East Lansing vs. Orchard Lake St. Mary’s – – MHSAA Division 1 Boys Semifinal – – The Bleacher Denizen – – March 14, 2025 – – by Chuck Krafft

This afternoon, the Bleacher Denizen is at the Breslin Center, where the Trojans from East Lansing will compete with the Eaglets of Orchard Lake St. Mary to see who will play in Saturday’s Division 1 State Final.

East Lansing enters this game with a 26-1 record. They are led by three sons of former Michigan State basketball stars. K.J. Torbert is a junior who averages 20.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. Cameron Hutson averages 18.5 points and 7.4 rebounds. He has hit 49 three point baskets so far this season. Kingston Thomas averages 8.0 points per game. (They are the sons of Kelvin Torbert, Andre Hutson and David Thomas.) Jayce Branson scores 7.8 points per game and also gets 2 steals.

Orchard Lake St. Mary’s has a 20-6 record, but only one of those losses came from a MIchigan High School team. They are led by Mr. Basketball, Trey McKenney, who averages 22.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. Sharod Barnes scores 11.7 points and dishes out 4.2 assists per game. Jayden Savoury averages 9.4 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Isaiah Hines averages 9.7 points per game. Luke Crighton scores 6.3 points per game. Freshman guard Mateen Cleaves, son of the former MSU All-American, averages 5.1 points per game.

Thanks to the Michigan HIgh School Athletic Association for providing these statistics in their Finals Preview.

It is now time to review the events of this game from the perspective of an Aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league when he attempted to play in the days of yore. He never mastered the concept that you are only supposed to pass the ball to only other people who are wearing the same color shirt as you. His coach kept complaining about the “turnover” concept and the Bleacher Denizen’s time dwindled.

The game started with Mr. Basketball Trey McKenney shooting two technical free throws because East Lansing dunked in warmups. Trey McKenney hit one of the two free throws to give St. Mary its first point of the game. St. Mary’s misses a threeball from the top of the key. East Lansing misses a threeball from the wing. Jayce Branson gets the offensive rebound for the Trojans. Jayden Savoury steals the ball for the Eaglets. St. Mary’s misses a layup. Jayden Savoury hits a putback to give St. Mary’s a 3-0 lead.

East Lansing misses a twelve foot shot in the lane. St. Mary’s misfires on a threeball from the side. East Lansing commits an offensive foul. Sharod Barnes hits a sixteen foot shot from the wing for the Eaglets. East Lansing misses a layup. Cameron Hutson grabs the offensive rebound for the Trojans. East Lansing loses the ball out of bounds. St. Mary’s misses a sixteen foot shot from the side. Trey McKenney shows us all why he was named Mr. Basketball as he grabs the offensive rebound and slams it through the hoop before he lands to give St. Mary’s a 7-0 lead.

Isaiah Hines forces an East Lansing turnover. St. Mary’s misses a threeball from the side. East Lansing misses a driving layup. Trey McKenney passes to Jayden Savoury, who hits a layup for the Eaglets and is fouled. He makes his free throw and St. Mary’s has a 10-0 lead with 4:23 remaining in the opening quarter.

East Lansing misfires on a threeball from the corner. Cameron Essell’s defense forces an Eaglet dribbler to step on the sideline. East Lansing misses a fifteen foot shot from the baseline. St. Mary’s fouls on the rebound. Cameron Essell passes to Kelvin Torbert, who hits a layup to give East Lansing its first two points. Sharod Barnes his a layup to give St. Mary’s a 12-2 lead.

Isaiah Hines knocks the ball out of bounds; East Lansing retains possession. Kelvin Torbert gets into the lane and hits a ten foot jump shot for East Lansing. St. Mary’s misses a shot from the side of the lane so badly that I thought it might have been a pass. (I looked at the MHSAA game summary; they called it a shot, so I guess that’s good enough for me.) The rebound goes out of bounds and East Lansing takes possession. Kelvin Torbert passes to Jayce Branson, who hits a three point shot from the wing to cut the Eaglet lead to 12-7.

Dequarius Stewart knocks the ball away from St. Mary’s; the Eaglets recover. Sharod Barnes is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of his two free throws to boost the Eaglet lead to 13-7 with 1:02 left in the first quarter.

Sharod Barnes steals the ball for St. Mary’s. Trey McKenney is fouled and hits two free throws for the Eaglets. East Lansing is whistled for an offensive foul. St. Mary’s misses a ten foot shot from the side. Jayden Savoury grabs the offensive rebound for the Eaglets. St. Mary’s loses the ball out of bounds. East Lansing misses a threeball from the wing. Owen Fortman hits a putback as the first quarter buzzer announces that it is time for a break.

After one quarter, St. Mary’s has a 15-9 lead.

East Lansing has the ball to open the second quarter. The Trojans miss a fifteen foot shot from the side. St. Mary’s misses a driving layup. Sharod Barnes intercepts an East Lansing pass in the lane. St. Mary’s misses a fourteen foot shot in the lane. Kelvin Torbert hits a fast break layup to shave the St. Mary’s lead to 15-11.

Isaiah Hines hits a fifteen foot shot off the dribble from the side for St. Mary’s. Kelvin Torbert gets into the lane, leans back and hits a fourteen foot shot for East Lansing. St. Mary’s misfires on a threeball from the top of the key. East Lansing misses a three pointer from the wing. St. Mary’s misses a driving layup. Trey McKenney grabs the long offensive rebound in the corner and throws in a threeball to give St. Mary’s a 20-13 lead.

East Lansing misses a layup. Kelvin Torbert pulls down the offensive rebound for the Trojans. East Lansing misses a layup. Cameron Huston blocks a St. Mary’s layup. St. Mary’s misses a three point shot from the side. Mateen Cleaves knocks the ball out of bounds; East Lansing retains possession. Jayce Branson passes to Kelvin Torbert, who throws in a threeball from the corner to cut the Eaglet lead to 20-18.

St. Mary’s misses a twelve foot shot off the dribble from the side. Kingston Thomas passes to Cameron Hutson, who hits a long three point shot from the wing to give East Lansing a 21-20 lead. (Remember, the Trojans started the game with a 10-0 deficit.) St. Mary’s misses a driving layup. Jayce Branson passes to Cameron Essell, who is fouled on a layup and hits two free throws for the Trojans. With 3:32 to play in the second quarter, East Lansing has a 23-20 lead.

St. Mary’s misses a jump shot from the free throw line. East Lansing travels on a drive into the lane. St. Mary’s misses a twelve foot shot from the baseline. Kingston Thomas blocks an Eaglet fast break layup. Sharod Barnes grabs the loose ball and is fouled on a layup. He hits two free throws to cut the Trojan lead to 23-22 with 2:32 remaining in the half.

East Lansing misses a driving layup. Jayden Savoury passes to Trey McKenney, who hits a three point shot from the side for St. Mary’s. Jayce Branson passes to Kelvin Torbert, who hits a three point from the corner for East Lansing. Brian Windham knocks the ball away from St. Mary’s and Kingston Thomas picks it up for East Lansing. The Trojans lose a pass out of bounds. St. Mary’s commits an offensive foul. East Lansing misses a threeball from the side just before the second quarter buzzer announces its presence.

East Lansing has a 26-25 halftime lead.

Trey McKenney has 11 points for St. Mary’s at halftime. Sharod Barnes has 7 points and Jayden Savoury has 5 points.

Kelvin Torbert leads East Lansing with 14 points at halftime.

St. Mary’s inbounds the ball to get quarter number three underway. The Eaglets miss a fourteen foot shot in the lane. Luke Crighton gets the offensive rebound for St. Mary’s and passes to Jayden Savoury, who hits a layup to give the Eaglets a one point lead. East Lansing misses a ten foot shot off the dribble in the lane. Sharod Barnes steals the ball for the Eaglets and hits a fast break dunk to give St. Mary’s a 29-26 lead.

East Lansing misses a driving layup. Kingston Thomas gets the offensive rebound for the Trojans and passes to Cameron Hutson, who hits a threeball from the wing to tie the game. Kelvin Torbert steals an Eaglet pass. East Lansing misfires on a triple try from the side. Kelvin Torbert makes a fantastic effort to come out with the offensive rebound, but the ball goes out of bounds and St. Mary’s takes possession. Trey McKenney drives and hits a layup for St. Mary’s. He is fouled on the play and hits his free throw to give the Eaglets a 32-29 lead with 5:12 remaining in quarter number three.

Jayden Savoury steals the ball for St. Mary’s. The Eaglets misfire on a triple try from the corner. Luke Crighton hits a putback to give St. Mary’s a 34-29 lead.

Cameron Hutson passes the ball to Jayce Branson, who slams the ball home for East Lansing. St. Mary’s misses a layup. East Lansing misses a three pointer from the wing. Kingston Thomas knocks the ball out of bounds and East Lansing takes possession. The Trojans miss a three point shot from the side. Kelvin Torbert steals the ball for East Lansing and hits a fast break layup to chop the Eaglet lead to 34-33.

St. Mary’s commits an offensive foul. East Lansing misses a threeball from the side. St. Mary’s misses a threeball from the wing. Jayden Savory is fouled on a putback and hits one of his two free throws for St. Mary’s. Cameron Hutson is fouled on a twelve foot shot off the dribble in the lane and hits one of his two free throws for East Lansing. With 1:59 to go in quarter number three, St. Mary’s has a 35-34 lead.

Cameron Hutson blocks an Eaglet layup. East Lansing misses a layup and fouls on the rebound. Trey McKenney gets into the lane and hits a twelve foot turnaround jumper for St. Mary’s. East Lansing misses a ten foot shot in the lane. Brian Windham gets the offensive rebound for the Trojans. East Lansing misses a layup. Kingston Thomas hits a putback for the Trojans. The Eaglets miss a heave as the buzzer sounds to end quarter number three.

With three quarters in the books, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s has a 37-36 lead.

East Lansing inbounds the ball to start the fourth quarter. The Trojans bounce a pass through the lane and out of bounds. Sharod Barnes drives and hits a layup to give St. Mary’s a 39-36 lead.

East Lansing misses a jump shot from the free throw line and fouls on the rebound. East Lansing knocks the ball away from St. Mary’s and Kelvin Torbert picks it up for East Lansing. Kelvin Torbert is fouled on a fast break layup and hits two free throws for East Lansing. St. Mary’s misses a ten foot shot from the side. Sharod Barnes steals the ball for the Eaglets. St. Mary’s misses a layup. Brian Windham passes to Kingston Thomas, who hits a ten footer from the side to give East Lansing a 40-39 lead.

St. Mary’s misses a layup. An East Lansing layup is negated when St. Mary’s fouls before the shot. Kelvin Torbert passes to Kingston Thomas, who hits a twelve foot shot from the baseline for East Lansing. Kelvin Torbert knocks the ball out of bounds; East Lansing retains possession. St. Mary’s misfires on a threeball from the wing. Kingston Thomas hits a fast break layup to push the Trojan lead to 44-39.

Luke Crighton passes to Trey McKenney, who hits a layup for St. Mary’s to stop an eight point East Lansing run. East Lansing misses a three point shot from the wing. St. Mary’s misses a layup. Sharod Barnes ties up the ball for St. Mary. The Possession Arrow likes his hustle and awards the ball to the Eaglets. St. Mary’s misses a threeball from the wing and fouls on the rebound. Jayce Branson is fouled and hits two free throws to give East Lansing a 46-41 lead with 53.7 seconds left on the clock.

Mateen Cleaves passes to Trey McKenney, who hits a three point shot from the wing for the Eaglets to cut the Trojan lead to two points. Cameron Hutson is fouled and hits two clutch free throws to give East Lansing a 48-44 lead with 30.4 seconds to play.

St. Mary’s misses a three point shot from the wide. Mateen Cleaves grabs the offensive rebound for the Eaglets. St. Mary’s misses another three point shot from the side. Kelvin Torbert is fouled on a fast break layup and hits one of his two free throws to give East Lansing a 49-44 lead with just 11.3 seconds to go.

Because the foul was ruled to be intentional, East Lansing gets to inbound the ball. Kingston Thomas is fouled and hits two free throws for East Lansing. St. Mary’s misses a three point shot from the wing. Kelvin Torbert hits a dunk for the Trojans, but it is after the buzzer.

East Lansing wins this game 51-44 and will play Wayne Memorial in tomorrow’s State Final!

Trey McKenney led the Orchard Lake St. Mary’s scoring with 21 points. Sharod Barnes contributed 11 points. Jayden Savoury added 8 points. Luke Crighton and Isaiah Hines each scored 2 points.

Kelvin Torbert led East Lansing’s scoring with 19 points. Kingston Thomas joined his teammate in double figures with 12 points. Cameron Hutson pitched in with 9 points as the three sons of the former Spartans totalled 40 points. Jayce Branson put in 7 points. Cameron Essell and Owen Fortman each had 2 points.