Freshman Shines As Eagles Repeat in D
March 23, 2013
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING — There was no need for Eugene Brown to sit quietly in the background and ease his way into a prominent role on Southfield Christian's basketball team.
One game was all it took for the freshman guard to prove he belonged on the defending MHSAA Class D Finals champion.
When Brown scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a season-opening overtime victory over traditional Class A power Orchard Lake St. Mary's, it justified coach Josh Baker's decision to put a ninth-grader in the starting lineup of a team with Breslin-or-bust aspirations.
"To come in as a freshman, that's a pretty good first game against a great team," Baker said.
Brown was a mere spectator at the Breslin Center when the Eagles won their first championship last season. He thrived under the bright\ lights on Saturday as Southfield Christian repeated as Class D
champion with a 65-46 victory over Wyoming Tri-unity Christian.
He jump-started the Eagles' championship victory, scoring 11 of his 13 points in the first half and helping Southfield Christian build a 16-point second-quarter lead. Brown shot 5 for 8 from the field,
3 for 3 from the line, grabbed nine rebounds, dished out four assists and had three steals.
Freshman jitters? Not in this kid.
"I just tried to come out and not be nervous," Brown said. "Just play the game like you know how, just go out and do your best."
Baker wasn't concerned how his freshman phenom would respond on the big stage, just as he was confident that Brown could handle making his high school debut against a team like St. Mary's in early December.
"He's usually pretty cool and casual under pressure," Baker said. "Part of that is his problem, because he's not aggressive enough all the time. We wanted him to be aggressive. We've been on him all year to be aggressive. He did it tonight, and he showed he can make plays. He's so skilled as a freshman. When he's aggressive and he keeps the ball low, he's really good."
As Brown started sinking shots during a decisive second quarter, the Southfield Christian student section chanted, "He's a fresh-man!" It was a warning to the rest of Class D that Brown will have to be reckoned with for three more seasons. For that matter, the entire program could dominate Class D for years to come.
It's not too early to begin speculation that Southfield Christian is a dynasty in the making. Winning back-to-back championships is an excellent start. All 65 of the Eagles' points against Tri-unity were scored by players who are eligible to return next season.
The team's only two seniors didn't play until a 58-40 lead had been built midway through the fourth quarter. The Eagles started a freshman, two sophomores and two juniors.
"We can only get better," said 6-7 junior Damarco White, who had 15 points and five blocks.
"The sky's the limit," added junior guard Lindsey Hunter IV, who scored 11 points.
A man who is an expert on Class D dynasties is Mark Keeler, who has coached four MHSAA Finals champions and four runners-up in his 26 seasons at Tri-unity.
"Seeing how young their team is, they're definitely going to be a force in Class D," said Keeler (499-142), who was trying to celebrate a Finals championship and his 500th victory on the same day.
The Eagles rebuilt on the fly after winning the title last year. Their returning players combined for only 12 points in last year's MHSAA Final, with Hunter scoring eight of them.
After a 3-4 start, Southfield Christian won its final 20 games.
"We knew we had the potential. It's just that early on we struggled with understanding the work ethic you have to put in," Baker said. "It's not just handed to you. Every game you play, every team is going to come after you. That's why we started off 3-4. We just got drilled by some guys. When they understood the work ethic and what it takes every game, we started to go on a nice run."
Tri-unity (25-3) got out to an 8-6 lead, but Southfield Christian took the lead for good by scoring the next nine points to ignite a 26-8 run. The lead reached 34-18 with 3:48 left in the second quarter. The Eagles didn't score the rest of the half, while the Defenders cut the margin to 34-23 at the intermission.
Matt Wachter's basket with 7:04 left in the third quarter trimmed the deficit to single digits at 34-25, but Tri-unity didn't put together consecutive scores again until Southfield Christian was comfortably ahead, 56-34.
Tri-unity forward Joey Blauwkamp, The Associated Press' Class D Player of the Year, was held to seven points on 2 for 9 shooting before fouling out with 2:38 left in the game.
"For us coming into halftime, being down only 11, I wasn't too concerned," Keeler said. "But when Joey picked up three and four (fouls) so quickly, it definitely messes with you."
Sophomore Bakari Evelyn scored 11 points for Southfield Christian, which shot 22 for 42 from the field and 17 for 21 from the line.
Daniel Cole scored 21 points and Wachter 11 for Tri-unity.
PHOTOS: (Top) Southfield Christian coach Josh Baker presents the championship trophy to his team Saturday at the Breslin Center. (Middle) Eagles freshman Eugene Brown goes up for a shot against Wyoming Tri-unity Christian's Joey Blauwkamp (4) and others. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Lights-Out Loyer Leads Clarkston to Final
March 23, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Warm-ups don’t count, but it seemed like Foster Loyer couldn’t miss while getting ready for Friday’s first Semifinal at the Breslin Center.
The last four seasons, that’s been a good sign for Clarkston.
The Wolves’ senior point guard went on to make 12 of 17 shots from the floor and score 42 points – becoming the fifth player ever to drop at least 40 in a boys basketball Semifinal – in leading reigning champ Clarkston back to the Class A Final with a 74-49 win over Warren DeLaSalle.
Loyer scored 17 of his team’s 23 first-quarter points, on 6 for 10 shooting, as the Wolves quickly built a double-digit lead that never fell below nine points the rest of the game.
“When he gets going, there are not a lot of people who can stop him,” Clarkston senior backcourt mate CJ Robinson said. “When he gets going like that, we try to key on getting him the ball. He knocks shots down for us, and it opens things up for others, and he does a good job of finding everybody.”
Clarkston (25-1) will attempt to finish a repeat at 12:15 p.m. Saturday against Holland West Ottawa.
Loyer drained seven 3-pointers among his 12 field goals and all 11 of his free throw attempts – against a DeLaSalle defense focused on slowing down the recently-named Mr. Basketball Award winner and Michigan State recruit.
“I don’t think in 31 years of being a varsity coach that anyone has remotely scored that many points,” Pilots longtime leader Greg Esler said. “I think about when we were here in (20)07, Manny Harris had 13. But the thing about Loyer that’s so good is he’s so deceiving – he reminds you of Cassius Winston in the fact that he’s not the most athletic guy, he might not be the fastest but all of a sudden he’s shooting the 25-footer and getting to the rim and making everybody on his team better. So there’s no question, he’s a winner.”
Those comparisons, of course, are high praise – Harris, who went on to star at Michigan, had 14 for Detroit Redford in a Semifinal win over the Pilots that season, and DeLaSalle saw its share as well of Detroit U-D Jesuit’s Winston, who’s currently running the point for MSU.
Longtime Clarkston coach Dan Fife extended the praise to include Robinson, who had nine points and five assists while sharing a game-high 31 minutes on the floor.
“When you’ve got two guards who can play like this, it makes it a lot easier to coach,” said Fife, who’s in his 36th season. “My first year coaching, we had a bunch of bigs, and our guards weren’t near like this, we played Flint Central and we just got tattooed because we couldn’t handle the pressure. These guys handle the pressure.
“The two of them feel comfortable, and it makes everybody else relax a little bit.”
As a team, it was a smooth performance. The Wolves had only 10 turnovers to 11 assists and made 53 percent of their shots from the floor.
“I think as a point guard, for both of us, it’s important that we’re in control of the pace of the game, that we play how we want to play,” Loyer said. “Just to come out and throw that first punch and get an early lead is very important for us.”
Of course, Clarkston has more than great guards – senior forward Taylor Currie, headed to Wisconsin after graduation, chipped in 16 points and 12 rebounds and had the first basket of the game. As a team, the Wolves outrebounded the Pilots 36-19.
Senior forward Luke Pfromm led DeLaSalle (19-8) with 17 points, while senior forward Jordan Winowiecki had 12 and senior forward Kole Gjonaj had 10. Senior guard Justin Fisher had nine assists.
PHOTOS: (Top) Clarkston’s Foster Loyer launches a shot during Friday’s Semifinal win over Warren DeLaSalle. (Middle) DeLaSalle’s Justin Fisher had nine assists and four points for the Pilots.