since the year started, and why wouldn’t they be?  They returned an experience group of seniors and a line-up that towered over every ‘Class C” opponent they faced.

In the second quarter the Comets used a 12-2 run to take a double digit lead into the half.  The Comets controlled that double digit lead till the six minute mark of the fourth quarter.

Then it was time! 

Coming out of a Beecher time-out, those “Buc Boys” went to work.  Baskets from seniors Simuel Overall and Dominique Allen cut the lead to six points.  While Overall and Allen were scoring baskets, Janero Walker and Taron Boose were forcing turnovers.   

Another steal from Walker turned into an assist to Allen and before you knew Beecher was up 46-44 with 4:21 to play.  In less than four minutes the Bucs went from being down 10 to being up by two.  But then the Bucs went cold, they were still forcing turnovers and getting good shots off, but Beecher just couldn’t get anything to fall.  Beecher lost the lead and didn’t muster another point till there were only 24 seconds left.  By then Christian had knocked down their free throws and Beecher was down five points.  K-Zoo Christian went on to win the “Class C” State Championship with a 54-51 victory. 

But credit has to be given to Buc-Town!

Beecher was never on anyone’s radar, but back in December I could tell these young men had a chance to do something special- and they did!  No, they didn’t win a State Championship but as a unit they gave the Beecher community something to be proud of and the Bucs made memories to last a life time!

 

State Finals: Class D

Detroit City and Muskegon West Michigan Christian are no strangers to each other.  This is the third time the two teams have faced each other in the State Championship, splitting the first two.  West Michigan won the rubber match with, a down to the wire, 58-57 victory. 

The key for the Warriors was the ability to not get rattled by the Bears’ “in your face” pressure.  The Warriors calmly took care of the ball, broke the press, and then set up their offense. 

Detroit City however controlled the lead for the majority of the game.  City led 48-43 with 6:30 left to play in the fourth when things just fell apart from there. 

A basket from Nate Bruinsma cut the lead to two.  Then City’s leading rebounder Devin Patton was given a technical foul for an illegal substitution.  The technical was Patton’s fifth personal foul for the game.  Muskegon then forced two more turnovers and all of a sudden they had a 50-48 lead.  Ray Hill gave City a three point lead with 1:43 to play, but Muskegon scored the game’s final four points on lay-ups by Bruinsma and Charlie Van Rees.

BREAKDOWN

Game Ball- Eric Prins #10 the 6-2 PG did a heck of a job facing City’s pressure.  His ability to control the ball was the game’s difference.  He added 15 points, 3 steals, and 4 assist. 

Nate Bruinsma, #33 W. MI- the 6-4 wing might have wasted all of his magic in ther semis.  He only shot 3-of-20 but he helped out in other ways.  He did a good job of playing defense and running the offense.  He managed to scrap up 11 points and get his hands on 6 steals. 

Ray Hill, #20 City- it’s no question how talented Hill is but let’s just say, he’s lucky he didn’t get tossed out of any of his two Breslin games.  He had 23 points and 8 turnovers.