DEPSA Finishes Championship Beginning
March 18, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Rickea Jackson was the freshman last year, an all-stater in the making, but also the player getting triple teamed by opponents as the most immensely talented of Detroit Edison Public School Academy’s lineup.
On the sideline, coach Monique Brown almost couldn’t watch as her star kept getting “smashed” by opponents. But Jackson wouldn’t let her get down.
“I’d be looking to the side, and she said, ‘Coach, next year,’” Brown recalled Saturday after their season ended in a way neither could have fully expected. “She knew she had eighth graders who were going to be ninth graders who would be able to help her out.”
They sure did.
A program that had never won a District title before this winter won this season’s Class C championship edging Pewamo-Westphalia 46-44 with freshmen combining to score half of those points to follow Jackson’s game-high 21.
“Our dream has finally come true,” Jackson said. “(Coach) would get frustrated on the sideline. But when I was hugging her (Saturday), I told her, ‘I’ve got you, and I will always have your back – no matter what.’”
DEPSA finished this season 21-5, and as players piled onto each other in hugs and screams on the Breslin Center floor, there was only one question left to ask:
Was this just the first of celebrations to come?
In addition to playing numerous freshmen, the Pioneers blazed this trail without a senior – paced also by two juniors to go with Jackson, the lone sophomore and an all-state second teamer this winter.
“People are saying the season is over," said DEPSA freshman Gabrielle Elliott, who made the all-state first team, “but it’s just beginning.”
For these players, yes. But the program’s beginnings were far more humble.
DEPSA’s team is six years old, and Brown has led it from the start. The Pioneers have had winning records every season, but played the first with only six players – and finished their last game that winter, a District Final, with only three on the floor.
A loss Saturday wouldn’t have made this season less successful – something Pewamo-Westphalia coach Steve Eklund also emphasized to his players as they fell into heartache after just missing on a first championship as well.
DEPSA pushed its lead to nine just more than a minute into the fourth quarter, but P-W – which trailed for all but 14 seconds of the game when the score was tied – whittled the advantage down to one point with 1:19 to play.
The Pioneers drained most of the clock before P-W was forced to foul, and the Pirates looked to catch a break after a missed free throw – but a scramble that saw at least three players dive to the floor ended with the ball back in DEPSA’s hands. Another P-W foul and another Pioneers missed free throw, and the Pirates got the ball back for what looked to be a final attempt to take the lead – but a 3-point attempt from the corner was enveloped by DEPSA freshman Shaulana Wagner and tossed out of bounds.
“As I was going, I was just like, don’t make them score because then we’ll be down,” said Wagner, who has been working through a left ankle injury and seemed to re-aggravate it earlier in the half. “The energy from the crowd and my team picking me up, it gave me the energy to get that.”
The Pirates had one last chance then inbounding the ball with 3.4 seconds to play – but the pass from the corner never made it safely in, knocking off the leg of a DEPSA player and then off P-W on the deflection.
“They’re long. Their arms were everywhere,” Pirates junior Emily Spitzley said. “It was just a blur."
“Five seconds after that inbounds play I told myself I should’ve run the other one. It’s amazing a whole season comes down to just five seconds,” Eklund added.
“I just told the girls no regrets. You’ll have a lot of people come up and tell you what an awesome game it was. You’re going to get tired of saying thank you, but mean it.”
P-W will continue to be a force as well, as freshman Hannah Spitzley led this time with 17 points as her all-state second-team sister Emily had 15.
Jackson added nine rebounds and three blocks to her game-high 21 points, and Wagner had 12 points and two blocks.
“It definitely started off a couple years ago with our middle school program,” Brown said. “To get them to stay with me was a little tough, so when they came over (to high school), when they decided, yes, we will continue to stay here with you and continue this roll with you, we started in August running on the track and in the weight room. We were just trying to build our bodies because I knew we would have to go against seniors going off to college.
“When they committed themselves to that, I knew we had something. But not until the 9 o’clock p.m. practices on Friday nights – then I thought we might have a championship team. And the 5 in the morning practices … everyone showed up, and I commend the ladies for that.”
PHOTOS: (Top) DEPSA’s Rickea Jackson rises above a pair of P-W defenders to launch a shot Saturday. (Middle) Pirates junior Emily Spitzley drives around a Pioneers player during the Class C Final.
Renaissance Emerges from Defensive Struggle to Earn Saturday Return
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 20, 2026
EAST LANSING — Detroit Renaissance head coach DaShaun Wood was short yet succinct describing the final minute of his team’s Division 1 Semifinal against DeWitt on Friday.
“It’s like my heart stopped a few times for sure,” Wood said.
He probably wasn’t the only one in what was a thrilling finish to a defensive struggle.
Renaissance ultimately prevailed, advancing to its first Division 1 championship game since 2021 with a 32-28 triumph over a DeWitt team that nearly made it two improbable comebacks in a row.
On Tuesday in a Quarterfinal upset of No. 1-ranked and 2025 Division 1 champion Belleville, DeWitt rallied from an 11-point deficit in the second half and a seven-point deficit to start the fourth quarter.
Trailing 28-19 midway through the fourth quarter Friday and having scored just two points during the second half up to that point, DeWitt all of a sudden went on a quick 7-0 run to cut the Renaissance lead to 28-26 with 2:57 remaining in the game.
After the teams traded baskets to make it 30-28 Renaissance, the Phoenix tried to take time off the clock during the final minute and were fouled on two occasions. On both trips to the line, Renaissance missed both free throws – but got the ball back off the second misses both times to retain possession.
“Yeah, that was tough,” DeWitt head coach Bill McCullen said. “We’re so close to one, but we stepped on the end line (after grabbing the rebound), which would have been a huge possession. Obviously, we felt like we had some momentum building and getting our crowd into it.”
Following a timeout, Renaissance sophomore Kassidy Cain was fouled with 15.3 seconds left. Cain sank both free throws to make it 32-28, and Renaissance got one more stop to seal the game.
The Phoenix hopes to win its first Finals title in the largest classification against Muskegon. Renaissance’s previous championship was won in Class B in 2005.
“They’re hungry,” Wood said of Muskegon. “They’re seniors, and they know what’s on the line. We know we’re going to get their best shot.”
Only one player in the game scored in double figures – DeWitt senior Sophia Beland, who finished with 10 points.
Trailing 17-14 at halftime, Renaissance surged ahead with a strong third quarter, outscoring DeWitt 12-2 in the stanza to take a 26-19 lead into the fourth.
“I thought in the first half, we never really settled in offensively,” Wood said. “We’ve had those moments a few times this year, just settling into the game and believing in our abilities.”
DeWitt, which was supposed to go through something of a rebuilding year with just two seniors, finished 22-5 and figures to have a bright future.
In addition to Beland, Carly Dennis was the other senior.
“I’m not sure I can be any more proud of the two of them, their leadership and what they accomplished,” McCullen said his seniors. “Not just this season, but in their careers. We put a lot on both of their shoulders. I mean, you can see today they rarely come out of the game, and we ask a lot of them both offensively and defensively.”
PHOTOS (Top) Renaissance’s Maria Walker (1) follows a screen from teammate Jaebri’an Autry (22) during their team’s win over DeWitt on Friday. (Middle) The Panthers’ Jaynie English (22) and Carly Dennis contend with Walker for possession. (Photos by Keionna Banks and John Castine/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)