Western Ends Perfect Run with 1st Title
March 28, 2015
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING — Even in their own city, even after all they'd accomplished this season, Detroit Western International's basketball players were somewhat of a curiosity when they showed up at Calihan Hall to play in the MHSAA Class A Quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Western had been this far only twice in its long history — and neither occasion was recent history. The Cowboys reached the Quarterfinals in 1922 and the semifinals in 1974, long before any of the current players were born.
"That's why so many eyebrows were raised," junior guard Brailen Neely said. "When we were at Calihan, they hear Western and they're like, 'Western? They've never had a program.'"
The Cowboys do now — the undisputed No. 1 program in Michigan in 2014-15.
Western completed a perfect season by beating sixth-ranked Saginaw Arthur Hill, 62-59, in the MHSAA Class A championship game Saturday at the Breslin Center.
The Cowboys finished 26-0, including a 69-57 overtime victory over Arthur Hill in their second game. On only five occasions did a team come within single digits of Western. It was the first MHSAA championship in any sport for the school, which was the 1972 Class A runner-up in baseball and had been past the Regionals only five times in bracketed sports.
"It's really big for the community," senior guard Josh McFolley said. "The community hasn't had this in a very long time. It's really big for the school. It's really big for coach (Derrick McDowell) and the team. We've worked hard for this from day one."
Not only has Western historically played in the shadows of Detroit's powerful programs, but the Cowboys were coming off a season in which they gave little indication that they would take the state by storm this winter. Western showed promise two years ago, going 12-7 in McDowell's second season at the school, but the Cowboys slumped to 6-13 last winter.
Even Neely admits he never expected such a dramatic turnaround.
"I thought we would do better, but never state champs," said Neely, who was on the varsity as a freshman.
Neely said the big difference was that the team paid better attention to McDowell, who coached now-defunct Detroit Redford to Class A runner-up finishes in 1997 and 2002.
"It was a process," Neely said. "Our freshman year, we were young and had only one senior. We had a lot of growing to do. Our next year, our 10th-grade year, we thought we had it. We weren't listening. We were knuckleheads, and it showed in our game. We didn't have our best year. People weren't coming to see us, which humbled us. This year, we're on coach Mac's page and he led us to tremendous success."
With sophomore Brian Bowen scoring 10 of his game-high 21 points in the second quarter, Arthur Hill (24-4) grabbed a 25-21 lead heading into halftime.
There were seven lead changes in less than four minutes during the third quarter before Western took the lead for good at 33-32 on two free throws by Neely with 2:28 to go in the period. Those shots ignited what proved to be a decisive 16-2 run, as Western's lead grew to 47-34 with 5:19 remaining in the fourth quarter.
McFolley overcame an ankle sprain that he sustained before halftime to lead the surge, scoring 10 points during the third quarter. He hit two 3-pointers and scored twice when he stole the ball and went in for layups. He limped noticeably after the game, but showed no signs of the injury during the second half.
"I knew the adrenaline was going to go through me," McFolley said. "I was going to forget about the pain. It's the biggest game of my career. My team needed me. I had to go back out there."
With Bowen scoring nine fourth-quarter points, the Lumberjacks battled back to within four points twice in the final minute. Nate Moore scored with four seconds left to get Arthur Hill within three, but the Lumberjacks were out of timeouts and Western didn't need to inbound the ball.
"We knew it was going to be tough," McDowell said. "We played them the first time down in Detroit. They were up 13 at the half. The only way we got back in the game was from the defense the first time we played them. At halftime, that was the big emphasis, getting them in the full court, making them work to get down the court. We kind of looked at it like a football field where you have to work to get to the goal line."
Western was led by McFolley with 19 points and Gerald Blackshear with 16 points and 12 rebounds. As transfer students this winter, neither played in the first Arthur Hill game or during their team’s 8-0 start.
"To be honest with you, I knew they were coming, but I had all the pieces anyway," McDowell said. "Those were just extra pieces, I thought. We weren't looking for them to come in and be Superman and Batman and save us. We had enough to win, which showed early in the year when we won without them. What that did was shut up the naysayers who thought the only way we could do it was with those two. We proved them wrong. When they became eligible, it just added to it."
Karim Murray added 15 points for the Cowboys.
Arthur Hill fell short in its bid to win its third MHSAA title to go with championships in 1944 and 2006.
Guard Eric Davis, the Mr. Basketball runner-up, placed the burden for the loss on his shoulders.
"We just missed a couple of opportunities," said Davis, who had 15 points, six rebounds and three assists. "I take full responsibility for today's effort and our loss today. I want to thank my teammates and our coaching staff. They did a great job this year. I take full responsibility. I feel like I didn't step up like I needed to, but I've just got to move on now."
Arthur Hill coach Greg McMath appreciated the show of leadership from his four-year star, but wouldn't let Davis take the blame.
"Like I told Eric (Friday) night, he's a kid who really transformed himself and put the program back where we wanted it to be, because he sacrificed a lot for his team, becoming a point guard and cutting down on his scoring to get everybody else involved to help these guys get better," McMath said. "We're a team. We win as a team; we lose as a team. Him accepting that, we'll take it, but we know it's not his fault, because he gave it everything he had."
Billy Burton had 10 points for Arthur Hill.
Click for the full box score and video from the postgame press conference.
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Western International’s Josh McFolley celebrates with his teammates the school’s first MHSAA championship. (Middle) Arthur Hill’s Eric Davis (10) works to get around McFolley.
Harbor Beach Motivated by Past, Focused on Present in Chasing Future Goals
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 12, 2025
Andrew Kabban and his Harbor Beach boys basketball teammates know how quickly a good thing can end.
After going 19-3 and dominating the Greater Thumb Conference East a year ago, the Pirates had their bubble burst with a buzzer beater in the Division 4 District Final against Cass City, a team they had defeated by 13 a month earlier.
“We’ve kind of had last year stuck in the back of our minds,” said Kabban, a junior point guard. “We have a lot of returning players, we only lost two guys last year, so we all remember what happened last year. We’ve built on that experience, and we’re trying to use our experience to our advantage.”
That experience has allowed the Pirates to hold onto last year for motivation while focusing on what’s directly in front of them, and it’s working. Heading into Wednesday night, they are 17-1 this season, including a perfect 9-0 in the Big Thumb Conference Black. That includes wins over Division 2 Croswell-Lexington (12-5) and Millington (16-2). Their one setback was a 2-point loss against Yale (18-1), the No. 9 team in Division 2.
Of course, they’ll need to keep doing that into March in order to feel as though they’ve truly grown.
“Even with me, I’m a team captain, and sometimes I can catch myself talking about (a bigger game against) Millington, for instance,” junior Benson Harper said. “I just have to remember that we have to take care of business first and stay focused. If we don’t stay focused, something bad can happen to us.”
It becomes easier to maintain that focus when everyone’s on the same page, and for this version of the Pirates, they’ve had plenty of time playing together to get there.
The majority of the roster – nine players – comes from the junior class, with three seniors joining them. That’s a group that has been playing together since elementary school in multiple sports, and winning plenty along the way.
“We started playing together in second grade,” Harper said. “We’ve just been playing ball together forever. We lost one game in seventh grade, then went undefeated in eighth grade. … We’ve just been winning together, and when you see everybody every single day, you build a bond with them, not even just in sports.”
That consistency spans sports and even the coaching staff. Head coach Ron Wruble is also the defensive coordinator for the football team, and the Pirates were 11-1 this past season and 9-2 the year prior.
“These kids, they’re obviously playing football together and playing basketball now, and most of them hang out together, too,” Wruble said. “There’s a lot of camaraderie in the group, and I think they just enjoy being together.”
There was one season where they weren’t all together, however, as Harper was moved to the varsity squad as a freshman. He wasted no time becoming a go-to option for the Pirates, and earlier this season eclipsed the 1,000-point mark.
“He started for us as a freshman, and you can just see his development over the last three years,” Wruble said. “He’s gotten bigger, stronger – his skill set was at the varsity caliber as a freshman, but it’s just been moving up from there.”
In his first season, however, the Pirates were an uncharacteristic 7-12. Harper was happy to be playing at the varsity level, but certainly missed his classmates.
“It was definitely tough, because I was so young and so used to playing with them,” Harper said. “We had kind of a crappy freshman year, and I wasn’t used to losing. But I was also happy to see them winning (on the junior varsity level), and they dominated, too.”
When they all came together again at the varsity level, the success was almost instant. That came as no surprise to Wruble.
“It’s just the general makeup of the team – there’s a big core of kids that are gym rats,” he said. “They live in the gym and the weight room.”
That’s led to a high level of competition in practice, as Wruble praised the depth of his team. It also has the Pirates dominating against a schedule that was built to prepare them for the postseason.
“We try to schedule teams that are going to be the better programs, and that really helps us in the long run,” Wruble said. “We’re coming through the second time around with our conference opponents, and hopefully we can play well and take care of business there.
“Obviously, our District loss last year was a heartbreaker. We lost the District championship at the buzzer with a 3-point shot, and that’s still sticking in the minds of our kids, and they want to get back there and avenge that then, and hopefully move on from there. But it’s going to be one game at a time, and we even break it down further than that: one play at a time. A play in the first quarter had just as much meaning to the end of the game as a play at the end of the game.”
That message – with the help of past experiences – is coming through loud and clear.
“The goal is to win a District and win a Regional,” Kabban said. “The regional is not out of reach for us. But we have to win the District first. We have to win our league first. But we know that we’re capable of doing whatever we put our minds to.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Harbor Beach’s Benson Harper (10) makes a move in the lane during his team’s Jan. 17 win over Capac. (Middle) Skiler Kruse (4) elevates above surrounding defenders with a shot in the post. (Photos courtesy of the Harbor Beach yearbook staff.)