EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Milan didn’t figure it would need a career-high point total and record-tying three-point shooting performance from its starting junior point guard to win a state title.
But that’s just what the Big Reds (25-3) got in winning the Michigan Boys Class B state championships on Saturday at the Breslin Center, defeating Benton Harbor 78-59.
Latin Davis scored a career-high 34 points, including a seven-for-seven finish from the 3-point line - which tied the state record for most three-pointers made in a boys’ state final - as Milan used a 22-11 run in the third quarter to capture the title.
“I was just coming off screens,” Davis said. “They were going under (them) and I was just feeling it, so I shot it. My coach has been telling me to shoot off ball screens all year, so that’s what I did tonight.”
Davis finished 13-of-17 from the field and added five rebounds and three assists for a Milan team that shot a blistering 58.5 percent from the field for the game.
“No. 32, I don’t think he missed a three and then, the big, he was a force down low” Benton Harbor head coach Corey Sterling said, referring to Davis and Milan junior center Nick Perkins, who poured in 24 points. “We just ran into a hot team tonight.”
Milan led by as many as 10 in the first half and went into halftime up 43-35. The Big Reds put the game away in the third quarter by outscoring the Tigers 22-11. Davis had 12 points during that stretch.
“Before we went on the court tonight, I said it’s about the stars,” Milan head coach Josh Tropea said. “And the best players showed up and they won the game for us, bottom line.”
The Tigers committed just 10 turnovers but Milan converted those miscues into 14 points.
John Robinson Jr. led Benton Harbor (18-9) with 19 points. Jaton Gunn added 16 and Cortez More chipped in with 13 and a team-high nine rebounds.
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