Other teams have a better string of state championships in a certain number of years than Sexton's two straight boys basketball titles and three straight appeareances in the state championship game.
Even Sexton itself won two straight Class A titles in 1959 and 1960 under former coach Clayton Kowalk, the man for whom the court at Sexton's Carnegie Sports Arena court was named earlier in the 2011-12 season. (And Sexton assistant Chris Ferguson played on those teams.)
But the reason this one might be the best is because of talent and unselfishness.
I say talent because there may be 5 players who eventually make NCAA Division I schools when all is said and done. Denzel Valentine is headed for Michigan State, Anthony Clemmons for Iowa and Bryn Forbes for Cleveland State. But I bet junior center Jalen Hayes and 6-foot-9 freshman Trevor Manuel achieve that status as well once they graduate.
Lansing Eastern had Sam Vincent (Michigan State) and Robert Henderson (Michigan) in 1980, Waverly had Marcus Taylor (MSU) and Courtney Scott (Oakland) in 2000, Lansing Everett had Goran Suton (MSU) and Derick Nelson (Oakland) in 2004. But Sexton has two players going to Big Ten schools plus another who might have in Forbes if he had waited longer before committing to Cleveland State and maybe more depending on how Hayes and Manuel finish up high school.
And then there's the unselfishness aspect. I mentioned this in the state championship story I wrote.
Valentine's court vision and passing ability was compared to former MSU and Los Angeles Lakers NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson by 34th-year Detroit Country Day coach Kurt Keener after Sexton beat his team in the state semifinals. See state semifinal story. But Valentine can shoot as well, and could take over a game when his team need him to.
Clemmons sacrificed what could have been a more prominent role for the betterment of the Sexton team. Yet Sexton coach Carlton Valentine referred to him more than once as "a monster" when he would key a big run in a big game, including two runs in the semifinal win over Country Day.
Forbes was the team's best shooter, but I can't remember a basketball player I enjoyed watching drive to the basket more than I did Forbes. He would explode around a defender and just glide and elevate seeming effortlessly.
The way this team played together was clinical, textbook, and just picturesque.
That's why I think they're in the conversation when people talk about the best high school boys basektball teams ever.
