Class B Final: They leave as champions

March 24, 2012

EAST LANSING – Lansing Sexton coach Carlton Valentine described Saturday night how every one of his four senior starters fit into a puzzle the last three seasons.

All could star for most teams. But they each contributed a few outstanding skills that together pushed the Big Reds to one of the most dominating runs in MHSAA history.

Together one last time, they combined for a memorable closing performance in the Class B Final at the Breslin Center.

In its third-straight title game appearance, Sexton won its second-straight championship, downing Stevensville-Lakeshore 67-32 in the last game of the winter season.

“Not just winning, but winning with these guys, playing with these guys, is like a blessing,” Sexton senior Anthony Clemmons said. “To have guys around me chasing the same dream as me … I think everybody sacrificed something to win. And to have a winning coach too, you can’t forget him, having him (to) put us through a lot. We deserved it.”

The Big Reds finished 27-1 this season. On its own, that’s impressive enough. But consider:

Sexton’s 74 wins over three seasons is tied for sixth-most in MHSAA history for that long of a stretch.

The Big Reds went undefeated as the only Class B team among all Class As in the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue, arguably the strongest league in the state this season.

They won all of their games by at least eight points, taking down Class A Semifinalist Romulus, highly-ranked Lansing Eastern twice, Class A Quarterfinalist Okemos twice and Class A reigning champion Kalamazoo Central, plus No. 4 Lansing Catholic and No. 3 Detroit Country Day during the postseason.

That only loss was by one, 81-80, to Detroit Pershing. The Doughboys were ranked No. 1 in Class A at the time.

“These guys have endured just so much pressure, being number one all year, being the number one team in the state of Michigan, regardless of class,” Sexton coach Carlton Valentine said.

“This was the number one basketball team in the state of Michigan.”                                                                                         

That the Big Reds would finish tops in Class B was well-established midway through the second quarter. Sexton rattled off 14 straight points and ended the first half on a 20-2 run that made the score 32-10.

And the Big Reds did so with the Iowa-bound Clemmons playing only 11 minutes because of a back injury suffered in the second quarter. Mr. Basketball runner-up Denzel Valentine capped a four-year varsity career with 15 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. He’ll next suit up for Michigan State. Senior Bryn Forbes, who has signed with Cleveland State, scored a game-high 19 points. Junior forward Jalen Hayes, who has emerged as the team’s star-in-waiting over the last two seasons, had 12 points.

“That’s one of the best high school basketball teams I’ve seen in the state of Michigan,” Lakeshore coach Sean Schroeder said. “For us to compete at a better level tonight, we had to make some shots. When you shoot 23 percent for the ball game, it’s difficult to compete with a team that good.”

Lakeshore (24-3) entered the tournament ranked No. 7 and was playing in its first MHSAA Final.

“I think what I’ll remember about this team the most is we always played tough no matter what game it was. We never gave up today,” Lancers senior Loren Johnson said. “I’ll always remember making it to Breslin, the championship game. And I’ll always remember this loss too. It’s not a good feeling. But I’m glad we made it here.”

Sexton finished its first trip to Breslin of this recent string with a loss to Detroit Country Day in the 2010 Final.

The Big Reds have won four games at MSU since – but will try to come back next season without Denzel Valentine, Clemmons, Forbes and Jeff Cain, those four starters who have played together since elementary school.

“I think we’re pretty good. I don’t know about the greatest ever. But we put a lot of hard work in,” Forbes said. “These guys have been grinding ever since I met them, 11 years ago. But yeah, I think we’ll go down as one of the greatest.”

Click for box score or to watch the game and press conferences at MHSAA.tv.

PHOTOS: (Top) Sexton players pose for photos after receiving their medals and trophy for winning the Class B championship. (Middle) Big Reds freshman Trevor Manuel slammed down two of his five points. (Bottom) Bryn Forbes led Sexton with 19 points, including two on this dunk. (See more at Terry McNamara Photography.)

Cass Tech 'Gamers' Force OT, Finish Surge to Reach 1st Final Since 1974

By Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com

March 24, 2023

EAST LANSING – Detroit Cass Tech’s Darius Acuff was held in check for a majority of the second half Friday by Grand Blanc’s defense.

The talented sophomore, however, came up clutch in a pivotal moment.

The 6-foot-2 guard forced overtime with a 3-pointer and then scored four points in the extra period to help lift the Technicians to a thrilling 62-56 win in a Division 1 Semifinal at Breslin Center. 

Cass Tech (27-1) will play Muskegon in Saturday’s Division 1 Final.

After Grand Blanc senior Robert Williams made two free throws with 9.1 seconds left in regulation to put his team ahead 54-51, Acuff banked in a 3-pointer in the waning seconds.

It was only his second field goal of the second half after tallying 10 first-half points.

“Once I got open, I called for the ball and I knew I was going to shoot it,” said Acuff, who finished with a game-high 19 points, five assists and three steals. “I knew it was going in.”

The Technicians took control in the extra session.

A breakaway layup by Acuff pushed the Cass Tech lead to 59-56 with 55 seconds to play. He followed with a pair of free throws to make it 61-56. 

“We have some gamers on this team, and he doesn’t practice to my liking a lot of times, but when those lights come on I can count on him,” Technicians coach Steven Hall said of his standout sophomore. “The last play out of the timeout that we got a 3 on, they executed it to the T.”

Cass Tech was making its first Semifinal appearance since 1993, and will play in its first Final since 1974, when it finished Class A runner-up.

The Technicians’ Darius Acuff shoots the game-tying 3-pointer at the end of regulation despite the defense of Grand Blanc’s Anthony Perdue (5).

Hall guided Detroit Rogers to three straight Class D titles (2003-05) and returned to his alma mater in 2015-16.

“It’s a wide range of emotions right now,” Hall said. “I’m happy to still be living to fight another day.

“For me, it’s my sixth time here but the first time with my school, and it's a dream of mine. It was a dream of mine for these guys. We came so close last year, and sitting here last year and watching the Semifinals was painful, but I’ve been dreaming of getting here with my school.” 

Cass Tech ended a 22-game winning streak by Grand Blanc, which was denied a third-straight appearance in the Division 1 Final. 

The Bobcats (25-3) rallied from an early deficit, but committed 18 turnovers for the game and were held to one field goal in overtime. 

“We didn’t handle the pressure, and one of the keys of our offensive game plan was limiting turnovers,” first-year Grand Blanc coach Tory Jackson said. “You can't beat great teams like that with 18 turnovers, and we just didn’t handle the pressure like we were supposed to.

“Hats off to Acuff. He’s a tough player and by far one of the best players we've played all year. We got undisciplined at the end, and it’s frustrating because this was supposed to be ours. We left money on the table.” 

Cass Tech jumped out to an early 11-4 lead as Acuff scored six quick points. 

The Bobcats, however, trimmed the deficit to 17-15 in the second quarter with a 3-pointer in the corner from sophomore Donnie Huddleston.

The Technicians took a slim 26-25 lead into halftime.  

Grand Blanc took its first lead, 35-34, midway through the third quarter on an offensive rebound and put-back by junior Anthony Perdue.

Cass Tech has become accustomed to close games.

“That’s us being tough and scrappy,” Acuff said. “It’s always going to come down to one possession, and it came down to that. Once we went to overtime we knew we were going to win, but we knew we had to fight for it.”

Senior Tae Boyd led the Bobcats with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while senior RJ Taylor had nine points.

Senior Kenneth Robertson added 15 points for Cass Tech, and freshman Corey Sadler Jr. added 14 points.

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Detroit Cass Tech’s Corey Sadler Jr. (0) gets up a shot during his team’s Division 1 Semifinal overtime win Friday. (Middle) The Technicians’ Darius Acuff shoots the game-tying 3-pointer at the end of regulation despite the defense of Grand Blanc’s Anthony Perdue (5).