DETROIT — Facing a one-point deficit against the state’s top-rated team in the final minute of play, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s knew its best shot at a win was clear — get the ball in the hands of the state’s top-ranked player.
The strategy worked. Trey McKenney was fouled, he sank two free throws with 19.7 seconds left, and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s stopped University of Detroit’s last-gasp possession to hang on and claim their second straight Catholic League boys’ basketball championship, 58-57, at Calihan Hall Feb. 14.
“I was just happy to get there and knock those down for my team," said McKenney, who was 10-for-11 at the charity stripe on the way to scoring a team-high 22 points. “I’m in the gym every day (practicing free throws); it starts there. I was happy to get to the free-throw line tonight because I wasn’t hitting my shots (from the floor).”
In the back-and-forth contest, which featured 15 lead changes, U of D’s Xavier Johnson had just given the Cubs a 57-56 advantage by making one of his two free throw attempts with 30 seconds to play. But on the ensuing possession, McKenney was knocked to the floor while driving toward the opposite basket, setting up his heroics.
Even after McKenney sank the pair, University of Detroit Jesuit got the ball back and settled in for the final shot. But Leroy Blyden’s last-second attempt hit the heel of the rim, and the carom bounded too high in the air for the Cubs to get their hands on it for a follow-up before the buzzer.
“I think that we did a really good job in a late-game situation like that, being able to close it out — just being able to sit down and play defense, and execute,” McKenney said.
The thrilling victory avenged St. Mary’s nine-point loss to the Cubs when the teams last met back on Dec. 13, but the Eaglets had to work hard to earn Friday’s win, coach Todd Covert said.
“I don’t think we played our best game, but that’s what U of D does to you,” he said. “They’re going to take you out of a lot of things you do. They’re physical, we were physical. That was an old-school Catholic League fistfight. Those games can make everyone look a little off, but we made one extra play at the end, and I give U of D a lot of credit.
“It was a good win for us — a really good win.”
For a game that ultimately was decided at the wire, the first half was rather streaky. Sharod Barnes’ three-pointer gave St. Mary’s Prep a 9-0 run that put them ahead, 11-6, midway through the first quarter. But the Cubs scored the next seven points to go up 16-13.
U of D went cold after that, not scoring on any of its next 13 trips up the floor, and St. Mary’s took advantage with a 17-0 run that gave them their largest lead of the game, 28-16. But Blyden closed out the first half with 11 straight points to narrow the gap to 28-27.
“It was just weird,” Covert said. “It looked like we were playing really well and then, Jeckyll and Hyde, both of us, for a quarter.”
The Cubs led by six, 38-32, early in the second half, but could not put the game away. The teams were never separated by more than four points throughout the final eight-minute period. St. Mary’s didn’t score a field goal in the final 3-1/2 minutes of play, but hit all six free throws down the stretch to hang on for the prize.
“We knew it was going to be a close game,” said McKenney, the favorite for the Mr. Basketball honor who’s signed with the University of Michigan. “We had a couple of times where we didn’t execute. I think we could have stretched the lead out a little bit more, but I’m just happy to come out with the win.”
In addition to McKenney’s 22 points, Barnes nearly matched that stat line with 21. He was also 10-of-11 from the free throw line.
“Sharod had a really good game, he made some buckets,” Covert said. “He had some big rebounds in that first half when Jaden was out and we had no big guy out there. We had four kids that got tussled up in that Brother Rice thing, and then Jaden (Savoury) basically didn’t play the entire game because he was in foul trouble. That kind of threw us off a little bit, but Sharod played really good. I’d say he did a great job on (defending) Leroy. We battled.”
Despite that, Blyden led all scorers with 25 points. The Cubs’ senior has signed with University of Toledo, where he will rejoin former teammate Sonny Wilson.
Both St. Mary’s (14-6) and University of Detroit (18-3) are eyeing long runs in the MHSAA playoffs which begin next week. But the Eaglets have already accomplished one of their major objectives.
“Winning the Catholic League means a lot,” Covert said. “We’ve played some of the best teams in the country this year — we played Cathedral down in Indianapolis, we played IMG (from Florida). Catholic League basketball is — night in, night out — it’s as good as anywhere. That (Toledo) St. John’s we played last Saturday, they were 2-5 in the league and they’re as good as anyone we played.
“I’m just proud, because that’s a big goal for us, you know — winning the Catholic League.”
