KJ Torbert dominates for East Lansing in epic matchup between Nos. 1-2

KENTWOOD — In front of a standing-room-only crowd of over 2,100 people in a battle between the two top teams in Michigan high school boys basketball, KJ Torbert showed why he's a favorite for this year's Hal Schram Mr. Basketball Award.

The East Lansing senior took over the showdown between the No. 1 Trojans and No. 2 Rockford in East Kentwood's Gotta Get It Classic showcase event on Saturday, Jan 10. Torbert scored a game-high 39 points, including eight of East Lansing's 13 points in overtime, to beat Rockford, 80-71, giving the Rams (9-1)their first loss of the season.

"We have had this game circled for the longest [time]," Torbert said. "This whole week, we have been scouting them all out. That's what we had to do."

In the game's most critical moments, Torbert became unstoppable. Rockford erased a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter with a 16-2 run to take a 67-65 lead with less than 30 seconds remaining in overtime. Torbert got into the lane on the ensuing possession, and hit a tough floater over Rockford's Drew Ferwerda and Jake Bascom, who are both 6 feet 6, to tie the game with 10 seconds left.

Torbert poked the ball loose from Eli Wolfe as he crossed halfcourt, getting a steal. He could not finish the would-be winning layup at the end of regulation, but a few minutes later, he showed more in the tank.

Torbert scored on three straight drives to the rim to start overtime, followed by drawing a foul on a dump-off pass down low. The free throws gave him eight straight points for the Trojans, giving them a six-point lead in the final 90 seconds.

"That's what he do," East Lansing coach Ray Mitchell said. "KJ steps up every time. He hates losing and he's a gym rat. To me, he's the best player in the state and he's going to do this every night. This is what he does. This is who he is."

'120% locked in'

Though he brings fire and intensity to every game, Torbert's teammates could see he was playing with extra juice in the showdown between No. 1 and No. 2.

"He's always locked in, but I'd say he was 120% locked in for this one," said East Lansing junior Kingston Thomas, who had 19 points and six assists.

The highly anticipated showdown did not disappoint across 36 minutes of action. Torbert came out swinging with 11 points in the first quarter on two 3s, a layup for a three-point play and an alley-oop dunk thrown up by Thomas.

Rockford matched it step-for-step early, taking a 21-20 lead at the end of the first quarter. Thomas scored nine of his 19 in the second quarter with East Lansing surging forward for a 40-34 lead by halftime.

The Trojans pushed the lead to 54-45 by the end of the third quarter with strong perimeter defense and a connection and two more triples for Torbert, who hit five 3s in the game.

East Lansing pushed the lead up to as much as 13 points early in the fourth quarter before Rockford swung back hard. The Rams' 16-2 run began with back-to-back 3s from freshman Jace Opaku-Agyeman and sophomore Eli Wolfe. Wolfe scored four more points at the line and at the rim to pull Rockford within two points. Sophomore Josh Bascom scored the tying bucket by going coast-to-coast for a layup, and briefly put the Rams ahead finishing a layup on a nice Opaku-Agyeman pass.

"We did everything we needed to hang in there and give ourselves a chance," Rockford coach Kyle Clough said. "Give them all the credit because they proved tonight that they are just a little bit better right now."

Rockford senior Jake Bascom provided a key spark late to help the Rams gain momentum. The Central Michigan commit scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half in overtime by bullying East Lansing in the paint.

"He's the toughest post player in the state of Michigan and we needed to re-establish that with him," Clough said." When he went back down there and really started to establish himself, it opened up things."

But no matter how many players stepped up for Rockford, Torbert always had an answer to keep them at bay.

Whether it was dropping in 3s, finishing at the rim in traffic or hitting tough fadeaway midrange jumpshots, Torbert could not be stopped.

His heroic effort extended East Lansing's winning streak to 34 games, dating back to December 2024.

"He had that will and determination not to lose," Mitchell said.

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Jared Ramsey covers high school sports for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at [email protected]; Follow Jared on X or Bluesky.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: KJ Torbert dominates for East Lansing in epic matchup between Nos. 1-2