Godwin Hts Earns Championship Chance
March 27, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Three District titles, three Regional titles and 75 wins give Wyoming Godwin Heights one of the most impressive three-season resumes of any MHSAA team in any sport.
But that’s not what Delaney Blaylock was thinking about when he embraced teammate Michael Williams at the end of Friday’s 70-64 Semifinal win over reigning Class B champion Milan.
Both played key roles on the teams that fell in the 2013 Semifinals and 2014 Quarterfinals – and both started Friday in a game they wouldn’t have been criticized for losing.
“It was just relief,” Blaylock said. “I had to hug Mike. I couldn’t believe we even won this game.”
The No. 3 Wolverines (25-1), seeking their first championship, will play Detroit Henry Ford in Saturday's 6:30 p.m. Final.
Godwin Heights trailed by three points heading into the fourth quarter and as late at 4:19 to play – but launched a 13-7 run over the final 2:34 to earn its first championship game berth since 1960.
Junior guard Leon Redd, who averaged 9.8 points per game entering this week, scored 12 of his 19 points during the final six minutes. He played only 21 minutes total because of foul trouble, and stayed in the game despite picking up his fourth with 7:13 to play.
“He got out of rhythm the first three quarters and picked up his fourth early in the (fourth) quarter … but we believe in him, and let him stay in the game and let him play it out,” Godwin Heights coach Tyler Whittemore said. “Leon has been big for us all year. It’s his second year on varsity as a junior, and playing under these guys, he understands his moment to shine.”
But it took a few more heroes to take down the top-ranked Big Reds (24-3).
Williams, a solid 6-foot-4, played a major part in keeping Milan’s 6-9 Nick Perkins to 42 percent shooting from the floor. The Wolverines held star senior guard Latin Davis to an identical 8 of 19. Perkins scored six points during the fourth quarter, but Davis had only three on just two shots with Godwin Heights working to deny him favorable looks at the basket.
Williams had 13 points and 13 rebounds and perhaps the most impressive stat of the game – nine rebounds off the offensive glass. Blaylock joined Redd with 19 points and also grabbed 12 rebounds.
“We wanted to keep this like a regular game as much as possible,” Whittemore said. “We understand this is the number one team in the state, and they’ve got two all-state players. But we weren’t scared of them, not anxious to play them. We were just ready.”
Perkins did finish with 21 points and 13 rebounds, and Davis had 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots. They and Milan's other five seniors may have fallen two wins shy of a repeat, but also finished an impressive legacy.
The Big Reds over the last four seasons have earned four Huron League, three District and two Regional titles in addition to last year’s Class B championship – which was the school’s first since 1948. Perkins will play next season at the University of Buffalo, and Davis has signed with Youngstown State University.
“We knew they were athletic. We just didn’t do a good job on our end playing the right way,” Milan coach Chris Pope said. “But give them credit though; they weren’t scared and they didn’t back down. They played a heck of a game.”
Click for the full box score and video from the postgame press conference.
PHOTOS: (Top) Godwin Heights’ Richard Major works his way past Milan’s Arius Richmond during Friday’s Semifinal. (Middle) Latin Davis (32) looks for space surrounded by Wolverines including Karon Patrick (3).
River Rouge Takes Title Dream Into Final
March 15, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – At River Rouge, 14 MHSAA championship banners tell of one of the most storied programs in Michigan high school boys basketball history.
They don’t hang banners there for making the Semifinals or finishing runner-up.
That’s been on the minds of Panthers players all season after falling in the Semifinals the last two – and it was on their minds again as Friday’s Division 2 Semifinal against unbeaten Harper Woods Chandler Park went into overtime.
River Rouge saw a lead as large as 10 fade away during regulation, and then barely earned overtime on a last-second 3-pointer. But on the 20th anniversary of their last championship, the Panthers will get the opportunity to play for possibly the next after hanging on for a 72-66 victory at the Breslin Center.
“We need to win. I need to do whatever it takes to win the state championship. That’s what was going through my mind the whole time,” said River Rouge sophomore Legend Geeter of the game’s final stretch.
“I’ve been (to Breslin) once and lost in the Semifinals, and it was not a great feeling. In my mind, in order for this program to keep being great, we’ve got to win another state championship and put another banner up.”
River Rouge (23-2) will take on Hudsonville Unity Christian in Saturday’s 6:45 p.m. Final, in a rematch of the 1963 Class B championship game won by the Panthers 59-49.
Coach LaMonta Stone, who led the 1999 team, returned in November after two seasons away for his third tenure running the program and immediately told his players this season would be “state championship or bust” – but also that his expectation was that they would win title 15.
River Rouge has the most championships in the MHSAA’s 94-year history, but none during the 2000s, and the Panthers couldn’t bear the thought of another opportunity slipping away.
The double-digit lead – 33-23 just less than a minute into the second half – did slip away gradually over the third and fourth quarters. Senior Josh Diggs gave Chandler Park a 58-56 lead with a 3-pointer with 49 seconds to go in regulation, and two free throws by senior Andre Bradford pushed the advantage to three with 13 seconds left. But senior Nigel Colvin saved River Rouge’s championship hopes, taking a pass down the baseline on the ensuing possession, moving two steps to his right and draining a 3-pointer with three seconds left on the clock.
“Nigel when I came into this team was just a spot-up shooter,” Stone said. “But he’s the hardest-working kid on the team. Every day before practice, after practice, he’s working on his 1-2 dribble pull-up. He doesn’t want to be known as just a 3-point shooter.
“So when I saw that shot, and he had to get it off, I’m just thinking back to when he’s in the gym after practice, before practice, working on those type of shots where he has to take one or two dribbles and shoot the ball. Two or three months (ago), he couldn’t have made that play – because he was just a spot-up shooter.”
Colvin hit another 3-pointer to open the overtime scoring, and Chandler Park senior forward Tyland Tate answered to tie things back up. But a Geeter basket with 1:50 to play gave the Panthers the lead back for good, as they finished on a 7-3 run.
The loss was the first and only this season for Chandler Park (21-1), which won its first Regional title last week on the way to this first trip to the Semifinals.
“You saw the support we had. A lot of people came out,” Chandler Park coach James Scott said. “Small charter school, on the end of the east side, Harper Woods area. So I thought it was big to show that we have talent, we’ve got some players and it’s a program on the rise. From making this type of run, every year, moving forward.”
Bradford had 14 points and three steals, and senior guard Derrick Bryant Jr. had team highs of 15 points and six assists for Chandler Park.
Colvin finished with 20 points to lead River Rouge, making 8-of-10 shots from the floor including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Geeter added 17 points and six rebounds and senior Donavan Freeman scored 12. Senior Bralin Toney had seven assists.
PHOTOS: (Top) River Rouge players embrace senior Nigel Colvin after his game-tying 3-pointer during the final seconds of regulation Friday. (Middle) Donavan Freeman (1) gets a shot up just out of the reach of Chandler Park’s Tyland Tate.