Lansing - The final contest of the 2nd Annual Mr. Basketball Classic at Eastern High School was what everyone in attendance was waiting for. The long anticipated matchup of two of the best players in the state in Ray McCallum of Detroit Country Day and Keith Appling of Detroit Pershing. This was also a matchup of two of the top three teams in the state with Country Day ranked #1 and Pershing #3. On this Saturday night, it was #1 Detroit Country Day that controlled the action for most of the game en route to an 81-72 victory in front of a raucous crowd.

The game started with a bang as Raymoan McAfee of Pershing threw down a two-handed dunk to open the scoring. From there, Country Day would take control of the game. The early Yellow Jacket attack was led by the supporting cast including Chris Fowler and Kenny Knight as much of the focus of the Doughboy defense was focused on stopping McCallum from getting to the rim. The Yellow Jackets would take a 16-10 after the first.

The 2nd Quarter is when Country Day really established tempo and pace. Pershing was forced to play a half court game and they had trouble forcing turnovers due to the balance of the Country Day attack. Country Day outscored Pershing 26-15 in the second to take a seemingly commanding 42-25 lead into the break thanks to 14 points from Fowler. McCallum added nine for Country Day while Appling was limited to seven first half points for Pershing.

I don't know what Pershing Head Coach A.W. Canada told his team at the half, but he should bottle that speech up as Pershing came out inspired and battled their way back into the game. Things were not looking good for the Doughboys as Country Day pushed their lead to 45-25 two minutes into the third. From that point on, the rest of the third was as exciting as we all thought this game would be. Pershing mounted a furious 19-2 rally in four minutes thanks to Appling. A couple threes to go along with an and-one, got the crowd back into the game and the deficit down to 47-44.

"We just wanted to come out and get a chance to cut the lead and have a chance to win the game," explained Appling.

Then came the moment we all were waiting for. With the lead slipping away and the momentum shifting to Pershing, McCallum took over in the final minutes of third, going right at Appling, who drew the assignment of guarding him all night long.

"It was no big deal for me," said Appling on guarding McCallum. "It is just another walk in the park for me. I always guard the other team's best player."

It was truly electrifying as McCallum and Appling went right at each other, with each bringing the crowd to their feet on six straight possessions. It was McCallum though, that had the highlight plays with an up and under four-footer, a windmill lay-in, an ankle breaking step back three and a two-handed jam to cap off an electric third quarter which saw Country Day withstand the Pershing rally to take a 57-50 lead into the fourth.

"I knew it was my time to take over," said McCallum. "At that point in the game I knew I had to step up."

In the 4th, it was evident Pershing was winded from the earlier rally. The closest the Doughboys would get would be 69-64. Lee Bailey did a great job for Country Day down the stretch as he salted the game away with eight points including six free throws down the stretch. Country Day would go on to win 81-72.

McCallum finished with a game high 24 points while Kenny Knight added 15 and Lee Bailey chipped in 14 for Country Day. Appling had a team high 22 points to go along with 17 from Kiedez Foster and 15 from Juwan Howard for Pershing.