Detroit, MI
Cass Tech holds on late to beat Detroit Renaissance, 72-70, in Public School League final
It wasn’t always pretty, but Cass Tech withstood a late run from Detroit Renaissance to remain the top team in the city, as they held on to win, 72-70, in the Public School League title game at Wayne State Fieldhouse on Sunday.
Cass Tech held a 14-point lead near the midway point of the fourth quarter, but surrendered a run that cut the lead to three points with a minute remaining, in part because of turnovers against the full-court press and missed free throws. After four straight misses at the line, however, sophomore Corey Sadler and senior Derrick Miller stepped up back-to-back to split a pair from the charity stripe in front of an ear-splitting crowd, which proved to be enough to hold on to their second consecutive PSL title.
“Sometimes, teams go on runs, basketball is about runs,” Sadler told the Free Press. “So, we stuck together, stayed composed and came out with the win.”
The defending Division 1 state champions were led by both Miller and Sadler, who both had 18 points, along with Lee Harris, who also had 18. Sadler was consistent, with three quarters in which he had six points, while Miller exploded for 11 in the third to help Cass Tech build a 16-point lead. Turns out, they ended up needing that margin. Harris got most of his points from the line, including five free throws in the final quarter.
A big reason why Cass Tech could build that lead is because of the defense in the third quarter, holding Renaissance to 10 points. After giving up 14 points to Renaissance junior Lance Stone, who was named Mr. PSL at halftime, in the first two quarters, they held the league’s best player to five points in the third, and just three in the fourth, for a total of 22. Sophomore Jordan Sigmon had 17 points, including nine in the fourth, and sophomore Marcellus Phelps had 12 points.
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Cass Tech head coach Steve Hall said the win was one of the most gratifying yet of his career, because people outside the program didn’t have as high expectations for the defending champions. Cass Tech had to replace its entire starting five from last year’s title team and elevate players into new and bigger roles. Despite that, they were still lifting the trophy at the center of Wayne State Fieldhouse, not skipping a beat.
“The sentiment was there wasn’t enough on this year’s team to get it done,” Steve Hall said. “That’s been a motivator to us. … I’m very proud of this team and this one feels real good.”
Cass Tech built a lead in the first quarter after the teams were even through the first four minutes of the game. A steal by Stevie Hall led to two free throws for Harris, which Stone answered with a 3 on the move in front of Cass Tech’s bench. After the 3, Renaissance coach John D. White received a technical foul for “unsportsmanlike conduct” on the other end, which led to a four-point possession for Cass Tech to push the lead to 15-9. The Technicians led 22-14 at the end of the first quarter.
Stone continued to pace Renaissance with a layup and a three-point play at the start of the second, sandwiched around a Miller 3-pointer for Cass Tech, to cut it to 25-19. The lead was cut to four points by halftime after Renaissance answered a Mathieu Collins jumper and Harris free-throw with a 6-0 run of all layups to make it 34-32. Miller added a layup in the final 10 seconds to make it a two-possession game. Harris was Cass Tech’s leading scorer in the first half with 11.
“Our standard and those letters across our chest are the same,” Steve Hall said about replacing last year’s production. “We’ve grown up a lot since December and I always said we’re shooting for late January, early February, and we are hitting our stride now. It’s very gratifying as a coach.”
Cass Tech started the second half with a 12-2 run over the first half of the quarter. Miller went on a personal 8-0 run during that stretch, converting an and-one on a floater, draining a 3 and adding a layup. Cass Tech built their biggest lead, 16, heading into the fourth, after Miller finished the quarter with another layup in the final seconds.
Miller said he focused on being more patient in the second half, which was a message also relayed by Hall, who told him his shots will come because the offense runs partly through him.
“In the first half, I was forcing my shots,” Miller said. “So in the second half, I just let ’em come to me. I let the game come to myself.”
However, Cass Tech couldn’t maintain its dominance in the last quarter as Renaissance stormed back. The Technicians led, 68-54, with over three minutes remaining but didn’t score again for the next two minutes as the Phoenix went on a 10-0 run to cut it to 68-64. Sadler went to the free throw line and split the pair, ending a streak of five straight missed free throws, to make it 69-64. Sadler wasn’t happy with himself over his free throw woes after, promising plenty of practice before the state tournament.
“We were just sticking together — being brothers,” Sadler said. “Our teammates know each other well, we fight for each other, and defend each other. (We) just stayed together and stayed composed.”
Renaissance freshman Alphonso Harris responded with his first bucket of the game, a 3 from the top of the key, to make it 70-67 with a minute left. Cass Tech ran 30 seconds off the clock before Miller was fouled, splitting the free throws, followed by a defensive stop and another Sadler free throw to ice the game to repeat as PSL champions.
“Our program is at the point now where there’s an expectation,” Hall said. “There’s pressure on the current group to achieve what the groups before them have. It’s a good pressure, but nonetheless, that’s the expectation that there’s pressure. We’ve had several close games this year and guys have stepped up.”
“Slow down and move over” is the message that Michigan State Police is sending to drivers after one of its troopers in a parked patrol car was struck while investigating a crash this weekend. The driver of that vehicle fled the scene.
Michigan State Police tells CBS News Detroit that we’re two months into the year, and it has had six incidents across the state where patrol cars were struck by oncoming vehicles. One of those incidents occurred on Sunday evening.
“Could have been much more tragic,” said MSP Lieutenant Rene Gonzalez, First District public information officer.
Gonzalez says on Sunday, an MSP trooper was near M-10 and Schaefer Highway in Detroit, simply doing his job, when his patrol car was hit from behind.
“Trooper was out there, and he was investigating a crash when, at the time, a Jeep SUV drove into the rear of the parked vehicle,” Gonzalez said.
The impact slid the trooper’s car into a concrete wall. The 29-year-old Detroit woman driving the Jeep SUV struck the center median, got out of the vehicle, and ran away.
“Not sure why they did it. Maybe not paying attention if they were distracted. They’re attempting to locate her at this time,” said Lt. Gonzalez.
The trooper walked away with minor injuries. Gonzalez says this incident is an example of why Michigan’s Move Over Law was put in place many years ago. The law, which went into effect in 2019, requires drivers to move over into the next lane and reduce their speed by at least 10 mph when emergency or service vehicles — police, fire, rescue, ambulance and road service — have their lights activated.
Drivers who are not able to move over are still required to reduce their speed.
“Trying to do our jobs, however, people are not paying attention. The law is easy. It’s simple. You see us, you see our lights activated, you have to slow down ten miles below the posted speed limit, and then if able, move over to the next occupied available lane,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez says crashes like this can be deadly and often avoided.
“One life lost over something that was a totally preventable crash, it’s way too much. We’re asking that you slow down and move over when you see our lights. It’s a simple message that we’ve been pushing out for years,” he said.
Sunday’s crash remains under investigation. Michigan State Police detectives are still working to track down the 29-year-old suspect.
In the meantime, police are out enforcing the Move Over Law.
The impact and history of autos in Detroit, The Motor City
Here are some facts about Detroit’s auto industry.
Rex Satterfield hoped to see his 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible snag one of the BASF Great 8 finalist spots at this year’s Detroit Autorama. But winning the Ridler Award — one of the highest honors in the custom car business — was something he didn’t foresee.
“It’s just overwhelming right now,” said the man from Russellville, Tennessee, as he left a ballroom at downtown’s Huntington Place and made his way back to the show floor on Sunday, March 1. “We weren’t expecting this.”
Getting a car recognized as one of the BASF Great 8 vehicles is a win in and of itself as they are considered the “absolute pinnacle of custom automotive craftsmanship worldwide,” according to the show. The cars undergo an intensive judging process.
And this effort had an unexpected and emotional complication with the passing in December 2024 of the original builder, Jeff Wolfenbarger, who was battling cancer even as he continued working on the car named “Elegant Lady.”
Kevin Riffey of Kevin Riffey’s Hot Rods and Restorations in Knoxville stepped in to finish the work Wolfenbarger started. He’d had two other cars in the past make the Great 8. He said the goal with this vehicle was straightforward, calling it a “purpose-built show car.”
From its prominent spot at the front of the show floor, “Elegant Lady” sported a creamy exterior, dubbed Light Coffee. The car carries a 1,000 horsepower Don Hardy race engine. The gauges, wheels and gas tank are custom, and the dash is from a 1956 Pontiac.
Satterfield plans to show the car around some and enjoy the moment with it. He said he’s been a car guy since he was a little kid.
The Ridler Award, named in honor of Detroit Autorama’s first publicist, Don Ridler, comes with a $10,000 prize. It was awarded on the final day of this year’s Detroit Autorama, which ran Friday, Feb. 27-Sunday, March 1. This was the event’s 73rd year.
Eric D. Lawrence is the senior car culture reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Send your tips and suggestions about cool automotive stuff to elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber. Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters.
When to call 911 and when to use non-emergency lines
This video explains the importance of knowing when to call 911 for emergencies and when to use non-emergency lines for less critical situations.
Detroit restaurateur and nightlife mainstay Michael “Mike B.” Brown was fatally shot early Saturday morning on the city’s west side, a violent incident that also left two other people injured and sent shockwaves through Detroit’s hospitality and entertainment communities.
According to Detroit police, the shooting occurred outside Suite 100, a cocktail bar on Schaefer Highway near Puritan Avenue. Investigators are urging anyone with information to come forward. As of Sunday afternoon, authorities had not announced any suspects or arrests.
“At approximately 4:30 a.m., Saturday, there was a triple shooting that occurred at 15789 Schaefer,” Detroit Police Department (DPD) media relations manager Jasmin Barmore wrote in an official statement Sunday afternoon. “Two of the vicims were found in front of the location and the third across the street from the location. Unfortunately, the victim found across the street from the location, Mikey Brown, succumbed to his injuries.
“The Detroit Police Department extends their condolences to the family and is asking the community for assistance with this incident. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to please contact DPD’s homicide unit or, they can submit an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers or Detroit Rewards TV.”
Brown, 52, had spent decades building a name for himself across Detroit’s club and restaurant circuits, evolving from party promoter to business owner and, in recent years, a culinary entrepreneur with expanding ambitions. His death comes at a moment when he had been working to grow his “Sloppy” restaurant brand – a move that aligned with the rise of new Black-owned establishments reshaping the city’s dining landscape.
His first major restaurant venture, Sloppy Chops, opened in 2020 on West McNichols just off the Lodge Freeway. The steakhouse featured high-end cuts like ribeyes and tomahawks, but it quickly drew wide attention for its low-cost lamb chop specials – a dish with a fervent local following and long-standing ties to the city’s food culture.
A year later, Brown launched Sloppy Crab, later renamed the Crab Sports Bar, on East Jefferson Avenue near the Renaissance Center. The seafood spot mixed Detroiters’ love for crab dishes with the energetic, nightlife-forward atmosphere Brown had refined during his years in the entertainment scene. Occasional cover charges, signature strong cocktails and celebrity drop-ins helped make the venue one of downtown’s most animated destinations, placing it alongside longstanding nightlife pillars such as Floods Bar & Grille and Sweetwater Tavern.
Both restaurants emerged during a period when Detroiters were increasingly vocal about who new development served. Sloppy Crab’s proximity to the riverfront offered an answer to residents who wondered where Black diners fit into the city’s transforming downtown, while Sloppy Chops demonstrated that restaurants with the energy and polish of downtown destinations could thrive in the neighborhoods as well.
As of Sunday afternoon, more than 1,000 comments expressing sadness and shock had flooded a pinned post on Brown’s Instagram page, along with a number of posts on his Facebook profile.
On her own page, Darralynn Hutson, an award-winning journalist, author, documentarian and media strategist who has provided content to a host of media outlets including the Detroit Free Press, shared photos of herself with Brown.
“I had the opportunity to interview Mike a few years ago for a feature in Food & Wine and I remember how reluctant he was about sitting down to talk,” Hutson recalled. “Interviews weren’t his thing – he was much more comfortable building than explaining. I had to call him more than 20 times to set up the interview. He didn’t care about Food & Wine. But once we ate and got into conversation, what came out was his commitment to creating something for his Detroit.”
Brown’s influence stretched far beyond his menus. His establishments became recognizable gathering places, and his presence – familiar from downtown corridors to Dexter Avenue – made him a significant cultural figure in Detroit’s nightlife and, later, its dining renaissance.
His death leaves both industries mourning a personality whose ambitions were still growing, and whose imprint on the city’s social fabric remains unmistakable.
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