Dearborn stars, Detroit Edison girls face unexpected challenges in road to state tourney
Something of a supernatural occurrence hit the Dearborn Fordson gym Friday night when Dearborn High and its 17-game winning streak came calling.
For the first time this season, Dearborn’s dynamic backcourt duo couldn’t make a shot from beyond the 3-point arc.
That would almost be like Steph Curry going a game without hitting a 3.
“I made zero,” Dearborn junior Hamoody Mashhour said. “It was not a good shooting game.”
Nassim Mashhour, Hamoody’s senior brother, is normally a terrific 3-point shooter.
“Today, not one,” he said. “This is the first time all season that’s happened.”
Dearborn led, 18-15, at the half; as the game progressed, Fordson (10-8) was gaining confidence until Hamoody recalled one of his father’s bits of advice.
“Our dad’s always told us when your shot’s not going, get to the lane,” Hamoody said. “Especially in big games, your legs have a lot of energy and sometimes your shot is over or under, so get to the basket right away, get your legs going and then you’ve got your shot.”
In the third quarter, Hamoody attacked the basket with a vengeance, scoring 20 of his 22 points to lead Dearborn to a 63-41 victory.
The Pioneers were reminded by Hamoody’s and Nassim’s father — Abe — what to do because he is Dearborn’s coach.
THE TEAMS: Mick McCabe's boys and girls basketball state rankings for Feb. 11
He recognized this was not a typical game for his sons.
“Shooting is what they do,” he said, “but to their credit, they both attacked the basket in the third quarter like they were supposed to do.”
Hamoody played like a man possessed as he went around and through the Fordson defense.
“Honestly, it was just steals and converting on the steals,” he said. “My thing is, I’m going up strong every time no matter who is there, I’m going up stronger and using my body.”
The Pioneers outscored Fordson, 39-15, in the third quarter and the sparkplug was Nassim’s younger brother.
“Hamoody gave us energy with a couple of points early and after we got the energy we started to get going,” Nassim said, “That’s when we really started to play. Everyone picked up and everyone started playing better.”
The Mashhours' perimeter shooting woes seemed like a gift for Fordson coach Mo Baiz.
“The was our game plan, to run them off the line,” he said. “They did a great job getting after us. Those brothers, the coach’s sons, shoot the hell out of it. It gets tough. Those two guys are special.”
Nassim is averaging 21 points per game, and Hamoody 19, so this was one of the first times shooting has been a problem for the Pioneers.
“Both of them have really developed their game where they can score at all three levels,” their father said. “They can hit you with a pull-up, but even their pull-ups weren’t going in today. They both can post up, but their fadeaways in their post game were short today.
“Look, they were definitely tougher than us in the first half, there’s no question about it.”
Dearborn is hoping for a long state tournament run, which would include beating host River Rouge in the district and then facing Detroit King or Detroit Cass Tech (the defending Division 1 state champ) in the regional semifinal at Cass. The Pioneers will have a chance because they play excellent team defense.
To advance to the quarters Dearborn will need help from 6-foot-7 Ali Homayed, who will have to be effective in the paint on offense and defense.
“Our big man, they were playing off him a lot,” Hamoody said. “I attacked his guy and drop it off to him and that’s what we did in the third quarter when he got six points. He makes his layups, he’s getting better around the rim, improves his touch, he’ll be great.”
At least now the Mashhour brothers will know what to do when their shots beyond the arc aren’t falling.
“I’ve had a lot 3-pointers this season, but not today,” Nassim said. “In games like this it’s all about getting to the basket, getting the easy points just to get our team going. From there, we have to attack the rim and get easy baskets.”
Lakers superior
Detroit Edison and West Bloomfield, two of the state’s powerhouses in girls basketball were both coming off losses when they met Tuesday.
West Bloomfield looked like the team wanting to make up for that loss, and Edison appeared to be a team still wondering what happened as the Lakers rolled to an easy 61-42 victory over Edison.
This game was never close as D-1 No. 1 West Bloomfield blitzed Edison (No. 2 in D-2), which looked like it had no idea what hit it.
West Bloomfield, which had lost the previous Saturday at home to Whitehouse (Ohio) Anthony Trail, 71-59, led Edison 15-10 after one quarter and then scored the first 15 points of the second quarter.
“Our training and our hard work really shows,” said Indya Davis, who scored a game-high 24 points and had 10 rebounds. “With the energy of our team and the determination on the court really shows how long we’ve been practicing — 4, 5 hours — really shows on the court.”
The Lakers played a zone against Edison, but it was not a passive zone. The Lakers were constantly moving and cutting off passing lanes, which led to a plethora of fast break opportunities.
“We were jumping up and down on our tippy toes, ready to go for any deflections, anything on the run,” Davis said. “We are always looking to intercept the ball. We know where it’s going to go most of the time. We have long arms and we’ve got a 50% change we’re going to get it.”
Davis’ twin, Summer, added 13 points and eight assists. West Bloomfield led 36-19 at the half and after the third quarter the twins were outscoring Edison, 37-36.
The easy victory didn’t completely make up for the loss to Anthony Trail.
“I think we should have played more team ball and just executed the plays,” Summer said of the loss. “It was a good lesson for us to learn, especially during the season before playoffs start.”
Edison should have learned a few lessons over the previous few days. After knocking off one of the top teams in Illinois — Bolingbrook — 73-70, Edison lost to Homewood-Flossmoor, a team Edison coach Monique Brown thought her team should have beaten.
Then came the dud against West Bloomfield.
“I’m extremely surprised that we came out here today and laid an egg,” Brown said. They just outworked us at the end of the day. They did all of the little things — rebounded, they made it harder for us to get shots and we got stagnant.
“Some of our scorers missed easy baskets, some even missed free throws. Things that I hadn’t seen and to see it today was kind of mind-boggling.”
Edison got 18 points from Isis Johnson-Musah, a potential star in the making. She missed last season after transferring to Edison and scored 18 points.
The 5-7 Musah often plays in the high post, where she is an effective passer. She rebounds well and runs the floor.
Her play did little to ease the pain of the last two losses, but Edison did bounce back to beat previously unbeaten Detroit Renaissance, 46-38, and then throttle Grosse Pointe South, 67-36.
“We played the Bollingbrook team that is No. 1 or No. 2 in Illinois and they have a McDonald’s All-American player,” Brown said. “Then we lose the next day and we come here and do this. I did not see that coming.”
The road to Operation Friendship
League playoffs are going and two of the state’s best conferences have reached the semifinal stage.
The Catholic League’s boys Central Division semis will be Tuesday at Oakland's O'rena, with Warren De La Salle facing Orchard Lake St. Mary’s at 5:30 and Novi Detroit Catholic Central taking on Birmingham Brother Rice at 7. The championship game will be Saturday, at Detroit Mercy's Calihan Hall at 7 p.m.
The Detroit Public School League’s boys semifinals with be Tuesday at Wayne County Community College with the King-Renaissance game at 5:30 and Cass-Western at 7 p.m.
The championship game will be Sunday, Feb. 18 at Wayne State at 5 p.m.
The PSL’s girls quarterfinals will be Monday using home sites: Osborn at Renaissance, CMA at Mumford, Pershing at Cass and Henry Ford at King. The semifinals will be Friday at 5:30 and 7 at WCCC. The title game will be Sunday at 1 p.m. at Wayne State.
The Catholic girls Central Division semis will be Tuesday at Novi Detroit Catholic Central. Mercy and Ann Arbor Richard will play at 5:30 and Toledo CC and Toledo Notre Dame Academy will play at 7. The championship game will be Saturday at Calihan Hall at 5 p.m.
The Operation Friendship games between the Catholic League and PSL champions will be Feb. 24 at Calihan. The girls will play at 5 and the boys at 7.
Mick McCabe is a former longtime columnist for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at mick.mccabe11@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @mickmccabe1. Order his book, “Mick McCabe’s Golden Yearbook: 50 Great Years of Michigan’s Best High School Players, Teams & Memories,” right now at McCabe.PictorialBook.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Dearborn stars, Detroit Edison girls face unexpected challenges
