Smith’s 3-pointer extends De La Salle season
Tasked with following U-D Jesuit’s thrilling victory over the Brother Rice Warriors, Tuesday’s regional basketball semifinal between the host De La Salle Pilots and Detroit Martin Luther King Jr. Crusaders lived up to the billing and then some.
Sophomore guard Nino Smith buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key as time expired to give De La Salle a 53-51 victory.
One of three Pilots to reach double figures, Smith finished with 12 points, while senior team captain Linden Holder and fellow sophomore Triston Nichols added 16 and 10, respectively.
Junior Chansey Willis, Jr. totaled a game-high 21 for the Crusaders.
With the win, De La Salle improved to 9-3 and will battle U-D Jesuit (11-0) in Thursday’s regional final. As you would expect with conference foes, these two programs are well-versed with one another, as the Cubs narrowly topped the Pilots, 66-64, on March 11.
Detroit King wraps up their campaign at 9-2.
Tied at 22 at the intermission, De La Salle held a slight cushion for much of the second half, leading, 38-34, after three quarters.
The Crusaders moved in front, 49-48, with 2:10 to play on 3-pointer by senior Gelil Ward, who finished with eight points.
Continuing to hold a one-point advantage, 5150 at this point, Detroit King had a chance to extend their lead to two or even three with Ward at the line for a one-and-one with 21.8 seconds remaining. He missed the first, however, leaving the Pilots with only one point to overcome.
After the teams traded timeouts, De La Salle inbounded the basketball for the final time with 6.8 seconds left, which eventually found its way to Smith, who was mobbed by his teammates after sinking the season-saving shot.
“Today wasn’t about X’sand-O’s, really, it was about just believing and believing our pace and our focus, and our intensity was going to get us through,” Pilots firstyear coach Gjon Djokaj said.
“Just doing what we do for 32 minutes, our zone is hard to duplicate, it’s hard to replicate, it’s one of
the hardest-playing zones around, and I just felt if we were able to do that, we could wear them down and win a grind-it-out-type of game, which Coach (George T.) Ward is known for, but, fortunately, that’s what we’re good at, too.
“We either wanted to go away from what we do or stick with what we do and see who could do it better today. We only had to do it better today, and I thought we did enough. Both teams deserved to win, but I’m just happy we did.”
While Smith’s shot will, deservedly, dominate the headlines, Holder was the steadying force for De La Salle, taking care of the primary ball-handling duties and seemingly coming up with a bucket whenever his team needed one to recapture momentum.
“If we talk about Linden Holder right now, I’ll probably get emotional,” Djokaj said. “He’s the hardestworking kid I’ve ever been around, I wouldn’t be surprised if he pulls that gun out tonight and gets some shots up.
“He’s very similar to another kid I coached, Gabe Brown at Michigan State, just absolutely loves the gym, loves the game, and he’s our leader, he’s our spiritual leader. He was a unanimously voted captain, first one I’ve ever had, where every single kid voted him No. 1 on the chart, as far as a captain. He’s the heart and soul of our basketball program, but more than that, he’s a leader in our community, a leader in our school, and just an A1 kid.”
Thursday’s tilt with U-D Jesuit will be De La Salle’s first trip to the regional championship game since the 2017-18 season, when the Pilots topped Dakota before falling to the eventual champion Clarkston Wolves in the state semifinals at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
Girls basketball
L’Anse Creuse North won a regional championship without taking the court Wednesday.
Utica had to bow out of the scheduled 7 p.m. game
at Chippewa Valley because of COVID-19 issues, L’Anse Creuse North coach Bob Johnston said in a text message to his players.
It was the first regional championship for L’Anse Creuse North since 1979.
The Crusaders play in a state quarterfinal game at West Bloomfield at 5 p.m. Monday.
Softball
LUTHERAN NORTH 13-11, BISHOP FOLEY 0-1
Regan Ruatto had three of Lutheran North’s 13 hits and she drove in five runs in the opening game. Sophia Heinrich tripled and doubled and Mia Newton and Anna Brouilette had two hits apiece in support of winning pitcher Cecilia Schill, who struck out 12. Heinrich, a ninth-grader, had three hits and Newton had two hits and two RBI to back winning pitcher Olivia Dryke, who struck out eight and allowed two hits. The doubleheader marked the start of the season for both teams.
FORD 13-6, UTICA 2-5
Ava Hacker drove in four runs and scored two and Addison Hill had three hits and knocked in two runs as Utica won the first game behind Danielle Sugars, who struck out eight in five innings. Hacker’s three-run double in the third highlighted a six-run rally. Shelby Skrzypczak and Corinne Kunz had two hits apiece for Utica. Hill had two hits and drove in a run, Samantha Yantus tripled and Gabby Mecca had a hit and scored a run in the second game, won by reliever Jade Kupsky, who struck out two in two innings. Ford is 2-0.
Baseball
UTICA 10, LAKEVIEW 1
Starting pitcher Darren Welch struck out five in four innings and hit a grand slam to spark Utica. Sam Elfakir hit a home run and Garrison Nicks had two hits. Reliever Dylan Cubitt struck out five.