LANSING, MI - Detroit Western's smothering defense held Detroit U-D Jesuit junior point guard Cassius Winston and his teammates in check Friday, bouncing the Cubs from the tournament in the state Class A semifinals. Winston scored 21 points but struggled to find room to move.

The 6-0 Michigan target, Rivals.com's No. 33 player nationally in the 2016 class, didn't have any room to move most of the afternoon. Western threw two or three defenders at him when he brought the ball up the court, forcing four of the guard's turnovers in the first five minutes - when he moved off the ball, Western rarely allowed him to get it back without a fight.

Winston didn't score in the first 12 minutes, allowing Western to open up an early eight-point lead.

"The main thing was to clog the lane and keep Winston out," Western head coach Derrick McDowell said. "Not get in the lane and score, not get in the lane and create a foul, not get in the lane and dump off for dunks from the big guys.

"Coming into the game we knew their guys usually do stuff off of Winston. If they score it's because he got them the basket, so we were trying to make their other guys do stuff. We got lucky. They missed a lot of wide open jump shots."

The absence of scorers was eventually Jesuit's undoing. Winston's shot wasn't falling, either, but he rarely got uncontested looks. He was 4-for-12 from the floor, 1-for-7 from long range and dished four assists, including a couple of transition passes that proved what all the fuss was about.

Winston did most of his scoring from the free throw line, making 12 of 15 after forcing the action in the lane. He also grabbed five rebounds and notched three steals.

"They did a good job of shading me, keeping me out of the paint," Winston said. "Having a lot of help side kind of forced myself to shoot jumpers.

"It was tough. You're out there trying to win a basketball game, and shots are not falling our way. It's hard to win like that, but you've got to keep your confidence, hope shots are going to fall."

Winston scored 11 points in the second quarter, going 7-for-9 from the line. His triple with 3:50 remaining cut the deficit to 43-40, and it appeared the Cubs might be able to steal one.

It wasn't meant to be.

Winston is thought to be leaning toward Michigan State, but Michigan is also right in the mix. He didn't talk recruiting but about the near future after the tough loss - specifically, another shot at a title next year.

"I just have to keep developing my game," Winston said. "We've got to make sure we're getting all of our teammates in the gym and just stay focused throughout the whole year. We missed a lot of free throws ... did a lot of things. Personally, I have to develop a better jump shot, better defender - just the little things I can do by myself to help my team."