ORCHARD LAKE — Well, put another notch in his belt.
A relieved St. Mary’s Prep coach Todd Covert exclaimed, “We beat ...” and continued rattling off the teams his No. 1-ranked Eaglets have disposed of so far on their schedule that lists seven of the state’s top 13 squads.
There was No. 9 Flint Beecher by 15 points, and No. 11 Grand Blanc by a baker’s dozen. The latest victory came Tuesday night against No. 6 Hamtramck, 53-43.
Yet to come are March 3 at home against No. 8 Detroit Martin Luther King (3-1), away March 6 at No. 13 Warren De La Salle (5-0), home March 8 against No. 10 Ferndale (4-1), and home March 13 against No. 5 University of Detroit Jesuit (3-0).
The Cosmos’ Julian Whitaker staked Hamtramck to a 5-0 lead in the opening 90 seconds on a three-point basket and a layup after stealing the ball from the Eaglets’ Julian Roper.
Whitaker, who has been making headlines with his long-distance accuracy, made another 3-pointer for a 10-5 lead. Covert assigned Roper to shadow Whitaker, who made only one more triple in six attempts.
Roper avenged Whitaker’s embarrassing theft with a three-point play to make it 10-8, followed by St. Mary’s own long-range maestro, senior Will Smythe, who canned a triple for an 11-10 lead, an advantage OLSM never relinquished the rest of the game.
Hamtramck closed the third quarter with an 8-2 sprint to close the gap to 40-38 heading into the final eight minutes.
“This was a street fight,” Covert said. Amidst all the pushing, shoving, hand-checking and other assorted maneuvers that could very well have been called, officials whistled only 28 fouls, 17 against Hamtramck.
Covert said the game was “a great test,” the harshest of the season so far: “It made us execute.”
That they did with a stalwart defense in the fourth quarter, limiting the Cosmos to a mere five points.
The Eaglets’ 6-foot-8 senior Peter Nwoke dominated the backboards on both sides of the game with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Roper led St. Mary’s with 16 points, and Smythe had 12 on four three-pointers.
Pandemic scheduling a nightmare
There’s no joy in athletic directors’ offices these days, trying to maintain some sense of order in schedules during the COVID-19 pandemic.
St. Mary’s is a typical example. The Eaglets’ game against U of D Jesuit on Feb. 20 was canceled because of virus concerns at U of D. The game has been rescheduled for March 13.
The Eaglets’ game at De La Salle, originally set for Feb. 27, has been canceled because of virus concerns at De La Salle and is rescheduled for March 6.
Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice (3-2), originally scheduled to play OLSM on March 6, agreed to fill the Feb. 27 De La Salle cancellation.
St. Mary’s against Brother Rice will be its first in the CHSL Central Division. The Warriors were ranked No. 6 pre-season, but losses to U of D Jesuit and De La Salle have dropped them out of the ratings. Still, they could be a formidable opponent for St. Mary’s on Saturday.
The Eaglets play Catholic Central (0-4) on March 10 on the Shamrocks’ floor.
CHSL and MHSAA playoffs
More hectic times are on the horizon.
The Catholic League will conduct its playoffs for boys and girls at the same time, beginning March 15 and concluding March 20.
The MHSAA playoffs for girls basketball run from March 22 through April 9, the boys a day later, March 23 through April 10.
The MHSAA announced that spring sports can begin practices March 22 and start competition March 26. The MHSAA finals in baseball, softball and girls soccer will be staged on June 19.
All of this, of course, is subject to the vagaries of the virus.
Contact Don Horkey at [email protected].
