Birmingham Brother Rice tops U-D Jesuit, 68-63, for first Catholic League title since 1990
There’s martial law — and then there’s Marshall law.
Junior Warren Marshall certainly laid it down Friday night with a team-high 25 points to propel Birmingham Brother Rice past stubborn U-D Jesuit and star guard Sonny Wilson, 68-63, to earn its first Catholic League boys basketball title since 1990.
The Warriors (20-1, No. 2 in the Freep's Super 10 rankings) beat their Central Division rivals soundly in two previous meetings this season (68-53, 73-62) and appeared to be headed for another double-digit victory, only to have the Cubs storm back during the final quarter thanks to the play of the Toledo-bound Wilson, who led all scorers with a game-high 31 points.
U-D Jesuit (17-4) got within three in the final two minutes thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers by Wilson, but Rice held on thanks to a pair of free throws from Curtis Williams with 3.3 seconds remaining after the Cubs missed a game-tying 3.
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Marshall, the silky-smooth forward, put on a show in the third with 12 points. He had two dunks in the game and got plenty of support from another Toledo-bound recruit, Xavier Thomas, who had a strong all-around game with 22 points to win the Bishop bracket.
Sometimes viewed as the team’s fourth option with three Division I commits as his teammates, Marshall suddenly took the baton.
“I think it was realizing mismatches and just looking at the lineup,” he said. “I kind of got hot to start and I knew from there it was going to be good. The third quarter, they trusted me a lot and in the fourth, I kind of slowed down, but we finished it out and that’s all that matters.”
Sophomore guard Leroy Blyden, who helped orchestrate the second half comeback for U-D, added 19 points, while Zavier Banks added 10 for the Cubs (No. 8 Super 10).
“I didn’t think we had the effort in (the) first half that we had in the second half,” U-D coach Pat Donnelly said. “That’s what’s disappointing. The effort and concentration the first half just wasn’t there. I was disappointed in the transition buckets we gave up in the first half. But I give our guys at lot of credit. They fought. They were down 15 and they fought back. Rice is a talented team. They’re big. They’re athletic. They defend well. Warren Marshall had the best game of his career.”
Rice had relatively quiet scoring games from its two senior standouts — Williams (Louisville) and Johnathan Blackwell (Wisconsin) scored nine and seven points, respectively — but found a way to hang on against the Cubs, who had won eight of the previous 10 Catholic League crowns.
Despite nine first-half turnovers, Rice took an eight-point advantage, 32-24, thanks to a mid-range shot by Williams just before the buzzer.
Marshall tallied 10 points in the second quarter, including eight straight, while Wilson countered with 10 for U-D, including eight straight of his own.
“I was feeling confident, but once I saw the team all going it made it even better,” Marshall said.
Rice shot 61.9% (13-for-21) from the floor over the first 16 minutes, while U-D hit 10 of 26 (38.5%)
Thomas scored nine points in the opening quarter to stake the Warriors to a 15-10 advantage.
Marshall’s game elevated his status as a college recruit.
“He’s a Division I player,” Rice coach Rick Palmer said. “I know he doesn’t have an offer yet, but I don’t know if there were any coaches here tonight. I think he’ll be a Division I player. I kind of thought he was. He just hasn’t got an offer yet, but he’s a big-time player as well. Doesn’t get talked about a lot. He’s quiet, humble, hard worker, low-maintenance.“
Meanwhile, the crafty Wilson was unstoppable at times.
“I give a lot of respect to (Wilson) and their team,” Palmer said. “We kind of knew going in — we had to do the same thing, which is rebound, and we did exactly that. We struggled a little bit in the second half. Sonny got hot and he’s a great player. Curt (Williams) contained him as much as he could. We shut him down the last few games, but he played an outstanding game."
Rice now faces Detroit Public School League champion and top-ranked Detroit Cass Tech in the Operation Friendship final beginning at 7:30 p.m. March 2 at Calihan, while U-D takes on Detroit King (12-7) in the consolation final.
And then the state playoffs start.
“They knew he (Wilson) was going to come out and be heroic, and he was, but we still found a way,” Palmer said. “Unfortunately, they probably don’t go away. We’re hoping to win our district and could play them again. Then we’d have to beat them four times.”
Loyola captures Cardinal
Deshawn Martin paced a balance scoring attack with 16 points as Detroit Loyola (No. 10 Super 10) used a 23-6 third quarter run to upend three-time defending Cardinal Division champion Riverview Gabriel Richard, 53-42.
Ryan Martin added 13 points, while Jotham Nwekc chipped in with eight as the Bulldogs (20-1), the Intersectional No. 1 champs, overcame a 19-14 halftime deficit to earn their first Catholic League title since 2009-10.
Nick Sobush and Luke Westerdale each had 11, while Charles Kage contributed 10 for Gabriel Richard (15-4), which had captured the AA Division.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Birmingham Brother Rice boys top U-D Jesuit for Catholic League title
