Saginaw - Teams with championship aspirations cannot depend on one player to carry them to the promised land.  Fortunately for Arthur Hill, they are a true team filled with great players in addition to the household name of Dar Tucker.  Tucker was held to 8 points in the first half, 6 of them coming from the line.  9 different Jacks scored in the first half as they took a 41-38 lead into the break.  Sophomore Omari Humes, matched Dar's 8 with 8 of his own.  Antoine Lundy, Latreze Mushatt and Tommie Prater were also vital in the scoring by committee first half.  It was the same story from the rival Trojans east of the river.  Saginaw's big men, Josh Southern and Draymond Green were getting the job done, keeping the Trojans close for most of the game. 

Mushatt scored the game's first bucket and the Hill quickly jumped out in front 9-3 after a Antoine Lundy basket.  Halfway through the quarter, Mike Powell pulled the Trojans to within 3 with two free throws.  The Jacks then got back on track with a 11-3 run to close out the first quarter, up 21-13.  Humes had 6 points during the big Arthur Hill run.

After Maurice Jones put the Jacks up 9 on an intentional foul free throw, the Trojans struck back with a run of their own.  Mike Powell capped an 11-2 run that tied the game up at 24.  Whenever Arthur Hill tried to pull away, Saginaw High would claw right back.  After Maurice Jones put the Jacks up by 7, the Trojans came right back, going on a 12-5 run, led by Southern's and Green's 4 points a piece during the streak.  Arthur Hill's James King put home the last basket of the half, giving the Jacks a slim 3 point lead at the break. 

The third quarter brought with it more excitement and Saginaw High's first lead of the game, and unfortunately for the Trojans, their last.  Down 5 early, Saginaw High's Demario Wilson drained a three, Southern then added two baskets, the latter giving the Trojans the lead at 47-46.  It was the basket that woke up the sleeping giant sort to speak.  It was Dar time.  The Jacks struck right back with a Tucker three and would never surrender the lead again but not without a fight.  The two teams traded baskets, then Tucker drilled another shot from three point land.  After Dar added two more points at the line, the Jacks were all of a sudden back up by 7, but not for long however.  Powell and Tristian Calhoun added buckets for the Trojans to bring them to within 4, late in the third.  It was as close as they would get for the remainder of the game.  The lead began to grow bigger little by little.  With 7 seconds remaining in the third, Dar put home an offensive rebound for his 10th point of the quarter.

The Jacks started the final period up by 8 at 65-57.  With 6:40 remaining, the Jacks got their first double digit lead when Dar hit another three ball, making the score 70-59.  The Trojans would just not go away though, at least not until Tucker put home another 3, this time the old fashioned way as he put home the bucket and the free throw after being fouled.  Dar scored Arthur Hill's next 7 points, capped by a three pointer that put the Jacks up 15.  At that point it was all she wrote for Part I of the Clash of The Saginaw Titans.  With not enough time remaining for a comeback, Saginaw High's head coach, Lou Dawkins pulled his main men from the game and got his bench some valuable playing time.  Before all was said and done, Arthur Hill increased the lead to 91-73 on a lay-up by Maurice Jones, which is where the scoring and the game would end.  The big surge by Arthur Hill kind of just snuck up on you.  One moment the teams were slugging it out, the next, Arthur Hill was up double digits and Saginaw High was putting up desperation threes to try to even things up.  I doubt you see a double digit win by either team come February 2nd when both these teams square up again at Saginaw High.  Arthur Hill was definitely the better team on the night and didn't necessarily play with more intensity but just got the breaks.  The ball bounced their way.  The Jacks did a wonderful job of hitting the glass and going toe to to with the bigger Trojans.  In large part to Lundy's big game and the ever present athleticism and jumping ability of Dar, Latreze and company.

I wasn't surprised that the Lumberjacks won, however I think many of us were surprised at the difference in score.  I went into the game thinking it would be a toss-up and certain things would need to happen for each team to pull it out, primarily which style would be more effective.  It was evident, Arthur Hill's press more of a wide open style prevailed.  It didn't hurt that Arthur Hill played well in the half-court either, led by Dar's points that he created off the dribble. 

The Jacks stay home on Friday to host the Flint Northern Vikings.  Keep in mind, this game does not count in the SVL standings, one bright spot for the High.  Another bright spot was Saginaw High's 72-51 thrashing over Arthur Hill in the J.V. game.  The Varsity Trojans play over the weekend in the MLK Classic.  With the quality of play by the Trojans in the first 8 games over some big time opponents, I am confident a bounce back is in their future.