Class B: One More for Lakeshore
March 23, 2012
EAST LANSING – Stevensville Lakeshore coach Sean Schroeder had talked with his team this season about taking another step as a program.
He echoed that with a little more fire at halftime of Friday’s Class B Semifinal at the Breslin Center.
The Lancers led by three with just 16 minutes separating them from the first championship game berth in school history. But Muskegon Heights sophomore Mike Davis had scored 15 points and looked more than capable of carrying his team back to a second-straight Final.
“(No.) 24 had to stop scoring. He was keeping them in the game,” Lakeshore senior guard Loren Johnson said. “The effort was lacking. We really pride ourselves in defense, and we were really showing a lack of effort on the court.”
Now the Lancers have another big thing in which to take pride as well – and will be back at Breslin one more time this weekend.
Lakeshore got tighter on defense and bigger on offense and pulled away from Muskegon Heights for a 59-46 win. The No. 7 Lancers (24-2) will play No. 1 Lansing Sexton in the Final at 8 p.m. Saturday.
Lakeshore last played in a Semifinal in 2007, when it lost 49-42 to Country Day. Its other Semifinals were in 1995 and 1981.
“We really never could get over this hump. As a program and as a school, it’s something we really talked about, how nice it would be to at least get to the final game,” Schroeder said. “I don’t think our kids came here (in 2007) expecting to win, just ‘Oh my gosh, we made it here. It’s awesome.’ And that’s common for high school kids. But one of the things we talked about after Tuesday night was let’s get there and win.”
And that meant stopping Davis.
The 6-foot-4 sophomore forward entered the week averaging 10.5 points per game, but surpassed that 50 seconds into the second quarter. And Heights (20-7) needed that effort – it found out Wednesday that leading scorer Juwon Martin (15.8 ppg) would miss the Semifinal after suffering an injury Tuesday.
“It was a devastating blow, but we’re a no-excuse team. That’s been our motto all year,” Muskegon Heights coach Keith Guy said. “We just kept fighting at it.”
On the other bench, Schroeder more or less subbed in if a defender let Davis take a shot. He eventually settled on senior forward Jordan Avery as his stopper, and it paid off – Davis got far fewer looks, and scored only six points during the second half.
The Lancers, meanwhile, went ahead 37-35 with 5:08 to go in the third quarter and then launched a 16-3 run that Heights couldn’t match.
“We had to find different ways to try to get me open. In the first half I was just playing, trying to get our offense going. In the second half … they pretty much almost stopped me,” Davis said.
“(But) I learned that anything I put my mind to I can do it, especially on the basketball court where I think I’m one of the best people on the court at any time.”
Davis did finish with 21 points total. Senior Ryan Avery led Lakeshore with 20, while Johnson had 13 and senior center Alex Klunder had 10.
Click for box score or to watch the game and press conferences at MHSAA.tv.
PHOTO: Lakeshore junior Keith Brushwyler battles for the ball during Friday's Semifinal. (Photo courtesy of Terry McNamara Photography.)
'Secret Weapon' Thomas Plays Lead Role as East Lansing Ends Title Wait
By
Jeff Bleiler
Special for MHSAA.com
March 15, 2025
EAST LANSING — East Lansing High School boys basketball coach Ray Mitchell called sophomore Kingston Thomas his “secret weapon.”
Going forward he’ll have to refer to Thomas as just a weapon, because the secret is out.
On a team chock-full of seniors and juniors, Thomas made a massive impact Saturday despite not having any plays called for him. His double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds helped lift the Trojans to a 66-46 victory over Wayne Memorial in the Division 1 Final at the Breslin Center.
Cameron Hutson led all scorers with 20 points, and Kelvin Torbert scored 16 as East Lansing won its first championship since 1958.
Carlos Medlock Jr. and Jaylohn Allen each scored 14 points for Wayne Memorial, which was making its first Finals appearance.
“These guys have been preparing for this pretty much all their lives. I told them it was their destiny,” Mitchell said. “They’ve been working toward this. They’ve been connected, they’ve been a family for so long, they deserve this. I couldn’t ask for much more from a group of 15 kids.
“It’s a wonderful thing that we can top it off with this championship.”
The Trojans (28-1) absorbed an early punch from Wayne Memorial, which led 16-12 after the first quarter thanks to 10 points from Medlock. But Zebras coach Steve Brooks knew the advantage came with an asterisk.
“The lead was fake because we were shooting long bombs, and that’s not how you win a basketball game,” he said. “We weren’t executing anything at all. They weathered the 3-point storm at the beginning, and they started beating us to every 50-50 ball.”
Hutson’s layup as the first quarter ended ignited a 21-0 barrage that turned the game permanently in East Lansing’s favor. His three-point play put the Trojans up 17-16 just over a minute into the second quarter, and the rout was on.
Thomas scored 12 points in the quarter, during which East Lansing outscored Wayne Memorial 21-4. The Trojans also finished the half with a massive 25-13 rebounding advantage, with Thomas collecting nine.
“I was just crashing as hard as I could, which helped me get rebounds, and most of the rebounds I got were putback layups,” Thomas said. “So I went hard to the basket, and good things came from it.”
A pair of Torbert layups put East Lansing ahead 43-27 midway through the third quarter before the Zebras (25-4) clawed back with seven straight points to cut the lead to single digits.
Hutson made a layup, Torbert canned two free throws and Thomas cashed in a three-point play to help reset the Trojans. Hutson’s layup with four seconds to play in the quarter pushed the lead to 52-34.
During the final quarter, Hutson found Torbert then Jayce Branson on two alley-oops that brought the sizable East Lansing crowd to its feet. Hutson said the support from the crowd has been consistent and huge.
“Almost all of our games the students, the people who support us, they travel,” he said. “So it was no surprise they were going to pack this arena. They’ve been showing up the whole year, and when it finally mattered in the big championship, they were there.”
Containing Medlock proved to be a group effort as Mitchell called on several players to silence the junior guard who was coming off a 29-point outing in the Semifinals. After scoring 10 in the first quarter, Medlock scored only four the rest of the way and was held to 11 points under his season average.
“We were letting him get to his sweet spots, we were letting him drive,” Mitchell said. “He’s a great player, but we wanted to try to force him to use his weak hand and try to help a little bit sooner, so we made those adjustments.”
The significance of claiming the school’s first championship banner in 67 years was not lost on the Trojan players.
“I think this means a lot to the community,” senior guard Brian Windham said. “We always look at that banner every day at practice, so it’s a lot of motivation. I’ve been looking at it since I was a freshman, I’ve been wanting to be here, so it’s been a lot of motivation and it means a lot to the community.”
Not long after Thomas’ sophomore season ended, Mitchell couldn’t help but look forward to what’s coming.
“He’s definitely one of the best sophomores in the state,” Mitchell said. “He’s a big-time player, so he’s kind of like our secret weapon. Watch out for him next year. It’s his coming-out party.”
PHOTOS (Top) East Lansing’s Kelvin Torbert throws down a dunk during East Lansing’s Division 1 championship win Saturday at Breslin Center. (Middle) Wayne Memorial’s Austin Tory (1) pops a jumper as the Trojans’ Cameron Hutson gets a hand up to defend. (Below) Hutson and Brian Windham celebrate as their team wraps up the title. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)