Saginaw - The saying goes, "time flies when you're having fun".  That case can certainly be made for Arthur Hill.  It was senior night in Saginaw, with familiar names like Dar Tucker, Tommie Prater, Tyrie Wooten and Jonathan Townsend playing in their final home game.  These seniors already have one state title under their belt and would like to go out on top again.  The state's 2nd rank team took on one of Detroit's best Saturday night.  Detroit Finney came into the game ranked 12th in the Class A, AP Poll but as high as 7th in others.  Finney played at Arthur Hill back on December 23rd in the AH Pre-Holiday Classic against Ypsilanti.  On this trip, they had to face the Lumberjacks themselves. 

After trading baskets to open the game, the Jacks went on a 13-4 run.  Center, Antoine Lundy had 6 points during the fun, Dar had 5, including a three pointer with 3:40 to go in the opening quarter.  Highlander Kavon Rose then nailed two consecutive three balls to cut it to 5.  Then Angelo Mason scored another for Finney.  Just like that, the lead had been trimmed to 3 with time running down on the quarter.  Maurice Jones stopped the Finney with a basket, giving Arthur Hill a 5 point advantage after 1. 

In a game of runs, it was Arthur Hill's turn again.  Arthur Hill opened up a nine point lead with three different Jacks scoring.  Flip back to Finney.  Rose hit a free throw that capped off an 8-1 run with nearly two minutes remaining in the first half.  The Lumberjacks had the last laugh in the half however, as they went on an 8-2 scoring streak.  The run was highlighted by two consecutive possessions where Latreze Mushatt put in baskets on offensive rebounds.  The first series was after Dar uncharacteristically missed two free throws.  The final strike by Arthur Hill came when Dar launched a touchdown pass to Senior, Deon Wiley, who laid it in as time ran out on the first half.  The Jacks headed to the lockers up 10 at 34-24.

The third quarter became the Tommie Prater vs. Kavon Rose show.  Prater scored 13 of his 15 points in the third period, all coming consecutively as well.  Prater started the scoring in the 2nd half after hitting two technical free throws.  The Tech was called on Finney's coaching staff.  By the halfway point Prater had reached his 13 points of quarter and during that hot streak, had 3 triples.  Rose had 9 during the Prater scoring run and 11 for the quarter.  After the Jacks had pushed the lead to 17 at 61-44, Dar was called over to the bench to get a breather.  With the way things were going, the starters began to hit the bench as the lead ballooned.  The Highlanders scored the last three points of the quarter, going into the final period down 14. 

The lead was cut down to 11 early.  Arthur Hill's Coach McMath had seen enough and didn't want to risk losing control of the big lead.  He looked over to his bench and signaled Dar to get ready.  After the lead had been cut down to just 9, the Jacks went on a 9-0 run.  The run featured what everyone had come to see, showtime.  Up 67-55, Maurice Jones was on the run, he sliced through the crowd on the break, lofted the ball softly off of the glass and a trailing Tucker threw down the monster jam, igniting the bench and the crowd.  The press started to create major havoc for Finney.  After the dunk, the Jacks forced a turnover, that created another Dar highlight, this time a mild lay-in.  Then came another turnover.  On this one, Jones faked the pass to Dar and took it to the hole himself and and laid it up in traffic for the score.  Just like that, the Jacks had opened up an 18 point lead.  The Highlanders didn't go away lightly however.  The game was never in doubt after the Jones score but Finney made it close.  Freshman Michael Douglas scored 8 points in the final minutes for Finney to come to within 9 before time ran out.  Win #16 was in the books but not without its tense moments for Arthur Hill.  The Jacks turned it on when they needed to, just as they have done all season. 

Arthur Hill finishes the season up by traveling to Grand Blanc on Tuesday and Midland Dow on Friday before hitting the post-season circuit.  The Lumberjacks will get the winner of the March 5th Clio vs. Heritage game.  If all goes as planned, March 9th with be the day, Judgment Day.  March 9th is the game that many in the state have circled for what could be Saginaw High-Arthur Hill III.  It will be a game of epic proportions.  Both teams, rivals from across the river, still stand at #1 and #2 in the state.  There will be no clear cut favorite as both teams have held serve on their home floors.  Those game were for bragging rights and conference standing.  The (possible) third game, well I guess we'll have to wait and see how big it actually was?