Douglass Completes Climb for 1st Championship
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
April 10, 2021
EAST LANSING – Detroit Douglass senior guard Pierre Brooks II sought out his coach, who’s also his father, as the final seconds ticked away.
The pair shared an emotional embrace as they celebrated the program’s first state title with a 47-41 win over Wyoming Tri-unity Christian in Saturday’s Division 4 Final at the Breslin Center.
“This is the best feeling in the world, and especially winning a state championship with your dad,” Brooks II said. “It’s been a long road since my freshman year, and we used to butt heads a lot. Towards the end of my high school career we really started to click a lot more, especially with the pandemic.”
Brooks II, a Michigan State signee, recorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds to help lift the Hurricanes to the victory in their first Finals appearance.
He also added five assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
“I've never said this to him personally, but Pierre is the best player I've ever coached,” Douglass coach Pierre Brooks Sr. said. “I've been coaching for 22 years, and the work that he puts in on his own and the dedication he has to get better is amazing. I’ve never had a kid like him, and he just so happens to be my son, so this moment is really special for me.”
Douglass’ 6-foot-10 senior center, Javantae Randle, also played a pivotal role and produced a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
“I didn’t take basketball seriously until I was in 10th grade, so I never thought I would be here,” Randle said. “I never thought we would win a state championship, so I’m going to remember this forever.”
Tri-unity was playing in its ninth Final, but came up short as runner-up for the fifth time.
The Defenders were searching for their first championship since 2011, but were unable to rally in the second half after a strong start.
Tri-unity played well early, and led 19-13 in the second quarter before the Hurricanes mounted a comeback.
Brooks II drained a deep 3-pointer during the closing seconds of the first half to cap a 9-0 run and give the Hurricanes a 22-19 lead at the half.
“That was huge,” Brooks Sr. said. “That gave us a little confidence, and I think it swung the momentum in our favor.”
The Hurricanes took control during the final minute of the third quarter.
Randle converted a three-point play, and then seconds later Brooks II stole the ball and threw down a thunderous one-handed dunk to make it 36-27 heading into the fourth quarter.
The lead swelled to double digits with six minutes remaining, but Tri-unity junior guard Brady Titus wouldn’t let his team go away quietly.
Titus, who had a game-high 21 points, kept the Defenders within striking distance, and teammate Owen Rosendall knocked down a 3-pointer with a minute left to make it 43-40.
“We told the guys it was going to be a game of runs, and Tri-unity always makes runs because they are a well-coached team,” Brooks Sr. said. “We had to keep focused, but Titus is a special player and he played a heck of a game.”
Tri-unity coach Mark Keeler had a game plan to try and contain Brooks II, who averaged more than 30 points per game this season.
“We threw the kitchen sink at him,” Keeler said. “We knew that Randle and Brooks were keys to their team, and we tried to make (Brooks) earn every point he got and I think we did a pretty good job of that for the most part.”
The Defenders shot only 33 percent from the field and 20 percent (5-25) from beyond the 3-point line.
“We had a bad start to the second half, and then we had to play catch-up,” Keeler said. “We didn’t take care of the ball at critical times and that cost us, but we were excited to be here and I’m proud of my team.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Douglass’ Pierre Brooks II (1) reaches high to grab a rebound during Saturday’s Division 4 Final at Breslin Center. (Middle) Douglass’ Damonn Tiggs (3) makes a move toward the lane with Tri-unity’s Brady Titus defending. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Pirates sail into first Final since 1993
March 20, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Nick Spitzley, no doubt like the other eight seniors on Pewamo-Westphalia’s basketball team, dreamed growing up of playing for an MHSAA championship.
He needed to use his imagination, since the first and only time the Pirates did play for a Class C title was in 1993, a few years before he was born.
“Obviously we always came out on top,” Spitzley recalled. “Making a lot of shots, and I was always getting pumped up with my team.
“Since I was little, it’s always been a dream, and it’s come true. We’ve been playing together since fifth grade, maybe before that.”
P-W’s seniors are halfway through the final weekend of their high school careers and more than halfway to making that dream come true.
The No. 10-ranked Pirates advanced to Saturday’s Class C final by defeating No. 9 Muskegon Heights 54-44 in the first Semifinal on Thursday at the Breslin Center. P-W’s nine seniors will get to play in the final game of the season for the first time in school history, at 4:30 p.m. against No. 2 Detroit Consortium.
Pewamo-Westphalia will become the second straight team from the Central Michigan Athletic Conference to play for the Class C title, and third in eight seasons. Laingsburg fell in last year’s Final by a point, 40-39, to Flint Beecher. Bath won the Class C title in 2007.
Also from the CMAC, Fulton was Class D runner-up in 2011 and Fowler finished the same in 2002.
The Pirates had to come back over the final minute to beat Beecher in Tuesday’s Quarterfinal, and made it two-for-two against some of the state’s most storied programs by then eliminating Heights, which played in its 22nd Semifinal and fourth over the last five seasons.
P-W has won 81 percent of its games under coach Luke Pohl during two tenures over a combined 17 seasons. But the Pirates haven't had the chance to add the championship game chapter to their story in more than two decades.
“Knowing we had to beat a team like Flint Beecher and Muskegon Heights, with the history behind those schools, in unbelievable,” Pohl said. “If you follow our league, you’ve seen how many times the league has been here the last 10 years. It’s rock ‘em, sock ‘em basketball in the wintertime, and we’ve got great coaches there – those kind of guys sharpen my skills as a coach. But you’ve gotta have players to win, and we’ve got really good players.”
Spitzley is a four-year starter, one of the top scorers in school history, and did his part Thursday with 22 points and eight rebounds.
But the Semifinal win was truly a full senior effort, as all six players who saw time were 12th graders and a pair added big plays to Spitzley’s game-high scoring surge.
The first came 1 minute, 14 seconds into the second half with the Pirates trailing by a point. Guard Evan Fedewa scored and was fouled on his way to the hoop, and hit the ensuing free throw to give the Pirates a 29-27 lead. They would never trail again.
But Muskegon Heights came close to taking back the lead. The Tigers (20-4) pulled within four with 4:20 to play when P-W center Lane Simon was fouled on a score and also made the following free throw to push the lead back to 46-39 and seemingly drain the last bit of momentum from Heights’ comeback run.
Simon added 17 points, 10 rebounds, and both Fedewa and Kyle Nurenberg grabbed nine rebounds for the Pirates.
Junior Antonio Jones led Muskegon Heights with 16 pints, and senior Eddrick Tornes added 12. Jones made what could be one of the shots of the tournament, a spinning pull-up jumper thrown up without a look at the basket. But overall, his team shot just 24 percent from the floor including 14 percent as P-W pulled away during the second half.
Still, the return run was an accomplishment coach Dalrecus Stewart made sure to note. The Tigers have been here plenty of times, but this one was a little different – the school closed after spring 2012 and re-opened that fall as a public school academy.
“I know (my players) are feeling hurt, but this was a little bit more than a basketball game for us with all of the things that have gone on in our city as well as our school district the last few years,” Stewart said. “The championship they won today was about bringing hope to despair. They are a shining bright spot and what they’ve done is beyond measure. They’re my champions.”
Click for a full box score and video from the press conference.
PHOTOS: (Top) P-W’s Lane Simon (1) goes to the rim during Thursday’s Semifinal win over Muskegon Heights. (Middle) P-W's Nick Spitzley works to get past Muskegon Height's Eddrick Tornes.
HIGHLIGHTS: (1) Muskegon Heights’ Aaron Sydnor (3) wins the tip-up battle to score late in the first half against Pewamo-Westphalia. (2) Pewamo-Westphalia opened the second half with a 17-3 run. Lane Simon drives for two during that spurt.