• East Lansing sophomore guard Xavier Odom

OKEMOS - East Lansing basketball came into Okemos High with a defensive mindset and superior chemistry winning, 46-30, Friday night. Before facing the Trojans' suffocating D, the Chiefs' season-low point total was 46 at, 10-2, Lansing Everett.

As for any game-plan Okemos head coach Jeff Wonch made for the second half, East Lansing's 6-foot-7, freshman forward Brandon Johns destroyed it looking like Roy Hibbert on the defensive block.

Offensively, he was the king of the put-back and stepped back from distance late in the fourth to put this one away. Johns finishes the game with 18 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.

Senior point guard Mickhael Myles capped off an impressive first half with a dime dropped to sophomore guard Xavier Odom. Myles led all players in scoring with 19 points.

East Lansing penetrated the lane all night, drawing foul after foul. The team goes a combined 16-for-31 from the line.

"You know what? We have lost some close games, and i think when you lose close games but you stay together, you know, our guys stay together," East Lansing head coach Steve Finamore said.

"They don't finger point. They don't blame anyone. At practice there is so much togetherness, and there is so much you can do."

In addition to Johns, the Trojans start two sophomores. So while this team may be 4-6 for now, an electric future is ahead for East Lansing.

It was a full house in Okemos with both the Chiefs and the Trojans well represented, but throughout the night, East Lansing's student section made it feel like the game was played on Burcham.