DETROIT >> It was finally time to celebrate on the Breslin Center court for Pierre Mitchell of Detroit Edison after suffering heartbreak at the site in previous seasons.
Mitchell, a senior point guard, led Edison to its first Class C state championship in school history, a month after leading his team to its first Public School League title.
Now, Mitchell has another reason to celebrate after being named Class C Associated Press Player of the Year by a panel of sportswriters from across the state.
Mitchell averaged 17.2 points, five assists and 3.5 steals, including a 14-point third quarter in the state championship game where he helped turn a 25-21 deficit into a 39-31 lead and Edison went on to earn a 53-38 victory over Maple City Glen Lake.
“I’ve known Pierre for just about all of his life and to see him have a last game of his high school career end well, it’s just exciting and I’m very happy for him,” said Edison coach Brandon Neely of Mitchell, who will play next year at Central Michigan. “He was our floor general who took care of the ball and made sure we were in our offense and also had the ability to take over a game with his quickness and ability to score in transition.”
Mitchell played at Detroit Loyola his sophomore year when Loyola advanced to the state semifinals at the Breslin, only to see his team lose 60-59 to Flint Beecher on Malik Ellison’s buzzer-beater.
Mitchell and Edison lost to Ellison and Flint Beecher in last year’s state semifinal.
But finally Mitchell made sure Edison would celebrate this time around.
Mitchell was joined by his teammate, 6-8 senior Deante Johnson on the first team. Johnson averaged 13.7 points, 11.2 rebounds and three blocks. Johnson will play next year at Cleveland State.
The rest of the first team is made up of Detroit Loyola junior Myron Gardner; Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central senior CJ Haut; Unionville-Sebewaing senior Isaiah Williamson; Madison Heights Madison junior Austin Brown; Dansville junior Caleb Hodgson; Iron Mountain sophomore Marcus Johnson; Maple City Glen Lake senior Cade Peterson; Grand Rapids Covenant Christian senior Carson Meulenberg; Grand Rapids Calvin Christian senior Blake Verbeek; and Flint Beecher sophomore Jalen Terry.
Neely was picked as Coach of the Year, guiding Edison to the PSL and state championships after entering postseason play with a sub-.500 record.
“We had a very selfless group of guys who played great defense,” Neely said. “We had a floor general (Mitchell), a big man who was a rim protector (Johnson), a 6-5 combo guard (Gary Solomon) who would do whatever we asked of him and then role players who did their job to make us successful.”