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Josh Davis scores 21 and Detroit Henry Ford defeats Detroit Consortium, 70-52, to capture Class B region title
Dearborn Heights – Since joining the program in 2008, Detroit Henry Ford coach and athletic director Ken Flowers envisioned a night like Wednesday.
As the game wore on, Flowers wore his heart on his sleeve on every whistle and every basket. At times instead of pacing the floor, he’d get down on all fours, hands and knees as if he was stalking the Class B regional final trophy.
“The transition (of our team) from their freshmen year to now, this team has been through a lot. We have a don’t-quit mentality. We had a letdown in the city playoffs and we were looking to bounce back,” Flowers said.
The Trojans not only bounced back, they made history.
Henry Ford defeated Detroit Consortium, 70-52, at Dearborn Heights Robichaud capturing the team’s first regional title under Flowers.
Henry Ford (19-5) will play New Haven, which beat Detroit Osborn, 68-66, in Tuesday quarterfinal at Marysville at 7 p.m.
“It’s huge,” Henry Ford senior Josh Davis said. “Our school never won a district let alone a regional. To have this win is huge for our community.”
The win didn’t come easy, as the score might lead you to believe. Consortium (17-6) led to the way for most of the first half behind the physical play of its center Mikel Tyson who scored 12 first half points on his way to 16 for the game.
Helping Tyson from the outside was junior Charles Figueroa (11 points) who started the game hot with two 3-pointers that gave Consortium a 10-5 lead. Fellow junior Luster Johnson (eight points) penetrated the lane for high percentage shots for a 20-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Ford closed the gap as the Trojans denied the lane and forced the Cougars to settle for outside shots. Ford also kept pace with Davis’ 14 first half points (21 points total) that helped the Trojans take a 35-33 lead at halftime.
“He shot the ball really well. Since the tournament started he’s been playing at a very high level,” Flowers said. “Josh said he didn’t want his season to end in the first round like it did the last couple of years. He’s put extra time in the gym, and he’s peaking at the right time.”
Ford went on a quick 7-0 run to start the second half thanks to a Davis 3-pointer and the play of Jamal Edwards off the bench (11 points). Things got dicey though when Davis picked up his fourth foul with two minutes to play in the third quarter holding a 45-37 lead.
“The team depended on me to get things going,” Davis said. “They were calling a lot stuff on me, and I tried to play through it. That fourth foul was rough. I tried to keep my head, but I couldn’t.”
With Davis on the bench, the Cougars cut the lead to six, 48-42, to start the fourth. The Trojans never wavered and kept on building upon its lead.
Antwan Johnson and James Towns rebuilt the lead as they both made a 3-pointer. Clutch free throw shooting also kept Consortium from making a run. Towns was 6-of-7 from the line down the stretch. Coach Flowers said his team could have given in, but was proud of their resolve.
“I couldn’t have been more proud of how they responded,” he said. “That’s a special group of kids who deserved a win like did tonight.”
Davis re-entered the game with 4:10 left in the fourth quarter when the lead was secure at 61-43. The Western Michigan commit put an exclamation point on the game two minutes later with a breakaway two-handed dunk for a 67-46 lead.
