Ford's Drive Ends With School's 1st Title
March 26, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – The final celebration of the 2015-16 Michigan high school basketball season started during the final seconds when a Detroit Henry Ford assistant coach slapped hands of everyone sitting on the bench.
After the buzzer, the crowd moved to the south end of the Breslin Center floor, before players and coaches arm in arm made their way upcourt to the opposite baseline and into position to receive the first MHSAA championship trophy in school history.
Saturday night’s Class B Final was guaranteed to produce a first-time winner in boys basketball. It ended up being the team that fell just one victory short the season before – from a school that had never won a title in any sport in Finals competition.
Henry Ford, runner-up in 2015, is champion in 2016 thanks to a 61-47 win over Stevensville Lakeshore, which like the Trojans entered the postseason unranked but more than topped that expectation.
“Ever since the loss, we’ve been preparing in the gym to get back here, and not just to get here but to win it,” Henry Ford senior guard James Towns said. “It took a lot of work to get back here. It’s almost like losing everything when you get back here and lose.
“This year they doubted us; nobody had us winning. We were the bottom of Class B, and we came up here and proved them wrong.”
Henry Ford became the 13th school from the prestigious Detroit Public School League to win an MHSAA boys basketball title, giving the league two in two seasons after Detroit Western International also won its first boys hoops championship in 2015, in Class A.
The Trojans (20-6) fell in last season’s Class B Final 85-68 to Wyoming Godwin Heights, another first-time champion at the time.
This trip, Henry Ford was faced with multiple styles, first charged with shutting down guard-driven Williamston in the Semifinal (which it did 70-48) and then matched against a Lakeshore team boasting 6-foot-11 senior Braden Burke and 6-7 junior Max Gaishin. The tallest players in Ford’s regular rotation were 6-4.
Burke and Gaishin both had four points as Lakeshore stayed within a point during the first quarter, trailing 11-10 at the break. But they were unable to have an effect during a second quarter that saw the Lancers make only 1 of 7 shots from the floor and turn the ball over five times as Ford went on a 16-3 run to open up a 14-point advantage by halftime.
Burke and Gaishin would still lead a Lakeshore run. Burke had seven points and Gaishin four during the third quarter as their team cut into Ford’s lead substantially. The Trojans led 34-28 with a quarter to play. Another Burke bucket made the margin six again at 36-30 with 7:17 left on the clock.
“It’s a shame we got ourselves down in the first half. I’m not sure we reacted as well as we needed to the physicality of the ballgame in the first half,” Lakeshore coach Sean Schroeder said. “The second half, I think we did. We were one or two plays from really getting ourselves back in it.
“We had the momentum. If we get a stop, cut it to four, maybe it gets more interesting.”
Instead, Ford hustled to create its breakaway moment after Lakeshore did just about everything possible to prevent it.
After Burke's basket, a 3-pointer by sophomore Deonta Ulmer pushed the Trojans’ lead back to nine. Towns stole the ball on Lakeshore’s ensuing possession and pushed it into the post, where Burke and Gaishin blocked consecutive shots.
But 6-3 junior Malik Harris came up with the ball after the second block and moved it to Towns, who found senior Jeremy Crawley in the corner for a back-breaking 3-pointer that pushed Ford’s advantage to 42-30.
“We gave up so much size all season. You can’t question the size of our hearts though,” Ford coach Kenneth Flowers said. “These guys play with so much passion, so much desire, and understand that the game is really won in the trenches. These guys always battle, always played against bigger guys, but they knew how to be tough down there.”
Burke, who scored a game-high 19 points, continued to battle and got the deficit back to seven with 1:48 to play. But nine of the game’s final 11 shots were made Trojans free throws.
Crawley scored 18 points, and Towns closed his high school career with 15 points and three assists. Senior forward Alston Hunter, who with Towns started on last year’s team, had 11 points, 10 rebounds and three steals. Ford outrebounded Lakeshore 30-19 and had 17 second-chance points.
Senior guard Logan Steffes added 10 points for Lakeshore, and Gaishin finished with nine points, five rebounds and two blocks.
The Lancers were playing in their second MHSAA Final and also finished Class B runner-up in 2012. They will graduate seven including four starters.
“When this class was growing up, we knew we had Braden and we knew we had Logan coming through,” Schroeder said. “But to see the development of some of these other kids, we had a tremendous senior class, a tremendous amount of leadership.
“A kid like Logan Steffes, who has put so much time and energy into this program. You saw at the end, he was trying to will us to win the game. He steals it, misses the shot, gets the ball back, misses. He wanted badly to win that game.”
The Boys Basketball Finals are presented by Sparrow Health System.
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Henry Ford players celebrate their first MHSAA championship in any sport Saturday. (Middle) The Trojans' James Towns soars as he prepares to launch.
Breslin Bound: Boys Report Week 2
December 10, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Pre-New Year’s Day basketball is generally a getting-to-know-you time across Michigan.
Every week we’re learning a few more things about possible contenders while watching to see if all the preseason hype is panning out.
It’s hard to say we know much after two weeks – and yet, some surprises already are beginning to emerge. We give a glance at a few of those below.
Breslin Bound is powered by MI Student Aid and based on results and schedules posted for each school at MHSAA.com. To offer corrections or fill in scores we’re missing, email me at [email protected].
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Detroit Renaissance 73, Detroit Edison 60 – The Phoenix bounced back from a three-point opening loss to Flint Beecher to win by double digits over the reigning Class C champion Pioneers.
2. Pontiac 63, Clarkston 58 – This win over the reigning Class A champion should boost a Pontiac turnaround effort detailed a little more below.
3. Pewamo-Westphalia 63, Dansville 45 – The Aggies had taken over as mid-Michigan’s best contender among Class C/Division 3 schools after beating the Pirates by a point in last year’s Regional Semifinal, but that status likely shifted back to the Pirates after this big win.
4. Alma 52, Frankenmuth 48 (OT) – The Panthers lost by 21 when these Tri-Valley Conference contenders met in a crossover Jan. 29, but avenging the defeat last week kept Alma perfect at 4-0.
5. Belleville 63, Romulus 43 – Now in different leagues, these longtime rivals are set to meet for sure just this once – and the Tigers extended their winning streak in the series to three straight.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
• Hudsonville (2-0) – Coming off a 10-12 finish a season ago, Hudsonville has a lot to be excited about right away. The Eagles opened with a 43-37 win over East Grand Rapids and then beat Wyoming Godwin Heights on Friday 75-64 to avenge last year’s 17-point loss.
• Wayne Memorial (2-0) – The Zebras are following up last season’s 17-8 record and run to the Regional Finals with a nice start. Last week’s win was 61-56 over Ann Arbor Skyline, which is coming off a 23-1 finish in 2017-18.
DIVISION 2
• Pontiac (3-0) – The Phoenix are rising after going 5-15 last season and winning just three games the season before that. Of course the Clarkston win noted above sticks out, but Pontiac also downed Clawson by 25 to end the week.
• St. Clair (4-0) – The Saints will start work on a second straight Macomb Area Conference Gold title coming off a pair of close wins, 54-49 over Marysville and 65-64 in double overtime over Marine City.
DIVISION 3
• Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker (4-0) – A 5-1 start last season turned into a 12-9 finish, and the Lakers are enjoying the early-going again. They’ve avenged three of last season’s losses, including last week with a 46-42 overtime win over Ubly and 58-43 victory over Brown City.
• Vandercook Lake (4-0) – The Jayhawks already have doubled up last season’s two wins, coming off Friday’s 86-74 overtime victory over Manchester. Junior Tyler Horky is averaging 30.5 points per game and scored 47 against the Flying Dutchmen, including 34 over the second half and overtime.
DIVISION 4
• Central Lake (4-0) – The Trojans have built from two to four to seven to 11 to 13 wins over the last five seasons – and might be in store for more. Last week’s 54-39 win over Bellaire and 84-75 defeat of Onaway both came against teams that beat Central Lake at least once last winter.
• Gaylord St. Mary (2-1) – The Snowbirds finished 9-14 last winter but closed with four wins over their final six games. After losing to Rogers City in the opener two weeks ago, St. Mary earned close wins last week over Mancelona (53-52) and Fife Lake Forest Area (54-50) – after going a combined 1-3 against the pair last season.
Can't-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – Grand Blanc (1-1) at Detroit U-D Jesuit (2-1) – These are both Division 1 hopefuls which despite an early loss apiece could play deep into this winter.
Tuesday – Grand Rapids Christian (3-0) at Grand Rapids Catholic Central (1-0) – Both have notable early wins, Christian over Wyoming Godwin Heights and GRCC opening with a victory over Holland West Ottawa.
Friday – Saginaw (2-1) at Saginaw Arthur Hill (1-1) – One of the state’s best rivalries rolls again after the Trojans won last season’s games by eight and four points.
Friday – Belleville (1-0) at Ann Arbor Skyline (2-1) – Skyline’s 23-1 run last season included a 14-point win over Belleville, which ended up reaching the Class A Quarterfinals.
Saturday – Detroit Henry Ford (0-1) vs. Benton Harbor (3-0) at Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills – This is likely the premier game of the Battle of I-96 Classic, pitting the reigning Class B champion Tigers against the 2016 title winner in that class.
Second Half’s weekly “Breslin Bound” reports are powered by MI Student Aid, a part of the Student Financial Services Bureau located within the Michigan Department of Treasury. MI Student Aid encourages students to pursue postsecondary education by providing access to student financial resources and information, including various student financial assistance programs to help make college more affordable for Michigan students. MI Student Aid administers the state’s 529 savings programs (MET/MESP) and eight additional aid programs within its Student Scholarships and Grants division. Click for more information and connect with MI Student Aid on Facebook and Twitter @mistudentaid.
PHOTO: After opening with a two-point loss to Flint Carman-Ainsworth, Detroit Cass Tech bounced back last week with a 74-50 win over West Bloomfield. (Photo courtesy of C&G Newspapers.)