For well over a year now the rivalry between Renaissance and Denby has been
building. The Phoenix disposed of the PSL favorite Tars in last season’s
PSL quarterfinals and that only served to intensify the personal rivalry between
Renaissance players Malik Hairston and Joe Crawford and Denby players Darryl Garrett and Enrico Harris. Fuel was added to the flames in a summer league game
at the legendary St. Cecilia’s gym in Detroit when the two squads waged
a memorable war that featured a lot verbal and physical action on the court.
Jason Horton was a visiting member on that Denby squad and was ill prepared
to deal with the intense atmosphere. He wasn’t enough to help them knock
out the Phoenix. Renaissance sent the message that they could deal with whatever
the Tars could throw at them in the 66-60 win. The drama in the packed gym made
area hoop fans clamor for more.
Darryl Garrett(left) and Rico Harris(right)
Throughout the season another meeting between these two squads is what everyone
anticipated. The verbal jabs between the teams resumed at the start of the playoffs
with the Denby players, especially Garrett, rooting for a rematch with their
cross-town rivals. The future Eastern Michigan Eagle got what he had been waiting
for last night. It was overwhelmingly obvious that the fans did too, evidenced
by their showing up 8000 strong to pack Cobo Arena to the rafters! Courtside
featured a veritable who’s who with coaches from just about all of the
area schools in attendance as well as UNC’s Roy Williams. Detroit mayor
Kwame Kilpatrick was also on hand, as were Michigan players Braylon Edwards,
Dion Harris, and John Andrews. Prior to the opening tip most were expecting
this to be a spirited, but close game. It would soon become clear the Phoenix
had other plans.
Mayor Kilpatrick and Braylon Edwards
Renaissance jumped out to a quick 10-3 lead behind four points and an assist
from Crawford, but Denby would answer early. Future Eastern Michigan Eagle Rico
Harris responded with a jumper off a crossover at the top of the key and a runner
in the lane in successive possessions to trim the lead to 3. That’s when
the littlest man on the court began to make his presence felt. Much like he
did in the summer league game, 5-6 TaJuan Porter changed the tempo with his
rocket quickness and pinpoint accuracy from deep. The Phoenix utilized beautiful
ball movement to get the ball to Porter in rhythm so he could nail a big 3 to
end the Tars short run. On the next possession Porter received the outlet pass
and hit Marcus Stout on the break for an easy deuce. He then followed that up
by leaking out on the break and nailing a three in transition to spur an 18-11
Phoenix lead at the end of 1.
TaJuan Porter drives on Garrett
Denby kept pace early in the second behind two jumpers from Wallace Hall and
a runner from Garrett to make it 23-17, but that’s as close as they would
get. Hairston had seemingly had enough and almost single handedly turned the
tide of the game defensively. Rico Harris drove to the hole and was rejected
by Hairston triggering a break where Joe Crawford exploded to the rack for two.
On Denby’s next possession Hairston swatted yet another shot…catching
the rebound and triggering a break that found Crawford wide open for 3. Denby
tried to get it in Garrett’s hand to slow the run, but Stout stole the
ball and led a 2 on 1 break…finding Malik flying to the hoop for an alley-oop!
That put Renaissance up 30-17 with 1:52 left and forced Denby Coach Ray Reeves
to call a timeout. Still, the Phoenix were able to keep up the pressure and
expanded their lead to 32-17 at intermission. “They went to five guards
and we couldn’t stop them,” said Reeves. “They put Joe at
the four and Malik at the five and we couldn’t match up.”
Malik skies for the oop!
The inability to match up with that line up became even more apparent in the
third quarter. Renaissance went on a 15-6 run, highlighted by a huge 3 from
Hairston, which essentially put the game away at 47-23. They widened the lead
even further and eventually coasted to a 68-40 victory. “We beat a great
team out there,” Hairston said. “We came out prepared. I always
say that Defense is the foundation of Renaissance basketball. That’s what
I harp on. Offense is very exciting but defense wins basketball games. We were
able to put a mixture of both together so we were able to come out with the
win. This might have been our best defensive game.”
Malik hangs in the air for 2
On the night Renaissance was led by Hairston with 21 points, 11 rebounds, and
4 blocks, Crawford with 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Porter with 10 points
and 4 assists. For the Tars, Garrett, Hall, and Harris had 17, 11, and 8 points
respectively.
Much of the talk after the game centered on the faces in the crowd. As mentioned
previously, one of the most notable was Roy Williams (whom was on hand to see
Malik). When asked about the Tar Heel coach's visit and whether he still might
take a trip to Oklahoma, Malik indicated that those weren’t things he
was really paying attention to. “That’s all secondary,” Hairston
said. “I appreciate him coming out to watch Renaissance basketball, but
winning this city championship is the most important thing. It’s been
on my mind since we won last year. I really just want to focus on the state
championship now. I might decide to take it (a visit to Oklahoma) after the
season.”
More Photos From The Game
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Malik Hairston for 3! |
Joe Crawford slams it home! |
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Daryl Garrett takes it up strong! |
Malik with the J |
Joe flies to the rack! |