McCabe: UD Jesuit basketball no longer one-dimensional – Detroit Free Press
Cassius Winston scored 33 points against Saginaw Arthur Hill on Saturday night but, seriously, what else is new?
The 6-foot junior guard has been lighting up everyone this season, so why should Arthur Hill, ranked No. 5 at the time, be any different?
The big news out of the game at Delta College is that U-D Jesuit beat Arthur Hill, 72-57, and the other Cubs players did much more than stand around and watch while Winston worked his magic.
The other Cubs did their share by locking down Arthur Hill’s two terrific offensive players — 6-5 Eric Davis (18 points), who signed with Texas, and 6-7 sophomore Brian Bowen (10 points).
“Eric got 18, but, boy, he worked for them, and six of those points were from the free-throw line,” said U-D Jesuit coach Pat Donnelly. “He’s a good player, but Gary Collins is the guy we assigned to him, and he made him work for everything.
“Gary is super athletic. He’s a Division I athlete. He usually gets the opponent’s best offensive player.”
While Collins gave up three inches to Davis, Matt Schearer yielded four inches to Bowen and was still able to limit his effectiveness.
“Matt’s a strong, physical kid,” Donnelly said. “He’s 190 pounds and works hard in the weight room and really did a nice job limiting the touches Bowen got.”
The Cubs also got a boost from 6-9 sophomores Ike Eke (10 points, nine rebounds) and Greg Ebiogbodi (nine points, 14 rebounds), who are having a positive effect on games.
“They had countless blocks and played just good, solid defense,” Donnelly said. “And they were just being big and getting there and up and contesting shots.”
The victory made Donnelly realize that defense is going to be more important than ever to the Cubs, who can’t expect Winston to outscore the opposition night after night come tournament time.
“Our defensive intensity picks up when there are big-name opponents in front of us,” Donnelly said. “That’s what I talked to them about afterward. We need to play with that intensity against everybody, not just because you feel like you’re being slighted or they have a guy that’s getting more press than you.”
In addition to scoring 33 points, Winston added eight assists, and he did it despite being sick and playing only two quarters Friday night against Orchard Lake St. Mary’s.
“He was still struggling with the flu last night,” Donnelly said, “but, boy, he was knocking down jump shots early, and when they got up to guard him, he was getting to the rim and had a strong game leading the team, too.”
After a yearlong hiatus, the Operation Friendship championship game between the Catholic League and the Detroit Public School League appears to be back on and will be played March 5, although Donnelly did not know the location of the game.
U-D Jesuit, No. 3 in Class A, and No. 1 Detroit Western are heavy favorites to win their league titles, creating quite an interest in a potential Operation Friendship game.
One thing those teams won’t have to worry about is playing each other in the Operation Friendship game and then playing again early in the state tournament.
The Cubs have a different state tournament route this year. After playing in the Detroit Renaissance district, they would advance to the Southfield regional where they could play North Farmington or Oak Park, and then head to Calihan Hall with a possible quarterfinal game against a team like Clarkston or Macomb Dakota.
Western will play in the Cass Tech district and then travel to the Sterling Heights regional, where it could play a team like Warren De La Salle or Chippewa Valley, before playing possibly Romulus or Ypsilanti in the Calihan Hall quarterfinal game opposite the U-D Jesuit quarterfinal.
PSL playoffs
The Detroit PSL girls semifinals will be today at Western. Mumford plays Cass Tech at 5 p.m., followed by Renaissance against defending champ King.
The boys quarterfinals will be hosted by Renaissance. Osborn will play Pershing at 5 p.m. Tuesday, and Cass Tech will play Western at 7. CMA plays Renaissance at 5 p.m. Wednesday, followed by the Henry Ford-East English Village game.
Cass Tech will host Friday’s semifinals. Tuesday’s winners will play at 5 p.m., and Wednesday’s winners will play at 7.
The boys and girls championship games will be Feb. 20 at Calihan Hall. Girls play at 5 p.m. and boys at 7:30.
Contact Mick McCabe: 313-223-4744 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @mickmccabe1.
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We’re No. 1
Free Press sports writer Mick McCabe lists the No. 1 boys and girls basketball teams in each class.
Boys
DETROIT WESTERN
Class A
Record: 14-0
MILAN
Class B
Record: 12-2
FLINT
BEECHER
Class C
Record: 12-1
CEDARVILLE
Class D
Record: 10-0
Girls
BIRMINGHAM MARIAN
Class A
Record: 13-1
Wayland
Class B
Record: 14-0
YPSILANTI ARBOR PREP
Class C
Record: 11-2
MT. PLEASANT SACRED HEART
Class D
Record: 13-2
Complete
rankings, 4B
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