DaShonte Riley, the 6-foot-11 senior center at Birmingham Detroit Country Day was missing Tuesday night when Country Day met unbeaten Belleville.
"His mother said he was very sick to his stomach,"
said coach Kurt Keener. "Whether it was the flu or food poisoning, we don't know. He was throwing up all night."
If it is a choice between the flu and food poisoning, I vote for food poisoning, and I can even tell Riley who did it -- Amir Williams.
How else was the talented 6-10 sophomore supposed to break into the Country Day lineup?
Williams got his chance to start Tuesday, and I don't want to say he was spectacular, but, well, he had 17 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots in a surprisingly easy 87-50 victory over visiting Belleville.
Country Day (11-0, No. 1 in Class B) was expected to win, but not by 37 points over Belleville (6-1, No. 5 in Class A).
The Yellowjackets took a 28-7 lead after one quarter as Belleville shot only 3-for-16.
Williams had a field day scoring inside and controlling the boards.
On one play, a Belleville player was holding Williams' left arm, but he grabbed a rebound with his right hand and scored.
OK, he was spectacular.
"I showed what I can do,"
Williams said. "Coach hasn't been playing me that much, but today he gave me more minutes, and I showed him what I can do."
His performance didn't surprise Keener, who was expecting a break-out game like this from Williams, who has to compete with Riley and 6-8 Donnavan Kirk, who signed with Miami (Fla.), for playing time.
"He's got a toughness about him that when he gets a little bit physically stronger and matures with his body, he could be a great player,"
said Keener. "He's athletic and he's tenacious. He's got more 'street' in him than Donnavan or DaShonte. I noticed it the summer before his freshman year. We went to a summer game and played Finney, and they just beat the crap out of him. But he wasn't scared, he just kept battling and battling."
Ray McCallum added 16 points for Country Day, Jordan Dumars scored 13 and Kirk had 11 points and 13 rebounds. There were plenty of rebounding opportunities because Belleville, which got 12 points from Vinnie Boyd, hit only 21 of 65 shots.
"We obviously appeared shell-shocked,"
said coach Don Hickman, who was impressed with Williams. "I've never seen anything like that off the bench -- 6-10. I don't know what to say."
Well, I know what to say -- Williams messed with Riley's food.
"I didn't put anything in his food,"
Williams said, laughing. "It wasn't me. But I think I'm going to get more playing time. It feels great to play like this."
Who knows, maybe Riley will be Country Day's version of Wally Pipp, the guy whose spot Lou Gehrig took.
"He could start for any program in the state,"
Keener said, "except for the one with Donnavan Kirk and DaShonte Riley in it."
Don't be so sure.
