LANSING, Mich (WLNS) – Tuesday night was an action-packed evening of high school playoff basketball during the District 15 (Division 1) games at Waverly High School. The first game was a District Quarterfinal between East Lansing and St. Johns.

The Redwings were battling for rebounds and sinking big mid-range shots from several players including Rohn Timm, who finished with a team-high 16 points. St. Johns led by one at halftime but the second half was dominated by East Lansing’s defense.

The Trojans started running a full-court press which led to turnovers and a huge dunk on a fast break from sophomore Evan Boyd, who finished with a career-high 20 points in his first playoff game. Boyd’s big dunk inspired his teammates to start making big plays of their own as David Wilkerson caught fire late and finishing with 14 points. East Lansing would hold off St. Johns to win the quarterfinal, 66-57.

After the game, Boyd shared his thoughts on the big dunk and head coach Ray Mitchell shared his thoughts on the state of his Trojans at the point in the playoffs.

“I was pretty hype it was pretty fun but I don’t know I just found a rhythm,” said Boyd. “I thought Marcus was gonna throw the lob he just threw it to me and I just got up and dunked it.”

“This is a tough year man, literally we’ve had 17 practices eight games now, we got ten new guys, so we’re still trying to understand what we can be and what we can accomplish,” said coach Mitchell. “So it’s really just a work in progress right now we’re just gonna try and get better every day.”

The Trojans will face DeWitt in the District Semifinal game on Thursday night. Tip-off time is set for 5 p.m. at Waverly High School.

Speaking about Waverly, the Warriors took their home floor for the second game of the night taking on the 2021 CAAC Blue Champions, Grand Ledge, in the District Semifinal game.

It was a close battle to start the game as Grand Ledge’s defense led to fast break turnovers and the Comets kept it a one-point game at the end of the first quarter. But in the break between the quarters, the Warriors cranked up the pressure with a full court press.

That pressure led to Waverly getting a lot of points on fast break opportunities. The Warriors sharpshooters got dialed in as Trey Jones and Isaiah Pizzo both hit two huge threes within minutes of each other. The Warriors continued to dominate the rest of the game leading to a 60-46 victory, advancing Waverly to the District Championship game.

The Warriors will wait to face the winner of the District Semifinal game between East Lansing and DeWitt. Waverly will host the District Championship game on Saturday at Noon.