Five For Fighting - X-Mas Season Surprises

Five For Fighting – Most Surprising Early-Season Efforts In The OC

1 Dorrell Foster (North Farmington) – Practically out of nowhere, this sly, powerful and exciting 6-5 wing has been playing at an unbelievably high clip right out of the gate, averaging close to 25 pts-10 rebs per game. He will be one of the top 3 individual players in the OAA Red this winter, arguably the best Class A league in the state.

2 Jordan Dasuqi (Clarkston) – Has really coming into his own this year, playing a brand of hoops that is that rare combination of flashy and fundamentally-sound at the same time. Only a junior, look for my man JD to be putting up 25+ a night next year when the C-Town 'Big 3' aka the Wolfpack terrorizing trifecta of Nick Tatu, Mitch Baenizger and Matt Dellinger, graduates.

3 Gavin Toma (Southfield Christian) – A member of the Eagles varsity since he was a freshman, this multi-faceted swingman hadn't seen the court much the last three years due to injury. Surrounded by higher-profile teammates for a SCS squad that is one of the best in the state in Class D, he's been making up for lost time in a major way; he's arguably been the Eagles best player so far, averaging an impressive 20 points, six assists and seven rebounds per game.

4 (tie) Marcarius Coakley (Troy Athens) – Judging by his outstanding early-season performance, he will challenge for MVP honors in the OAA Blue

4 (tie) Gage Throgmorton (WL Northern) – Establishing himself as a bonafide college prospect by shooting the lights out for TEAM THOMPSON in the NorthSiders first three games of the campaign. Like Dasuqi, Throgmorton is only a junior and before it's all said and done on his prep career as a Knight, he might end up the best hoopster in school history.

5 Zak Noor-Joe Leonard (Troy) – The Colts reserve backcourt has been forced to step up in lieu of all-league senior point guard Evan Mahone being on the shelf as a result of internal issues and boy, have they been up to the task. Without Mahone in the lineup, Troy is 2-1, in large part because of the play of this excellent back-up duo. Noor (8 points, 6 asst per outing) is a lethally quick and heady pure point guard. Leonard (13.5 pts, 4 asst per outing) is a combo-guard that has acted as a human sparkplug for TEAM FRALICK, scoring the ball in bunches and playing lockdown defense.