Detroit Renaissance 68, Detroit Henry Ford 60

Chene Phillips leads Renaissance on long comeback

Tom Markowski / The Detroit News

Detroit -- No lead is safe in the Detroit Public School League.

Detroit Renaissance missed 18 of its first 21 shots Friday and trailed Detroit Henry Ford, 26-7, midway through the second quarter. Renaissance played so poorly in the first 12 minutes it had more turnovers (eight) than points.

"We haven't had a good start all season," Renaissance senior guard Chene Phillips said.

But coach Cameron Nichols likes the way his young team finishes. Phillips led a frantic comeback, scoring 18 of his 31 in the fourth quarter as Renaissance took a shocking 68-60 PSL West victory.

Henry Ford (5-3, 1-2) led, 31-17, at halftime and still held a comfortable 38-22 lead after Warren Jackson's basket with 5:57 remaining in the third quarter. Renaissance scored the next 10, and although Mathew Hunter's basket gave Henry Ford a 43-38 lead after three quarters, the momentum had clearly switched.

Gerald Johnson started the fourth with a 3-pointer and Phillips scored the next five to give Renaissance its first lead, 46-43, with 5:36 remaining. Renaissance held Henry Ford without a field goal until Jackson's 3-pointer with 2:42 left brought Henry Ford to within 54-41. Henry Ford cut the lead to one, but Phillips made four free throws and Corey Norman scored on a layup for a five-point Renaissance lead with 31 seconds left.

This was a big game for both teams. Henry Ford came in on a two-game losing streak after starting the season 5-0. Renaissance (6-3, 2-0) held on to defeat Detroit Cooley, 67-65, in its West Division opener at home Tuesday and finds itself in a tie for first with Detroit Cody (6-1, 2-0) after the victory. The top two teams in the division qualify for the PSL playoffs.

"This is a tough environment," Phillips said. "We need every win we can get."

It's important to win at home in what promises to be a competitive division. So for Henry Ford this loss was especially tough and coach Ken Flowers was not at all pleased with his team's play at the end.

"We choked," Flowers said. "That's two games in a row."

After controlling the rebounds (32-21) the first three quarters, Henry Ford managed just three in the fourth; Renaissance had 12. Renaissance was 8-for-15 from the field in the fourth and 13-of-15 from the line. Phillips was 10-of-11 from the line, all in the fourth.

"Coach Cam told me to step it up," Phillips said. "My teammates got me the ball and that's what I did. We had to pick up our intensity and the turnovers started to happen."

Henry Ford committed twice as many turnovers (six) as Renaissance in the quarter.

Johnson added 14 points for Renaissance and Mike Hendley had six rebounds, five blocks and four points before fouling out with three minutes left.

XavierAbraham scored 16 and Hunter had 15 points and 16 rebounds for Henry Ford.

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