TROY – Rivals Troy and visiting Athens got in just enough softball Friday evening for the Red Hawks’ 9-3 victory to go into the books.

The first game of the planned doubleheader may not have even counted, but the pitching settled in and allowed both teams to roll through the fourth and fifth innings before lightning was registered, and the monsoon followed soon thereafter.

A less experienced Colts team did well to hold their rivals off the board in four trips to the plate, but the Red Hawks feasted for all of their runs in the third inning after Delilah Warlick doubled, then scored off an error to initially put Troy ahead in the bottom of the first.

Addison Pokley legged out a triple to get the big third started for Athens, then Angie Leonard singled in Pokley prior to an inside-the-park home run by Leah Dahlerup, giving the Red Hawks a 3-1 lead. Later in the inning, Dahlerup hit a two-out, bases-clearing double that scored Pokley, Casey McCoy and Addison Cosgrove. Between the pair of extra-base hits by Dahlerup, Cosgrove also had a single to left-center that drove in Sommer Swanson and Molly LaBay.

Following nearly three full frames thrown by Kylie Zoll, Athens turned in relief to Angie Leonard, its ace who the Red Hawks relied on in their run to a district title last season, and she struck out four in her 2 2/3 innings of scoreless work.

“Angie’s just a really consistent pitcher, and Kylie started off the game game really well,” Athens head coach Alina Kirtland said. “(Kylie) put us in a good position where Angie could come in and finish strong for us, so both of our pitchers did a great job of taking care of business.”

Dahlerup, just a freshman, finished just a triple short of the cycle, while Swanson drew three walks and LaBay ended 2-3 at the plate for the Red Hawks, who snapped a three-game losing streak.

“It’s just being aggressive and looking for specific strikes that we like, making sure that we’re swinging at our ideal pitches,” Kirtland said. “The girls have been working on discipline at the plate, as well as throwing their hands at the ball, and I think that they’re progressing with that real nicely.”

Warlick finished with two of the Colts’ three hits, improving her team-best average to .600 on the season.

“Delilah’s a tremendous athlete, one of our best players,” Colts head coach Laura Guzman said. “She’s a captain, same thing with Emily Bultynck, she’s starting to come alive, too, and we kind of go as they go.

“This year has definitely been a rebuilding year. We have girls, you know, our skill levels are all over the place. It’s pretty much half my basketball team playing softball. I think they came out with a lot of energy. We were able to score first, we were chipping away at it. The effort was good. But Athens is good. Their pitching is decent, Pokley’s fantastic, (Cosgrove) is good. But I thought we did OK.”

The Red Hawks are now 4-7 in their first year under Kirtland, herself a standout first baseman less than a decade ago for Athens. “It’s amazing, super humbling, and I’m glad they trust me with the program,” she said.

Kirtland confirmed that she and Guzman had plans to reschedule the second game between the teams somewhere down the road.

Until then, the Colts have a pair of games Monday in Pontiac against Notre Dame Prep, while the Red Hawks travel for a doubleheader with Farmington the day after.

The OAA produced a pair of regional finalists last season in Seaholm and Rochester.

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the conference produce more district champions this spring after several of the OAA’s top programs ran into other top state contenders early on in the postseason. Pitching remains strong amongst some of the best teams within the county.

Here’s a look at the OAA programs heading into the 2025 season. (Note: Some information was provided by coaches, and not all coaches submitted.)

Avondale

Head coach: James Swanson

Last year’s record: 8-26

Overview: First-year head coach Swanson brings youth and excitement to the program. He’s aiming to leverage the team’s speed. Top talents for the Yellow Jackets include Rochester College commit Joseph Arends (SS/P, Sr.), Braylin Grandberry (CF/P, Jr.), Avery Prentice (IF/P, Jr.) and Natheer Huskic (1B/P, Sr.).

Berkley

Head coach: Todd Dunfield

Last year’s record: 18-17

Overview: The program turns to Dunfield after Matt Rawlik stepped back to take on the role of AD at Berkley. A Seaholm grad who played at Albion in college, the biggest players Dunfield will have to replace are Logan Field and Ben Streetman (Henry Ford CC). Reed Reynolds and Brayden Kubicki are among the starting arms the Bears will count on this spring. Spencer Bajcz is one of Berkley’s best bats within the heart of the order.

Birmingham Groves

Head coach: Shawn Morrison

Last year’s record: 25-14

Returning starters: Returning starters: Johnny Bedell (IF/P, Sr.), Tyler Bronczyk (OF/P, Sr.), Benji Cook (OF/P, Sr.), Josh Gibson (OF, Sr.), Xan Scheinfield (OF/P, Jr.), Sebastian Shorter (SS/P, Jr.), Carlos Smith (C/P, So.), Jack Stillwagon (1B, Sr.), Hunter Tengler (IF/P, Sr.), Michael West (IF/P, So.)

Overview: Speedy Steven Whitted (Wayne State) and Jake Rossenwasser are several of the key players to replace for the Falcons. Just a sophomore, West already looks to be one of the team’s better bats, and should lot his share of important innings, along with Bronczyk and Tengler. “I think we’ve got guys that really have taken ownership of the team this year,” Morrison said. “Their heads are where their feet are, and I think overall that’s going to put us in a pretty good position to battle for a league and district championship at the end.”

Birmingham Seaholm

Head coach: Steve Oshinski

Last year’s record: 24-11

Overview: Oshinski will rely on a new batch of players after graduating a nucleus that won a combined 50 games the past two seasons. That new group includes Ozzie Borman (2B), Ryan Pfeiffer (P/OF), Steve Schneider (OF), Myles Henderson (1B), Cobie Early (INF/OF) Shawn Moore (P), and “No. 1 hype man” Owen Tyranski. Otherwise, infielder Brandon Gottesman should step in as an impact bat, and the tandem of Patrick Hughes and Dylan Layer will be counted upon by the Maples on the bump as well.

Bloomfield Hills

Head coach: Greg Fettes

Last year’s record: 18-17

Overview: The good news was that the Black Hawks had home field advantage in districts last season. Unfortunately, the opened the postseason against Brother Rice. More good news is that Bloomfield Hills has a new head coach with a winning pedigree in Fettes, who led Bishop Foley to a state title not so long ago. He’ll have a good staff to work with in senior Sawyer Cooney (Xavier), junior Hunter Farbman and senior Tyler Marx. Fettes has a couple of good bats that will be around for a couple of years also in junior 3B/OF Drew Harst and sophomore IF Ethan Franklin.

Clarkston

Head coach: Addison Turk

Last year’s record: 13-22

Overview: Dylan Johnston and Camden Williamson combined to throw over 11 scoreless innings last postseason for Clarkston, who won a playoff game against Fenton before bowing out against Oxford. Johnston, who hit a walk-off single in that district win, is back as one of the Wolves’ top arms with Chris York, TJ Hyde and Gavin Bond. Along with Lucas DeBell, Paul, Johnston and York will try to provide Clarkston with offense at the top of the lineup.

Farmington

Head coach: Charles Colding

Last year’s record: 13-20

Returning starters: Vincent Pesci (SS, Jr.), Andrew Pahnke (1B/P, Jr.), Jayden Essary (3B/OF, Jr.), John Lynem (OF/P, Jr.), Brady Irvin (1B/P, So.), Carter O’Driscoll (P, So.), Ben Holmes (P, Jr.), Carson Drake (P, Jr.)

Strengths: Hitting

Overview: Speedy infielder Owen Matteson is one of the key players Farmington will have to replace. The Falcons return another key middle infielder in Pesci, an All-OAA Honorable Mention, while Essary will be one of the team’s other best bats. Pahnke is one of the team’s best arms; he struck out 59 batters in 41 frames as a sophomore. It’s a young team (one senior) that will add some more talented youth in sophomore SS/OF JJ Dail and freshman 1B/OF/LHP Anderson Axe and to help Farmington take a step forward.

Ferndale

Head coach: Christopher Bailey

Last year’s record: 2-16

Overview: It’s nowhere to go but up for the Eagles and their first-year head coach in Bailey. They return their top hitter in senior Jaylin Dennard, who batted .429 with four doubles and triples each last season, all team-highs. Senior Cullen Hock also returns as one of the team’s main threats on the base paths. Dennard and Mason Shaltis, another senior, started the majority of games in 2024, so continuity will help.

Lake Orion

Head coach: Andrew Schramek

Last year’s record: 23-12

Overview: Southpaw Kael Gahan mowed down batters last year for the Dragons and is now off at Duke, while Ryan McCartan (Saginaw Valley State) is also a loss to graduation. Still, Lake Orion returns four starters, as well as a handful of pitchers that include Jackson Gilbert and Sam Beemer, who should keep the Dragons in plenty of games against some of the league’s top teams.

North Farmington

Head coach: James Malkovich

Last year’s record: 5-27

Overview: The Raiders should approach or surpass double-digit wins after a tough 2024 campaign. They lose Josh Brenner to graduation, but bring back juniors Rashad Travis and Josh Shelby as well as sophomore Jayden Glinz. Infielder Kyle Pierce was a good bat at the top of the order as a freshman last season and will attempt to set the table along with junior catcher Amare Christian, and senior Seth Cohen, who will also throw for North Farmington.

Oak Park

Head coach: Darryl Allen

Last year’s record: N/A

Overview: Freshman Rashad Palmer looks like he’ll get one of the trusted arms for Oak Park. He’ll be a top bat in the order, as is senior Tryce Davis, who can mash as well. Other senior starters include Omari Pointer, along with Darian and Dorian Moss.

Oxford

Head coach: David Herrick

Last year’s record: 20-17

Returning starters: Parker Bennion (P, Sr.), Eli Carpenter (OF/P, Sr.), Jack Hendrix (IF, Jr.), Max Lovins (C, Sr.), Dean Rice (OF/P, Sr.)

Overview: The Wildcats got right at the end of last year and ran off a win streak of 11 in a row, including a district victory over Clarkston. Hendrix is one of the leading returning hitters after a .378 average with 15 RBIs as a sophomore. Carpenter, Hendrix and Rice (29 IP, 3.37 ERA) were among the top handful in innings-getters for Oxford last spring.

Rochester

Head coach: Eric Magiera

Last year’s record: 24-16

Returning starters: Sean Fox (3B, Sr.), Dominic Gadlage (IF/P, Sr.), Andrew Scott (OF, Jr.), Jacob Scott (OF, Jr.), Jake Norton (SS, Sr.)

Overview: Don’t pay too much attention to Rochester’s record from last season. The Falcons got healthy late, then went on a seven-game winning streak that included a district championship and resulted in a run to the regional finals. The JTs (Sawyer and Youngblood) graduated, but talent remains. Fox, an Ohio U commit, set the school’s single-season home run record last year with nine. Gadlage (Kalamazoo Valley CC) is a top hitter, and like Norton (Lansing CC), he provides good defense. The Scott twins are base-stealing threats that can cause havoc, too.

Rochester Adams

Head coach: Andy Lamkin

Last year’s record: 13-15

Overview: A competitive schedule that included non-conference games against Brother Rice, quarterfinalist Okemos and semifinalist Bay City Western paid off for Adams, though the Highlanders fell short in the district final to rival Rochester. Ryland and Flip Watters can swing it, as can Matt Toeppner and Luke Borowski. That football arm of Ryland will be used on the hill, where he’ll be joined by starters Jack Durand, Drew Szymanski and Drew Stitzel. Expect the Highlanders to improve on their win total from last spring even with a similarly competitive set of opponents.

Royal Oak

Head coach: Brett Borrocci

Last year’s record: 16-10

Overview: This will be the first year Borrocci with the Ravens, whose moderate successes included winning three league series last spring. A number of Royal Oak’s top arms and bats graduated, but junior Jack Groya is one of the arms that comes back and he should help contribute when he steps in the box, too. Senior infielders Silas Burbridge Parker Lassner appear to be two of the better bats back for the Ravens.

Southfield A&T

Head coach: Jamal Womble

Last year’s record: 5-19

Overview: Pitching was a struggle for the Warriors last season, but they ended the year on a high note by scoring a 17-2 win over Renaissance in the playoffs. Derrick Lee and Kevin Hanyes, who tied for tops on the squad in average at .364, have both graduated, but junior Kaleib Norman (.312 BA in ’24) led the team in RBIs with 20 as a sophomore. Some good news for the pitching is that Norman also boasted the second-best ERA of all the Warriors’ arms last year.

Stoney Creek

Head coach: Paul Diegel

Last year’s record: 17-19

Overview: Diegel takes over for Clint Rodger this season. Evan Woodard graduated and moves on to hurl innings at Saginaw Valley State, but juniors Anthony Voikos and Caleb Helms will look to pick up where he left off. Outfielder Jacob Champine and catcher Collin Lott will be several of the key bats for Stoney.

Troy

Head coach: Joe D’Orazio

Last year’s record: 25-9

Returning starters: Cam Adams (IF/P, Jr.), Miles Carter (OF, Sr.), Davey Crockett (OF, Sr.), Gabe Geisner (C, Jr.), Ethan Hucal (1B/P, Sr.), Trevor Marshall (P, Sr.), Carson Noon (SS/P, Sr.), Jack Sobotka (IF/P, Jr.)

Overview: Jon Whiteside, who pitched a complete game shutout in the playoffs last season and threw in Troy’s other postseason win, has graduated. But Sobotka is the Colts’ other primary returning arm, and he’ll be complimented by others, including Nick Aretha and Adams. Carter brings XBH power in the order, as do Noon and Sobotka. Additionally, a solid freshman class should aid the Colts in their OAA White quest.

Troy Athens

Head coach: Mike Morris

Last year’s record: 25-7

Returning starters: Macklin Ciurla (OF/P, So.), Sam Link (1B/P, Sr.), Cole Cosgrove (2B/P, So.), Derek Smith (3B/P, Jr.), Nick Rossi (OF/P, Sr.), Joe Morelli (OF/P, Sr.), Andrew Cermak (C, Sr.) and Matthew Schriber (1B, Sr.)

Strengths: Deep pitching staff and strong senior leaders

Overview: Brody Fahnestock (Oakland) and Joel Botardo (Kalamazoo Valley CC) are key players that Morris has to replace, but at least in the case of Fahnestock, the Red Hawks have a ton of arms left in the tank. They’ll look to replicate the good runs of form they put together from last season, including a 13-game winning streak early in the slate, as Athens competes in the OAA Red.

West Bloomfield

Head coach: Josh Birnberg

Last year’s record: 32-8

Returning starters: Brody Pikur (OF/P, Sr.), Logan Scheidt (C, So.), Stevie Fountain (1B/P, Sr.), Cam Laflamme (OF/P, Sr.), Slade Moore (OF/P, Sr.), Brady Scheidt (SS/P, Sr.)

Strengths: Pitching staff

Overview: Someone had to come out of last year’s district between Brother Rice and West Bloomfield. The Lakers won’t have that problem this season (and host their district), but they’re just as well-equipped to emerge regardless. The team might be able to claim the best starter duo in the state in LHP Moore (Michigan) and RHP Fountain (Michigan State), while Laflamme and Brady Scheidt are real good arms behind those two, also. Fountain and Pikur have long-ball potential in their sticks, while LaFlamme and Logan Scheidt should help fill out an order that has some production to replace. There’s potential for this team to make a deep run.

TROY – The newly opened complex with turf fielding at Troy allowed the Colts and Dakota to get in a nine-inning contest Saturday afternoon that the Cougars took, 13-3.

Dakota improved to 3-0 on the early season thanks a quartet that produced quality innings and two big frames of offense.

“We had a plan going in about who we were gonna throw and play, and got it worked out where everybody a little playing time, got some swings and some pitching,” Cougars head coach Angelo Plouffe said when asked about how the plan changed when the teams opted for a longer game over the originally scheduled doubleheader due to a delay with rainfall. “We’ve got a lot of good arms and we’ve got to get them throwing, and it waws fun to watch them throw today.”

The Cougars deployed Josh Geill, Chase Thornton, Landon Leidlein and James Neucterlien, who all tossed at least two complete innings and combined for 17 strikeouts.

“I thought our pitchers competed,” Troy head coach Joe D’Orazio said. “A lot of young guys, first time throwing today for varsity experience. Some of them did compete, we’ve just got to learn that against really, really good teams, one pitch can make the difference. And I think overall, too, a lot of it was guys not being aggressive enough up there hitting-wise. I thought we didn’t swing the bat that well today at all, so that’s probably where most of the frustration comes in. Because some of these guys are getting some opportunities to kind of showcase if they want to be in that lineup in (league play), and some of them kind of didn’t swing the bat much.”

Dakota’s bats got off beginning with Andrew Borowicz’s RBI single into left with runners at the corners to open the scoring in the top of the second, and Evan Morrison drove one in as well in the third inning to make it 2-0. But the Cougars began to break it open in the fourth as Jacob Gjonaj and Borowicz walked, then Luke Kavalick was hit by a pitch before Braylon Ryan stepped up and drove a 1-0 offering over the fence in right field for a grand slam that made it 6-0.

“Honestly, I was just looking for the ball up in the zone,” Ryan said. “He was throwing a lot of off-speeds, changeups, curveballs. I got a fastball that I could drive, and that was it. It was gone. It was actually my first home run on varsity. Very exciting.”

Colts junior Jack Sobotka pulled it back to 7-2 with a two-out, two-run single up the middle in the bottom of the fifth that helped give the home side a chance, but Troy remained behind by five going into a ninth inning that Dakota’s bats made another long one. Leidlein, Dylan Beitelshees and Michael Ross all drove in runs in the final frame to help the Cougars seal the deal.

Morrison ended the day with a team-high three hits for the Cougars, who had a dozen on the afternoon.

Coleton Steward, Carlos Aguierre and Noah Ordway had the other hits for Troy, who came into the day 4-0. Their 5-4 win over Utica to open the season back on March 19 also served as the Colts’ first game in their new digs.

“We had a bond pass about two years ago, and this is all brand new and the first year on turf, so that’s kind of why we had to push back (the start) a little bit,” D’Orazio said. “This morning, we weren’t really sure how it would handle all that rain, but it’s done a pretty nice job. We’re pretty blessed to have this.”

Photos from Macomb Dakota vs. Troy in D1 baseball action

Despite some frustration with the bats Saturday, D'Orazio still welcomed the challenge that the Cougars, a regional finalist last year and a Final Four team the season before, brought. "They're a very good team, probably one of the better ones in the state, and it's what we're about here, trying to play the best competition," he said. "It's a great task for us, especially going into next week against a tough West Bloomfield team. That's why we had it on the schedule. Kids battled today, but we came up short."

A stellar staff that includes arms like Luke DeMasse and Ryan Petrovich believing that the Cougars can get back to East Lansing at spring's end. If they do, Dakota will also be tested by seeing some of the state's best. After already beating West Bloomfield, some more top arms should be on deck when the Cougars face Brother Rice and Novi in the coming days.

"You want to see the best pitchers," Plouffe said. "Last year, we lost (in regionals) to one of the better pitchers in the state, Brennan Hill from Grosse Pointe North, and he's going to Michigan for a reason. The more kids we see that are plus arms, it's going to make us better. Win, lose or draw, we see those guys, and at the end, we have to learn how to beat them when the tournament comes."

Dakota put up a handful of runs in the fourth inning, then did so again in the ninth to help secure a 13-3 win at Troy on Saturday, April 5, 2025.

ROYAL OAK – The host Royal Oak Ravens scored in the opening minute and rolled to a 3-0 win over the Novi Wildcats Tuesday night.

Kaitlyn Eberhardt got behind everyone to slot a shot into the empty net just 53 seconds into the game and stake the Ravens to an early lead.

After a rough start, the Wildcats settled into the game, and the teams went back and forth without creating many chances. Royal Oak had the better of play, but it wasn’t until the final minute of the opening half that the Ravens scored again as Reagan Mason tapped in a cross from in tight to double the advantage before halftime.

Novi’s best chances came in the second half, but Ravens goalie Kayla Faulkner came up big when needed, particularly with a pair of quick leaping saves midway through the second half. Eventually, the Ravens added another goal, the final one coming by Alexis Zimmy to close things out.

Overall, Royal Oak’s offense looked to be in midseason form despite this being their first game of the season.

“We’ve got tons of speed on this team, and they mesh really well,” Ravens head coach Melissa VanGorden said. “The team itself has really come together. We’ve really build a culture to get everybody to play for ‘we’ before ‘me’ type of mentality. I think everyone is stepping up into roles that they know they can perform well in. So we’re mixing it up and going out there and having fun.”

Novi goalie Riley Boujoulian made six saves for the Wildcats, who are still putting things together due to injuries and availability. The Wildcats were missing a handful of players Tuesday night and had a different lineup from last week’s win over Livonia Stevenson that opened their spring.

“We have a little bit of a younger team and a lot of injuries, and I think things sped up for us,” Wildcats assistant coach Ken Fenchel said. “I think it’s just getting used to everything all at once, early-season stuff, and it’s stuff that now we have a chance to work on it and get better the rest of the year.”

Photo gallery of Novi vs. Royal Oak in girls soccer action

Royal Oak (1-0), who won its playoff opener last season over Ferndale before losing to regional finalist Troy, has a scrimmage on Wednesday before taking quite a bit of time off. The Ravens’ next official game is not until after spring break when they travel to Clarkston to open up OAA White play on April 8.

“I think it was a good game for us to start with and come out strong. We know Novi is talented. They have a lot of good players,” VanGorden said.

Novi (1-1) hosts Swartz Creek on Thursday before going on spring break as well.

“I think we had a little bit better second half. We changed some things around, and it gave us a chance to improve, and we’ll try it again on Thursday,” Fenchel said. “Overall, I was happy that we got going a bit and that we stuck with it,” he added.

EAST LANSING – With stellar defending and a raucous crowd from just two miles down the road from the Breslin Center, East Lansing defeated defending D1 state champion Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 51-44 in Friday afternoon’s semifinal.

The points allowed by the Trojans marked the fewest the Eaglets have scored in a game this season. Previously, they had only failed to hit the 50-point barrier this season twice, both in wins, and even when the two teams played in East Kentwood back on Jan. 11, East Lansing won 69-68. That game was played without Eaglets senior and recently named Mr. Basketball Trey McKenney.

“We knew we could beat this team,” Trojans head coach Ray Mitchell said. “That’s no disrespect to Orchard Lake St. Mary’s. We beat them early in the year. Of course, they didn’t have Trey. We felt we matched up really well with these guys.

“If you check our scores, you’ll see we hold most of our opponents to a season low … I truly feel we’re the best defensive team in the state. Our issue was on the offensive end.”

Luckily for the Trojans, their work on the opposite end meant they didn’t need much offense in that fourth quarter, where they held St. Mary’s to 3 of 13 shooting in the fourth quarter, and limited the Eaglets to just 32.7% overall on the day.

Opening the fourth up 37-36, St. Mary’s senior Sharod Barnes scored 34 seconds into the quarter to make it 39-36. But East Lansing junior guard KJ Torbert Jr., the best player before halftime, knocked down two free throws, then sophomore guard Kingston Thomas sparked the Trojans with three consecutive buckets, altogether putting East Lansing up by five with 3:25 left.

“Any one of us can go on a run and get buckets,” said Thomas, who finished with 12 points to go with a team-high seven boards. “I knew it was my time, shots were falling for me, everything was going good.”

All the while, St. Mary’s turned it over once and missed four shots in a row during that span, finally getting it back to within three on McKenney’s layup from an inbounds dish with three minutes remaining.

St. Mary’s, though, went on and missed two shots inside, then a 3-pointer the following possession that could have tied it up with a little under two minutes to go. From there, Jayden Savoury fouled out by picking up two personals within 18 seconds of one another, the second of which was probably required from at least one Eaglet in order to prevent East Lansing from dwindling out time.

Senior JL Branson hit his pair of free throws from the second of those fouls that made it 46-41, but McKenney responded by coming off a screen to knock down a wing 3-pointer with 41 seconds left.

That turned out to be the last of the scoring for the Eaglets (20-7). Senior Cameron Hutson (Saint Louis) hit a pair of free throws with 30 seconds remaining, then McKenney and Barnes were unable to connect from deep in front of the St. Mary’s bench. The latter of those missed 3-pointers led to numbers in transition for East Lansing, and also a technical foul on the Eaglets for preventing an easy bucket.

Torbert split his pair of free throws resulting from the tech, then Thomas made two more with 10 seconds left to ice the game.

“It wasn’t our best night, but that has a lot to do with East Lansing,” St. Mary’s head coach Todd Covert said. “It was a few bounces here … The ball bounced the wrong way if you’re us, the right way for them. I was telling (assistant coach Brad Crighton), if I’d told you tell we’d hold them to 47, 48 points, or whatever it was at the end, I’d have thought we were in good shape.”

McKenney led all scorers with 21 points, though it came on 7-of-18 field-goal attempts. He attempted nine 3-pointers, accounting for the only three the Eaglets made on 16 total tries from the outside.

“They played somewhat good defense,” said McKenney, who led the Eaglets with seven rebounds, one more than Savoury. “I (usually) hit those types of shots, and I didn’t tonight, and that was the outcome of the game.”

Branson, who plays AAU ball with McKenney on The Family, was tasked with the state’s top senior and did arguably as well as anyone else assigned with him all season.

“(Trey’s) hard to guard,” said Branson, who has been playing with him since before high school. “The offense runs through him. (I thought) if I was able to stop him, we would be able to win the game … I watched film on his moves, studied all that stuff.”

Mitchell called Branson the best defender in the state. “I don’t care who wants to argue that,” Mitchell said. “This man is is incredible. We’re not here without him. We don’t win this game without him.”

They don’t win it without Torbert, either. The son of the former Michigan State standout and 2001 Mr. Basketball (Kelvin Sr.) only cemented his status as a top talent himself with 14 points in the first half. Three of those came as part of back-to-back 3-pointers by he and Hutson that gave East Lansing (27-1) its first lead with 3:52 left in the half, a torrid comeback after St. Mary’s jumped out to a 12-2 advantage to start the day.

“(KJ) does that every game,” Mitchell said of Torbert, who finished with 19 points and six rebounds. “This man is a bucket. All our guys can go, but he’s our leading scorer and we play through him. We expect that from him. When he hit that one, I’m trying to get it to him again, because I know he has the eye of the tiger … You guys better keep an eye on this dude. I truly believe he’s the best junior in the state.”

Those aforementioned threes occurred as part of a 10-0 run in the second quarter during which the Eaglets went just over three minutes without scoring. That drought ended thanks to a pair of makes from free-throw line by Barnes and a 3-pointer by McKenney, but Torbert replied with a triple of his own to give the Trojans a one-point lead going into intermission.

Regarding his familiarity with shooting at the Breslin Center thanks to his proximity and lineage, Torbert said, “I’ve been shooting here since I was a little kid. Getting to play and make shots on this court is like a dream come true.”

Barnes, who ended with 11 points and a game-high four steals, complimented Torbert, saying, “He’s super athletic, super quick, fast. I knew it’d be a challenge (guarding him) coming in. He’s gotten way better over the years.”

Photo gallery of Orchard Lake St. Mary’s vs. East Lansing in a D1 boys hoops semifinal

Savoury ended with eight points, while Luke Crighton and Isaiah Hines both scored two points to round out the scoring by the Eaglets, whose bench didn't attempt any shots. The other son of a Spartan, Mateen Cleaves Jr., logged nine minutes, the only significant time by a St. Mary's reserve.

Hutson had nine points for the Trojans, who will meet Wayne Memorial in Saturday's D1 final after the Zebras defeated Flint Carman-Ainsworth in the game that followed St. Mary's and East Lansing.

Eight players, including Barnes and McKenney, will graduate for St. Mary's. Covert termed their legacy "unbelievable."

"We're an airball away (in the quarterfinals against De La Salle) from being here four years (in a row)," Covert said. "I know it's been done before, but not too many times. Trey's a generational talent. I don't care what happened today, whether we won or lost today or tomorrow. He's a generational kid. Sharod's effort, the culture he brought to the program ... These two young men, along with our other seniors, that's how you set a culture. That's how you get a standard at a school."