Eisenhower's Late Rally Falls Short Against Ford

Playing for a district title on your home turf is a daunting task.

For the Ford II Falcons, thankfully, it was a task they were up for.

The Falcons outlasted the Eagles girls basketball team 59-54 Friday night to take a Class A district title on their home court.

“It was very gratifying to win at home,” said Ford coach Matt Joseph. “The support of our fans really means a lot to us.”

The Falcons never trailed in the game, opening up a 4-0 lead in the first two minutes thanks to senior Takla Kamel’s solid free-throw shooting and a put-back shot from the paint.

While the Falcons fed off the energy of their frenetic crowd, the Eagles struggled early as they committed several fouls and turnovers that benefited Ford.

“We played really good defense in the first half and that really helped us over the long haul,” Joseph said.

By the end of the first quarter, the Falcons had built up a 16-8 lead–despite the fact that junior hit back-to-back shots in the waning seconds of the first to help give the Eagles an offensive burst.

In the second quarter, senior Lauren Bonus opened scoring by draining a three-pointer about 30 seconds in to put the Falcons up by double digits, 19-8.

Geffert continued her solid offensive play by hitting a short jumper from the paint at 6:13. A minute and a half later, she put back a missed shot, got fouled on the attempt and put the Eagles within eight at 23-15.

The Eagles made a short run at the end of the second, with junior making three of four foul shots and junior Rachel Saari hitting a three-pointer with 42.5 seconds left to cut the Falcons’ lead to 29-21.

The Eagles came out in the third a much more settled team, but it was still the Falcons who scored first when Kamel hit her opening shot of the half to put the Falcons up by 10, 31-21.

Both teams traded shots over the next few minutes, with the Falcons failing to increase their lead to more than 12 points and the Eagles never managing to cut that lead to less than nine.

Going into the fourth quarter, the Falcons had a comfortable 41-29 lead–but that’s when the Eagles finally started to warm up offensively.

Geffert, Wirth and senior Anna Vess all hit shots, helping the Eagles close to within seven at 43-36 with 5:15 left in the game.

Falcons senior Emily King and Wirth then traded bank shots from beneath their own nets before senior Kimmy Morck ran the length of the court to make a layup, cutting the Falcons’ lead to five at 47-42.

The Falcons were then forced to call a time-out to regroup while their fans tried to rally them from the sidelines.

After the time-out, the Falcons came out with a new game plan–keep away. The Eagles then committed six fouls in a row in less than 15 seconds of game time before they found themselves in the bonus, putting the Falcons on the line.

Senior Christina Nagle hit two free throws, putting the Falcons up by seven. Sophomore Cris Harper increased that lead to eight a few seconds later at the foul line.

Sophomore Natalie Nowak gave the Eagles hope again with 1:04 left in the game when she hit a three-pointer, putting the Eagles within five points again.

That was the last time the Eagles had real hope, though, as the Falcons hit a string of free throws over the final minute of play, increasing their lead to 58-50 at one point.

Morck split the defense with 8.3 seconds left to cut the Falcons lead to 58-52. Bonus then split at the foul line before Saari finished scoring in the game, with time expiring, by hitting a short jumper from the paint.

“I never felt comfortable with our lead in the game,” Joseph said. “They’re a great team and I knew they had the ability to come back.”

Bonus, who was celebrating her game-high 16 points with teammates after the game, could only say that she was really excited by the win.

“It’s really great,” she said.

The Falcons play Dakota next; the game is at 5 p.m. on Tuesday at Grosse Pointe North.