At a true 6-8 King helped lead Ferndale High School to a 16-7 record and a district title, before falling to Dearborn Heights Robichaud in the regionals.  Ferndale finished second in the OAA behind Troy and nationally ranked James Young.  Ferndale did manage to split the season series with Troy.

As a sophomore at Ferndale King averaged 12 points and 12 rebounds while registering a double-double in every game he played.   He had solid performances against Country Day while matching up with 6-9 Robert Puleikis, who recently signed with Drake.

And as far as King goes he hasn’t slowed up one bit since hitting the AAU circuit with Dorian’s Pride 16-u team.  While AAU stats are hard to keep, King has easily put up averages estimated at  14 points and 15 rebounds.

While King is still learning to play the game at a high level he doesn’t shy away from competition and isn’t afraid to roll up his sleeves and get a little dirty in the paint.  He’s a rebounding hog and is very active.  Outside of rebounding his two biggest attributes is his ability to shoot the ball and run the floor.

While AAU is a guard’s game that is up and down King is right there in the mix.  He has good speed and athleticism which has led to plenty of dunks in transition.  In a half court set King is just as affective with his ability to shoot the ball from 15 feet out at a very high percentage.  He has good form on his shot and his ability to shoot can really stretch the floor.

King has an above average skill set which says a lot for a kid who didn’t start organized basketball until the 8^th grade.  King understands he still has a long ways to go to become a division 1 player but he is committed to putting in the work and has a chance to be a special player.

Saginaw closed the game out with a 14-2 run in a game that was full of runs.  The Trojans quickly jumped out 7-0 but Rockford answered back with a 16-0 run to take a 16-7 lead with 2 minutes left in the first quarter. Saginaw fired back with a 12-0 run that was keyed by the play of junior Julian Henderson and sophomore Joe Powell.  Henderson found seems in the Rockford defense while Powell attacked the glass and was rewarded with offensive put backs.

The game was tight back and forth the rest of the way out until Saginaw picked it up defensively in the fourth.  Sophomore Keyon Addison hit the game’s biggest shot when his 3-pointer from the corner gave Saginaw a 46-42 lead.  Baskets from seniors Kevin Marshall and Travontis Richardson followed for a 50-42 lead.

Saginaw is a powerhouse that has high expectations every year.  But not many knew what to expect from this year’s team.  Saginaw had to replace Coach Lou Dawkins as well as their top three scorers from last year’s team.  But first year Coach Julian Taylor and his staff couldn’t have done a better job meshing together a team without a “so called superstar” and getting the team to believe in their system right away.

While he might not be considered a “superstar” Richardson is pretty close as he led Saginaw is scoring all year and came through again in the final game powering his way to the basket for off balance buckets.  Richardson finished with 13 points and 5 steals.

Vario Gaines might have been Saginaw’s most improved player from a season ago and he provided that much needed senior leadership and also tacked on 6 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assist.  Henderson a 6-2 junior guard added 12 points for the Trojans.

Monte “Man-Man” Morris scored 6 straight points to give Beecher an 8-2 lead.  Beecher picked up the game’s pace and St. Francis fell apart as they fell down 21-7 on the scoreboard.

In the second quarter senior guard Antuan Burks got hot and helped Beecher build a commanding 34-15 lead.  By time the half rolled around Beecher had already forced 13 turnovers.  St. Francis was clearly flustered and had no answer for Beecher’s speed or pressure.

Late in the third quarter St. Francis finally matched Beecher’s intensity and made a game of it.  St. Francis cut Beecher’s lead to 12 points.  But the problem was despite St. Francis able to score they still could not stop Beecher from getting to the basket at will.

Sean Sheldon has carried St. Francis all season long and despite a slow first half he once again came up big for his team.  He finished with 22 points, 19 rebounds, and 6 blocks.  Byron Bullough added 11 points for St. Francis.

But this game was about the Bucs and the job they have done.  It put the exclamation mark on a perfect 28-0 season.

Beecher was led by their backcourt of Antuan Burks and Monte “Man-Man” Morris.  Morris finished with 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assist.  Burks added 16 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assist, and 4 steals.

Before the season started there were question marks if the Yellowjackets could return to the court they have come accustomed to playing on this time of the year.  Country Day lost half their team to graduation so new faces would have to step up, particularly point guard Sumner.

“We felt coming into the season we had something to prove,” said Sumner.  And that the young Yellowjackets did!  Country Day ripped off a 21-5 record against some of the toughest competition in the Midwest and will make a return trip to the state semis where they will get a rematch against the defending state champs Lansing Sexton, who also ended Country Day’s season last year.

“All year they have been ranked #1 but it’s been one of our goals to play them again.  We’re real excited to play them,” added Sumner.

Sumner will have his hands full facing the three guard line-up of D-1 commits that Sexton features.  But those Sexton guards will also have to slow Sumner down.  At 6-1 Sumner uses his speed and ability to change speeds to push the ball up and down the court.  He’s a true playmaker that has the ability to get into the paint to get high percentage shots for his team.

While some may consider this a breakout year for the sophomore it is something he has prepared for.  “Since I was a little kid all I’ve done is play basketball.  My dad always had me play against older kids to help make me a better player” said Sumner.

Despite being only a sophomore and early in his recruitment process, colleges have already taken notice of Sumner’s game.  He has already received interest from schools such as Central Michigan, DePaul, Indiana, Iowa, and Notre Dame to name a few.

Despite tonight’s outcome verse Sexton it is safe to say that with Sumner at the point Country Day can stay accustomed to playing at the Breslin this time of year.

Rockford (21-5) vs. Romulus (22-3) Romulus may have jumped their biggest hurdle in Pershing but they can’t sleep on Rockford.   NGS PICK: Romulus by 7

Saginaw High (24-2) vs. Macomb L’Anse Creuse North (22-4) North hasn’t seen the type of ball pressure Saginaw will lay on them.  NGS PICK: Saginaw by 18

Class B

Stevensville Lakeshore (23-2) vs. Muskegon Heights (20-6) Should be the tightest of all the semi-final games. NGS PICK: Lakeshore by 2

Country Day (21-5) vs. Lansing Sexton (25-1) Country Day is out to seek revenge but Sexton has all of the experience.  NGS PICK: Sexton by 3

Class C

Beecher (26-0) vs. Schoolcraft (22-4) Beecher is on a mission and Schoolcraft is the next victim. NGS PICK: Beecher by 9

Traverse City St. Francis (24-2) vs. Shelby (24-2) Sean Sheldon will show how good he is on the big stage. NGS PICK: St. Francis by 5

Class D

Muskegon C.C. (17-9) vs. Southfield Christian (22-2) Christian has too good of guard play for the Class D level. NGS PICK: Christian by  10

Climax-Scotts (25-1) vs. Carney-Nadeau (23-2) Climax-Scotts will use their press to advance. NGS PICK: Climax-Scotts

Sunday, March 25th at Center Courts in Saginaw, MI.  Address is: 3320 N. Center Rd., Saginaw, MI

14-under: 2:00-3:00

15-under: 3:00-4:00

16-under: 4:00-5:00

17-under: 5:00-6:00

Now is your chance to join Michigan’s premier AAU program and Reebok sponsored team- Dorian’s Pride!

Just bring your game to try-outs t the listed time for your age group.  Please give yourself time to register.  Try-out fee is $20

Dorian’s Pride is looking to field a team that will travel nationally to compete is some of the nation’s toughest tournaments.  We will provide the exposure and help build the bridge that will help our players receive a college scholarship.  We will also provide the proper training to help our players improve as players as well as young men.

Morgan Eddy pulled down two offensive rebounds and scored with put backs to break open a tie game in the final two minutes.  From there it was defense and free throw shooting that secured the Martian’s win.

The game was tight from the opening tip as Goodrich held a one point and two point leads after the first quarter and halftime, and Grand Rapids led by one heading into the fourth.

Goodrich did a solid job slowing down Grand Rapids All-Stater Tiesha Stokes who finished with 19 points and 8 rebounds but also had 8 turnovers.

Goodrich finishes the season with a 28-0 record and handled all the expectations that were put on such a talented team.   Team leaders Taylor Gleason and Key-Key Sevillian did their jobs just like the junior duo has done all season.  Sevillian finished with 13 points and 6 steals with Gleason adding 5 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assist, and 4 steals.

Freshman Tania Davis was outstanding and will have a bright future.  The point guard was never rattled by the big stage and hit two clutch foul shots in the final minute as she finished with 9 points and 2 assist.

Senior Destiny Stephens transferred over from Grand Blanc just for this opportunity to win a state title, and she made the most of it by knocking down 3-of 5 3-pointers to add 11 points.

Goodrich will have to replace senior forwards Frankie Joubran and Eddy.  The seniors have been the base of Goodrich for the last four years.  Eddy finished with 6 points and 13 rebounds while Joubran scored a team high 16 points.

Rice almost played hero with 16 seconds left in the game and her team trailing by two points when she made a lay-up and was fouled.  Her free throw gave South a 53-52 lead.  But Grand Haven’s Shar’ Rae Davis took the inbound pass and drove the length of the court and scored with 8 seconds to play for the game winning basket.  That’s when Rice tried to counter and make her own drive to the basket only to find herself surrounded by the trees of Grand Haven.

Grand Haven’s size advantage almost didn’t pay off as they struggled to stay in front of a speedier South team.  South was able to penetrate and dish and the results were open jump shots.  South led by as many as 16 points late in the third quarter.

But then the momentum swung towards Grand Haven thanks to the crowd and student body.  As the crowd turned up the volume in the building the young South ball handlers got rattled and started to turn the ball over.  For the first three minutes of the fourth quarter South struggled to even cross half court as they watched their lead disappear.

Grand Haven started tossing the ball inside to the 6-5 Cole who went to work with either baskets or trips to the foul line.  Grand Haven took their first lead of the game with 1:10 left in the game.

Freshman Aliezza Brown and Rice will return to the South backcourt.  Rice led South with 14 points.

Cole led Grand Haven with 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 blocks.  Davis scored a game high 19 points.

In the end it was the “team” that hoisted the class C state crown.  Ristovski with the help of her two sisters can put on quite the show.  But at times it looked like Leggett was playing 3-on-5.  The Ristovski family is extremely talented which is evident by carrying an average supporting cast to the state finals and performing the way they did when they got there.  Madison’s 42 point outburst will go down as the second best scoring output in a finals game.  Country Day’s Peggy Evans scored 47 in 1989.  Madison’s younger sister, junior Haleigh Ristovski is second all times with steals in a finals game with 9.

But despite the job the Ristovski’s did Morley-Stanwood countered with a balance attack that kept everyone involved.   Stanwood came close to blowing the game open in the first half but settled for a 33-26 halftime lead.

In the third quarter Madison Ristovski went into attack mode and the two teams went back and forth matching shot for shot.  A 3-pointer from Alexis Huntey gave Stanwood a 58-55 lead with 2:37 to play.

Leggett had an opportunity to tie the game in the final seconds but a shot from Miss Basketball was well contested and rimmed off.

Stanwood won the game on the glass punishing Leggett 45-22.  Huntey pulled down 16 of those rebounds and also scored 27 points, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter.  Forward Bailey Caimduff added 18 points and 9 boards.

Freshman Lola Ristovski added 10 points for Leggett to give the Ristovski’s 55 of their teams 57 points.

It was Waterford’s hot shooting from outside that delivered this win.  After trailing 16-15 Tori Duffey gave Waterford an 18-16 lead with a 3-pointer.  Our Lady went into the half with a 29-19 lead thanks to an 8-0 run from Lexie Robak who knocked in back to back 3-pointers and scored all 8 points in the run.

In the third Our Lady used another 8-0 run to control the game with a 42-26 lead.  This time it was Duffey who steered the run with a pair of 3-pointers.

The difference in the game was shooting as Waterford shot 55% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc compared to Athens who shot 27% from the field and 20% from the 3-point line.

Duffey and Ava Doetsch led Waterford with 13 points each and Robak added 12 points.

Don’t be surprised if you see a rematch next year for the Class D game as both teams had plenty of underclassmen play a big roles in this game.   Doetsch and Robak are only juniors and Anna Robb also a starter is only a sophomore.  Our Lady will only graduate two seniors.   ”I really like our chances to get fourth title, said Waterford coach Steve Robak.

Athens will also only graduate two players and had four sophomores play significant minutes in the title game.