No question about it

The High blasts Arthur Hill--again

25 February 2008
By Nick Brzezinski

greatlakeshoops.com

Saginaw--- Many called this the Class A State Championship game, and after the way Saginaw High played against Arthur Hill on Monday, the Trojans now have a clear path for a return trip to the Breslin Center to defend their championship after an 81-66 beatdown of crosstown rival Arthur Hill.

With a jammed packed Arthur Hill gymnasium, two of the top teams in the state squared off on opening night of district play and did not disappoint as both teams came ready to play early.

Saginaw High jumped out to a 19-14 lead after the first quarter using their full court press to cause many Lumberjack turnovers.

The second quarter was more of the same as the Trojans continued to cause more and more Lumberjack turnovers as they extended their lead to 16 at the half, 42-26.

The second half started off sluggish for both teams and Arthur Hill was not able to capitalize on the slow Trojan start as both teams scored 16 third quarter points and the score was 58-42.

Any hope Arthur Hill had of making a comeback was put to rest by Saginaw High as they opened up a 25-point lead midway through the fourth, as the Trojans continued to pressure the Lumberjacks into turnover after turnover.

Arthur Hill was able to make the score respectable in the end, but don’t be fooled; after the first quarter this game was all Saginaw High.

Draymond Green led Saginaw High with 29 points, scoring many down low but also showed off his outside touch as well early on in the game.
Mike Green hit four 3-pointers and finished with 19 points, Raymond Stepney had 14 points and Courtney Washington finished with 10 points.
Daniel West finished with only one point but ran the Trojan offense beautifully and for him to only score once and the team still play this way is very scary for the rest of the state.

Arthur Hill was led by Latreze Mushatt who finished his last game of a great career scoring 19 points. Tyree Wooten had 15 points and Mike Schaaf finished with 10 points, eight of those in the first quarter.

Game Notes
 

--When I arrived at 4:30 the line was already out the door, still with an hour before tip-off.

--You knew it was big when Mick McCabe of the Detroit Free Press was in the house.

--Many former players and coaches were there as well including current NFL Players LaMarr Woodley, Clifton Ryan, former coaches Dave Slaggert from Arthur Hill and Marshall Thomas from Saginaw High.

--Marquise Gray and Travis Walton of MSU were their supporting their future teammate, Draymond Green.

--Many coaches were there including former Seaton Hall Head Coach Louis Orr who is now the Head Coach at Bowling Green. Mark Montgomery from MSU as well as assistant coaches from CMU and Oakland were all there…there were more as well just didn’t recognize them all.

--Arthur Hill, which finished the season at 18-3, has nothing to be ashamed of; they did give Saginaw High their only loss and beat some very good teams along the way this season. It’s just hard to imagine one of these teams is done with their season on the first night at 7:00 p.m.

--Saginaw High will still have some tough matchups along the way to defend their crown but this was the major hurdle and they now have a pretty clear path to get back to the Breslin Center in a couple of weeks.

--After listening to Coach Izzo complain about turnovers the last couple weeks I am sure Arthur Hill head coach Greg McMath knows exactly how he feels. Saginaw High pressured the ball all night long and caused so many turnovers, I lost track. Coach Lou Dawkins of Saginaw High brings a lot of fire and has his kids working hard; if Arthur Hill can’t handle their pressure I just don’t see any other team in the state being able to. However, this is March Madness and anything can happen.

--Kudos to Saginaw Arthur Hill for hosting a huge game with no problems. They had plenty of staff and police help and everything was very smooth before, during and after the game. I was a little skeptical about playing such a huge game in a small gym after seeing previous districts held at Saginaw Heritage and Bay City Central, two larger gyms, but everything went well.