Ford Arrives in 1st MHSAA Title Game
March 27, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Kenneth Flowers has been reminded more than a few times this week what he stepped into when he took over the Detroit Henry Ford boys basketball program eight seasons ago.
Congratulatory e-mails. Phone calls. Contacts from Henry Ford alumni dating back to the class of 1971.
“The community is huge over there,” Flowers said. “It’s amazing how basketball brings a community together like this.”
Imagine if he leads the Trojans to their first MHSAA championship Saturday.
They earned that opportunity, winning the first Semifinal in program history Friday, 64-38 over Cadillac at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center.
Prior to this season, Henry Ford had played in a Quarterfinal only once before, in 1984. But it will take on Wyoming Godwin Heights at 6:30 Saturday night to decide this season’s Class B champion.
“Our school, it’s the first time in history coming into the Breslin. And making this deep run, I just want to keep it going,” Ford senior guard Joshua Davis said. “Especially this being my last year, I’m very excited, very anxious, ready to make history.”
Flowers played his high school basketball at Detroit Redford and later led the junior varsity under coach Derrick McDowell – who has Detroit Western International playing for its first MHSAA championship as well, in the Class A Final.
Flowers took over for McDowell at Redford for the 2005-06 season and stayed until the school closed during the summer of 2007. Flowers started at Ford that fall.
The Trojans have posted winning records six of eight seasons under him – with the two sub-.500 records coming the last two seasons. But they rebounded this winter and finished second in the Detroit Public School League West Division 1 behind only Western.
Ford seemed to play with the jitters many first-time visitors to Breslin Center experience. It fell behind by five halfway through the first quarter to Cadillac, which played in a Semifinal for the third straight season.
But the Trojans (21-5) got the score back to even at 11-11 by the end of the quarter – and put the game nearly out of reach over the next eight minutes with a 23-6 run.
Junior point guard James Towns got comfortable quickly on the collegiate floor, making 9 of 12 shots and all six of his free-throw attempts for 24 points to go with four assists and three steals. Davis added 17 points and senior guard Antaun Carter added 10 and four steals.
Senior guard Andrew Emington led Cadillac with 14 points, and senior forward Ethan Myers had 13. To its credit, their team came back from a 5-6 start this winter and despite graduating its leading scorer from a year ago. The Vikings finished 18-9 and went a combined 58-21 over the three-season run.
“I told our guys in the locker room that were getting emotional, you can cry for the finality of the season, but don’t cry for the outcome of the game,” Cadillac coach Ryan Benzenberg said. “Because all we ever wanted, when this thing ended, was to lose to a team better than us. And I have no shame saying that Henry Ford is a better basketball team than we were tonight.”
Click for the full box score and video from the postgame press conference.
PHOTOS: (Top) Henry Ford players including freshman Da’Mon Gilmore (15) celebrate their first Semifinal win as they leave the floor Friday night. (Middle) Ford’s Joshua Davis finishes a dunk.
Freeland Turns to Seniors to Settle In, Secure 1st Trip to Championship Day
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
March 13, 2026
EAST LANSING – In the end, all it finally took for Freeland was to get comfortable.
It didn't take any fiery halftime speeches, brainy coaching decisions or improved shooting by a veteran Falcons team. It was simply a matter of settling in that helped Freeland knock off Romulus Summit Academy North 57-47 in Friday's Division 2 Semifinal at the Breslin Center.
Freeland turned a 12-5 first-period deficit into a two-point halftime lead, and a 37-27 lead after three quarters into a spot in Saturday's 6:45 p.m. Final – which will be the first championship game in program history.
Why the turnabout? Freeland coach John Fattal said it was all about comfort.
"Getting stops and settling in on offense," he said. "We have a lot of highly-skilled players who are unselfish and share the ball. That's just how we are. It wasn't any coaching adjustment, it was just about settling in. We've got a lot of seniors who've played in big games and we just believed we could beat Romulus."
Comfort and a 12-player senior class which mostly has been together since the third grade. They started out playing together as grade schoolers, entered travel ball together as sixth graders and benefitted from watching the last Freeland team play at the 2022 Semifinals when they were in eighth grade. That locker room full of experience has led players to have tons of confidence in one another, senior all-state guard Wilson Huckeby said.
"It's a bonding thing," said Huckeby, who finished with 22 points, four rebounds and three assists. "We're comfortable that everyone has a job to do."
Freeland (25-3) led by as much as 47-32 with five minutes left. The closest Summit came was 12 points with 2:18 to go.
Experience and bonding aside, Fattal credits the team's success to an offense which picks its spots to score. Freeland shot 48.5 percent from the floor, turned the ball over a meager six times and hit 21 of 34 free throws, including 12 in the fourth quarter.
"It wasn't necessarily defense, it was just settling down and getting a shot every time down the floor," he said. "We saw what they were trying to do, and we got used to playing against that.
"Literally we have a 15-man roster who has bought in. The community, parents, players and that's reflected in how we play."
Senior guard Cooper Wagner said a defense which held the Dragons (26-2) – who hadn't lost to a Michigan school all season – to just 34 percent (16 of 47) from the floor was outstanding. That turned around a game which saw Freeland hold Summit to just 12 points over the middle two quarters.
"Just to get a stop on defense," he said. "Keeping them from scoring."
Falcons center Tristan Comer, who contributed 20 points and 13 rebounds, said playing for a state title has been on the players' minds for years.
"We've talked about it since we were freshmen. Everyone has worked toward it, and now it's come to fruition," he said.
Summit coach Derek Clark offered credit to Freeland, but also thought his players were trying to do too much.
"Usually we share the ball more," he said. "I think we wanted to put our capes on, and I don't blame them. Everyone just wants to make plays, and we didn't make the best plays. We just didn't face adversity well."
Junior guard Ramere Roberts led the Dragons with 17 points.
PHOTOS (Top) Freeland’s bench watches in hopeful anticipation as Wilson Huckeby shoots a 3-pointer Friday at Breslin Center. (Middle) Summit’s Codey Bush (2) considers his options from the wing. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)