With scrappy play, Donye Thomas helps lift Holt boys basketball past Sexton
HOLT — Donye Thomas realizes the Holt boys basketball team isn't one of the tallest around.
But the senior guard/forward knows the Rams can make up for it with extra hustle and toughness.
And Thomas strives to exemplify that with his play.
That approach paid dividends for Thomas on Tuesday as he helped Holt open the season with a victory. Thomas had the go-ahead basket on a put-back with 30 seconds to play to lift the Rams to a 57-54 victory over Sexton in the season opener for both teams.
"I knew coming into this game I was going to have to rebound and get a lot of offensive rebounds," said Thomas, who had a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards. "I knew I had to crash the boards. That's how I got that put-back."
The go-ahead basket by Thomas capped Holt's fourth-quarter rally. The Rams went on an 11-0 during the latter portion of the fourth quarter and outscored Sexton 13-4 over the final 3:!8.
"Donye played his butt off," said first-year Holt coach Muhammad El-Amin, who won in his debut as the varsity coach at his alma mater. "He played hard for us. He had 11 rebounds and every rebound that he grabbed was big for us, He was the only one down there rebounding. That put-back was huge there. You could see the determination that he had to go out there and get it. I'm proud of Donye. We needed that. We put him at the four and he came through for us."
Holt also got big baskets from Mike Aimery and Eddie McDonald late. Aimery, who had a team-high 15 points, capped Holt's 11-0 run with a 3-pointer that gave it a 53-50 lead. McDonald had the game-tying basket and a key basket inside following the put-back by Thomas that extended Holt's lead to three with 12.6 seconds left.
"That last two minutes our team showed some heart," El-Amin said. "That's what we needed."
Carter Bishop also was in double figures for Holt with 12 points.
Sexton was led by sophomore Keyshawn Summerville, who finished with 16 points. He had a key basket late to help Sexton regain the lead and then missed the potential game-tying 3 in the final seconds.
Boys basketball roundup: Fowlerville, Leslie, Webberville win in OT
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Holt boys basketball edges Sexton in season opener
