Moment: 1961 Team Tips Off "Rouge Week'

April 13, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Nearly 70 years after its first championship, the River Rouge boys basketball program remains the standard at the Finals level of its sport with 20 appearances in MHSAA championship games and 14 titles.

From 1960-69, Rouge appeared in Finals seven times and won six championships – and photos and video from those six title games will make up this “Rouge Week” as part of our MHSAA Moments series.

We tip off with these from the 79-44 Class B title win over Holland Christian in 1961. The championship was the fourth of 12 earned under legendary coach Lofton Greene, following those won in 1954, 1955 and 1959.

The Panthers' 21-8 second-quarter run, keyed by 6-foot-5 freshman Willie Betts, sent them into halftime up 39-21. For the game, four players scored in double figures for River Rouge led by Jon Roman (No. 11 above and below) with 17 points.  The Panthers finished 23-2 and also included Ken Wilburn (No. 25 below), who went on to play professionally for four NBA and ABA franchises.


(Photos courtesy of The Associated Press.)

Boyd Finds Nothing but Net as Old Redford Earns Championship Day Debut

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

March 14, 2024

EAST LANSING — The day before his team’s Division 3 Semifinal against Riverview Gabriel Richard, Detroit Old Redford head coach Ray Reeves said he installed a new play for his team to run.

Lo and behold, Old Redford found itself running that play Thursday at its most important moment of the season.

The Ravens were trailing by a point with two seconds remaining in regulation and set to inbound the ball from underneath their basket. 

The play was called “one,” mainly because it was one of five new plays Reeves said were installed.

“I was watching Auburn play and I saw (head coach) Bruce Pearl run it,” Reeves said. “I took it from him.”

That play ended up earning Old Redford a chance to finish this season “one” in the state, as senior Justin Austin inbounded the ball into the near corner on the left side of the floor to junior Arkell Boyd, who drained a heavily-contested 3-pointer just before the buzzer to give the Ravens a 43-41 win over Gabriel Richard. 

Old Redford will meet Niles Brandywine at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in a matchup of teams making their first appearance in an MHSAA Final in this sport.

The Ravens’ Ja'Quan Stennis gets a hand up high as Gabriel Richard’s Nick Sobush (1) works to get off a shot. “When that particular play came at the end of the game, I knew what to do,” said Boyd, who was mobbed by teammates on the floor after the shot went in.

The win continued a magical journey for Old Redford, which earned a one-point win over 2023 champion Flint Beecher in the Quarterfinal and a two-point victory over Detroit Loyola in a Regional Final.

Expanding on his team’s run this season, Reeves said the pivotal moment came during a trip to Indiana earlier in the year that produced some roster attrition.

“We went to Indiana with 14 players and came back with nine,” Reeves said.

The roster cut came after what Reeves said were issues with overbearing parents, which he said produced a team meeting that lasted from 10 p.m. until roughly 7 a.m. the next morning in Indiana.

“We knew it had to change,” Reeves said. “You think as an adult it would sometimes get better because you are dealing with adults. But I realized it was getting worse and it was killing my team. We came together that night, and we haven’t looked back.”

Trailing 37-32 with 4:42 remaining, Gabriel Richard mounted a charge, going on a 7-0 run to take a 39-37 lead with 2:01 left following a 3-point play by junior Nick Sobush. 

Old Redford tied the game at 39-39 with 33.8 seconds remaining on a steal and layup by junior Kason Mayes, but Gabriel Richard regained the lead at 41-39 with 14.3 seconds left with a layup by junior Luke Westerdale. 

Following a timeout, Old Redford put the ball in the hands of Mayes, who was fouled on a layup attempt with 3.3 seconds to go. 

Mayes made the first free throw and missed the second to make it 41-40 Gabriel Richard. But Old Redford got the ball back when the rebound went off a Gabriel Richard player, which set up Boyd’s heroics. 

Mayes scored 16 points, and Boyd added 15 for Old Redford (21-7).

Junior Charles Kage had 15 points and nine rebounds, and Sobush added 13 points for Gabriel Richard (23-4). 

“It’s tough to swallow,” Gabriel Richard head coach Kris Daiek said. “I thought our kids played hard. But hey, it happens. It’s March Madness.”

The good news for Gabriel Richard is that all six players who saw minutes Thursday are expected back to help the program expand on what was its first Semifinal appearance since 1989. 

“This is an educational moment for my kids,” Daiek said. “It stinks now. I give credit to Old Redford. It was a great battle all the way down the stretch. This will build character and make us a little bit tougher.”

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Teammates pile onto Detroit Old Redford’s Arkell Boyd after his game-winning basket Thursday at Breslin Center. (Middle) The Ravens’ Ja'Quan Stennis gets a hand up high as Gabriel Richard’s Nick Sobush (1) works to get off a shot. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)