Saginaw - After 2 and a half months of SVL basketball, only two undefeated teams remained.  Those two teams met tonight and most likely squared off for the Valley championship.  Saginaw High has two more conference games, while Flint Southwestern would only be left with one more Valley game after tonight.  With the title on the line and a battle between the state's top ranked teams from Class A and Class B, the hype and excitement came to a head Thursday night. 

The SVL juggernaughts slugged it out for the first half of the opening quarter.  SWA's Demarkus Bracy opened the scoring and was quickly answered with a bucket from the High's Bobby Lewis.  Both #44s ended leading their teams in scoring, Bracy with 18 and Lewis with 19.  Bracy added another bucket in the early going, while Draymond Green had two baskets early on for the Trojans.  With three minutes gone in the game, Tyrone Ward put the Knights up 8-6.  The 8-6 score is noteworthy because it would be the last lead of the game for the Knights.  After the Ward bucket, the Trojans went on a 12-0 run.  Daniel West scored the first 7 of the run, along with a Josh Southern tip-in and a Lewis three ball to put the Trojans up 18-8.  SWA gathered their composure and managed to finish the quarter on an 8-2 run of their own.  During the run, midway through the first quarter, Anthony Crater picked up his 2nd foul.

With the onset of the 2nd quarter, the Trojans put together a run that the Knights would never recover from.  On the High's 17-2, Lewis scored 6 and was capped off by two consecutive West three pointers, putting the Trojans up by 19.  The run was powered by Saginaw High's amazing press.  They finished the quarter up by taking advantage of their other strength, the big men inside.  Southern scored on back to back offensive rebounds to put the Trojans up 21.  The scoring for the High was capped off emphatically with an alley-oop lay-in from Green to Lewis.  For those that don't know the 6'7" big man can shoot from just about anywhere on the court and in addition to that his greatest attribute may be his soft touch passing.  His assist making abilities conjures up memories of Chris Webber and his knack for big men distributing the ball.  At the end of the half, the Trojans headed to the lockers up 43-24.  The Knights were down 19 but it possibly could have been worse. 

Before the third quarter even began, fans began to file out.  I overheard a few fans talking to the guards about how this one was pretty much wrapped up.  The Knights didn't get the memo.  SWA used the third quarter to chip away at the big lead.  Crater who had hit just two free throws for a total of 2 points, ripped off 5 2nd half points in a hurry.  The Knights' big men then got into the action.  Bracy with two more baskets and Leviante Davis with two more.  After Davis's basket with just about three minutes to go in the 3rd, the 19 point lead had been shrunk down to just 9.  The bad news is right after the Knights had cut it to single digits, Crater picked up his fourth foul, sending him right to the bench.  40 seconds later, Davis picked up his fourth.  The Knights were far from through though, trailing by just nine after three.  On the flip-side the Trojans were able to keep their double digit lead because of the play in large part of Southern how was getting it done on both ends.

The final quarter provided the excitement that everyone had hoped for, a little too much excitement for the Trojans.  SWA continued their valiant comeback and opened the fourth quarter with a three from Erik Fields.  After a stop, Bracy cut the lead to 5 points.  After a steal, Erving McFadden took the ball coast to coast and was intentionally fouled, setting up what could have been the sequence that evened things up.  Down just five and two shots from the line along with the ball, it was now or never.  The Knights only came away with 1 point and Saginaw High began to gradually take charge again.  The four point deficit suddenly turned to 10 on three consecutive Trojan baskets, capped by a Green basket.   Momentum never left the side of the home Trojans after that.  The final minutes became the Draymond Green show, who poured in 7 points in the late going, 5 from the line.  His basket was a thing of beauty for Trojans fans.  SWA's Davis was driving to the hoop, when Green picked his pocket, then went the length of the floor and took it straight to the hoop and in.  With seconds remaining, Tyrone Ward hit a three ball for SWA, however it was too little, too late.  The final buzzer went off and the Trojans captured the 74-66 win.  A win that most likely will bring them the SVL title.  They can clinch at least a share with a win over Flint Northern next week or an SWA loss.

Crater didn't play great but he didn't hurt his team either, foul trouble and a pressing Saginaw High defense took him out of the game.  'Noopy' finished with 13 points, behind Bracy's 18.  For the Trojans, Lewis led all scorers with 19, Green and West had 17, while Green poured in 14.

Even in the loss, the Knights are most likely still the best Class B team in the state.  It doesn't happen to often when two top ranked teams meet up that both the winner and the loser could wind up still #1.  The conference title fell by the wayside for SWA tonight but a much larger goal remains, the goal to be standing mid-court at the Breslin Center in late March.  The Trojans, although happy with what they accomplished, share the same feeling.  Draymond Green told media after the game that they are focused on winning the whole thing.  One team had to lose tonight but come March, both these squads have a chance to wind up both winners when it is all said and done.