East Lansing — Detroit Cass Tech used a strong defensive effort, especially during the fourth quarter, to defeat Muskegon 78-63 in the Division 1 title game at the Breslin Center Saturday afternoon to hoist the championship trophy for the first time.
Cass Tech — 27-1 and ranked No. 2 in The News Super 20 poll — carried a 50-47 lead into the fourth quarter and then put on the pressure, forcing four turnovers and six straight missed shots while going on a 11-3 run to open a 61-50 lead.
Coach Steve Hall received a team effort with sophomore sensation Darius Acuff and 6-foot-5 senior Travon Cooper each contributing 19 points and Kenneth Robertson 15 points.
Sean Hodges did a great job during the pivotal fourth-quarter run with the 5-9 senior backup point guard scoring off a putback for a 57-48 lead, then off a driving layup for a 59-48 cushion, then finding Cooper off a penetration move to keep the lead at 11 (63-52) with 2:55 remaining.
Muskegon — 26-3 and No. 5 — made its first field goal of the fourth quarter on Jordan Briggs’ 3-pointer with 2:40 left.
Cass Tech shot 48.1%, and 8-for-10 from the floor during the fourth quarter to close the game in style.
“Class A state champions, Division 1 state champions, we established that as a goal, and it looks good on paper, but to carry it out and pursue it is unbelievable, you know what we’ve been able to do,” Hall said.
“I always talk to my team about keeping a tight circle and trying to kill the noise and we do that for the most part, but sometimes you can’t help but hear stuff that motivates, like, they don’t play anybody, the Catholic League is better, you know that I won state championships at Detroit Rogers, that was Class D, so I have a special group of guys here that have been successful for a long time. They’ve won championships in cross country, they’ve won championships in football, their honor students, and we’re special, and now we have something to stamp that and maybe other people can notice how special of a group this is.”
Cass Tech limited Muskegon to 32.1% shooting, held a 37-31 rebounding edge and had just nine turnovers.
Muskegon, which made 11-of-31 3-pointers, used its deep range shooting to get back in the game after trailing 44-31 early in the third after Cooper’s 3-pointer from the left corner.
Muskegon made four 3-pointers during a 16-2 run to take a 47-46 lead with Briggs knocking down two of them and Justin Watson connecting from the right corner for the lead with 1:50 left in the third.
“We made a change defensively,” Hall said of the fourth-quarter defensive strategy. “We stayed in a zone, but we went with an odd front zone because they had gotten comfortable with the defense that we were in, so we went to a different defense, kind of matched up because they went 5 out, they did nothing much in the interior, so we matched up and tried to make those 3-pointers contested.”
Hall expected Acuff to perform at a high level on the big stage since he averaged nearly 22 points and five assists while helping Cass Tech win the PSL title and earned the title of Mr. PSL. He also had a reason to expect big things from Robertson, who averaged 15 points, along with Cooper who was capable of a double-double on any given night.
BOX SCORE: Cass Tech 78, Muskegon 63
Hall had high praise for Hodges and senior guard Mekhai Walker as well. Hodges was called into duty after backup freshman point guard Corey Sadler fouled out early in the fourth quarter and responded with six points, four assists and two rebounds without a turnover in eight minutes. Walker had seven points and three rebounds in 19 minutes.
“We’re in a state championship and people I have are having great performances,” Hall said. “Sean Hodges, who has been with me for four years, state championship he has a great game, Mekhai Walker had one of his best games and that is just indicative of guys showing up when the lights come on, but not that only, but preparing for this moment and that’s what some guys have done to put themselves for this to happen.”
Acuff knew it was his time to shine in the fourth quarter when he scored seven of his 19 points.
Cooper had a strong second half, coming up with 13 points, four rebounds and two steals, including one of those steals after Acuff powered his way for an inside basket to help Cass Tech take a 48-47 lead late in the third.
“In the fourth quarter we had to come together, talk together as a team, so we talked to each other and listened to Coach (Hall) because we weren’t going to go out like that, so we had to make a run,” Acuff said.
Muskegon was attempting to win its first state title since winning the Class A championship game back in 2014.
“Congratulations to Cass Tech, they played a great game,” Muskegon coach Keith Guy said.
There were 49 fouls called, 25 on Muskegon and 24 on Cass Tech, and 19 during the final quarter, leaving little flow to the game.
“There was no flow to the game, but in these games, there’s going to be adversity and the team that handles it the best normally wins, and I guess they handled it the best,” Guy said.
Briggs, a senior guard headed to Wayne State, led Muskegon with 19 points, six rebounds and six assists with David Day III scoring 15, Anthony Sydnor 13 points, and Walker, 12.
