EAST LANSING – The East Lansing High School Trojans hosted the Everett High School Vikings in hopes of continuing their dominant start to the season. After losing their last game to St. Mary’s Prep the Trojans were looking to stay on top of the Capital Area – Blue League with a win over the Vikings.
The Vikings, who have won one of their last three games, hoped to hand the Trojans their first conference loss and move up in the CABL after placing four spots behind the Trojans at fifth. Coming into this game the Vikings already knew they would be fighting an uphill battle after losing 73-56 in their last matchup against the Trojans.
Game Recap
The Trojans struck first on their home court, but the Vikings would respond with a 12-4 run hitting four three-pointers in a row to quickly silence the home crowd. Early on the Trojans struggled to close out on the wide-open Everett three-pointers, and although their fast-paced offense found open shots early they just weren’t falling.
However, the Trojans would turn the first quarter into “a tale of two halves” after stepping up their defensive pressure and only allowing the Vikings to score two points in the final four minutes of the quarter. During the Viking scoring drought, the Trojans would find a groove on offense to tie the score at 14-14 to end the first quarter.
The defensive intensity from the Trojans only got higher in the second quarter when they blocked three-straight shot attempts in the Viking’s first offensive possession. East Lansing’s aggressive defense began to translate to the offensive side as they began to attack to paint relentlessly.
The Vikings tried to mimic the fast and aggressive playstyle that the Trojans had displayed early, but the interior defense from the Trojans forced the Vikings to continue to try and score from the outside, which had cooled much since the first. The Trojans finished the quarter with all of their 18 points coming from inside the paint to head into halftime with a 32-25 lead.
The Trojans came out flat like they had in the first, allowing Everett to make back-to-back three-pointers to open the third quarter. The Vikings continued to chop at the Trojan lead but, just when they cut the lead to a single point at 36-35 the Trojans once again stepped up their game creating three turnovers which in turn turned into a 9-0 run.
To close off the third quarter junior shooting guard Cameron Hutson, who at this point already had 10 points, hit a three-pointer and followed that with a buzzer-beater mid-range jumper to close the quarter with a 15-point lead.
At this point, both teams seemed exhausted from a physical game after neither team could score in the first four minutes of the fourth, but after finding a will to finish strong the Trojans were able to close out the game with a final score of 72-43.
Shooting guard Jelvin Torbert Jr. led the Trojans in scoring with 26 points, and Hutson followed him up with 17 points.
Star Student and Player
Although he was not the leading scorer, Cameron Hutson had multiple points on the night where he became a spark plug for either the offense or defense. After having a quiet first quarter, Hutson scored eight points in a matter of two minutes in the second quarter to help his team make their first push of the night.
Once things slowed down again in the third quarter, it was Hutson once again to come in and help create some offense with his back-to-back shots, one being a three-pointer and the other a buzzer-beater.
Head coach Ray Mitchell says that the success of Hutson comes from his hard work and dedication that shows both inside the classroom and on the court. Mitchell expects top-tier play like this from Hutson, but only because Hutson is one of the best in the state.
“Cam is big time, one of the top ten players in the state and a three-level scorer so I mean a little of everything goes through him… We look for him to uplift us and that’s what he did again tonight,” Mitchell said after the game. “Cam is a great player, but more importantly though he is a great kid and a great student and that is why he has the offers he has and he has a big future,” Mitchell added.
What’s Next
After improving to 15-2 the Trojans will have a quick turnaround as they prepare to face off against Waverly High School on Friday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. The Trojans will be hitting the road to face off against the Warriors after defeating them earlier in the season at home.
Photo courtesy: DeShawn Johnson/ Tunnel vision Sports
