New-look Wyoming Lee off to a hot start
Wyoming Lee junior Marc Whitfield drives past Heath Tamlyn of West Michigan Aviation Academy on Monday, Jan. 2, 2023. (Photo | Lenny Padilla)
WYOMING, Mich. - There’s a buzz around the Wyoming Lee basketball program for the first time in years.
It helps when the team starts the season 5-0.
“It’s a really good start,” said Marc Whitfield, a junior guard. “We’re not done. I love how we’re playing right now.”
Lee is leaning heavily on their youngest player, freshman guard JR Metcalf, who finds himself in the starting role.
“We wanted someone who could handle the ball,” Lee coach Dominic Shannon said. “He’s very young, so he’s still understanding how to control the pace, getting the team under control. With us having five games now, he’s starting to turn the corner and run the team. He’s growing right before our eyes.”
Whitfield has taken Metcalf under his wing.
“I keep talking to him,” he said. “Keep his confidence up. He’s like a little brother to me.”
On Monday night, Lee beat West Michigan Aviation Academy 57-49 in the first Alliance League game of the season.
Senior Joe Russau had 17 points and 17 rebounds and junior Ny’Zhem Marshall had 10 points and 15 rebounds.
Wyoming Lee freshman JR Metcalf puts up a shot while defended by Heath Tamlyn of West Michigan Aviation Academy on Monday, Jan. 2, 2023. (Photo | Lenny Padilla)
“I try not to classify them as bigs,” Shannon said of Russau and Marshall. “They are the bigger guys on the team. But they do the big-man work. I think Ny’zhem had about 15 rebounds tonight. So with his effort on the glass, his long arms erasing shots at the basket, I like the way our defense is starting to progress.”
Russau is a 6-foot-6 power forward, who transferred from Memphis, Tenn., is averaging 15.8 points and 10 rebounds. And Marshall, who averages 7.8 points and 10.6 rebounds, is a lanky, raw talent who is playing his first year of high school ball.
“He hasn’t played basketball here his freshman or sophomore years,” Shannon said. “He played some travel ball (with All-In), but in high school, this is his first year.”
The biggest win for the Legends was against a big school.
Lee rallied to beat Lansing Eastern 67-64 at the Battle of I-96 Holiday Classic at Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills. Whitfield scored 36 points in the game.
“That was one of our early tests,” Shannon said. “We knew it would be competitive and a fun environment. For us to rally, being down by 14 or 15 and to come back and win by three, that was big for our program and big for our team.”
It was a huge game for Whitfield, who transferred from Kelloggsville in the offseason. He’s averaging 20.5 points per game.
“That was great. Our team played good. I didn’t know I was going to score 36. I was just out there playing my hardest. We didn’t want to lose. I put my team on my back.”
Lee joined the Alliance League this year after spending years in the O-K Silver.
It plays Bangor and Gobles this week at the Bangor Holiday Tournament.
Wyoming Lee coach Dominic Shannon talks to Clarence Lewis during a game against West Michigan Aviation Academy on Monday, Jan. 2, 2023. (Photo | Lenny Padilla)
