Laingsburg stymied by Ecorse's 3-point shooting, defense in D3 state quarterfinals
YPSILANTI - The Laingsburg boys basketball team entered Tuesday's Division 3 state quarterfinal game with a 25-0 record and a No. 2 state ranking. But it was Ecorse that owned recent postseason success, having reached the state semifinals a year ago.
As the Wolfpack learned the hard way, the Raiders' experience in big moments shined through. Ecorse jumped out a 10-0 lead and kept the advantage in double figures for the final 29 minutes, using a swarming zone defense to keep Laingsburg off-kilter all night in coming away with a 57-46 win at Lincoln High School.
"We made some mistakes," said Laingsburg coach Daniel Morrill. "I wouldn't say I was surprised. I would say a lot of credit goes to their aggressiveness. We tried to prepare for it, we worked on it — and our kids are bright kids — and then you see it real time, and they've got another level of speed. And they did a really good job with it in passing lanes."
Ecorse (20-4) was without one of its top players in Kenneth Morrast Jr., and Laingsburg mostly kept 2,000-point scorer Malik Olafioye in check, holding him to 10 points.
But one player in particular was a problem: Dennell Kemp Jr., who scored a game-high 23 points and hit five 3-pointers. It was his personal 11-0 run to start the second quarter that gave Ecorse an insurmountable 30-7 advantage.
Kemp hit three of his five triples during that stretch.
"They shot the ball extremely well," Morrill said. "(Kemp) from the corner, we felt like we could get there. If we were a half-second late, he made it; and if we were on time, he made it. We did a pretty good job on (Olafioye), but their quickness, their rebounding, their pressure early got to us and we kinda had to take a few minutes to adjust and they made their run and it didn't matter what defense we were in.
"They've got a really nice team and they deserve to win."
Ecorse hit seven of its eight 3-pointers in the first half. The Raiders led 19-4 in the first quarter and had its largest advantage at at 24 points, 33-9, following a Darrien Reddick triple.
Laingsburg cut the advantage to 17 late in the first half, and got it down to 10 once late in the third quarter and twice in the fourth, but would get no closer.
"I didn't feel good all night," Morrill said. "Ten's a lot of points to overcome from a team that never stopped making shots. Again, give them a ton of credit. I thought they really stuck up and did a good job and it becomes harder and harder to come back when we don't get defensive stops. We've been able to pretty much all year, and we weren't able to tonight."
Laingsburg couldn't hit shots, and Ecorse's zone defense played a huge role in that, using a 1-2-2 and 3-2 zone in the first half and a 2-3 zone in the second half, using its length and athleticism to keep Wolfpack shooters from getting good looks. And when those open looks came, the shots wouldn't fall.
And every time Zander Woodruff — the area's top scorer — would get the ball, there were two defenders waiting for him. He finished with 15 points.
"I know he hasn't a played team like this one that plays hard, and (the game plan was) that we would just focus on (Woodruff), take him out of the game and make the other players beat us," said Ecorse coach Gerrod Abram. "And my team did an excellent job at that. They followed the game plan to a T and we came out with the victory."
Eli Woodruff led Laingsburg with 18 points and Jacob Essenberg added 13.
"We definitely started off slow, way slower than we wanted to," Eli Woodruff said. "I think we came out and gave a good fight in the second half. I'm proud of that."
Despite the loss, Laingsburg had one of its most successful seasons in recent history, winning its first 25 games and claiming its first regional title since 2013.
"It's been real. It's been a blast this whole season," Eli Woodruff said. "It definitely sucks it's gotta come to an end, but 25-0 is a great start to the season for sure.
"Next year, I know my little brother and the rest of the (players) that (were) on the team this year will do absolutely great. And everyone looking up to us right now can't wait to be wearing a Laingsburg jersey. I'm proud to say that."
Ecorse will play third-ranked Flint Beecher (22-4) in the semifinal Thursday. Eighth-ranked Traverse City St. Francis (23-4) and ninth-ranked Niles Brandywine (25-2) square off in the other semifinal.
"This team, this program, this city, it's making history," Abram said. "We just made history again, going back-to-back to the Breslin, it's never been done. My team, they wanted it."
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Ecorse boys basketball beats Laingsburg in Division 3 quarterfinals
