When Frank Orlando won his first state title at Detroit Country Day in 1989, his star, Peggy Evans, scored 47 points in the Michigan championship game.
Evans went on to play for Tennessee and USA Basketball, and eventually got married and found her way back into coaching. Now, as Peggy Evans Carr, she stands directly in Orlando's path as he looks for his Yellowjackets to hold on to the 24th spot in the Xcellent 25 that they claimed this week.
Carr is now in charge of the No. 10 Inkster program, and the Vikings will host Detroit Country Day at 4 p.m. Wednesday in a battle of the two top teams in the state – and since they are in different divisions, this will be the only time they meet.
"They're the most physical team I've seen in a while," said Orlando, but since the Yellowjackets beat big and talented Start of Ohio 63-57 on Jan. 25, they have an idea what to expect. Start, after all, relied on 6-2 Kentucky-bound forward Asia Bishop, and though she scored 18 points, "it was almost a quiet 18," said Orlando. "We mixed up the defenses – we tried to keep them from going to the basket."
Keeping Inkster away from the basket will be a bigger challenge. Carr has five players 6-feet or taller, led by 6-1 junior
Kelsey Mitchell. Three of the seniors – 6-1 shooting guard
Crystal Bradford, 6-0 small forward
Jas'mine Bracey and 6-1 point guard
Crystal Bradford – will all go to Central Michigan next year, and 5-9 senior shooter
Janae Jackson will go to Northern Illinois. Toss in 6-3 transfer
Ashley Franklin, and it's clear why Orlando is a little worried about keeping the Vikings off the boards.
And on top of that, he has no secrets from his former player. "She knows everything," he said with a laugh. "It's just not fair."
* * * * *
The D-M-V area, as it's known (District of Columbia/Maryland/Northern Virginia), has some of the best basketball in the country this year, and it seems like every week there's a huge game with national implications.
This time, it was the Academy of the Holy Cross of Maryland traveling into D.C. and knocking off previously unbeaten and previously No. 7 St. John's 59-58. Naturally, the game was a thriller, as the Tartans came from 10 down in the third quarter to win. Six-foot forward
Pandora Wilson followed in a missed shot with 25 seconds left for the final margin, offsetting another brilliant performance by St. John's sophomore
Lindsay Allen. She finished with 27 points, but Wilson and 6-4 junior
Lanay Montgomery combined for 30 points and 26 rebounds in the win.
Sorting out the rankings isn't easy, as Holy Cross has already lost to St. John's once (69-63), as well as to No. 19 Archbishop Spalding and No. 20 Our Lady of Good Counsel, but a loss in the opening game of the season to New York's Mary Louis Academy will keep the Tartans out of the Xcellent 25, at least for now.
And since St. John's has split with Holy Cross, it doesn't seem quite right to drop the Cadets below Good Counsel and Spalding, both of which they have already beaten. And though No. 21 Riverdale Baptist isn't in the Washington Catholic league (for obvious denominational reasons), that school is in the area too, and will play St. John's Thursday – and a win there could push the Crusaders into the top 20, or maybe St. John's into the top 15.
Oh, and the Good Counsel-St. John's rematch is Feb. 15, so D-M-V fans have yet another titanic matchup to look forward to.
1. (1)
Brea Olinda (Brea, Calif.) 23-0
2. (2)
Long Beach Poly (Calif.) 21-2
3. (3)
Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) 22-1
4. (4)
Bolingbrook (Ill.) 18-2
5. (5)
Spring Valley (Columbia, S.C.) 22-0
6. (6)
Lake Taylor (Norfolk, Va.) 21-0
7. (9)
Potter's House Christian (Jacksonville, Fla.) 24-1
8. (8)
Ben Davis (Indianapolis) 20-0
9. (10)
Shabazz (Newark, N.J.) 18-0
10. (14)
Inkster (Mich.) 15-0
11. (11)
Princess Anne (Virginia Beach, Va.) 19-1
12. (12)
Riverdale (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) 24-0
13. (13)
Heights (Wichita, Kan.) 15-0
14. (15)
Midwest City (Okla.) 17-0
15. (16)
Twinsburg (Ohio) 16-0
16. (17)
North Little Rock (Ark.) 21-0
17. (19)
Neptune (N.J.) 14-1
18. (7)
St. John's (Washington, D.C.) 21-1
19. (20)
Archbishop Spalding (Severn, Md.) 21-2
20. (21)
Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) 23-1
21. (22)
Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Md.) 22-4
22. (23)
Butler (Matthews, N.C.) 22-0
23. (nr)
Detroit Country Day (Beverly Hills, Mich.) 13-0
24. (nr)
Canyon (Texas) 30-0
25. (25)
Konawaena (Kealakekua, Hawaii) 31-1*
*Season complete
Dropped out: No. 18 Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minn.); No. 24 Nazareth (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
