Archive | February, 2014

Truman Senior PG Devain Newbill Looks for Statement End to Senior Year

3 Feb

8m4tIJuEThe Downriver League, which was created as a break-off from the old Michigan Mega Conference for the 2009-2010 season, has only had one team enjoy a long post-season run, the 2009-2010 Taylor Kennedy Eagles, who made it all the way to the state quarterfinals before bowing out to Detroit Denby.  Kennedy’s cross-town rival Truman, currently sitting at 11-0, good enough for first place in the Downriver League, and a top ten ranking in the Class A poll, is in prime position to gear up for what the Cougars hope to be a long and meaningful postseason run.

Truman is led by U of D Mercy commit Aaron Foster-Smith, a 6’7″ power forward who is averaging 22 points and 12 rebounds a game this year.  While Aaron receives the spotlight, and rightfully so considering the fact that he recently joined the 1,000 point club for his high school career on January 25th against Allen Park Inter-City Baptist, a key player that will determine whether or not Truman has a successful season is the play of 6’2″ 180 pound senior point guard Devain Newbill.

Newbill, a former transfer from perennial state power Romulus last season, has produced a quality season so far, averaging 12 points, and five rebounds and assists a game to go along with three steals as well. 

“The season has been good,” pointed out Newbill “actually we are just taking it game by game not looking ahead.  I want to average a double-double and I’m close to it though.”

Devain thrives best with the ball in his hands.  He is quick, explosive, athletic point guard that excels in space, especially on the break.  Newbill can score the ball when he wants to, but can also drop a dime or two to keep to defense off-balanced.  He also did as well a job a defender can against Inter-City Baptist’s star guard Evan Kraatz, holding him to only seven points on the game and zero in the second half.  While Devain can certainly fill up the score sheet, his role on the team extends beyond the stats he averages. He says he likes to model his game after former Romulus guard and current Missouri Tiger Wes Clark, a player he looked up during his time at Romulus.

“When I’m out there I’m the coach on and off the floor,” stated Devain.  “I’m the team’s captain, I just need to work on my shooting and I would be a real good player.”

No schools have reached out to Newbill in terms of offering scholarships to play basketball next year at this point.  However, Devian would make for a late great addition to a variety of the programs in the State of Michigan.  When asked why a college should take him, Devain responded “Because I am a hard worker, leader, coach on an off the court, I can score from anywhere on the court, I can pass, play great defense, I’m coachable, I listen, and I play my role.  I am a team player.”

As the season winds down and Truman readies themselves for the district playoffs, the Cougars will be eager to erase the memories of last years opening round playoff game, a 90-48 beat down by the eventual Class A champion Romulus Eagles.  It would mean even more to Newbill to not only beat Romulus because that is his old school, but because he has a developed a brotherhood with the seniors he is with at Truman currently.

“We are all brothers,” said Newbill, “that’s my family. With Kendarius (Slaughter) our shooting guard,  I’ve known him since last year he’s a really good kid I love that guy. Aaron (Foster-Smith) thats my brother, I’ve known him for 2 years, he’s always in a good mood, he makes me better on and off the court, I love him too.”

Tags:

Southeastern Tops PSL West Division Leader Renaissance

2 Feb

The last time the Jungaleers finished undefeated in the PSL portion of their schedule, it would be the 2010-2011 eventually city championship season with a perfect 10-0 record.  Southeastern, currently 8-0 in the East Division of the league, took another step in the right direction for claiming PSL superiority with 49-41 win of West Division leader Renaissance on Saturday at Detroit Western, part of the DPS makeup games that were cancelled a few weeks ago due to the recent snow storms in Southeast Michigan.

It was a traditional PSL retro slugfest between the Jungaleers and Renaissance, with only 17 points being scored in the first quarter alone, and even more surprising than that, the first bucket of the 2nd quarter didn’t come until the 4:25 mark.  Recent Florida A&M offeree Leonard Harper-Baker paced SE in the first half with 7 points, including a buzzer beating three to give the Jungaleers a 16-15 halftime advantage.

In the second half, the only time Reniassance would lead for the rest of the game would be when they held a 20-17 advantage with 4:34 left in the third.  A key part for the Phoenix in gaining the lead was the play of star sophomore guard Justin Turner.  Turner was man amongst boys in the half-court set, he hit a few contested three-pointers, had his mid-range game working, and finished through contact at the rim for a couple of and-one opportunities.  Turner led Renaissance in scoring with a game high 26 points, with 10 coming in the third quarter alone, and was a solid defender all game long coming away with four steals.

The closest Renaissance would get in the fourth quarter would be a 30-28 defect with 7:00 left to go in the final period.  But Southeastern’s tradition man-to-man defense did just enough to slow down Turner, limiting him to only seven points, and coasting to the victory via the charity stripe.

Southeastern’s season started out 0-5, but have climbed back to over .500 who are now guaranteed at least a share of the East Division title, and can lock the division up outright with a win at Detroit Douglass on Tuesday.  Also, Southeastern is now guaranteed the number one seed in the PSL playoffs that start next Friday. The difference in the December version’s of Southeastern and the Southeastern of January with wins coming over Cass Tech, Pershing, and Renaissance this week has been the play of their starting senior forwards and brothers Leonard Harper-Baker and Darryl Bingham.

Harper Baker led SE with 14 points, and eight rebounds, while Bingham chipped in with nine points and seven rebounds.  “It feels very good.” said Bingham after the win vs. Renaissance. “In the Cass and Pershing games, me and my brother (Harper-Baker) had to prove we were better than Cass and Pershing”

Another key in Southeastern’s development as a well-rounded team has been the play of sophomore guard Ean Blackwell.  Ean had some large shoes to fill at the beginning of the season, stepping in for four-year varsity point guard Kenyatta Singleton, who graduated last year.  Senior Darryl Bingham, notes the increased production of Blackwell, has garnered increased success in Southeastern.

“Well he is getting used to playing with large crowds,” Darryl noted, “that was the biggest issue of him, not playing in front of large crowds, I’m proud of him.”

Tags: ,

Country Day Betters Flint Southwestern on Senior Night

1 Feb

12471147-standardOn senior night for the Yellow Jackets of Country Day, DCD rallied from a halftime defect over Flint Southwestern to place their record above the .500 mark with seven wins and six losses midway through the season.

Trailing 18-14 after one, the Knights of Southwestern used the second quarter to gain their halftime lead.  Down 28-21 with 4:31 left in the quarter, FLSWA used a 13-5 run to lead 34-33 at end of two quarters.  In the second quarter, Country Day had no response or defense to defend Southwestern’s 6’3″ junior wing/shooting guard Neshua Wise.  Wise scored 11 of his game high 24 points in the second, including three three-pointers.

However, in the second quarter is where Country Day came out and asserted their will.  After a sluggish start to the game, McDonald’s All American Game nominee and Xavier commit Edmond Sumner came out and simply took the game over.  Getting offensive-rebounds, and-ones, hitting three’s, and slashing to the basket at will in the second half, Edmond accounted for 15 of his teams 24 points in the quarter, and DCD led the Knights 57-52 at the end of three.

By the fourth quarter, Flint Southwestern ran out of momentum they had gained in the second quarter, holding Neshua Wise to only two points in the quarter.  Country Day was able to maintain a continuous 7-10 point lead for the whole quarter, the shortest defect the Knights would have in the fourth quarter would be 64-58 with 4:21 left.  But it was not meant to be, as Country Day was able to put the game away at the free-throw line and win the game 77-67.

For Country Day, Edmond Sumner led the way with a game high 32 points, with 25 coming in the second half, Sumner also had 10 rebounds as well.  The unsung hero all knight for DCD was 6’5″ swingman Maceo Baston.  Baston came out hot and set the tempo early for the Yellow Jackets, scoring 11 of his 23 points in the first quarter, he got to the basket a few times, but hit two three-pointers and 11 free-throws, he also hauled down 6 boards.  Junior Nazir Wallace chipped in with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and senior Taylor Graffa had 9 points, all on three pointers.

For Flint Southwestern, 6’3″ Neshua Wise had a team high 24 points and 11 rebounds, Wise was effective all game long for the Knights, he hit his six three-pointers taking a very low number of shots to get there.  Fellow juniors Akileon Fisher chipped in with 20 points, and Jaire Grayer recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

With the loss, Flint Southwestern now falls to 4-6 on the season.

Tags: ,

Newer Entries →