HS Updates & Rankings, #1 Duke Falls

Just a quick update on some of the recent High school games.

Detroit Country Day (#1) defeats Belleville 56-41, Amir Williams (Ohio State) leads way with 13 pts, 15 rebounds. Will be interesting to see how he fills in for Sullinger next year at the Center position for OSU.

Hartland, led by 6'3" Oakland signee, Matt Poches (#4 rated Wing guard in state) scored exactly have of his teams points (38) in a 76-64 OT win over Grand Blanc

Detroit Douglass, a very good 8-1 city team with very little pub, beats Detroit Crockett 67-53.

Detroit Southeastern gets 25 points out of Percy Gibson (Dayton) to sneak by Cass Tech 55-52. Why is it that every game of his I see he is in foul trouble and I never get the chance to see him score up to his potential. He is a load and can be very tough to stop down low but just haven't seen it yet in 3 games. Obviously based on this performance he is quite capable of it.

Detroit King (8-2) gets upset by Detroit Osborn by 72-71 score.

Warren DeLaSalle making a believer out of me with an easy 57-34 win over a decent Catholic Central team. DeLaSalle is always well coached, defensive minded and very disciplined. With this win and at 7-0 they will move up in my rankings.

Troy beats Groves 73-49 but super sophomore James Young "only" scores 16 - think it could have been because of the blowout?

Ray Tillman and Tony Harris are making a strong case for one of the top backcourts in the state. Talent wise, Brundidge (Michigan) and Barnes of Southfield and Majerle (Toledo) and Justin Klein of Rockford will play at higher levels in college but Ray Tillman and Tony Harris are making noise with a 7-1 Auburn Hills Avondale team that just beat Rochester Adams by 13 the other night. These two have a tremendous bond on and off the court. Both have been together playing AAU basketball since they were little tikes. Both were skilled star players for their high scoring football team that lost to Orchard Lake St. Mary's in the state football playoffs. Both are combining consistently for some outrageous numbers. They combined for 42 against Adams (28 for Tillman) but have combined for over 40 points on several occasions this year. Have seen them multiple times over the past few years but now it is time to see the more mature and potent senior version of this dynamic duo.

Some really good match up games coming over the Martin Luther King Weekend that I hope people get out and get a chance to see. I have to share one of my best MLK weekend memories with you so bare with me here. Three years ago, I traveled with my son to Toledo not once but twice over this weekend to see what I thought would be a marquee match up game between top rated Saginaw team (one of the best teams ever in this decade)led by Draymond Green and One of Ohio's top rated teams, Toledo Scott. The newspaper had it as a Saturday game but when we got to the College where they were suppose to play I learned that the game was being played on Monday. Being the true follower that I am and to my wife's disbelief, we journeyed back again on Monday and it was well worth the two trips. We saw one of the best High school games I have seen in a long time. This Toledo Scott team was led by All American Mike Buford (Ohio State) and an athletic team like no other I had seen. In warm ups, before the officials arrived, 12 of the 13 players dunked the basketball and they had several that got way up and with ease. Based on watching their warm ups and shoot around, I thought Saginaw was going down. Lesson 1 - don't always judge a team and players on warm ups. Sure you can always pick up things (footwork, shooting form, quickness, etc) from watching but it is not until they all get on the court and compete when you really learn. The game did not disappoint, nor did Buford or Green. That Saginaw team, led by guard Daniel West, had probably the best defense I had seen in some time and had a full court trap press that was difficult to beat let alone score baskets off of. The talent rose and Buford was all I had read about. He was knocking down 25 footers, slashing to the basket, rebounding off opponents misses. Green was nasty from the elbow and boarded like we have seen him do at MSU. In the end, Saginaw won by I believe a 78-74 margin based on 2 Draymond Green fouls shots in the last 5 seconds. It was a great game to watch and one my son and obviously me, still talk about today.

The other favorable MLK Moment was last year in East Lansing at the Battle of the Capital where two high school All Americans and two very strong teams faced off. Once again I was with my son and some of his buddies and we saw Ray McCallum (Detroit Country Day) go against Keith Appling (Detroit Pershing). Amongst the 2,000 plus people in attendance was the Michigan State team that walked in before halftime along with Mateen Cleaves to see these two battle it out. For about a 3-5 minute period in the 3rd quarter both players were guarding one another man to man and it became a game of one on one and one upsmanship. The moves, shots, drives, passes and dunks these two put on for that brief third period burst created one of the most electric responses I can remember from the fans. It was flat out sick. Grown men were on their feet hoopin and hollerin over those moves. That was a special night and these two were two special players that did not disappoint.

Speaking of the Battle in the Capital - it is back again for version II. There is a strong lineup of games this weekend and hopefully they will yield some similar experiences to the ones I have shared from the past.


Saturday January 15th at East Lansing HS Fieldhouse - Mister Basketball MLK Classic - Battle in the Capital II

12:00 River Rouge vs. Okemos
2:00 Lansing Sexton vs. Saginaw Arthur Hill
4;00 Ann Arbor Huron vs. Kalamazoo Central - rematch of LY Class A state finals
6:00 Detroit Pershing vs. Romulus
8:00 Lansing Eastern vs. Saginaw

Players to watch in this one:
Chris Harrison-Docks-Okemos (#2 rated Junior PG in state); Denzel Valentine - Lansing Sexton #1 rated wing forward in Junior class - committed to Michigan State; Jordan Hare - SAH - #1 rated PF for Junior class - top teams in country after him; Dante Williams - AA Huron - #2 rated WF in Sr class (Oakland Univ); AJ Matthews - AA Huron - #2 rated combo guard in state for SR (Toledo); TJ Buchanan - Kzoo Central - #3 rated CG in senior class (Rhode Island); Sherron Dorsey-Walker - Detroit Pershing - #2 rated CG in Junior class, Martez Walker - Pershing - #3 rated WG in Sophomore class; Justin Moss - Romulus - #4 rated PF for Senior class (Toledo); Ray Lee - Romulus #1 PG in Junior class ; EC Matthews - Romulus #1 rated WG for sophomore class; LaDonte Henton - Lansing Eastern - #1 WF in state (Dayton); Cha Cha Tucker - Lansing Eastern - #1 rated PG in sophomore class; Steve Haney - Lansing Eastern - #3 WF-Sophomore class; Tommy McCune - Saginaw - #1 F - Senior class (West Virginia)

If you can't make it to East Lansing - then mozy on over to Warren Fitzgerald HS where they are hosting the MLK Freedom Classic which features one of the top 2 games of the weekend between Detroit Country Day and Detroit Southeastern. The other would be the Class A finals rematch between Kalamazoo Central and Ann Arbor Huron.

Here is the lineup for that one.

1:00 Detroit Cody vs. Westland John Glenn
3:00 Warren Fitzgerald vs. Detroit King
5:00 Flint Powers Catholic vs. Cass Tech
6:30 Detroit Renaissance vs. Clarkston
8:30 Detroit Country Day vs. Detroit Southeastern

Players to watch here;
Jelani Carpenter - Cody - 6'6 SR Forward; Jarrell McKinney - Cody 6'6 Sr C; Malik Albert - King - 6'2 Sr G; Patrick Lucas-Perry Flint Powers - 5'11 PG - Rated #1 PG in SR class in state (uncommitted). Javonte Hawkins - Flint Powers - 6'4 Combo G - Rated #1 at this position in the state for Juniors; Kris Davis - Cass Tech - 6'2 SR G; Marlin Mason - Cass Tech - 6'6 - F - Rated #2 in state for Seniors at his position (Cleveland State); Deandre Johnson - Cass Tech - 5'11 JR PG; Aaron Prim - Cass Tech - 6'6 - JR F; Leo Edwards - Cass Tech - #1 Sophomore post player; Deangelo Stewart - Cass Tech - 6'4 Sophomore F; Mike Hundley - Renaissance - 6'9 SR C (Citadel); Clark Bishop - Renaissance - 6'0 Soph G; Marcus Handy - Clarkston - 6'6 SR F; Amir Williams - DCD - 6'10 SR C (#7 rated C in the country; Jordan Price - 6'6 JR F; Austin Price - DCD - 6'3 SO G; Chris Fowler - DCD - 6'1 SR G; Lee Bailey - DCD - 5'11 SR G; Kenny Knight - DCD - 6'4 SR F; Mory Diane - DCD - 6'2 FR G; Brandon Kearney - Southeastern - 6'4' - SR G (Michigan State); Percy Gibson - Southeastern - 6'7 SR F (Dayton), Ed Brown - Southeastern - 6'0 SR G.

My top game is the DCD-Souteastern Game but I have already seen DCD 3 times this year and Det Southeastern twice so I am electing for the quantity and quality of East Lansing for my viewing pleasures.

And just when you think you have had enough basketball for the weekend don't forget about another tournament for a great cause, the Dorian Styles Dawkins Show your Heart Classic at Delta College in Saginaw. Dorian Dawkins, son of Saginaw High coach Lou Dawkins died suddenly and tragically during a summer basketball game in 2009, when he collapsed on the court. Dawkins suffered from a heart condition called acute myocardial ischemia. All proceeds will go to the American Heart Association Dorian Styles Dawkins Foundation. I never saw this kid play but I heard from my sources that he was all that....a child prodigy. $10 ticket prices are a great bargain and help to maintain and sustain his memory.

Monday, January 17th
1:00 Detroit Consortium (#1 in Class C) vs. Flint Beecher (#2 in Class C)
3:00 Dearborn Heights Robichaud vs. Gary, Indiana Thea Bowman
5:00 Saginaw vs. Chicago Orr

Great first game matchup featuring some really good young talent. Consortium has the top big man in the Junior class in 6'9' Khaliq Spicer and 6'5 sophomore F, Vincent Hunter and 6'0 JR PG - Tavon Baker. Flint counters with one of the top sophomore guards in the state - (nationally recruited) right there with Cha Cha Tucker, Monte Morris. Very impressed with his freshman performance last year in the States. If this kid grows to 6'2 or 6'3 like I think he will he has the tools to go major D-1. Saginaw has 6'7 Tommy McCune (West Virginia) and a host of other athletes on this team to watch. Chicago Orr features Mychael Henry (#10 Forward nationally and #36 overall ranked player in the country) the same Mychael Henry that took it to Country Day and Amir Williams for 42 points. For those of you that were treated to this performance you have another shot to see this kid play in the state of Michigan one more time before he returns to Michigan next year in an Illinois jersey. This kid is a man and a must see player. He will not disappoint.

Another MUST SEE GAME is on ESPN2 for those of you who get it. It is Friday, January 14th at 7 PM. This game pits two nationally ranked high school teams and the number 1 & 2 players (Or #1 & #3 players depending on which service you follow) in the country. #2 Ranked St. Patrick's out of New Jersey and #21 Winter Park Florida square off. Winter Park features the #1 player nationally in Austin Rivers, son of Doc Rivers. This kid is a special offensive player - could be legit one and done in college. Needs to work on his defense at the next level. Will be playing at Duke. St. Patrick's features the #2 or #3 player in Michael Gilchrist, a 6'6 F who is committed to Kentucky. He is strong and reminds me of Vince Carter but needs to work on his outside shot. St. Pats has a load of other young talent so be sure to watch or tape this game.

For those of you that had the treat to

On to my top 20 Rankings for Class A & B schools

1. Detroit Country Day (7-2) Despite two losses, Still the best all around team
2. Kalamazoo Central (6-0) Defending state champs and haven't loss yet
3. Detroit Southeastern (6-1) Only loss to #2 K-zoo Central
4. Romulus (5-1) Might be alone on this pick so high but team has talent
5. Warren DeLaSalle (7-0) Moved way up with easy win over CC-play true team ball
6. Ann Arbor Huron (5-1) Team still not 100% but has talent to be top 3
7. Saginaw (6-1) Starting to find there groove and one another
8. Flint Powers (5-0) Only been tested so far by Okemos
9. Lansing Eastern (4-2) Much better team than record, can be top 5 with Haney
10 Southfield (4-1) Only loss to Southeastern - Game at Pontiac tonight
11 Okemos (5-1) Lost to Flint Powers by 5
12 Lansing Sexton (4-0) Have potential to crack top 10 next week
13 Detroit Douglas (5-0) Have beaten some good PSL teams
14 East Kentwood (7-1) Nice win over Muskegon
15 Muskegon (7-1) Only loss to East Kentwood. Crushed Muskegon Heights

* Detroit Consortium - altough a class C school is good enough to possibly crack the top 10 of the A & B classes.

COLLEGE HOOPS

#1 Duke falls and proves that even the best can slip up at times. They will be top 5 team all year. Florida State beat them by 5 last night.

It looks like my predictions from last night were off a bit. Fortunately for me, my Cuse boys did not drop their game to the Johnnies last night like a thought they might. It sure looked like it early though as Syracuse came out shooting poorly on 3-13 from the field and after 11 1/2 minutes they only had scored 9 points. Then they proceeded to score 10 points in the next 3 minutes and 21 points in 6 minutes which included a stretch where they sank 7 shots in a row. They were losing at one point 18-9 but went on a 16-0 run to flip the score to 25-18 and never trailed again in 17 point win. The Michigan game is the other one that I looked to have pegged when I predicted they would hang early and fade and lose by 19. Well they got down 12 in the second half and I thought the route was on but Michigan battled back to lose by only 4 and the difference was that Ohio State hit all their free throws when they needed them down the stretch. I was wrong on my Pitt-G'Town call. I did say that Pitt is the better and stronger team and they proved that last night winning fairly easily by 15 in the District. I did call a close one between San Diego State (17-0)and UNLV and it ended up being a 6 point game and victory for SDSU, who was led by Kawhi Leonard who led the team in both scoring and rebounding with 15 & 17 respectively. Finally in another Big East showdown of two top 20 ranked teams, Villanova (#7) won at home over Louisville (#18) by a score of 88-74.

Is anyone tired of reading this....heck it is no longer a Blog but a book. Sorry, once I get going it is tough to stop. In case there is anyone out there that actually reads this blog and doesn't know who I am and would like to catch up with me at the games this weekend, I will probably be the only one wearing a bright Orange Syracuse hat. If you happen to see me don't be afraid to introduce yourself and let me know what you think of this new blog venture of mine.

Until I blog again. Your Basketball blog SNOG is out.