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Ingram scores 28, leads Pershing past Osborn in PSL quarterfinals; top-ranked Western is next
Detroit – It doesn’t matter if Marquel Ingram starts or comes off the bench. All that matters is that he plays.
Detroit Pershing coach Wydell Henry didn’t play Ingram in the first round of the Detroit Public School League against Detroit Mumford on Friday for disciplinary reasons.
Henry didn’t start Ingram in Tuesday’s quarterfinals against Detroit Osborn, again, for disciplinary reasons.
Undaunted, Ingram quickly made up for lost time as he scored 16 of his 28 points in the second quarter and Pershing was able to pull away from Osborn to record an 81-71 victory at Detroit Renaissance.
Pershing (10-7), the two-time defending PSL champion, will play top-ranked Detroit Western in one semifinal on Friday at Detroit Cass Tech at 5 p.m.
Western (16-0) bested Cass Tech, 66-49, in Tuesday’s second quarterfinal.
Pershing trailed 24-22 when Ingram took over. His basket tied it at 24-24 with 6:18 left in the first half and his second of six 3-pointers gave Pershing a 27-24 lead.
Ingram was just getting warmed up. After Kherron Dorsey’s 3-point play gave Pershing a 30-28 lead, Ingram made a basket and then a 3-pointer and Pershing led 35-28 with 3:28 left in the half.
Ingram’s third 3-pointer of the quarter put Pershing on top, 41-32, with 2:07 left.
At this point Ingram had 19 points in 10 minutes of playing time.
Perhaps he’s Detroit’s newest “microwave”. That was Vinnie Johnson’s nickname as sixth man in the Detroit Pistons’ glory years in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
“I was just thinking about getting my team in it,” Ingram said of his second quarter scoring spree. “Osborn wanted to beat us. It was a battle of 7 Mile (Road). I just wanted to bring energy to my team.
“I like to come off the bench. I like to start.”
If Pershing is to be competitive against Western it’ll need Ingram for 32 minutes. Pershing will be a decided underdog but Ingram isn’t about to concede anything.
“We just got to play Doughboys ball,” he said. “The Pershing way.”
Pershing survived a fine effort from Osborn. The schools are located on 7 Mile on the city’s east side and have been rivals since the 60s. In most cases Pershing has held the upper hand.
Osborn (11-6) led 21-13 after the first quarter Ingram did his thing.
“He’s the best player in the PSL,” Henry said. “He loves to win. He doesn’t force shots. But he does shot a lot. We want him to.”
Pershing had five players score in double figures and five players had five or more rebounds. Armone Felder had 15 points and Dorsey had 10 points and led the team with six rebounds. David Syfax and Ron Hill also scored 10.
Joseph Thomas had 22 points to lead Osborn. DeAndre May added 13 points and Christian Littlejohn was a forced inside finishing with 12 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks.
Western (15-0) played perhaps its worst half of the season. It trailed 22-16 before ending the half on a 10-4 run to end the half tied at 26-26.
On a scale of one-to-10, with 10 being the worst, Western coach Derrick McDowell gave his team a score of eight for the first 16 minutes.
Cass Tech (7-10), a team that starts just one senior, led 32-27 before Western went on a 20-0 run to put the game away.
A key sequence during run featured three of Western’s best players. Gerald Blackshear blocked a shot and Brailen Neely got the rebound and passed to Josh McFolley for a layup and Western led 34-32. Moments later Blackshear got a defensive rebound and passed to McFolley for another layup to double Western’s lead. Neely then threw a pass over the defense to the 6-7 Blackshear who scored for a 38-32 lead with 2:48 left in the third.
“(Blackshear) is the reason we’re able to pressure (defensively),” McDowell said. “It’s not just his blocks (he had three). He gets to the ball. He changes shots.
“It’s our defense that triggers our offense. They think it’s the offense. That’s why they struggle.”
Western forced 12 turnovers in the second half.
Neely led Western with 14 points, McFolley had 12 and Karim Murray added 10. Blackshear had nine points and 10 rebounds.
Deshaun Wyatt had 13 points for Cass Tech.
