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Walton nips Cleaves for top hoops honors

But the Doughboys' star got a nice consolation prize Monday when he was named winner of the 1996 Hal Schram Mr. Basketball Award.

Walton, a 6-foot-8 forward, edged Flint Northern guard Mateen Cleaves by 13 points in the closest voting ever for the award, presented annually to Michigan's top senior high school basketball player.

"I still haven't gotten over the game Friday," Walton said, "so I don't know if I enjoy this as much as I would if we were still in the tournament."

Walton received 579 points to Cleaves' 566 in voting among 276 members of the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan.

Mike Chappell, whose Southfield Lathrup team upset Pershing, 67-65, in Friday's regional finals, was a distant third in the voting with 185 points while Todd Schroetenboer of Grand Rapids South Christian was fourth at 183.

Newaygo's Mike Burde garnered 154 points to round out the top five.

Walton averaged 28 points and 15 rebounds a game for Pershing, which was unbeaten, nationally ranked and a prohibitive favorite to win the Class A state championship before the loss to Southfield Lathrup.

"That was my No. 1 prize, to win the state title," Walton said. "But this award, my teammates and coaches supported me a lot for this, so I owe a lot to them."

Walton is the second player from Pershing to win the Mr. Basketball Award in the past three years. Former Doughboy Willie Mitchell, who just completed his sophomore season at Michigan, was the 1994 winner.

Walton and Cleaves were generally regarded all season as the favorites to become Mr. Basketball.

Walton said he has narrowed his college choices down to Michigan State, Syracuse, Kansas, California and Alabama-Birmingham and would soon begin official visits to all five schools.

"Me and my coach and family are going to sit down in about a week or so and talk it over," Walton said. "I was focused on the season more than about next year."

Walton said he fell two points short of the required 17 score on the ACT test and will retake the exam next month.

Walton is the 16th winner of the Hal Schram Mr. Basketball Award. It is named for the late Hal Schram, who covered high school sports at the Detroit Free Press for more than 40 years.