Performance: East English's Kamari Newman
February 25, 2016
Kamari Newman
Detroit East English senior – Boys Basketball
Newman joined Detroit East English’s first boys varsity basketball team as a freshmen for the 2012-13 season and will graduate as the first all-time great in the young program’s history (the school opened in 2012 after the closures of Detroit Crockett and Finney). In his fourth and final opportunity, the 6-foot-4 guard led the Bulldogs to their first Detroit Public School League Tournament title to earn the Michigan National Guard’s “Performance of the Week.”
Newman scored 17 of his game-high 28 points during the first half of a 71-70 semifinal win over Detroit Collegiate Prep on Feb. 12, then scored a game-high 24 points in the 86-62 championship game win over Detroit Renaissance on Feb. 19 (East English had lost to Renaissance by four in a 2015 PSL semifinal). For the season, Newman is averaging 22 points, six rebounds, four assists and 1.5 steals per game for East English, which is 16-3. Not surprisingly, Newman has the school record for 1,591 career points and also with 193 3-pointers – which are enough to make the MHSAA’s career list in that category, and while he has at least two more games to play. Newman has been a strong shooter throughout his career, but said he's improved his rebounding and leadership most as a senior.
He also earned all-city honors in cross country in the fall and ran on that team all four years of high school along with a number of his teammates – he credits cross country with helping the basketball team train to play its uptempo style during the winter. Newman has signed to continue his basketball career at George Mason University in Virginia. He is unsure what we will study, but said the sciences are among his favorite and best subjects.
Coach Juan Rickman said: “He’s always worked hard. He likes to stay in the gym. That’s one of the biggest impacts he’s had with our program. He’s been the catalyst. When we started the (PSL) run, he made the conscious decision in his mind that he was done losing, coming up short. When the opportunity presented itself, he became more of a leader. He just didn’t want to lose.”
Performance Point: “It was a tough road. I just wanted to lead us there. We came up short (in the past), so many people were counting us out. I definitely didn’t want to come up short this time.
Best in Bulldogs history: “It means a lot, but I know I’ve got a whole lot of work to do. It’s going to be great honor (though), but we’re not done yet. The group of guys, we go so deep. That’s been my favorite part, just being around those guys. (My role) is just to push everybody, to lead, to their limit. I try to get the best out of all my teammates; they respect me.”
Had to be a Patriot: “Just the coaching staff (at George Mason), they were telling me basically what Coach Rickman tells me. They work extremely hard, and really they don’t have anybody to score the ball like that, so I want to go in there and help them where they’re struggling.”
Create like Curry: “Steph Curry; I don’t really watch him too much, because I’m not him. But sometimes I try to be like him. How quickly he gets it off, creates his own shot, that what I like about him. ... I want to get better at becoming the combo (guard), getting the ball when I need it, distributing it, seeing the floor on the defensive end and being more aware.”
– Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2015-16 school year, Second Half and the Michigan National Guard will recognize a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our Nation's freedom, or protecting lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2015-16 honorees
Feb. 17: Jason Whitens, Powers North Central boys basketball - Read
Feb. 10: Rachel Hogan, Grand Ledge gymnastics - Read
Feb. 3: Nehemiah Mork, Midland Dow swimming & diving - Read
Jan. 27: Mardrekia Cook, Muskegon girls basketball - Read
Jan. 20: Sage Castillo, Hartland wrestling - Read
Jan. 13: Rob Zofchak, Dexter swimming & diving - Read
Jan. 6: Tyler Deming, Caro wrestling – Read
Dec. 15: Jordan Weber, East Jordan boys basketball – Read
Dec. 8: Kaitlyn Geers, Kent City girls basketball – Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit East English’s Kamari Newman brings the ball upcourt during the Detroit Public School League Tournament. (Middle) Newman was the team’s leading scorer in both the semifinal and championship game. (Top photos courtesy of the Detroit East English basketball program, middle photo courtesy of the Detroit Public School League/Bonnie Warmack.)
River Rouge Takes Title Dream Into Final
March 15, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – At River Rouge, 14 MHSAA championship banners tell of one of the most storied programs in Michigan high school boys basketball history.
They don’t hang banners there for making the Semifinals or finishing runner-up.
That’s been on the minds of Panthers players all season after falling in the Semifinals the last two – and it was on their minds again as Friday’s Division 2 Semifinal against unbeaten Harper Woods Chandler Park went into overtime.
River Rouge saw a lead as large as 10 fade away during regulation, and then barely earned overtime on a last-second 3-pointer. But on the 20th anniversary of their last championship, the Panthers will get the opportunity to play for possibly the next after hanging on for a 72-66 victory at the Breslin Center.
“We need to win. I need to do whatever it takes to win the state championship. That’s what was going through my mind the whole time,” said River Rouge sophomore Legend Geeter of the game’s final stretch.
“I’ve been (to Breslin) once and lost in the Semifinals, and it was not a great feeling. In my mind, in order for this program to keep being great, we’ve got to win another state championship and put another banner up.”
River Rouge (23-2) will take on Hudsonville Unity Christian in Saturday’s 6:45 p.m. Final, in a rematch of the 1963 Class B championship game won by the Panthers 59-49.
Coach LaMonta Stone, who led the 1999 team, returned in November after two seasons away for his third tenure running the program and immediately told his players this season would be “state championship or bust” – but also that his expectation was that they would win title 15.
River Rouge has the most championships in the MHSAA’s 94-year history, but none during the 2000s, and the Panthers couldn’t bear the thought of another opportunity slipping away.
The double-digit lead – 33-23 just less than a minute into the second half – did slip away gradually over the third and fourth quarters. Senior Josh Diggs gave Chandler Park a 58-56 lead with a 3-pointer with 49 seconds to go in regulation, and two free throws by senior Andre Bradford pushed the advantage to three with 13 seconds left. But senior Nigel Colvin saved River Rouge’s championship hopes, taking a pass down the baseline on the ensuing possession, moving two steps to his right and draining a 3-pointer with three seconds left on the clock.
“Nigel when I came into this team was just a spot-up shooter,” Stone said. “But he’s the hardest-working kid on the team. Every day before practice, after practice, he’s working on his 1-2 dribble pull-up. He doesn’t want to be known as just a 3-point shooter.
“So when I saw that shot, and he had to get it off, I’m just thinking back to when he’s in the gym after practice, before practice, working on those type of shots where he has to take one or two dribbles and shoot the ball. Two or three months (ago), he couldn’t have made that play – because he was just a spot-up shooter.”
Colvin hit another 3-pointer to open the overtime scoring, and Chandler Park senior forward Tyland Tate answered to tie things back up. But a Geeter basket with 1:50 to play gave the Panthers the lead back for good, as they finished on a 7-3 run.
The loss was the first and only this season for Chandler Park (21-1), which won its first Regional title last week on the way to this first trip to the Semifinals.
“You saw the support we had. A lot of people came out,” Chandler Park coach James Scott said. “Small charter school, on the end of the east side, Harper Woods area. So I thought it was big to show that we have talent, we’ve got some players and it’s a program on the rise. From making this type of run, every year, moving forward.”
Bradford had 14 points and three steals, and senior guard Derrick Bryant Jr. had team highs of 15 points and six assists for Chandler Park.
Colvin finished with 20 points to lead River Rouge, making 8-of-10 shots from the floor including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Geeter added 17 points and six rebounds and senior Donavan Freeman scored 12. Senior Bralin Toney had seven assists.
PHOTOS: (Top) River Rouge players embrace senior Nigel Colvin after his game-tying 3-pointer during the final seconds of regulation Friday. (Middle) Donavan Freeman (1) gets a shot up just out of the reach of Chandler Park’s Tyland Tate.