Wayne Memorial hammers Railsplitters, advances to Sweet 16
Wayne Memorial’s Jaylohn Allen takes the ball strong to the basket Tuesday night.
One season after winning just seven games and a few weeks removed from finishing third in the KLAA East Division, Wayne Memorial’s boys basketball team is one win away from advancing to the MHSAA Division 1 Elite 8 (and two victories from playing in the Breslin Center).
You don’t have to be a mathematician to understand the 18-7 Zebras are on an amazing run.
On Tuesday night at Northville High School, Wayne dispatched a fast and physical Ypsilanti Lincoln squad, 63-52, to move on to Thursday’s D1 regional final against Ann Arbor Huron, which edged Detroit Catholic Central, 54-53, on a last-second three-point shot.
Thursday’s regional final is set to tip off at 7 p.m. at Northville.
Unfazed by packed gym
Playing in front of a large and loud crowd — a setting he and his teammates aren’t necessarily accustomed to — junior Carlos Medlock Jr. paced the Zebras with 23 points, many coming on physical drives to the paint where he managed to finish despite contact.
On one successful third-quarter drive to the hoop, which he converted, Medlock Jr fell hard to the court where he stayed for a couple minutes before being escorted to the sidelines by trainers.
What looked like a potentially worrisome injury initially proved to be a temporary setback as the 5-foot-11 scoring machine returned to the court minutes later.
“We knew he’d get up,” said Wayne Head Coach Steve Brooks, smiling. “Carlos is one of the toughest players of his size I’ve ever coach. There was one other player his size I’ve coached — Kenny Payne — who Carlos reminds me of.
“Carlos is as tough as they come. He’s so aggressive and he hates to lose.”
‘A lot of work’
Medlock Jr asserted during a post-game interview that the Zebras’ post-season success hasn’t materialized by accident.
“This feels great,” he said. “This team put in a lot of work before this season — a lot of work — and we came into this season saying, ‘Let’s make a run.’ There are people who didn’t believe we could get here, so we’re out to prove all those people wrong.”
Medlock admitted playing in front of a couple thousand people required an brief adjustment period.
“It was something we had to get used to,” he said, smiling. “But it was a lot of fun.”
Medlock Jr received ample support from his backcourt buddies: sophomore Jaylohn Allen (whose 16 points included 11 made free throws) and junior Austin Tory, who scored eight points.
Shock-ing contribution
Wayne was bolstered by the post play of sophomore Cayden Shock, who didn’t play in last week’s district tournament. Shock added six points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots.
“Cayden didn’t play in the district because it wasn’t his style of game,” Brooks explained. “We have the type of team where we can make adjustments depending on the style we expect to see. Now, as far as our three guards go, they can play in all styles.”
Most possessions Tuesday night included some WWF-caliber banging in the paint — 99% of which was clean and legal, although Lincoln was T’ed up for a post-whistle push.
“The difference tonight was our toughness down the stretch,” Brooks said, describing how the Zebras were able to extend a late four-point lead into a double-digit triumph. “(Lincoln) plays with a physical style and once our kids decided they weren’t going to get pushed around, that was the difference.”
Freebies helped
Brooks also praised Allen’s accuracy at the free throw line as a reason his team was able to pull away.
“It was nice to see Jaylohn get his stroke back at the line,” Brooks said of Allen’s 11-for-12 effort at the stripe. “He made some big ones in the fourth quarter.”
Three Railsplitters finished with double-digit points: Dante Wimberly (19 points), Eric Jones (14 points) and AJ Coleman (11 points).
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
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