North Farmington Rolls Past Harrison; Farmington Falls

There were a lot of familiar faces on the opponent’s bench when faced off against Wednesday night. In a physical game with lots of banging, lots of yelling from the stands, and even a little pushing on the court, the Raiders prevailed in a low scoring affair, 53-35.

They’ll face Orchard Lake St. Mary's Prep in Friday’s Michigan High School Athletic Association district championship at . St. Mary's beat Farmington 82-37 in the second semifinal Wednesday night.

The first semifinal started out slowly, as both teams struggled to beat the other’s press, resulting in great defense, not a lot of baskets, and a couple blocks from Raiders senior center Urbane Bingham. 

North Farmington coach Tom Negoshian, however, didn’t think it was a slow start, but more that the two teams were “a mirror of each other.”

“Coach Mantyla and I coached together for ten years,” he said. “I helped him with the girls at Harrison, he helped me with the boys. So, we run the same stuff, it’s kind of like a chess game.”

At halftime, the game was up for grabs, as the two teams were deadlocked at 19-19.

Negoshian admitted to having trouble beating Harrison’s press in the first half. 

“I thought we were trying to over-penetrate. They were doing a great job of getting a lot of touches, a lot of loose balls,” he said.

But after halftime, the Raiders changed the tempo of the game and gave themselves all the momentum. North Farmington outscored Harrison 17-6 in the third quarter. 

It took Harrison almost seven full minutes to score their first basket of the second half. When North Farmington’s biggest player, Bingham, picked up three fouls early in the game, the Raiders needed contributions from other players. They got them from two seniors in the third, Zach Washington and Brennan Shoberg.

“Harrison was out-scrapping us and playing with a little more intensity than us. I thought in the second half those two kids really brought the intensity back to us,” said Negoshian.

“In some ways it hurts [Bingham’s foul trouble], but then another kid gets a chance to step up, and that’s what they do – they step up. That’s what Shoberg did tonight. That’s what Zach did tonight. We have a thing we call a part’s a part. We just hope to plug in a kid and run our system. Fortunately tonight, it worked," he said.

Harrison’s scoring was led by sophomore D’Marco Redd. Redd scored in each quarter, finishing the night with 11. The next-highest scorer was senior Evan Patton, with 8. Senior Carlos Eubanks made a circus layup late in the second quarter while being fouled to tie the game at 17-17. He also finished with 8 points.

North Farmington had three players finish in double figures in scoring on Wednesday. Sophomore guard Caleb Hogans finished with 10 points. The Raiders were led in scoring by seniors Urbane Bingham and Zach Washington, both with 12 points. All of Washington’s points came in the second half.

Orchard Lake St. Mary's 82, Farmington 37

In the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader, Farmington High School took on a tough team in Orchard Lake St. Mary's Prep. 

Unlike the first game, this matchup started off at a much faster and less physical pace. With the teams seemingly trading baskets to start, the Falcons of Farmington led much of the first quarter, before the Eaglets star senior Allen Robinson tied the game, and then put his team ahead the next time down the court. At the end of the first, Farmington was down by just a basket, 17-15. 

However, things began to unravel for the Falcons in the second quarter. They put St. Mary's on the free-throw line plenty, as the Eaglets picked up five points that quarter on free throws. The Eaglets also hit four 3-pointers, outscored Farmington 21-9 in the second, and jumped out to a 38-24 halftime lead. 

“Our intensity level was great the first quarter,” Farmington coach Terrance Porter said. “I think in the second quarter the game kind of settled down, and then when the game settled down, our intensity level settled down. With basketball, it’s a situation where when you’re making shots, defensively you’re playing well. But when your confidence goes offensively, it also affects your defense.”

“Our plan was basically to try to contain Robinson and contain [Justin] Barrows and not let the other guys beat us. He’s a man out there amongst boys,” Porter said. “He kind of hurt us, especially in the second quarter. And then, they made some shots. They made some threes. You know, in the second quarter when we went zone – give them credit, they knocked down some big shots.”

After the first, Farmington continued to put up 3-pointers, but they only connected on one the rest of the game. 

After the game, Porter told his 10 seniors to hold their heads high.

“This is a small microcosm of what they’ll face in life,” he said. “It’s a situation where it teaches them how to deal with adversity, and move on and chalk it up to experience. They really have bigger things to look forward to in life.”

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