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).
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.