Once again, Pershing survives a upset in the playoffs. This time being senior Oakland commit Kahlil Felder Jr. saving the day against U of D Jesuit in the regional finals.
Tag Archives: DPS
Coach Wydell Henry of Pershing
18 FebCoach Henry in his first year at Pershing has deviated from Pershing’s strong tradition of basketball excellence. His Doughboys are currently undefeated and sit number one in the State of Michigan. He talks after his game in the PSL City Championship.
Interview with Charles Key
14 FebCharles might only be listed at 6’5″, but the way he crashes the glass would make you think is a seven footer. He is a master at tip backs and dunks in a crowd of bodies. Key is still in the process of mastering the 15-18 foot jump shot, but when he does he will be one hard load to handle for a defender. Might need to add some more weight if he wants to stick around down low in the post. But he has the raw skills that are needed for a front court player to succeed.
Update on D’Andre Johnson of Cass Tech
13 FebInterest: Florida Atlantic University.
Visits Upcoming: Florida Atlantic University next weekend.
New Offers: Florida Atlantic offered last week, also Lehigh has offered as well.
Favorites So Far: Florida Atlantic, Lehigh, and St. Bonaventure.
Decision: Right before the state playoffs. What will go into his decision will not only be basketball, but what the coaching staff has turned players into after their basketball careers are over.
My Notes
D’Andre is a quick point guard who can create offense, period. Not to many point guards have I seen who have his quick first step. An absolute beast in transition. As an up and coming jump shot, but when he is on, he is on. Also I have to say one of the more toughest point guard defenders in the state. Willing to take a charge or two.
Detroit PSL Semi-Finals Recap
13 FebCass Tech 61 vs. Southeastern 60: There was no better ending to a basketball game than what happened at Cass Tech on Tuesday the 12th of February. Trailing by double digits with a little over six minutes left in the game, most in the arena were ready to head to the parking lot. But not SE. Javon Haines single-handedly brought the Jungaleers back into the game, hitting a huge three at the mid-way point to cut the score to only 57-54. Now here is how the ending went. Cass Tech made a huge turnover with 26 seconds left in the game to give Southeastern the ball back. SE missed the first shot on their possession, but junior Darryl Bigham was their for the put back with under 11 seconds to play. With no timeouts remaining, Cass senior point guard D’Andre Johnson drove into the paint but was no good. A following put back attempt by fellow senior Kyle Steward was good however, giving CT the win and sending them to Calihan Hall on Friday night.
Pershing 50 vs. Douglass 40: Similar to the earlier SE Cass game, a team attempted to make a comeback but was not to be. Both teams struggled throughout the entire game to get into any offensive rhythm. However, in the fourth is where things changed. The score was 34-24 Pershing after three, but Douglass was able to make it 42-37 with 1:30 left in the contest. But Douglass turned the ball over too much in that time span giving Pershing the hard-fought victory.
Notes
Game 1: Javon Haines might not be the tallest player on the court, but plays with huge amounts of passion. The senior guard contributed 24 of his teams 60 points. That is over a 1/3 of their total points! He has the skills individually to create offense for himself at any time. An absolute monster on the floor. I have seen SE play many times this year, and sometimes he is the only one scoring. I would say that he is a nice D2 prospect. Daryl Bigham of the Jugaleers I could tell has made great strides throughout the entire season. Against Cass he proved that he is a reliable forward who a team can dump the ball to in order to get points. For Cass, D’Andre Johnson started of slow, but in the end finished with 19 hard earned points.
Game 2: The lone bright spot in this game for Fred D was the defensive performance was of junior Andre Frederick. At times it looked like Pershing star junior Justin Tillman wanted no part of Andre. Frederick has quick feet that makes him even a threat on the perimeter to block shots. Has an improving offensive game, but defense wins championships.
Cass Tech Dynasty?
22 NovThe thought in my mind of Cass Tech becoming a dynasty hit me when Cass beat Lake Orion in the semi-finals to go to Ford Field for the second straight year. Last year, the Technecians man-handled CC on route to their first state championship and first in division 1 for the PSL. Most people would say that they are not a dynasty, but there is reason to say that they are building one. The past three seasons have been remarkable at Cass Tech. In 2010, Cass went 9-0 in the regular season, and a city championship. In 2011, you already know that they won the state championship. But there is something else that must come up when a dynasty is being formed, that is the development of elite players. Cass Tech has developed division one players like Dior Mathis, Thomas Gordon, William Campbell, not to mention a NFL player named Vernon Gholston. It seems that Cass always has a kid ranked in the top 10 in the state. This year it is Jourdan Lewis who is a Michigan commit and is a captain of a loaded Technician defense. Jourdan is carrying the Cass Tech tradition of elite corners. A tradition that has included players like the previously mentioned Dior Mathis, Delonte Hollowel, and Terry Richardson.
The most common dynasties people think of in the MHSAA are the traditional powers like a CC, a Brother Rice, a Muskegon, a East Grand Rapids, teams that seem every year to be playing at Ford Field for a championship. Well I’ll tell you, Cass is very close to becoming one of those schools. They have over 20 kids this year with division one interest. It would be great for the DPS to have a team that could compete with the perennial state powers to show that they are one of the best leagues in the Michigan.
Lake Orion 27 Cass Tech 34
19 NovThe 2010 and 2011 MHSAA Division 1 State Championship winners squared off in a much-anticipated semi-final game this previous Saturday. Cass Tech and Lake Orion, teams that were ranked high in the polls all year long, battled it out in a 2012 semi-final game that lived up to all the hype leading up to the game. The Technicians of Cass Tech struck first on a 71 td reception from division 1 recruit Damon Webb following both teams going 3 and out on their first possessions. The Dragons would not wait too long to respond. In fact on the ensuing possession that is, senior running back Jacob Miller plowed in from 1 yard out to tie the game at 7 all. The big play on the drive being a 57 yard reception from slotback Christopher Leigh. The Technicians would re-take the lead on their next possession. Michigan commit Jourdan Lewis returned the kickoff to the Lake Orion 21. Setting up a sophomore running back Mike Weber for a 5 yard td. Following another 3 and out for the Dragons, Cass would strike again. Cass would score on a 8 yard td run from Jayru Campbell, but on this drive, Cass had to work for it. Campbell completed a pass to Weber on 4-4 setting them up for the td. Lake Orion’s next drive would stall again and they would be forced to punt. Lewis was back at his goal line when he received the punt and raced for what appeared the be an electrifying 100 td return, only to brought back on a penalty. Cass would do nothing on their drive giving the ball back to Lake Orion before half. With under 10 seconds to play in the half, senior quarterback Derek Delaura would find fellow senior Chaz Miller going across the middle for a 10 yard td to put the Dragons down only 7 21-14 going into half-time. Lake Orion and Cass would not do anything of their first possessions to start the 2nd. But Lake Orion would tie the game up at 21 on their 2nd possession of the 3rd quarter. Methodically passing the ball down the field, Delaura would find Jeremy Miller in the end-zone. Cass would respond to the pressure with a td of their own. Lewis would come up come up with 3 big receptions on the drive and one of them being a 29 td catch. Never count out the Dragons, slotback Corey Ester would sprint to end-zone for a 71 run to again tie the game so it appeared. The Dragons missed the pat which would’ve tied the game. Cass’ next drive would take them all the way to the Lake Orion 4 set up by a 26 yard rush from Weber. Cass would try to power the ball in but failed all three times. Coach Wilcher called a fake field goal trying to catch Lake Orion napping, but the Dragons were ready, stuffing Campbell back behind the line of scrimmage. Lake Orion desperate to get something going could not get a first down. Finally on 4th down Coach Bell decided to go for it and failed. Cass would take over on downs inside Lake Orion territory and Mike Weber went in from 10 yards out to seal the game. Lake Orion would have one final drive but could not do anything.
Final Score: Cass Tech 34 Lake Orion 27
Notes
I was impressed with multiple things in this game from Cass. Their passing game, Jayru Campbell was looking for that one game where he could say “I took it over.” Campbell went 10-13 for almost 200 yards in the effort with 2 passing and 1 rushing td. A great individual performance.
The running game. Cass has averaged about 300 yards on the ground all year. Recently Mike Weber has stepped in the playoffs. He had over 100 yards in the 4th quarter. A great sign for the green and white going into the championship game.
Finally the Defense. The Cass defense really showed their toughness throughout the game. For the most part they held a very solid Lake Orion ground game. Cass must do it again if they wish to beat Detroit Catholic Central, a team that loves to run the ball, in the championship.
Cass Tech vs. Lake Orion 2012
17 NovThe best game in my opinion in Michigan is Cass Tech vs. Lake Orion at Troy Athens High School. The very game was played in the 2010 state semi-finals. In that game, Cass had the ball inside the Lake Orion 10 yard line with under a minute left to play. Senior quarterback Keith Moore took the shotgun snap and was rolling to his left on an option play. Looking to pitch the ball to wideout Kishon Wilcher, a Dragon player came out of no where and hit Keith in his attempt to pitch the ball. The fumble was recovered by Lake Orion, sealing the game and sending the Dragons to Ford Field where they beat Plymouth for the Division 1 State Championship. This year Cass comes in with a different identity than the 2010 team. The 2010 Cass Tech team was called the “track team on turf” by some people, due to some of their players being under five foot nine. The 2012 Cass Tech team, is certainly just as fast as that team, but they are also bigger. The offensive line of Cass Tech is one of the best in the State of Michigan led by two 280 plus linemen David Dawson, and Michigan State commit Dennis Finley. These two will have to be on their game if Cass hopes to have success with Mike Weber and Gary Hosey in the running game. For Lake Orion, they just beat Macomb Dakota in the regionals last week by a score of 51-35. The Dragons have an explosive ground game. Running backs Jacob Miller and Christopher Leigh both had big games vs Dakota last week. One thing about the Dragons is that they call themselves a spread team but they are under center more times than they are in the shotgun. They love to send receivers in motion just about every play either handing the ball to them on a jet, or faking a handoff and giving it to a running back on a little belly play. This game will come down the execution for both teams. If Cass hopes to win, they must play solid defence especially in the running game. If they give up 300 or more yards on the ground, this game will go to Lake Orion. Lake Orion must establish the run game. The Dragons don’t throw the ball much, which could be a problem if they are trailing late in the game. In the end, Cass will get its revenge in the 2010 semi-finals sending them on a return trip to Ford Field.
Cass Tech: 28 Lake Orion: 24
Southfield 22 King 19
28 Oct
In a game where two teams meet in the opening week of the season, no one expects one team to beat another team twice in one season. But that was not the case for this pre-district contest between Southfield and King. This game was nail biter and no team in this game deserved to lose. The first quarter breezed by with both teams unable to put points on the board, but in the opening minutes of the 2nd quarter, Southfield qb Tre Walton scored on a td qb sneak to put the Blue Jays up 7-0. Later in the 2nd, Gerald Gates of Southfield scampered up the middle for a 30 yard td to put the Jays up 14-0. But the Crusaders would score on a Mycial Allen td to go into the lockers with a deficit of only seven. King would come out hot in the 2nd half. Avonte Maddox cut the Blue Jay lead to only one on a td run. Later in the 3rd, Northern Illinois recruit Mycial Allen hauled in a 77 yard td pass from Devaun Williams to give King the lead. That would be all the scoring for King the rest of the way. The Crusader defense did not allow a touchdown for the most of the 2nd half. But Southfield scored when they had to, on their last possession, Gerald Gates scored and Jeff Madison got the two to put Southfield on top by 3. King would drive all the way inside the Blue Jay 10, but a 4th down desperation pass from Devaun Williams would fall incomplete giving Southfield the win. King’s remarkable season finishes at 6-4, but not without a Detroit Public School League City Championship. The Blue Jays now move onto the district Championship to face Oak Park, winners of the OAA White Division. Who defeated Southfield 24-18 in week four of the season.
2012 MHSAA Playoff Teams from the PSL
23 OctCongratulations to all of the 2012 MHSAA State Playoff participants from the PSL. A good majority of the teams selected from the DPS could very well end up playing at Ford Field for the State Championships. Here are the six teams that qualified, their first round opponents and the start time for each game.
Cass Tech @ Grosse Pointe South (Friday 7:00 p.m.)
Cody @ Oak Park (Friday 6:00 p.m.)
King @ Southfield (Friday 4:30 p.m.)
Marysville @ East English Village (Friday 7:00 p.m.)
Central @ St. Clair (Saturday 7:00 p.m.)
Douglass @ Grosse Pointe University Ligget (Saturday 3:00 p.m.)
The Prep Ball Report 