Brandon Johns ,top, of East Lansing dunks over Cam Collins ,10, of Grand Ledge to put East Lansing up 37-26 in the 3rd quarter of their game Tuesday Febryary 16, 2016 in Grand Ledge.
GRAND LEDGE – Tuesday night marked the start of a big week for the East Lansing boys basketball team – whether coach Steve Finamore realizes it or not.
“We’re 0-0. I know it’s a cliche, but it’s the process,” said Finamore, whose team entered Tuesday’s game with Grand Ledge needing a win, and an Everett loss, to clinch the CAAC Blue title.
And, according to that logic, the Class A No. 4-ranked Trojans (15-0, 11-0) are still unbeaten, edging out the Comets in a 64-54 nail-biting victory at Grand Ledge High School to capture the conference crown outright.
“It started tipping in their favor, but we have resilience. We’re battle tested,” Finamore said. “All of these guys on the floor were here last year when we kind of embarrassed ourselves in certain games. We learned over the summer, over the fall, and we’ve strengthened our mindset.”
Caleb Hoekstra embodied the resilience Finamore spoke of when he hit a 3-pointer with under two minutes remaining to give East Lansing the lead once and for all. The junior shooting guard struggled from the floor prior to hitting the jumper that gave his team a 54-53 lead, having scored just one basket through the first three quarters.
The go-ahead bucket fueled a 13-1 run for the Trojans down the stretch.
“I tell him (Hoekstra) every time he’s open to shoot it. No matter what,” Finamore said. “He’s got the green light. We never tell him not to shoot.”
Led by senior Malek Adams, the Comets (10-6, 7-4) had their undefeated foe on the ropes for the majority of the contest. With his team trailing, 19-7, at the end of the first quarter, Adams scored 13 of his game-high 22 points within the first four minutes of the second quarter.
Grand Ledge started the second on a 15-0 run.
“Being a senior, a leader, I got to take those shots when they’re open,” Adams said. “We knew the importance of this game, but, right now, it’s done and over with.
“We know we’re going to see them again.”
East Lansing was able to provide counter punches for each haymaker the Comets threw its way. After Adams’ second-quarter heroics, senior guard Gabe Horton-Pankow was able to stop the bleeding with back-to-back 3-pointers. Junior guard DeAndre’ Robinson followed those up with with five straight points of his own.
Robinson, who netted a team-high 19 points, continued his strong play in the second half by scoring 10 points in the final two quarters, which included a 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter to give the Trojans a brief 51-49 lead.
“I was just trying to get open, take open shots, and get my teammates the ball” Robinson said. “It really was in the flow of the offense.”
Horton-Pankow scored 13 points for East Lansing.
Josh Horford scored 14 points and Luke Smith added nine points for Grand Ledge.
Contact James L. Edwards III at jledwards@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @JLEdwardsIII.