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Mike Schaaf put Arthur Hill up to start the game 3-0 on a rare three pointer but after that it was a quarter dominated by Country Day.  The Jackets outscored Arthur Hill 17-8 after the opening make from Schaaf.  Joe Dumars' son, Jordan Dumars had two triples in the first quarter, leadng the charger along with Day's imposing frontline of DaShonte Riley (6'11") and Donovan Kirk (6'8").

Arthur Hill opened the 2nd quarter on a 9-1 run to retake the lead at 20-18.  Tyrie Wooten had 7 of the 9 during the stretch, capped off by a three to push them up to 20.  The possession was started by a Latreze Mushatt block on the defensive end.  The rest of the first half turned into a chess match as both teams traded scores.  Schaaf finished the quarter with 4 more points for Arthur Hill, while Riley and Kirk had 4 a piece.  With 28 seconds to go in the half, Darnell Brown nailed a triple for Country Day, sending his squad up by 1 at 29-28 going into halftime.

For the first four minutes of the 2nd half, we saw more of the same with each team slugging it out, then over the last four minutes, each team had major runs.  After James King got Arthur Hill within 2 at 33-35, The Jackets went on a 9-2 run, pushing the lead to 9 points at 44-35 with 2:10 remaining in the quarter.  The final 2:10 belonged to Arthur Hill however, as they finished the quarter on a 10-2 run.  Bennie Fowler had put Country Day up 46-43 with just seconds remaining the quarter.  Arthur Hill quickly inbounded the ball however and John Edwards found Maurice Jones streaking down the floor for an easy layup past the entire Jacket defense, cutting the lead to 45-46 as time expired in the third.

Mushatt opened the fourth with 4 straight points, giving Arthur Hill the lead at 49-46.  They would never trail again but with 4:15 remaining, Dumars tied it up at 51 with his 4th three of the game.  Back on offense, Wooten had a three go in and out but Mushatt was there to put the offensive rebound back home for the lead.  A Schaaf basket and two Mushatt free throws later and Arthur Hill was back up by 6.  Arthur Hill failed to ice the game by missing several golden opportunities at the charity stripe.  Dale Brundidge cut the lead to just 3 on a driving basket with just over 10 seconds remaining.  Arthur Hill got the ball into Jones who then made a rare mistake by tossing the ball out of bounds as he tried to push the ball up the court.  With 7 seconds remaining, the Jackets had 1 last shot.  They found an open Brown at the top of the key who fired up the game tying attempt but missed as it hit the rim and bounced off into the hands of Mushatt who held the ball just inbounds as time expired, with a final of 62-59.

Even though Country Day is a Class B school, there's not much separating the two classes, talent wise when you are looking at the creme of the crop in both Class A and B.  Country Day's size gave Arthur Hill fits, especially with the absence of Humes, one of Arthur Hill's 'bigger' men and shot blocker.  They are going to need him back to make a serious run at all the marbles.  When it came down to it, Arthur Hill was able to tighten the screws again when it mattered most, forcing turnovers and using their speed and quickness to come through in the clutch.  The monster schedule of Arthur Hill gets a little easier from here on out as they prepare for another run at the state title.  The Lumberjacks will host the districts coming up at the end of this month with their eyes on February 29th, the possible and probable matchup with Saginaw High.

Arthur Hill Leading Scorers
Latreze Mushatt - 17 Points
Mike Schaaf - 10 Points
Tyrie Wooten - 10 Points

Country Day Leading Scorers
Jordan Dumars - 14 Points
Dale Brundidge - 12 Points
DaShontae Riley - 10 Points
Darnell Brown - 10 Points
Donovan Kirk - 8 Points