Dante Williams, Huron boys basketball team hand Ypsilanti its first loss of the season, 73-53
Huron's Kendall Thomas reaches after a loose ball, while teammate Jeff Hugan stands over him, during the first half of the River Rats' 73-53 road win over Ypsilanti Tuesday night at Ypsilanti High School.
Melanie Maxwell I AnnArbor.com
The game may have been played at Ypsilanti High School Tuesday night, but the loudest moment came from the Huron side of the stands.
Just over a minute into the third quarter, with the Huron boys basketball team holding a comfortable 15-point lead over Ypsilanti, Matt Hastings fed a bounce-pass to a cutting Dante Williams. Quickly, the Phoenix defense shifted their attention to Williams on the right wing.
But it was too late.
Williams took one hard dribble, elevated off his left leg, and hammered down a two-handed dunk over an Ypsilanti defender, sending the River Rats’ faithful into a loose-limbed frenzy. The dunk served as an exclamation point on Huron’s 73-53 Southeastern Conference victory over Ypsilanti.
“It was great, but I couldn’t do that (dunk) without the confidence in my teammates,” said Williams, a senior guard, who finished with a game-high 19 points - 10 points above his average. “They give me confidence. Without them I don’t think I would’ve been able to do that.”
“It got the crowd alive and we definitely feed off that energy,” added senior guard AJ Mathew, who added 12 points. “We try to create energy first on the defensive end, but definitely that dunk got the crowd going a lot more.”
Huron (14-1, 11-0 Sec Red) is the first team to put Ypsilanti (14-1, 10-1 SEC White) in the loss column this season.
Melanie Maxwell is a photographer for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at melaniemaxwell@annarbor.com. Follow AnnArbor.com photography on Facebook at AnnArbor.com Photo and on Twitter at @AnnArborPhoto.
Comments
Truthisfree
Thu, Feb 17, 2011 : 8:52 p.m.
Ypsilanti was not outcoached. The difference in the game was big game experience and discipline. Ypsilanti has one senior that actually gets significant playing time and the rest are juniors and one sophomore. Look at the box score and Ypsilanti has also been over-confident as they have often been down double digits but found a way to come back and win. That doesn't happen against better teams, which relates to the experience factor. The players on Ypsilanti often rushed which caused them to have too many turnovers. You can't have success with 24 turnovers. Huron made the critical run in the 2nd quarter. At that time, Ypsilanti was playing with their starting point guard on the bench with foul trouble and then the leading scorer sat a good portion of the 2nd quarter as well. Huron played a physical game. Ypsilanti wasn't as aggressive but still picked up more fouls. The Ypsilanti gym has not been near that capacity all season so, the people that attend one game out of the year and try to evaluate the team or coaching really aren't speaking from a point of knowledge. I'm not saying that is any poster but, I know there were probably folks in the stands that aren't very knowledgeable.
Jim Pryce
Wed, Feb 16, 2011 : 10:40 p.m.
Brooks was outcoached, & Ypsilanti didn't make adjustments they needed to make. This was not only my thought but many others who were sitting around me in the stands. On a positive note as a proud 1980 Ypsilanti grad, I was glad to see the BRAVE on center court, as well as the traditional " home of the BRAVE " at the end of a beautiful rendition of the anthem done by a young lady whose name I didn't catch due to the large crowd & bad PA system.
Rich Rezler
Wed, Feb 16, 2011 : 8:53 p.m.
@Jim: Admittedly I didn't see this game, and I've been away from our prep scene for a little while, but I'd be surprised if a Steve Brooks-coached team is poorly coached. It probably has much more to do with them being very young and -- as you noted -- inexperienced in these types of games. @tater: In an interesting twist of MHSAA district lines, Huron and Ypsi -- seperated by, what, 10 miles? -- wouldn't meet in the tournament until the Breslin Center.
tater
Wed, Feb 16, 2011 : 7:59 p.m.
I'm shocked that the margin was this big, especially on the road. I just hope Huron takes them seriously if they see them in the tournament.
Jim Pryce
Wed, Feb 16, 2011 : 10:56 a.m.
This was a game where you could tell Huron had been in big games before. Ypsilanti was the taller & bulkier team, but were outworked, out hustled, & for sure outcoached. Huron played team basketball, moving the ball quickly with crisp passing. Ypsilanti played playground style, constantly dribbling into the trap defense with 3 defenders, & not looking to break down the trap with quick passes, when they did pass it, the pass was a lollipop toss & late causing way to many turnovers. At halftime they probably had as many turnovers as they had points. Huron played very well, but a poor job of coaching by Ypsilanti not being able to make adjustments, made this game ,which talent wise should of been close, a blowout.