DeWitt vs. Detroit Renaissance – – MHSAA Division 1 Girls Basketball Semifinal – – The Bleacher Denizen – – March 20, 2026 – – by Chuck Krafft

This afternoon, the BleacherDenizenMobile is pointed at Michigan State’s Breslin Center where the Panthers from DeWitt will take on the Phoenix from Detroit Renaissance in the state girls’ basketball semifinal.

While we wait for this game to begin, I hope you will enjoy this novelty video of “Snoopy vs. the Red Baron” from my You Tube Channel. This song was a big hit for the Royal Guardsmen in 1966! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHucLvxuQx8

Renaissance enters this game with a 22-2 record. They won the post season tournament for the Detroit Public School League and also finished first in the Blue Division. Per the MHSAA Finals review, here are some of the statistics from some of their top players.

Jaebri’an Autry averages 15 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.4 blocks per game. Kassidy Cain scores 10.9 points, dishes out 6.4 assists and steals the ball 3.4 times per game. Maria Walker averages 9.9 points and 3.3 steals. Jayla Adams scores 8.9 points, pulls down 7.6 rebounds and blocks 1.4 shots per game.

DeWitt comes into the contest with a 22-4 record. They finished second place to Holt in the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue Division, but beat Holt in the Regional Final. Here are the statistics for the top Panther players.

Carly Dennis averages 12.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Jaynie English scores 8.5 points per game and has hit 45 three point shots so far this year. Goden Nicholson scores 8.0 points and pulls down 4.8 rebounds per game.

It is now time to review the events of this game through the occasionally clear lenses of an Aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league when he attempted to hoop in the days of yore when many considered him to be “young.” He was showing a lot of promise as a fast break finisher when the basketball powers that be ruled he was no longer allowed to enhance his speed by using a jet pack.

Unfortunately, your Bleacher Denizen’s natural running ability has (understandably, but possibly not fairly) been compared with that of an injured snail. Thus, when forced to play without his jet pack, the fast break scoring disappeared and so did the Bleacher Denizen’s playing time.

At the opening tap, the Renaissance jumper catches the tip; the ball is awarded to DeWitt. The Panthers miss a ten foot shot off the dribble from the baseline. Joebri’an Autry drives into the lane and hits a ten foot hook shot to give the Phoenix the first two points of the game. Maria Walker steals the ball for the Phoenix. Jaynie English steals the ball for DeWitt. Mia Popoff hits a ten foot shot from the side of the lane for DeWitt to tie the game at 2-2.

Renaissance misses an eight foot shot in the lane. DeWitt misses an eight foot shot along the baseline. Mia Popoff grabs the offensive rebound for the Panthers. DeWitt misses a layup. Sophia Beland steals the ball for the Panthers. DeWitt misses a layup; the rebound goes out of bounds and the Panthers get another opportunity. DeWitt misses an eight foot shot off the dribble from the baseline.

Renaissance misfires on a threeball from the wing. DeWitt misses a ten foot shot off the dribble from the side of the lane. Jaynie English gets the offensive rebound for the Panthers. DeWitt misses a layup. Golden Nicholson hits a putback to give DeWitt a 4-2 lead.

Jaynie English steals the ball for Dewitt. The Panthers miss a fast break layup. Jaynie English grabs the offensive rebound for the Panthers. DeWitt misses a driving five foot shot from the side. Jaynie English steals the ball for the Panthers. Carly Dennis is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of her two free throws to boost DeWitt to a 5-2 lead with 3:50 remaining in the opening quarter.

Renaissance misses a driving layup. DeWitt misses a layup. Andey Jo Tate pulls down the offensive rebound for the Panthers. Renaissance ties up the ball. The Possession Arrow decides that the ball shall go to Renaissance. The Phoenix misfire on a threeball from the wing. Jayla Adams hits a putback to trim the DeWitt lead to 5-4.

Maria Walker blocks a Panther layup. The loose ball is tied up. This time, the Possession Arrow grants the ball to DeWitt. DeWitt throws a pass out of bounds. Renaissance misses a short hook shot. DeWitt misses a layup. Maria Walker drives and hits a layup to give Renaissance a 6-5 lead.

Jayla Adams blocks a Panther threeball from the corner. The loose ball goes out of bounds and DeWitt gets another possession. Victoria Gamble blocks a DeWitt threeball from the top of the key. DeWitt recovers the loose ball. Sophia Beland drives and hits an eight foot shot from the baseline to give her Panthers a one point lead. Renaissance misses a layup. The buzzer announces that it is time for a break.

After one quarter, DeWitt has a 7-6 lead.

Renaissance inbounds the ball to open the second quarter. Kassidy Cain drives and hits a layup to give the Phoenix a one point lead. DeWitt misses a fifteen foot shot from the baseline. Renaissance misses a threeball from the corner. Jaebri’an Autry hits a putback to give the Phoenix a 10-7 lead.

DeWitt misses a threeball from the side. Renaissance misses a jump shot off the dribble from the free throw elbow. Jaynie English gets a hand on the ball and the Phoenix lose it out of bounds. Jaebri’an Autry steals the ball for the Phoenix. Renaissance misses a fast break layup. Carly Dennis passes to Jaynie English, who hits a three point shot from the side for DeWitt to tie the game at 10-10.

Renaissance misses a layup. Golden Nicholson drives the baseline and hits a layup to give DeWitt a two point lead. Renaissance misses a layup. Zahra Richardson gets the offensive rebound for the Phoenix. Zahra Richardson hits a ten foot shot in the lane for Renaissance to tie the game. DeWitt misses a three point shot from the wing. Jaebri’an Autry passes to Jayla Adams, who is fouled as she shoots a layup. Jayla Adams hits one of her two free throws to give Renaissance a 13-12 lead with 2:47 remaining in the period.

Kassidy Cain steals the ball for the Phoenix and is fouled on a fast break layup. She hits one of her two free throws. Jayla Adams grabs the offensive rebound for the Phoenix. Renaissance misses a layup. The rebound goes out of bounds and DeWitt gets the ball. DeWitt misses a driving layup. Golden Nicholson pulls down the offensive rebound for the Panthers. DeWitt misses a layup. Golden Nicholson is fouled on a putback and hits two free throws to tie the game at 14-14 with 1:45 remaining in the half.

Renaissance misfires on a triple try from the wing. Jayla Adams gets the offensive rebound for the Phoenix. Jaynie English steals the ball for DeWitt. Jaebri’an Autry steals the ball for the Phoenix. Renaissance misses an eight foot shot off the dribble from the baseline. Jaynie English passes to Golden Nicholson, who hits a fast break layup to give DeWitt a 16-14 lead.

Sophia Beland blocks a Renaissance layup. Golden Nicholson is fouled on a fast break layup with 15.1 seconds left in the half and hits one of her two free throws for DeWtt. Golden Nicholson blocks a Phoenix layup; the loose ball goes out of bounds with .4 of a second to go. Renaissance inbounds the ball and the halftime buzzer blares to end the period.

DeWitt has a 17-14 halftime lead.

Jaebri’an Autry has 4 points to lead Renaissance at halftime.

Golden Nicholson has 9 points to lead DeWitt.

As our readers are not able to hear what is happening in the Breslin Center at halftime, I hope you will enjoy these two videos from my You Tube Channel as we wait for the game to resume.

“House of the Rising Sun” is a classic Blues tune. The Animals had a huge hit with it in 1964. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm7njm5177I

“Won’t Be Alone Too Long” is an original song!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1_qnhfMT2k

DeWitt inbounds the ball to open quarter number three. Jayla Adams blocks a Panther layup. Kassidy Cain drives and dishes the ball to Victoria Gamble, who hits a three point shot from the side for the Phoenix to tie the game. Maria Walker steals the ball for Renaissance. The Phoenix miss a three point shot from the side. DeWitt misses a three point shot from the corner.

Renaissance misses a twelve foot shot from the side. The rebound goes out of bounds and DeWitt takes possession. DeWitt misses a driving layup. Renaissance misses a threeball near the top of the key. DeWitt misses a driving layup and fouls on the rebound. Kassidy Cain passes to Jaebri’an Autry, who hits a fifteen foot shot from the wing to give Renaissance a 19-17 lead.

Kassidy Cain plays fierce defense and a DeWitt ball handler loses the ball out of bounds. Renaissance misses a three point shot from the wing. Victoria Gamble chases down the long offensive rebound for the Phoenix. Mia Popoff stands tough in the lane and an causes a Renaissance player driving to the basket to lose the ball out of bounds. Maria Walker gets her hand on the ball, but DeWitt recovers. Sophia Beland drives and hits a layup for DeWitt to tie the game at 19-19.

Renaissance misses a three point shot from the side. Jayla Adams gets the offensive rebound for the Phoenix. Maria Walker drives and hits a layup to give the Phoenix a two point lead. DeWitt misses a ten foot shot in the lane. Renaissance misses a layup. Maria Walker steals the ball and hits a fast break layup for Renaissance. Maria Walker steals the ball again and hits another fast break layup to give Renaissance a 25-19 lead.

DeWitt misses a three point shot from the wing. Rowynn Moore grabs the offensive rebound for the Panthers. DeWitt misses a layup. Rowynn Moore gets the offensive rebound for the Panthers. DeWitt is whistled for a traveling violation. Jaebri’an Autry is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of her two free throws to give Renaissance a 26-19 lead with 5.5 seconds remaining in quarter number three.

Maria Walker steals the ball for the Phoenix. Sophia Beland gets a hand on the ball and the buzzer rises to end the third quarter.

With three quarters in the books, Renaissance has a 26-19 lead.

Renaissance inbounds the ball to open the fourth quarter and runs clock for a while. Mia Popoff steals the ball for the Panthers. Jaebri’an Autry steals the ball and hits a fast break layup for the Phoenix. Dewitt misses a driving layup. Renaissance reciprocates and misses a driving layup. The rebound goes out of bounds and DeWitt gets the ball. Maria Walker knocks the ball away from Dewitt and Kassidy Cain picks it up for Renaissance.

Jessie English and Carly Dennis team up to force a Renaissance traveling violation. Victoria Gamble gets her hand on the ball and knocks it out of bounds; DeWitt retains possession. The Panthers miss a driving layup. Golden Nicholson ties up the ball. The Possession Arrow loves her aggressive play and awards the ball to Dewitt. DeWitt misses a layup. Carly Dennis chases down the long offensive rebound for the Panthers. Sophia Beland drives and hits a layup to trim the Renaissance lead to 28-21.

Sophia Beland steals the ball and hits a fast break layup for DeWitt. Carly Dennis gets her hand on the ball, but the Phoenix recover. Sophia Beland steals the ball and passes to Jaynie English, who hits a three point shot from the side to chop the Renaissance lead down to 28-26.

Jaynie English knocks the Phoenix inbound pass out of bounds; Renaissance retains possession. Maria Walker drives and dishes the ball to Jayla Adams, who hits a layup to give the Phoenix a four point lead. Sophia Beland drives and hits a six foot shot in the lane to cut the Phoenix lead back to two points at 30-28.

Carly Dennis and Jaynie English apply a fierce double team to Renaissance and tie up the ball. The Possession Arrow ignores the Panther hustle and awards the ball to the Phoenix. Renaissance is fouled, but misses two free throws. With 32.2 seconds left on the clock, the Phoenix lead remains at 30-28.

DeWitt rebounds the ball, but the rebounder turns the ball over. Renaissance is fouled again and misses two more free throws with 29.2 seconds to play. Alehia Wade pulls down a crucial offensive rebound for the Phoenix. Kassidy Cain is fouled. She hits one free throw, then DeWitt calls time out. When play resumes, Kassidy Cain hits another free throw to give Renaissance a 32-28 lead with 15.3 seconds remaining.

DeWitt misses a three point shot from the wing. The rebound goes out of bounds and Renaissance gets the ball with 1.7 seconds left. The Phoenix inbound the ball and the final buzzer sounds.

Renaissance wins this fiercely fought game be the final score of 32-28 and will play Muskegon in tomorrow’s Division 1 State Final.

Sophia Beland had 10 points to lead the DeWitt scoring. Golden Nicholson supported her teammate with 9 points. Jaynie English scored 6 points. Mia Popoff added 2 points and Carly Dennis tallied 1 point.

Jaebri’an Autry led the victorious Phoenix with 9 points. Maria Walker pitched in with 8 points and a couple crucial steals when Renaissance took its lead in the third quarter. Kassidy Cain had 5 points including two big free throws at the end. Jayla Adams also contributed 5 points. Victoria Gamble tossed in 3 points. Zahra Richardson totaled 2 points.

In a happy coincidence, someone from Renaissance has informed me that assistant Coach Kanisha Ward was on the Renaissance team that won the Class B state title. What a great moment if she should get another title exactly twenty years later!!