Milan scores 46 second-half points to stun Temperance Bedford, win district title
Milan forward C.J. Turnage dunks in the first half against Temperance Bedford.
Courtney Sacco | AnnArbor.com
A reminder was written on the board in the pregame locker room, just in case any of the players somehow forgot it: Milan was the underdog going into its district title game against Temperance Bedford.
The Big Reds didn’t forget, and used that underdog mentality as fuel in their biggest game of the season.
Milan scored 46 second-half points and overcame a nine-point halftime deficit to upset Bedford, 67-60, Friday night in a Class A district final at Bedford.
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“We wanted to make sure that people knew who we are,” Big Reds senior forward C.J. Turnage said. “Everybody thinks that just because we play in the Huron League, we’re little Milan, we’re not that good. So we wanted to prove to people who we really are.”
The Big Reds, who put up a 19-1 regular-season record while playing as one of the largest teams in the Huron League, did what no Ann Arbor team could do all season: win a game in Bedford’s hostile gym.
“I think we showed everybody in the Ann Arbor area who the best team in Washtenaw County is,” Milan coach Josh Tropea said. “The only one that came down to Bedford and won this year.”
The win gives Milan its second district title in four years, and first at the Class A level. It advances to play Gibraltar Carlson in a regional semifinal game Monday at Wyandotte Roosevelt.
Milan sophomore guard Latin Davis scored a season-high 25 points, and as he went, so did the Big Reds. Davis had just five points at halftime, including none in the Big Reds’ six-point second quarter. He exploded for 20 of his team’s 46 points after the second half.
Tropea said he told Davis before the game that he would likely be open off ball screens, and should look to shoot.
“He wanted me to be more aggressive off screens,” Davis said. “At halftime he told me I only have 5 points, so I had to look to be aggressive, so that’s what I did.”
Turnage added 17 points and Stephen Evans had 13.
The game featured two of the best forwards in the area in Turnage and Bedford’s Jackson Lamb, a returning All-State player who scored 25 of his team’s 60 points.
“C.J. Turnage and Jackson Lamb have been as special as any two players in the state,” Tropea said. “But the bottom line is, C.J.’ s been overshadowed because of Lamb. If Lamb is number one, C.J.’s been 1A all the time. There’s no question about that.”
The matchup didn’t disappoint. Five minutes into the game, Lamb took a feed in the lane and threw down an a two-handed slam. A minute later, Turnage had a fast-break opportunity and flushed a one-handed dunk over a defender.
But Turnage had the final highlight-reel play, as he came in from the wing and dunked over Lamb.
“I was real happy after that,” Turnage said. “I knew he didn’t like that one.”
After a strong start to the game, Milan committed its seventh foul with 7:25 left in the first half, and had to switch to a zone defense to keep its players available. That allowed Bedford to go on a 17-6 run as the Big Reds looked to stay in the game.
“Our mentality was hang around for a half and we’ll make a run in the second half,” Tropea said. “We thought we could wear their guards down.”
The Big Reds came out of the second half in a full-court, man-to-man defense and went on a 9-2 run while forcing Bedford into a pair of turnovers. For the game, the Kicking Mules recorded 15 turnovers, compared to six for Milan.
The second-half pace favored the Big Reds, who hit three 3-pointers in the final 1:17 of the third quarter to take a two-point lead into the fourth.
“Our full-court man turned them over and sped them up, and by speeding them up, they couldn’t feed the ball to Jackson,” Tropea said.
Bedford tied the game twice in the fourth quarter, but Milan pulled away with three minutes left and hit nine of 10 free throws in the final 1:23 to seal the win.
“We never doubted ourselves,” Tropea said. “Let me tell you, we appreciate all the naysayers. We love it.”
Kyle Austin covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kyleaustin@annarbor.com or 734-623-2535. Follow him on Twitter @KAustin_AA.
Comments
boo
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 3:22 a.m.
While I still think Ypsilanti, Pioneer and Huron are better programs overall, Milan deserves credit for their season. Just support your team. You are wasting a lot of energy trying to prove yourselves right. No need, just enjoy what is happening for your team right now.
paulirwin
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 1:07 a.m.
As a former Milan hoops alumni, class of 09, and the last year before Tropea. Don't forget the 'a' now. What has been accomplished in the last 4 years is deserving of a little puffing of the chest. I was on the two teams that were just awful, like reeeeeally bad. Three wins in two years. I've never been apart of such a bad team. Then Tropea comes in and changes the attitude of the program completely around. They go and have a winning record and win a district title. Milan basketball now expects to win games, like they have all year. Only blemish is to a pretty well coached team down in Ohio. Other than that it's been a pretty steady run of steam rolling through teams. Huron League isn't the toughest league by any means. Milan used to compete for a league that was totally up for grabs. That is no longer the case. Milan, Tropea and those kids will own that league for a while. They came in to Class A two years ago and now they're on top of the district taking out two good teams and arguably one of the better players in the state. Just like in the NCAA tourney it's about beating who's on the court matched up against you. Milan did it's job and consequently they ARE the best team in the county. Hate all you want but Tropea and his staff are doing it the right way. And for how far they've come in 4 years the aknowledgement and praise of the work they put in is due. IT'S DUE Ps I hope you all are rooting for big blue tmrw. Go Blue!
mlivesaline
Sat, Mar 9, 2013 : 7:13 p.m.
Wow all you Milan fans are just a bunch of whiners! Blah, blah I feel so disrespected blah, blah. Note to Milan fans .... STOP WHINING. But, but, Kyle didn't rank us higher, *snif *snif. I think I'm going to cry. You've got an easy next game against Gibraltar Carlson, let's see how you do against Romulus in the finals. Beat them and then you can puff out your chest. Until then please stop with all your crying.
dugster
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 12:50 a.m.
My apologies to the Bedford fans. In trying to find out why Milan at 21-1 wasn't getting any respect I never went into name calling like mlivesaline. So my above statement only applies to mlivesaline's team. I haven't seen anything disrespectfull come from Bedford fans. Just the Saline fan named above.
dugster
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 12:17 a.m.
Milan's not crying the guys are still playing and the fans are making plans to go to Wyandotte for some B-ball action. Saline and Bedford on the other hand have nothing better to do.
hoopsfan
Sat, Mar 9, 2013 : 2:07 p.m.
Ok, I'll admit I was wrong. Congrats to Milan. But Trope needs to get over himself. Milan is NOT the best team in Washtenaw county. Pulling a huge upset at Bedford does not make your team better than Pioneer, Skyline, Huron or Ypsilanti. Its the playoffs and upsets happen. Feel good about your team and be proud of the accomplishment. But be careful of the chest bumping. When players do it, we say its it's immature. WHen coaches do it.... well, we say its childish. If Trope wanted to prove Milan was as good or better than those other Washtenaw county teams, why didn't he schedule any of them? Huron came to your place last year and pounded you into submission. Why did you not make the return trip to Huron? Ypsilanti is only a ten minute drive and they will play anyone? Why not schedule them? I just looked at your schedule. You scheduled Adrian, Monroe and Chelsea. the three worst teams in the SEC. Really? Again, congrats on your UPSET of Bedford. And it's just that, an UPSET.
dugster
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 6:59 p.m.
Ann Arbor schools "recruit". Students can apply to go to one of the other 2 high schools that aren't in their neighborhood. Not to mention you seem to know the makeup of Milan what about the other schools. If any of them have just one student from out of district than they are just as guilty, so that makes their records just as tainted if your go to continue to use your arguments.
hoopsfan
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 3:23 p.m.
Again, I'll acknowledge your win against Bedford. And you are right, No one from the SEC did that this year. But to come on here pounding your chest is sad. Its still Milan no matter how you try to present your resume. Do it over time, do it against the best teams in state, and do it without recruiting kids from Willow Run, Lincoln and Ypsi, Don't play the school of choice card. You won't see Ypsilanti, Huron, Pioneer making those claims. You're still a one hit wonder until you do it over time. Good luck vs Romulus.
dugster
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 1:02 a.m.
Hoopsfan said "But right now its a team of Milan, Ypsi, Willow Run, Lincoln kids. All kids from sub par educational settings. Notice, no one in their right mind would transfer from an Ann Arbor School to go to Milan" We are discussing why a 21-1 team isn't getting some credit where credit's due. You are turning it into a personal attack on the school district. Sounds like someone is really being a sore loser because his team couldn't win the district. Let's keep it to the discussion whether or not Milan's record deserves recognition based on strength of schedule and keep the the personal attacks on the schools out of it. I thought that wasn't allowed per the annarbor.com's own rules.
Hoppfan4life
Sat, Mar 9, 2013 : 5:34 p.m.
Hoopsfan, let's use facts for this discussion. fact #1 Michigan is school of choice, no one has to recruit any kids to come to Milan. Why go there, when you could go to the great Ann Arbor Huron, Pioneer or Skyline? Fact#2 over the last 4 years Milan record is 65-26, I think that is winning over a period of time. Fact#3 over the last 4 years, Milan's program has put 5 young men in college with basketball scholarships, please name some SEC schools that have done the same? Fact#4 you should contact some of the coaches in the SEC and ask them why they won't schedule Milan? It is not for a lack of effort on Milan's part. Fact#5 I love the fact that Milan has a coach that wears his emotions on his sleeve. When you are confident in yourself and your abilities you are able to exude that to your players. Winning builds confidence. Last fact; to quote the great Bill Parcells, "you are what your record says you are". I am sure your are steadfast in your opinion, and believe me, we at Milan use that as motivation. so keep on motivating us.
hoopsfan
Sat, Mar 9, 2013 : 3:17 p.m.
They should win against a sub par Gibraltar team, but they will get smacked by Romulus. If they beat Romulus. Only then can they claim anything about being a great team. Right now they're just a one hit wonder. Do it over time And try doing it with kids from Milan for a change. Quit recruiting kids from Lincoln and Willow Run. Maybe thats what has a lot of people knocking your program. If it was truly a team of kids from Milan, it would be respectable. But right now its a team of Milan, Ypsi, Willow Run, Lincoln kids. All kids from sub par educational settings. Notice, no one in their right mind would transfer from an Ann Arbor School to go to Milan.
dugster
Sat, Mar 9, 2013 : 2:38 p.m.
Huron was last year, not this year. This year they beat 5 teams from the SEC(Adrian, Chelsea, Monroe, Saline, Bedford) And if Ypsilanti and Milan both win out they will meet in the Class A championship game. If Lincoln had beaten Bedford that would have been an upset. But Milan beat 5 SEC schools that means if they aren't good than Bedford isn't any good either and just won all their games because they were in a poor conference. Milan was only the underdog because no one gave them credit. Maybe all the "experts" were dead wrong. So let them be the underdog, if Milan and Ypsi meet in the championship game and Milan wins what will your excuse be then to deny them credit Hoopsfan.
dugster
Sat, Mar 9, 2013 : 1:28 p.m.
I guess Mr Cunningham, Hoopsfan, Flygirl87, and Chapmaja are all eating crow with Kyle. Or should be. At least Kyle manned up and admitted he was wrong and finally gave Milan the credit it deserves.
Cash
Sat, Mar 9, 2013 : 10:51 a.m.
Big Reds! Uh, Mr Cunningham, where ever you are, what were your comments to me this week about how if Milan eked out a win with Saline, Bedford would trounce them? Ha!! Once again let me say "GO BIG REDS!" Great underdog win!
Kyle Austin
Sat, Mar 9, 2013 : 4:48 p.m.
Mr. Cunningham isn't working this weekend, but I'm sure like me he would admit that Milan was underestimated.
dugster
Sat, Mar 9, 2013 : 6:32 a.m.
Chapmaja said "Look at the Bedford district with Milan in it. Milan has played very few of the same teams the other schools played. Where does a 19-1 Milan team seed out in that district. If you go simply by record, Milan's record puts them as the top seed, but they have played mostly if not all Class B and Class C schools this season, none of who would compete well against the SEC Red teams as a whole" Well I say that Milan completed very well against the SEC. They to took Saline by 22 pts and Temperance by 7 pts. So I guess going by record would have worked just fine. Hoopsfan said "You are correct. Seeding wouldn't work. The Milan example is perfect. Saline lost 10 games to some of the best teams in southeast Michigan. Milan beat a bunch lower level schools with little competition in their league. Saline finished last in its division and could very well beat a 19-1 Milan team that didn't beat any good teams" In case you forgot Milan took Saline by 22 pts. You implied because Milan didn't beat any good teams that they couldn't win the district. Apparently Milan had the better competition because they won the district. Kyle manned up how about it Chapmaja and Hoopsfan, admit it Milan is better than you or anyone in the county gave them credit for. I believe credit is due where credit is due. Milan really is a good team and I believe this district championship should remove all doubt.
dugster
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 1:36 a.m.
Thinkingone I agree nothing chapmaja said per se was offensive. I was actually just trying to point out that if they had paired by records the district ended as it should have. Number 1 seed Milan (based on win/loss record) beat the Number 2 seed. Maybe I could have left out the part about Milan having the better competition but that was in response to the accusation that Milan played only Class B and C teams therefore not being good enough to go against Class A schools. Though Milan did play 3 SEC schools this year (Adrian, Chelsea, and Monroe) before the district and beat them handily. That was also part of my feeling that they were being underated because they weren't just sneaking by the B and C schools but beating them rather easily. Hoopsfan on the other hand is another story. If you see the replies to his post ending with the assumption that the Bedford win was an upset you will see he's now starting to make personal attacks on the Milan, Lincoln, Willow Run and Ypsilanti school districts that don't have anything to do with the basketball question. Incidently I've never said Milan is the best in the county. Ypsilanti won their district and if Milan and Ypsi win out the Class A championship will be Milan vs Ypsilanti. Until one of the team loses and hopefully that won't be until the finals, that question remains to be answered. I just want to see Milan get some credit for a very good season and I feel the district shows they have been underrated all season. Hoopsfan on
ThinkingOne
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 12:23 a.m.
dugster I am reading the words you are quoting and I find nothing wrong with them per se: 'Chapmaja said "Look at the Bedford district with Milan in it. Milan has played very few of the same teams the other schools played. Where does a 19-1 Milan team seed out in that district. If you go simply by record, Milan's record puts them as the top seed, but they have played mostly if not all Class B and Class C schools this season, none of who would compete well against the SEC Red teams as a whole"' I am not going to bother to look up everything Cahpmaja said, but I find nothing offensive about this quote. The fact of the matter is you cannot honestly seed teams that have no real record of playing against each other. How could you rate comparative scores - which is mostly speculative to begin with - when there are none or very few? And to say that, on the whole, class B & C schools are competitive across the board with class A schools is absurd. So looking from the outside one could reasonable say that a team that consistently plays tougher competition could well beat a team with a better record against lesser competition. People do this all the time around here - check out Big Ten football where a winning league record doesn't carry much weight anywhere else. The fact that Milan beat both Saline and especially Bedford is a credit to the team and coach. It is not a knock to think that most would be surprised that they did. Many teams Milan plays are not 'local' or highly regarded and therefore you guys don't get the press or the public interest that the SEC does. Spend more time just enjoying the win & looking forward to next week's game(s), and less time worrying about what everybody thought a week ago.
Kyle Austin
Sat, Mar 9, 2013 : 5:35 a.m.
OK I'm here to eat my crow...No question Milan was very strong tonight and beat Temperance Bedford on the road when no other county team could. Kudos to them. Although this team seemed to thrive on being overlooked, so do I get any credit for that?
ThinkingOne
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 2:10 p.m.
Kyle Don't spend too much time thinking about the brackets. They are just typically set up on a geographic basis and there is just an arbitrary line somewhere to keep the number of regions the same on both sides. A few years ago Pioneer defeated Saline for the state championship in baseball. Many people wondered how schools that are about 7 miles apart got on different sides of the bracket. Stuff happens, that's all.
Kyle Austin
Sat, Mar 9, 2013 : 4:49 p.m.
I wish they were in the same region. I'm still trying to figure out why those two districts are on opposite sides of the bracket.
Cash
Sat, Mar 9, 2013 : 10:53 a.m.
Kyle, Be sure to invite Pete Cunningham to your Crow dinner!
dugster
Sat, Mar 9, 2013 : 6 a.m.
Credit given. For your part Kyle you can have your crow with your favorist side dish of your choosing. And you can choose the drink and desert of choice to round out the meal. I guess the best team in the county is now down to Milan and Ypsilanti. I guess who ever last longer gets the title. If both teams win out that decision would come in the Class A championship game. Now that would be great to see.
Hoppfan4life
Sat, Mar 9, 2013 : 4:26 a.m.
So Kyle, where do you rank Milan in your final poll? Give those kids some credit, your mighty SEC is not all that. The Huron League obviously got the Big Reds ready to go into Bedford where no other team has won and come out with a victory. Quiet kept, Milan had 4 sophomores on varsity this year, so they are not going anywhere. Go Huron League!
Kyle Austin
Sat, Mar 9, 2013 : 4:51 p.m.
Well our rankings end after the regular season, but rest assured Milan would have moved up had we continued them into the postseason.
dugster
Sat, Mar 9, 2013 : 3:43 a.m.
Kyle, you've snubbed Milan all year because of the "Huron League" excuse. Milan faced 2 Class A teams in the district and as pointed out did what no other team in Washtenaw County could do. Beat Temperance at Temperance. To Hoopsfan so much for the blowout and to flygirl87 I guess Milan CAN play with the big boys. I hope you guys are going to man and woman up and give Milan the respect that you and the rest of Washtenaw County refused to do. Go Big Reds good luck in the regionals.
Bob
Sat, Mar 9, 2013 : 3:33 a.m.
CONGRATULATIONS, MILAN!!!! YOU proved it tonight. The Milan Big Red basketball team is the best team in Washtenaw County. GO BIG RED.....