Stunner Sends Ludington to Saturday
March 24, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – If older brother is right, Joshua Laman might not remember much of the aftermath of his first 3-pointer this season.
But it’s a shot Ludington – and probably River Rouge – will never forget.
Laman, a sophomore center, had missed all nine of his tries behind the arc entering Friday’s Class B Semifinal. But as the seconds ticked down in overtime, Orioles senior and older brother Noah Laman had the instinct to pass to Joshua stationed in the left corner.
What he tossed up was something of a right shoulder heave, a little like a shot put. But as the final second clicked off the clock, Joshua Laman’s 3-pointer dropped through the net, sending Ludington to its first Class B championship game since 1953 with a 51-50 win over River Rouge.
“I don’t even know if he is thinking right now,” Noah Laman said a few minutes later from the postgame press conference. “I don’t think words can describe what’s going through any of our heads right now."
“He’s thinking that when I get back in that locker room,” Ludington coach Thad Shank added, “he’s going to look Coach Shank in the eye and say, ‘Told you coach I should be shooting these 3s all year long.’ I know that’s what he’s thinking.”
Ludington (25-2) will take on New Haven at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the season’s final game at the Breslin Center. The Orioles have never won an MHSAA boys basketball title, falling to St. Joseph 60-51 in that lone appearance more than 60 years ago.
This was their first Semifinal since 1971, and they weren’t going to let the opportunity slip by even if they were perceived to be a slight underdog ranked No. 8 heading into the postseason while River Rouge came in No. 2.
It looked for most of the game like the poll was accurate. Although Ludington put together a few runs to keep the game knotted midway through the third quarter, the Panthers (24-2) gradually opened up a lead that reached nine points with 1:48 to play in regulation.
That’s when the first set of heroics came into play. Senior guard and leading scorer Calvin Hackert made two 3-pointers and a free throw, and Noah Laman added the other bucket as the Orioles closed the fourth quarter on a 9-0 run to send the game to overtime.
River Rouge got up by five again midway through the extra period. But Ludington closed on a 7-1 run, with Joshua Laman’s winning shot coming after a Rouge turnover with 30 seconds to play and then two missed shots and offensive rebounds by the Orioles, who otherwise were outrebounded for the game 24-20.
That turnover to set up the final possession was in addition to two more Panthers turnovers during the closing run of regulation. And Ludington pulled off the final charge after Hackert fouled out with his team still trailing by four.
“A couple times I told them hey, if on November 15 when we walked in this gym and we were down four or five points in the state Semifinal to River Rouge, would you take it?” Shank said. “We’ve gotta keep our heads up, and we’ve gotta keep fighting here.
“We are a pressure defensive team, and we have a lot of respect for Rouge and their quickness, and we haven’t played a team with that level of quickness to this point. So we didn’t really aggressively go after River Rouge like we do most teams. But the fact that that’s part of our package I think was huge down the stretch of the game, that that’s what we’re comfortable doing. It wasn’t something we were just throwing out, full court pressure that we’d never used before.”
River Rouge coach Mark White – who previously led Detroit Renaissance to Class A titles in 2004 and 2006 – could sense Ludington was working toward a dramatic end.
He said it was his Panthers’ worst game this season – and obviously the worst time for it. But how Ludington pulled off its last-second success wasn’t lost on him.
“Well, luck is something that’s created. We got a defensive stop, and we teach and emphasize that defense isn’t over until we get the rebound,” White said. “And we didn’t finish the defensive possession. We got them to miss a couple shots, and there were a couple loose balls. It went down to that determination factor, and Ludington wanted it, by their behavior, more than we did … and again, when you give as much as they did, the basketball gods are on your side because you deserve and that happens in March.”
Sophomore Darian Owens-White led River Rouge with 19 points, and junior Jayvien Torrance added 10.
Hackert led Ludington with 20 points, and Joshua Laman had 11. Also worth noting, junior center Will Sadler had seven points, making all three of his shots including his only 3-pointer this winter as well.
Laman’s final shot led to a pile of Orioles players in Breslin’s southwest corner, right in front of a sea of orange-clad fans taking up nearly three full sections of the lower bowl.
“We can tell how big a deal it is just by the support of the community,” Hackert said. “The crowd was electric tonight, and it shows how much they revolve around us and really support us. And to be playing in the state championship, it’s just awesome. I can’t even explain it.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Ludington’s Calvin Hackert puts up a shot as a River Rouge defender works to block his path. (Middle) Rouge’s Darian Owens-White goes up for a layup on the way to scoring 19 points.
'Rock-Solid' Huron Earns Championship Chance
By
Jason Schmitt
Special for MHSAA.com
April 8, 2021
EAST LANSING — Ann Arbor Huron head coach Waleed Samaha knew he was going to have his hands full Thursday with Warren De La Salle Collegiate in a Division 1 Semifinal matchup at the Breslin Center.
De La Salle head coach Gjon Djokaj knew Samaha’s team almost as well as the River Rats coach himself.
“Gjon is a hell of a coach,” Samaha said. “He’s really like family with our guys. He coaches some of them in the offseason, in AAU.”
That’s true. Djokaj coaches Huron seniors Devin Womack and Julian Lewis and he often coaches against seniors Kingsley Perkins and Tyson Edmondson on the circuit.
“I’m very familiar with this team,” Djokaj said. “They’re actually like family to me. I knew these guys inside and out.”
Despite knowing all of the questions before the test, Djokaj’s Pilots had troubles containing the River Rats, inside and out, as Huron played stellar defense in a 55-39 victory over De La Salle.
Edmondson scored 18 points, hitting four 3-pointers, and Kingsley dominated down low, scoring 13 points while pulling down eight rebounds.
“It’s pretty difficult,” said Edmondson, talking about how tough it is to cover the River Rats’ inside-outside game. “We have threats outside and inside. We’ve played together so much that we know where we’re going to be and what we’re going to do. We’re like a well-oiled machine.”
The two teams battled back and forth for much of the first half, with Huron leading 19-15 at the break. The River Rats extended their lead to six points after three quarters, and then used a 9-3 run to open the fourth quarter — all but putting an end to the game. Perkins had a pair of putbacks during the run, which was capped off by a 24-foot 3-pointer by Edmondson, making it a 42-30 ball game.
“I had the confidence from my team and when I was open, I was hitting my shots,” Edmondson said. “I take those (long) shots in practice and I tell ya, practice makes perfect. It really does convert to the game.”
De La Salle senior guard Linden Holder led all scorers with 19 points. His drive to the basket and long 3-pointer gave his team an early 9-4 lead. But it was short-lived. Huron used a 9-0 run at the end of the first and beginning of the second quarter to move ahead 13-9. The River Rats would not relinquish that lead.
“They are a physical presence at every spot,” Djokaj said of the River Rats. “They’re obviously no stranger to the weight room. They’re tough and physical and this was the type of game where (the officials) didn’t make a lot of calls and let us play both ways. Typically we like that style, but today it didn’t work out well for us.”
De La Salle entered the game averaging nearly 61 points per contest. Huron, known for its defense, was allowing just 36 per game. The River Rats dictated the tempo that has worked for them all season long.
“We knew if we could stay patient and run the play, run the clock, we might get that open layup or that open 3,” Samaha said. “We had our key guys making key plays in key moments. They played hard, and tonight we made a few more shots and hung on defensively
“I’m really proud of our guys. We’ve been preparing really hard for this moment. The kids really stepped up to the opportunity that they had.”
Senior Brandon Rawls had 10 points and six rebounds for Huron (20-0), which will advance to Saturday’s Division 1 championship game.
Sophomore Nino Smith had 10 points and sophomore Michael Sulaka added six for De La Salle (14-4), which will lose just three players to graduation.
“Ann Arbor Huron, in my opinion, is the best team in the state,” Djokaj said. “They’re just so versatile and dynamic in a lot of ways, positionally, so sound at point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, center. They bring physicality, they bring togetherness and toughness. They’re a great example of what a rock-solid team looks like.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Ann Arbor Huron's Devin Womack (3) defends against De La Salle's Nino Smith during Thursday's Semifinal at Breslin Center. (Middle) Huron's Brandon Rawls gets up a shot in the paint. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)