DIVISION 3, QUARTERFINAL 9: DEPSA Downs Beecher

<p><strong>Detroit Edison Public School Academy 76, Flint Beecher 69</strong></p> <p>In many's eyes, the Division 3 State Championship game was played on Tuesday night on the campus of St. Clair Community College.</p> <p>In many's eyes, Flint Beecher was the favorite to win this years Division 3 state championship. But Detroit Edison Public School Academy (DEPSA), defending champs in Class C, weren't having any of it. </p> <p>Eight teams entered the MHSAA's quarterfinal round, four of which were ranked in the final AP Top Ten poll for Division 3 - including #1 Flint Beecher. But it was DEPSA's talented roster that bounced the Bucs from postseason play Tuesday with a 76-69 victory. Now with the field trimmed down to four teams, unbeatens Pewamo-Westphalia (2nd) and Iron Mountain (3rd) advance to Michigan State University's Breslin Center as the only remaining ranked teams. Erie Mason (23-2) finished just the year just outside of the top ten while the battle-tested DEPSA moves on to the semifinals standing strong with their record of 19-7.</p> <p><strong>Big-Man Bryce<br /> </strong>Beecher had no answer for the size and strength of DEPSA's <strong>Bryce George (2020).</strong> </p> <p>Despite drawing in two and sometimes three Beecher defenders, the 6'6 George tallied 13 points in the first half that helped his squad to a 32-19 lead at the break. After picking up his third foul early in the second half George was sent to the sidelines for remainder of the third quarter. Still, George's soft touch, skilled footwork and his knack for rebounding the ball had him finishing tops among all Pioneer scorers with his 19 points and 17 boards. </p> <p><strong>Beecher's Dynamic Duo<br /> </strong>Beecher's 1-2 punch of <strong>Jalen Terry (2020) and Earnest Sanders (2020)</strong> did all they could to not let their Division 3 title hopes slip away. </p> <p>The Bucs trailed DEPSA by 12 after three quarters of play. They continued to chip away at the Pioneers lead, making it a 68-65 ball game after Terry knocked down a shot from beyond the arc with just over a minute left. But that was as close as Beecher would get to tying things once George posted another two points and the Pioneers iced their victory from the free-throw line. </p> <p>Terry led all scorers with his game-high 26 points, 24 of which came in the second half when he went 13-for-13 from the free-throw line. After hanging 11 points in the first half, Sanders capped off his junior season with 17 points that were highlighted by several crowd-pleasing dunks. </p> <p><strong>DEPSA Depth<br /> </strong>Early in the third quarter when George picked up his third foul of the night, Beecher  - trailing by 10, saw their opportunity to make a move on the Pioneers. However, DEPSA closed the Bucs window of opportunity almost immediately thanks to the stellar play of the Pioneers bench.</p> <p>Enter <strong>Jaylen Flaniken</strong> - a speedy 6'2 sophomore who slashed and dashed his way to 12 points off the bench before exiting the game with an injury during the final seconds of the third quarter. Also logging quality minutes for DEPSA was<strong> David Hughes (2020)</strong>, who entered the game in the third quarter and made his way into the scorebooks almost immediately after replacing George after picking up his third foul. As George's understudy, Hughes kept the Pioneers moving forward by dominating the paint and hauling in rebounds on both ends of the floor.</p> <p>Also helping send DEPSA to the state finals for the second straight year was <strong>Raynard Williams (2020)</strong> with 13 points, <strong>Vincent Cooley (2020)</strong> with 10 points and <strong>Brian Taylor (2019)</strong> with seven.</p> <p><strong>Youth Groups</strong><br /> Flint Beecher's season may be over and DEPSA is now just two wins away from claiming their second state championship. But no matter the outcome - the string of success for these two programs is far from over, which very well also means this year won't be the last that these two cross paths. </p> <p>Six members of the Bucs 15-man playoff roster will be graduating this spring, but not one of them is in Coach Mike Williams' starting five. For DEPSA, Taylor is the lone senior on their roster. </p> <p>Flaniken (2021) highlighted the play of the Pioneers underclassmen and made a name for himself on Thursday night, coming off the bench and netting 12 points. But let's not forget about the play of Beecher's<strong> Keyon Menifield (2021)</strong>, which has been solid all postseason long. Menfield tallied 14 points in the loss alongside the crazy-quick <strong>Carmelo Harris (2022)</strong>, who netted eight points in the season-ending loss. </p> <p><strong>QUOTE OF THE NIGHT: </strong><em>DEPSA's Bryce George on being forced to sit after picking up his third foul early in the third quarter up 17 points.</em><br /> "When I got that third foul, I was frustrated, but I knew we could handle it," George said. "Our bench is so deep. Whoever we put in that quarter, I knew they'd be able to handle (the pressure). At that time, I just had to be the cheerleader." <br /> "This has just been an amazing ride." </p> <p><br /> <em>*Special thanks to Scott Bolsby of @LetsTalkSports3 (Twitter)</em></p>