Here’s what happened last night:
– East Lansing’s Steve Haney is probably the best freshman in the state. It might not be debatable anymore after the 6-5 wing prospect scored 31 points on Lansing Eastern on their home court last night. The reason some believe Haney is a better prospect than Eastern’s freshman point guard Charles Tucker is simple: He’s 6-5 and really good. You just don’t see that often. Eastern’s LaDontae Henton, himself a former freshman phenom, had 32 points in the game that the Quakers won by 13. The aforementioned Tucker had 10 points. How good is Lansing basketball right now?
– I’m starting to think my counterpart on this site, Gavin Raath, is actually a genius. His adopted team this year, Ithaca, just knocked off class B Bridgeport last night by seven. But, every time I think about him being a genuis I’m reminded of his Lansing Eastern prognostication. Bridgeport has been cracking some skulls of late, including a win over Flint Powers. Ithaca has to be among the favorites in class C this season. Ithaca is now 12-0.
– Flint Northern’s Shaquille Smith outdueled Flint Powers’ Patrick Lucas-Perry a battle of two of the state’s top 2011 guards. But, I’m sure you already read that here
– Two of the state’s top big men, Grand Ledge’s Jon Horfod and Holt’s Cole Darling, matched up last night in Lansing. Darling poured in 29 points with eight rebounds in the 64-51 win. Horford, for his part, scored 18 points with seven rebounds and fouled out. Is Darling better? Yes. He has better skill an is a better all-around player. Horford is solid (and a tick bigger), but not as polished.
– Covert’s 6-3 senior Amere May scored 51 points. I’ve never seen this kid play, but even at the class D level that’s impressive. If memory serves, he scored over 40 points in a game just last month. So is this kid more Dustin Orns or Peter Bunn? That is the question.
– Mt. Pleasant senior wing Trey Zeigler is quietly destoying the SVL. He had 33 points in a win over Midland Dow last night. Seems like TZ is putting in that kind of work every game.
– Detroit Pershing proved that it could win without MSU-bound Keith Appling last night. The Doughboys clinched the PSL east title with a come-from-behind win over Detroit Denby. Juwan Howard had 27 points. Appling was out due to illness.
– Both our big in-state universities got trounced last night. MSU by a really good Wisconsin squad and Michigan by Northwestern, a pretty decent team. The big news, though, is with regard to each team’s top player: MSU’s Kalin Lucas sprained his ankle in the game and UM’s Manny Harrisdeclared his intention to come back to Michigan next season. Honestly, who would leave school early to MAYBE getting drafted in the second round? (Oh, I know: Dar Tucker and Olu Famutimi.)