Renaissance girls basketball finished its conference schedule with a dominant performance, defeating Cass Tech 66-27 in the Public School League finals on Sunday at Wayne State Fieldhouse.
This is the third straight PSL championship for Phoenix, who defeated Cass Tech in the final last season.
Renaissance was led by senior center Anaya Hardy, who scored 27 points, including 14 in the first half. In the second half, senior guard Makayla Johnson got hot from behind the arc, sinking all seven threes and pushing the lead from double digits to 30 points midway through the third quarter. She finished with 23 points, 21 of which came in the second half. Jaybrian Autry scored eight points and Christian Sanders added five while using full-court defense to chase down Cass Tech's guards.
Castec was unable to get out of an early hole and led 11-0 in the first few minutes, but by halftime it was 28-13 and exploded to a 30-point lead midway through the third quarter. The Technicians were led at halftime by senior center Kayla Mount, who was named Miss PSL, with 14 points. Senior Ali Parker and freshman Natasha Shell both added four points.
The Renaissance started the game with unparalleled intensity, opening the first four thanks to two early threes from Sanders and Autry and two layups in transition off live-ball turnovers. They jumped out to an 11-0 lead in the minute.
Cass Tech began chipping away at the lead thanks to a layup, a 3-pointer from Mount, and a 3-pointer from Parker, but Renaissance struggled to slow down Hardy on the inside on the other side, resulting in a layup, a putback, and a score. gave her eight points in the first quarter. Trip to the free throw line.
The defense continued to battle from the beginning of the second quarter, with both teams scoring only one point from the free throw line in the first four minutes. Hardy made the first field goal of the second half on a putback layup, followed by a layup by his junior, Imani Johnson. Shell, Kastek's freshman point guard, dealt with constant pressure from the full-court press and answered with a 3 to put Renaissance up 21-12, but Hardy followed with another layup and two free throws. Autry sank another 3-pointer in the final two minutes of the first half, giving Phoenix its largest lead of the game and going into the locker room up 28-13. Hardy finished the first half with more points than Cass Tech's 15 points.
The start of the second half was eerily similar for Renaissance, who opened the third quarter with an 11-0 run in the first three minutes to take a 39-13 lead. You couldn't miss Makayla Johnson coming out of the locker room and making four threes, and Hardy added three layups to give Renaissance an 18-3 lead in five minutes, 46-16. increased the lead. Renaissance maintained a nearly 30-point lead and entered the fourth quarter with a 51-22 lead.
The fourth quarter was no different, with Makayla Johnson and Hardy hitting back-to-back threes to start the quarter. Mount helped Cass Tech with a layup, but Makayla Johnson continued her hot shooting streak with another three from the corner in front of the bench. After a close 39-point game, both teams retired from the bench.
