By John Raffel
MaxPreps.com
DaShonte Riley is making his presence known on the basketball court early this season for Detroit Country Day's boys basketball team.
In an 80-56 Country Day victory over Ann Arbor Pioneer last week, the 6-foot-11 Riley had 19 rebounds. While he was chairman of the boards, two of his outstanding teammates took care of the scoring as Jordan Dumars shot 6-for-14 and scored 19 points and Donnavan Kirk netted 18 points.
Country Day advanced to the state quarterfinals last season before losing to Flint Powers, which, Riley admitted to newspaper reporters, was devastating since Country Day had beaten Powers in the regular season and was predicted to do it again and win a state crown.
While Country Day could be considered the early-season favorite for the state's Class B title, Kalamazoo Christian, loaded with plenty of talent, seems poised to repeat for the Class C title. Coach Jerry Mastenbrook is hoping that proves to be the case.
Mastenbrook was blessed with a tremendously athletic group a year ago.
“We could really get out there and defend people on the perimeter. We had a 6-8 kid, Stephen Gould, in the back so if they did get back, he could get after it,” Mastenbrook said.
Travis Hilton, a 6-3 forward, is the lone returning starter for the state champions. He's been leading the team in scoring so far. KC has started out the new basketball season at 2-0.
“This group is different,” Mastenbrook said. “We only have three kids that played substantial minutes last year. They're working hard. I'm getting pleased where we are offensively. Defensively, we have to improve.”
In one game, Mastenbrook had seven players combine for 10 3-pointers.
“We've got a very good shooting team. It's a very unselfish team. They pass the ball very well,” he said. “They set up a shot for their teammates. They're fun to watch. We have seven different kids that could lead us in scoring one time or another this season.”
More Boys Basketball
Detroit Henry Ford is out to a 4-0 start this season with its fourth victim coming Tuesday in a 69-60 victory over Oak Park. Karriem Baker is the big man for Henry Ford and scored 18 points and added 10 rebounds in win No. 4. Oak Park has a solid player in center K'allante Miller, who scored 28 points.
Girls Basketball
In northern Michigan, Kalkaska has established itself as a girls basketball power with a 5-0 record and the talents of Chelsea Motley, who scored a game-high 29 points in her team's 67-53 victory over Roscommon last week.
For coach Dave Dalton's team, Motley also had 30 points, eight steals, six rebounds and nine deflections in a 63-54 win earlier this month. Senior 5-2 point guard Kara Ponstein has helped her team win 15 or more games every year in her varsity career. She had 11 assists in a game and 10 in another game.
“We've had six guards that have been all-state or have gone on to college in the years that I've coached,” Dalton said. “Against Elk Rapids, she had 18 points, six assists and four steals. She's a good 3-point shooter too. She had 11 assists in one game and 10 in another. You just don't usually get that. In her career she has a lot of threes. She's even a better softball player.”
Also last week, Central Lake's Jasmine Hines, a sophomore center, had 32 points, 21 rebounds and seven blocks in her team's 75-44 victory over Bellaire. Michelle Edwards added 20 points, three rebounds and three assists for the 4-0 Central Lake team.
This week, Rochester Adams' twin sister combination of Whitney and Lexy Newsom combined to score 47 points in Adams' 62-55 victory over Bishop Foley in the title game of the Bishop Foley Venture Classic Monday.
