The State Finals were a lot of fun like usual, even though there was only 1 good game during the day. The tradition was started with my dad in the late 70s, when he watched Earvin “Magic” Johnson take the title in 1977, then he saw Antoine “The Judge” Joubert and Mike Talley in the 80s. He saw the early makings of the Fab Five with Jalen Rose and CWebb taking the Class A and B titles in the early 90s. Then Shane Battier came along and continued Country Day’s excellence. This tradition has been passed on to me. When I was 9 I went to my first state championship game at the Brez, and I haven’t missed a year since. I saw the 4 year rivalry of Lavell Blanchard and Jason Richardson came to a close when, as seniors, they met in the Class A championship (I think it was the last time Lavell ever beat JRich in a head to head game). I have seen Lester Abram’s Pontiac Northern team destroy Kalamazoo Central, Copperayle “Manny” Harris single-handedly leading his Redford team against Draymond Green’s Saginaw team (at most points in the game Manny had 4 guys locked in on him). Keith Appling and Nix on the Doughboy’s from Pershing were next to take the crown, and then Kzoo Central won back to back. There have been numerous Mr. Basketballs, high level college players, and eventual NBA players over the years. Although it is a lot of fun to see the high level players, it is also fun seeing high school kids winning a championship for an entire small town. It is something they will always remember, and will instantly be part of folklore… like my grandpa back in 1954 (Gobles’ only basketball state championship).
This year, even if the games weren’t as close, we still had a lot of fun. Some of the news and notes from the long day of basketball:
In Class D, Southfield Christian has 3 senior guards that could continue playing basketball in college. Toman, their point guard, was very smooth. He was bigger than most Class D point guards which helped him on the defensive end. He was probably their most solid all around player. Lindsay Hunter III had one of the best jumpers that we saw all day long, it was pretty. He also can explode off the floor and seemed very coachable. The star of the game was Dewberry, who had a day high of 30 points. He barely missed anything he threw at the rim. While his shot was not as pretty as LHIII, he was a better scorer. He attacked the rim with ease most of the day, and also hit some crazy fade away threes.
In Class C, Monte “Man Man” Morris led BucTown to their first title in 25 years. He was one of the best players that we saw all day. It is not often that you see a high school player see the floor that well (and he is only a junior). He set up teammates in great situations to get easy looks. He ended up with 7 assists, but should have been 15 if the center made layups on the first chance or the guards took one less dribble. In hockey, he would have had close to 20. He constantly put his teammates in a place to succeed. All the while, he scored 18 points (a very quiet 18). He will definitely be playing D1 basketball after graduating.
In Class A, this was the most competitive game of the day. Rockford was greatly overmatched, and quickly became the crowd favorite. As they barely missed from 3 in the first half. they hung in against a better Saginaw team because of good coaching and playing as a team. In the end Richardson was just too much for Rockford to contain, and the all-state guard took over in the 4th quarter.
In Class B, one of the best teams in the nation took Stevensville-Lakeshore behind the woodshed. The dominating performance tied the record for largest win (and they had their starters out most of the 4th quarter). It would have been really fun to see this Sexton team matched up against another top 10 team in the country. They started 4 guards and an athletic 4. 4 players will be playing D1 basketball next season. They are led by coaches son, and future Spartan, Denzel Valentine. He has quickly become one of my favorite high school players that I have ever seen. I have watched him 10+ times in the past 3 years, and it is incredible to see how much he improved since his sophomore year. He is a 6’5” power point guard. He has a hint of Draymond Green in him, where he is too good not to be on the floor and Izzo will make a position for him. I think he is further along in his basketball ability than Draymond was at this point. He might see the floor better than Monte did. Valentine is the type of player that could have easily scored 30-40 points in the championship game, but he would rather set up his teammates. He didn’t even lead his team in scoring this year. He finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists. It was a full stat line. I wish his dad didn’t play at MSU, because Valentine would have been an incredible pick up for Michigan. By his sophomore year, I predict him to be near captain status… too bad it is for Sparty.
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