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Henry Ford outlasts Collegiate Prep, advances to regional final
Detroit – There are many who predicted the winner of the Detroit Henry Ford-Detroit Collegiate Prep at Northwestern Class B regional semifinal would reach the state semifinals.
If that is true, last season’s state finalist is in good shape.
Henry Ford defeated Collegiate Prep, 63-56, on Monday at Detroit Mumford to advance to Wednesday’s final. The Trojans (16-6) will play Detroit Osborn (14-10), which defeated Detroit Douglass, 62-56, at 5:30 p.m.
The Trojans started the game off a little slow in the first quarter as they trailed 16-12 after the first quarter.
Henry Ford doubled its lead to, 28-20, at halftime as senior guard James Towns led the charge with eight points, five rebounds and five assists at half. Fellow senior guard, Jeremy Crawley, had nine points.
A bright spot for Collegiate Prep (14-5) was junior guard Kylan Shipp who had eight points in the first quarter including two 3-pointers. Shipp did not play in the second quarter due to foul difficulty. His absence proved pivotal.
The Colts dug themselves in a whole at the start of the second half as turnovers and missed shots put them down 10.
But, led by Shipp, the Colts were able to tie the game at 40-40 with 2:30 left in the third.
Henry Ford coach Kenneth Flowers said that this game was a hard fought one from beginning to end.
“You have to give it to Northwestern on the way they played today,” said Flowers. “We were just able to overcome adversity that we faced during the game and come out with the win.”
The Trojans forged a 43-42 lead at the end of the third.
Henry Ford led 44-43 before Collegiate Prep went on a 9-6 run to take a 52-50 lead with 4:01 to play.
The Colts could not hold the Trojans off the boards as Henry Ford out rebounded the Colts in the fourth quarter.
Fouls also had its affect as a number of Collegiate Prep players fouled out including starter Darwin Weis, who finished the game with 10 points.
But the highlight of the game was when James Town soared over three defenders for a put back dunk that gave Henry Ford a 58-53 lead with 1:14 left.
The crowd erupted after the play as fans and players were jumping out of their seats.
Towns said this win meant a lot for the team and he could not be happier with the way they played.
“This win was amazing, we worked so hard in practice,” Towns said. “We have a lot of doubters out there so this win means a lot to the team.”
Towns has experience especially in the state tournament as he was a key part of a team that went to the state final before losing to Wyoming Godwin Heights.
Towns said that the team will need to play together and have faith in each other for them to make it back to the title game this year.
“We just need to play as a team, listen to our coaches and believe in ourselves and I think we will make it back to Breslin,” said Towns.
Crawley had 19 points and Towns had 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists to lead the Trojans.
Shipp led the Colts with 19 points and Terrence Sewell had 15.
