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DOWAGIAC - The orange sign in Dowagiac's student section with Dontel Highsmith's #3 said it was "Too Easy." No, kid. Basketball may be beautifully simple, but it's rarely easy. So there was no repeat of Highsmith's December 56-point game, no Wolverine Conference record, for Highsmith. A well-coached Three Rivers team made him work for everything and sometimes make him pay even if he did get it, before falling to what was likely Dowagiac's best overall team effort of the season 62-54.

Highsmith has rocketed up the rankings and coaches' recruiting lists thanks to the prolific December during which his explosive play eliminated concerns about what had been a lingering knee injury. That left him a healthy 6-2, 190-pound junior point guard whose playing resume is the strongest in the 2013 class, as it features a Class B state semifinal appearance and two years of national 17U AAU.

YPSI - Detroit Consortium continues to look like one of the top teams in the state, never mind Class C. They took out Chandler Park Academy and the state's best point guard, 63-52, Wednesday at Ypsilanti High. Two other "DCs" are state ranked, top 10 in Class B, and Detroit Crockett and Detroit Community did nothing to dissuade me they're that good. Crockett topped Milwaukee Marshall 64-45, while Community blew out Dearborn Heights Robichaud 60-35.

There's no better frontcourt in Michigan's than Consortium's. And that's without top 10 soph Justin Tillman, a 6-7 Willow Run transfer who unfortunately was no longer repping the polo shirt and tie bench wear. 6-6 senior Tre Tigner is a poor man's Cortney Scott; 6-6 senior Devondre Peoples makes the most of his minutes and is an impact defender; 6-8 senior Marin Mornar is taking a crash course in American basketball complete with dunks and technicals, scored 16, he'll be a bust out star in March; and 6-6 senior Vincent Hunter may wonder why the heck he's ranked behind Community's Bo Zeigler, after a familiar line of 16 points, 11 rebounds and three assists.