Team Detroit wins Motown Showdown

Lansing- Team Detroit took the Motown Showdown by storm this past weekend by posting an undefeated record and taking the 17-under championship in the R & G All-Stars’ annual event.   

Team D swept through their pool convincingly with an average win margin of 28 points.  Trey Zeigler and Ray McCallum led the way through pool play, but it was a full team effort, especially on the block as Corey Petros, Percy Gibson, Javon Harden, and Will Gholston took turns throwing their weight around.  Petros, the 6-9 Utica Eisenhower standout, especially stood out by posting a pair of double-doubles with points and rebounds.    

On Sunday Team Detroit faced Triple-Threat (Lansing) in the semi-finals.  Zeigler set the tone right away by taking the game’s first possession and throwing a dunk down right in the face of a defender.  McCallum spent most of pool play deferring and setting up his teammates, but in the semi-finals McCallum came out aggressive and knocked down his first three jump shots as Team Detroit built a 15 point lead in the first half. 

However Triple-Threat refused to bow down and fought right back into the game with players like Owosso’s Joe Blanchett, Holt’s Cole Darling, and Lansing Waverly’s Austin Barnes, Darling and Barnes, who both stand at 6-7, mixed up their inside-outside game, while Blanchett nailed big shot after shot.  A 3-pointer from Blanchett knotted the score in the game’s final minute.

Coming out of a time out Team Detroit played for the last shot.  The ball ended up in the hands of McCallum who attacked the basket and was fouled hard.  With 3 seconds left McCallum headed to the line and sank both free throws to propel Team Detroit in the finals.

In the Championship Team D faced the Detroit Stars.  With Team Detroit having an obvious size advantage Petros and Gibson went right to work in the post and both were able to complete three point plays. A pair of steals from McCallum led to some fastbreak baskets while a 3-pointer from Brandan Kearney built a double digit lead.  

The Stars hung around for the remainder of the first half, but in the second half Kearney got hot and showed off his versatility with a handful of jump shots to blow the game open.  Zeigler, McCallum, Kearney, Petros, and Gibson all reached double figures in the Championship game.