Allen scores 30 as Ypsilanti downs Belleville
Ypsilanti Township — Monday night was the Corey Allen show.
The Mr. Basketball finalist and University of Detroit commit led Ypsilanti Community with 30 points in its 67-43 win over Belleville in a Class A regional semifinal before a standing-room-only crowd at Ypsilanti Lincoln.
“After the first couple times my teammates got me the ball, I started to see the rim open up more and I kept shooting,” Allen said of his consecutive 3-point makes in the first minute.
Ypsilanti will play Ann Arbor Pioneer Wednesday night for a regional title.
Jamezell Davis added 13 points for Ypsilanti (21-1).
“Really, all the kids we called on tonight did a great job,” coach Steve Brooks said. “(Davis is) the second-leading scorer on the team; not a lot of people know that.”
Allen provided an early spark for the Ypsilanti offense, making a pair of 3-pointers in the first minute on the way to scoring 11 of the game’s first 13 points. With 3:46 left in the quarter, Ypsilanti led 13-4.
“He’s a great kid,” Brooks said. “This kid is 81-13 over four years. This kid knows how to win. He’s a great kid. He’s really improved on his leadership this year. He’s not ready to go home.
“He was pretty much off the ball the first three years. Now, he’s got to make a lot of the decisions. Since he’s been trusted with the ball, he really takes ownership in that.”
Ypsilanti didn’t let up, and led 19-8 after one.
“Early in the game, their relentlessness on the boards really affected us,” Belleville coach Adam Trumpour said. “We’ve been a pretty good rebounding team all year and we knew they would really compete for rebounds and 50-50 balls. We had to match in those areas and we didn’t. That’s got to be something we learn from.”
At the half, Ypsilanti had a 33-17 lead. Allen had 15 points.
In the third quarter, Ypsilanti put the game out of reach, building a 55-28 cushion.
Brooks said he was proud of the season his team has had, losing only to Muskegon, 54-41, on Jan. 9.
“We are not a one-man team,” he said. “They (opposing teams) think that, so they box out Corey and all that kind of stuff. We’ve got a lot of guys who can get buckets. They’re just all so unselfish.”
Kmare Carey had 11 points for Belleville (19-5), which is returning 10 players next season.
“We’re a very young team,” Trumpour said. “We won the league. We won the district for the first time since 2006. We ran into a very motivated senior team that obviously has some toughness and grit, and things we’re still trying to build. We’re getting there. We’ve come a long way. But we’re not where we want to be yet.”
Al Willman is a freelance writer