Sexton routs Owosso

Manual automatic against Trojans

By Colby Berthume and Michael Hendrick

11 January 2008

greatlakeshoops.com

Owosso - Speed kills. That was the lesson Owosso thought they would learn against Sexton. Instead, Owosso found out that rebounds kill every bit as much in their 76-53 loss to the Big Reds Friday night.

To start the game, Owosso used a 2-3 zone to stop the speed of the Big Reds. Unfortunately for the Trojans, Sexton used their speed to exploit the holes in the zone and cashed in on several offensive rebounds.

From the beginning tip, Owosso slowed the pace down with an offense that failed to be aggressive, and Sexton was in no hurry to bring Owosso out of their zone. Sexton seemed content with passing the ball around until they found an open shot.

Two minutes into the game the contest was still scoreless, but a series of fastbreak buckets eventually brought Sexton to a 9-2 lead.

6'5" Junior Drew Valentine jumped the passing lane and looked to excite the crowd with a fast break dunk, but Joe Blanchett was whistled for an intentional foul that resulted in a four point play for Sexton.

After Owosso calmed down and began to break Sexton's swarming press, they settled down for a few baskets from the half court offense. To end the quarter Blanchett hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 15-8.

With the home crowd of Owosso excited over the opening quarter, the Trojans came out ready to play.

Both teams exchanged buckets until Owosso senior Eric Bannan got three the hard way to cut the lead to five. The Trojans were also fueled by sophomore Brandon Dotson, scoring seven of his ten points and Cody Crites coming off the bench and forcing three turnovers.

Ultimately, the Trojans couldn't buy a rebound and Valentine and Nate Duhon made a living off put-backs in the paint. Sexton out-rebounded Owosso 16-4 and went into halftime with a 30-25 lead.

Coming out of the break, Sexton got a quick steal and easy bucket, but Bannan eventually scored to bring the Trojans to within three. It was the closest they had been all game.
 

Sexton finally went on a big run two minutes into the third when Owosso coach Dave Owens brought his team out in a 1-3-1 zone. Owens went to the zone in the hope of getting some rebounds, but Sexton exploited the weakness by hitting five 3-pointers in the third quarter and finishing with seven overall in the half.

The decision was a questionable one as Sexton could not miss an open shot in the third quarter. Deleon Dearing ignited the run by knocking down three straight jumpers and eventually scoring fourteen points in the second half.

By the end of the third it was 52-39 and Owosso never regained its composure. The team was deflated and the crowd was flat. All hope was soon diminished when in the fourth Sexton guard JaVaughn Manual threw down a fastbreak dunk that sapped every bit of energy Owosso had left. The dunk was an exclamation point on what seemed to be a quiet game-high of 22 points for Manual.

"I didn't come in here expecting to be the game leader; but, we do play team ball and that's why I expected all five starters to score at least double-digits," said Manual. "That dunk was pretty special, though, it was only my third of the season and I always get excited to make plays like that."

Game and Player Notes

--Player of the game: Senior guard JaVaughn Manuel of Sexton scored 22 points. 17 of his points came in the second half and it seemed every time Owosso would attempt to make a game of it, he would hit another big shot.

--Play of the game: Manuel's HARD fourth quarter dunk, which even drew some "oohs and aahs" from the Owosso fans.

--Runner-up play: Nic Jenc's tip pass to Justin Carsten which resulted in an easy lay- up for Owosso. The basket cut the lead to 39-34 midway through the third quarter. The five-point margin was as close as Owosso would get the rest of the way.

--Sexton is one of the most athletic teams in the state. If they are capable of shooting the ball from deep as well they did tonight in the second half, they will be nearly unbeatable. They connected on eight triples tonight, including seven in the second half.

--Owosso seemed to play with passion tonight and held their own with the soon-to-be state ranked Big Reds for the first 23 minutes of the ball game. Owosso cut the deficit to eight and had possession of the ball with 45 seconds left in the third quarter. But, a pair costly turnovers led directly to a quick five points for Sexton. Owosso never really threatened again.

--Sexton's Drew Valentine is the real deal. Tonight may have belonged to Manuel, but Drew still showed why he is a division one prospect. He is the focal point of the Sexton offense and can play all five position on the floor. He finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds, while altering numerous
Owosso shots on the defensive end.

--Great coaching move by Coach Carlton Valentine to start Deleon Dearing in the 2nd half. Dearing hit some huge shots in the 3rd quarter and made Owosso change out of their 2-3 zone that stymied Sexton in the first half. He scored 14 points, all coming after the intermission.

--Dunell Murchinson sure can play some lock-down defense. He held Owosso's Eric Bannan to nine points and made him work for every shot. There is a reason Murchinson is on the all defensive team each season for GLH.

--Cody Crites and Joe Merlo were two Trojans tonight that held their own against Sexton. The two only combined for five points, but on the defensive end is where their presence was felt. Merlo seemed to be the only Owosso player that could match Valentine's athleticism. Crites, despite only being 6'1", was ripping down rebounds all night for the Trojans. He finished with nine boards and proved to be Owosso's only consistent rebounder. Some Owosso players seemed to be timid but these two showed no signs of intimidation.

--The Mid-Michigan Lakers very own, Joe Blanchett, led Owosso in scoring tonight. Joe finished with 11 points. Justin Carsten had 10 points down low despite giving up many inches to the taller frontline of Sexton. Back-up point guard Brandon Dotson also finished with 10 points on an array of drives and pull-up jumpers. All three are sophomores and were the top three scorers for the Trojans tonight. The future seems to be bright for Owosso.