Godwin Heights Caps Long Trip to Top
March 28, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – The final seconds of Friday night at the Breslin Center were about relief for Wyoming Godwin Heights senior Delaney Blaylock, after he led the Wolverines to their first MHSAA championship game berth.
Relief turned into disbelief Saturday – and satisfaction for a community that started this trip nearly 90 years ago.
Godwin Heights defeated Detroit Henry Ford 85-68 in the final game of this season to earn its first MHSAA title, 86 years after its first trip to the final week.
Grand Rapids Godwin made its first MHSAA Quarterfinal in 1929 and finished runner-up in 1950 and then as Wyoming Godwin in 1960. The Wolverines played in four more Semifinals – including in 2013 – and then fell in the Quarterfinals again in 2014.
“I was just thinking I can’t believe we’re here,” Blaylock said Saturday night. “I just didn’t want to be comfortable being in the state championship, but (wanted) to win the state championship.”
Like Powers North Central did in winning Class D earlier Saturday, Godwin Heights (26-1) capped a three-year run that will go down among the most successful in MHSAA history.
The Wolverines were a combined 74-5 over the last three seasons, which tied them for the ninth-most wins over a period of that length.
And the last of those wins was more or less decided by halftime.
Henry Ford scored the first basket of the game and never led again, as Godwin Heights build a lead as large as 23 points during the second quarter while shooting 55 percent from the field and making 8 of 11 3-point shots during the first 16 minutes.
The Wolverines led 50-29 at the break and never by fewer than 14 points during the final two quarters.
“I don’t think I ever saw a team shoot like that in the Breslin,” Henry Ford coach Kenneth Flowers said. “The craziest part about it, they didn’t shoot the ball well yesterday (33 percent from the floor, 26 from 3-point range). They came out today on fire. … They played like state champions.”
The Godwin Heights basketball community had to struggle through sadness at the end of summer. Junior-to-be Ta’Carhri Richardson – who played for first-year Wolverines coach Tyler Whittemore on the junior varsity in 2013-14 – was shot and died Aug. 3.
Whittemore, a 2005 graduate, was promoted to the varsity job after coaching in the program at various levels for eight seasons.
“Toughness is what defines them,” Whittemore said of his players. “It’s tough to go through what they did, have that tragedy happen (during) the summer before the basketball season was going to start. We had one of our games on his birthday, the second game against Holland (on Dec. 16). The guys rallied around each other. They were playing hard for one another, getting loose balls for one another … not for themselves.”
Blaylock led five scorers in double figures Saturday, with 19 points, and he also grabbed 10 rebounds. Freshman guard Lamar Norman came off the bench for 17 points, while senior forward Michael Williams and junior guard Leon Redd both scored 13 and junior forward Richard Major had 12. Williams also grabbed nine rebounds and had four assists.
Detroit Henry Ford, playing in its first Final after also playing in and winning its first Semifinal on Friday, finished 21-6.
Senior forward Joshua Davis had 16 points and 11 rebounds and junior point guard James Towns had 15 points and six assists. They were the leading scorers this season as the Trojans bounced back from two straight sub-.500 seasons to also make their first Quarterfinal since 1984.
“I was telling them I know it hurts, and they’re crying their eyes out right now too,” Flowers said. “But they took Henry Ford High School to a place it’s never been before. These guys are the foundation of good things to come.”
Click for the full box score and video from the postgame press conference.
PHOTOS: (Top) Godwin Heights players celebrate the first MHSAA title in program history. (Middle) Henry Ford guard Antaun Carter is surrounded by Wolverines defenders in the lane.
Grand Blanc Locks Down on D, Locks Up Historic Win
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
April 10, 2021
EAST LANSING – The Grand Blanc boys basketball team spends 45 minutes each practice focusing on defense.
In the end, it was extra time well spent.
A strong defensive effort helped propel the Bobcats to a 45-36 win over Ann Arbor Huron in Saturday’s Division 1 Final at the Breslin Center.
It was the first Finals championship in school history for Grand Blanc, which ended the River Rats’ bid for a perfect season and their first championship.
“They hate it, but that’s what happens when you spend that much time on defense,” said Grand Blanc coach Mike Thomas, who guided Kalamazoo Central to Class A crowns in 2010 and 2011.
“We do it every day for games like this because our shots are not going to fall all the time, so we have to be able to rely on our defense to stay in games – and it happened for us today.”
The Bobcats (15-2), who were Class B runners-up in 1952 the only other time they played in a championship game, averaged nearly 80 points per game this season, but struggled to knock down shots Saturday. They shot less than 30 percent from the field and beyond the 3-point line.
Despite their shooting woes, Grand Blanc’s defense shined and allowed only 12 second-half points in holding Ann Arbor Huron to its lowest scoring output of the season.
“We had to make sure we were locked in, and I thought our guys did a really good job of not giving up lay-ups and not making mistakes defensively,” Thomas said. “We didn’t do a good job of limiting them to one shot in the first half, but we made the correction and really focused on rebounding at the half.”
Sophomore RJ Taylor was the catalyst on offense in the first half and finished with 15 points, while Timonte Boyd came off the bench to add 12 points and seven rebounds.
“It’s one game at a time for us and we didn’t treat today like a championship game,” Taylor said. “We treated it like just another game, and I’m proud of how we overcame adversity and all obstacles this season.”
Junior Ty Rodgers played 31 minutes and contributed nine points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.
He said he was thrilled to help bring home a Finals title for the three departing seniors.
“It hasn't sunk in that we won a state championship and just all the hours we put in and the hard work,” Rodgers said. “I'm really proud of our seniors. There were 15 guys when they were freshmen and only three left. They stuck through the storm, and this is the outcome. We’re super excited to bring something like this to the community.”
One of those seniors, Josh Rechsteiner, knocked down a key 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter to give the Bobcats a 35-34 lead and ignite a 10-2 run to close the game.
“He’s struggled the last couple games, but I kept telling him to be ready,” Thomas said. “That was a big shot, and it’s a prime example of being ready when your number is called.”
The River Rats’ struggles included making only 3 of 21 3-point attempts and missing 10 free throws. They also committed 14 turnovers.
“This is a great group of seniors who are winners, and it would’ve been nice to see them go out the right way,” Ann Arbor Huron coach Waleed Samaha said. “We’re disappointed, obviously, in the outcome, but we know that we gave it everything we had out there and it was a great effort all the way through.
“We struggled with execution at times and struggled staying out of foul trouble. I think that threw us off a little bit most of the game.”
Senior Devin Womack paced Ann Arbor Huron (20-1) with 18 points, while senior Kingsley Perkins had six points and 14 rebounds.
PHOTOS: (Top) Ty Rodgers dunks for two of his nine points for Grand Blanc during Saturday’s Division 1 Final. (Middle) Ann Arbor Huron’s Brandon Rawls (23) keeps the pressure on Jacob Carlson. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)