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A lot of Detroit Pershing Doughboys must have thought the 3,000+ fans at Lansing Eastern's Don Johnson Fieldhouse were there to see them play. That must have been why they never returned a pass to the one of the two main attractions, future Spartan Keith Appling, jacking up three-pointer after three-pointer just like it was drawn up by Birmingham Country Day and its multiple zone defenses. Luckily there was a tremendous back-and-forth between Appling and Ray McCallum to give the fans they show they wanted, as Country Day, No. 1 in Class B, beat Pershing, No. 2 in Class A, 81-72. Pershing trailed at the half, 42-25, but got back into the game with newfound defensive intensity keyed by Appling. But County Day regained the momentum at the end of the third quarter thanks to an outrageous show from McCallum who scored 10 straight points. He may be a smart player and coach's son, but Ray is also an explosive athlete. On the final three buckets of that flurry, the Country Day senior made Appling disappear on an up-and-under move in the lane; crossed over for a dipsy-doo layup around Appling; then dropped a step-back three-pointer over him as the period expired.
To Appling's credit, he showed doubters he could defend, checking McCallum for most of the game. Other than that third-quarter barrage, McCallum was 5-of-10 from the field and was stripped twice by Appling in the fourth quarter. McCallum finished with 24 points. Appling scored 22. Unlike McCallum, he didn't have the chance to go at his rival one-on-one. When Country Day was man-to-man, the Yellowjackets but their best defender, 6-0 junior Chris Fowler, on the state finals record holder. In the second half Country Day, playing without 6-10 junior Amir Williams, threw multiple zones at Pershing to swallow up any would-be penetration by Appling. He passed willingly, getting five assists, but rarely saw the ball back once he did. Apparently ball reversals and feeding the high posts or short corners are anathema to the Doughboys, who went playground and shot away myriad offensvie opportunities. Pershing obviously still misses 2009 Mr. Basketball Derrick Nix. Country Day, meanwhile, is a better team for the matriculation of its two big men, DaShonte Riley and Donnovan Kirk. Similar to when Country Day won a state championship in 2007 despite the transfer of star Alex Legion, this group maybe isn't as talented but is a winning squad because of toughness, character and the defense from guys like Fowler and 6-5 junior Kenny Knight. Then when you still have a superstar, who plays like one, in McCallum, and the Jackets will be tough to beat in Class B. |
