The Chelsea Standard
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Chelsea falls in regional final
By Don Richter, Sports Editor
PUBLISHED: March 22, 2007
Detroit Southwestern used strong team defense and timely offense to defeat Chelsea 53-39 last Friday in a Class B state regional final at Milan.
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The Prospectors (13-12) are a legendary Public School League program, winning three Class A state titles and finishing as runner-up seven times since 1970. Southwestern, under Perry Watson (now head coach at the University of Detroit-Jesuit), was state runner-up an unprecedented six consecutive years from 1982 through 1987.
The Prospector program has produced such NBA and college standouts as Jalen Rose, Antoine Joubert, Voshon Lenard, Howard Eisely, Anderson Hunt and Leslie Rockymore.
While Southwestern has seen quite a few lean years since the glory days of the 1980s and early '90s, the Prospectors appear to have turned the corner under coach Brian Arnold.
"Believe it or not, we've been hurt all year," Arnold said. "No. 23 (senior guard Lloyd Harrison) broke his thumb, No. 22 Keith Arnold missed eight games and my big kid (6-foot-8 junior Bruce Watson) missed five games with a scope on his knee. We just got healthy the game before districts.
"We all brought it together and they made a commitment to each other and this is the end result."
The end result was a regional championship over favored and No. 3 state-ranked Chelsea (23-2). The Bulldogs had an uncharacteristically poor shooting night, finishing the game 10-of-49 from the field for a season-low 20 percent. What made the outcome even more surprising was the Bulldogs shot a school record 54 percent from the floor during the regular season.
"We had open looks, lay-ups, it didn't make a difference, the ball wasn't falling," said Chelsea coach Robin Raymond. "The kids played their hearts out. They never gave up. We kept working to get good shots, but there was a lid on the basket.
"We tried different offensive sets, backdoor cuts, inside, nothing was falling. It was frustrating."
To begin the game, neither team came out shooting well. Almost three minutes elapsed before Harrison scored on a fast break lay-up giving Southwestern a 2-0 lead with 5:25 left in the first quarter.
Bulldog senior forward Mike Sauers tied the game at 2-2 with a lay-up one minute later.
For the rest of the quarter, it was all Prospectors as Southwestern outscored cold-shooting Chelsea 10-0.
In the second quarter, the Bulldogs continued their shooting woes falling behind 14-2.
At 4:48 of the second quarter, Chelsea junior center Dean Roberts scored on a put back basket cutting the Prospector lead to 14-4. The bucket was the Bulldogs' first in close to eight minutes.
Southwestern outscored Chelsea 9-5 the rest of the quarter, entering the half leading 23-9.
At 6:05 of the third quarter, Bulldog senior guard Adam Connell nailed a three-pointer, closing the gap to 27-14. The triple was Chelsea's first of the contest.
Despite playing aggressive and driving to the basket, the Bulldogs were unable to cut into the Southwestern lead. Heading into the fourth quarter, Chelsea trailed 43-22.
In the fourth frame, the Bulldogs rallied, scratching and clawing their way back into the game. With 55 seconds left, Connell hit his second three-pointer of the night trimming the Prospectors' lead to 49-37. It was as close as Chelsea would get, however. Southwestern secured its victory outscoring the Bulldogs 4-2 the rest of the way for the game's final margin.
Senior guard Nate Schwarze led Chelsea with 11 points and five rebounds.
Sauers ended up with nine points, while Connell had eight points and Roberts five points. Senior forward Micah Hudson added four points, while senior forward Benny Johnson had two points for the Bulldogs.
Harrison led Southwestern with 18 points.
Despite the season-ending loss, Raymond was proud of his squad.
"It's not that we played poorly, we shot poorly," he said. "We worked hard, but couldn't buy a basket. It (loss) wasn't for lack of effort. We all thought we could get back in the game. But it's tough to make a run when the ball isn't falling."
To reach the final, Chelsea defeated Gibraltor Carlson 52-37 March 13 at Milan in a regional semifinal.
Hudson led the Bulldogs with 15 points, while Schwarze had 11 points.
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