WEST BLOOMFIELD — One day after their head coach was dismissed, the Stoney Creek Cougars gutted out a 37-35 win on West Bloomfield’s Senior Night to capture a share of the Oakland Activities Association Red Division crown, their first division title since winning the OAA White in 2021.

“It wasn’t pretty, but the girls did it,” a visibly emotional interim head coach Todd Negoshian said. “The resiliency they’ve shown me as a coach, me as an AD, our school, the way they’ve handled this tough situation. It’s taught a lot of us adults on how to deal with adversity. You can’t say enough about what they did today after what they’ve been through in the last 24 hours.”

“It feels amazing to hang a banner your senior year, so we’re so excited,” senior Jadelyn Freeman said.

Trailing 31-28 entering the fourth quarter, Stoney Creek clamped down defensively, got an offensive burst from Freeman, and then held on at the end to win a scrappy, defensive battle that was tight all night. Neither team led by more than five points in the second half as the teams struggled offensively all night in a game that was defined by its intensity and work rate.

Both teams were contesting every shot. Rebounds were wrestled for, and there wasn’t an inch of free space for anyone  Appropriately, it was the defense that finally secured the win for the Cougars, who held West Bloomfield to just four points in the final period and closed them out in the final minutes through a total team effort defensively.

The Lakers were just as tough tenaciously, anchored by a strong game off the bench from Ilyana Davis who led the team with 10 rebounds and two steals.

Offensively, Sheridan Beal led everyone with 21 points, while Lia Taylor chipped in nine points for the Lakers. Freeman led Stoney Creek with 18 points, including seven of the Cougars’ nine points in the fourth quarter. Calista Ivezaj just missed a double-double with nine points and 13 rebounds and Izzy Ivezaj added seven points and nine rebounds for the Cougars.

With the host Lakers having Senior Night, the Cougars expected West Bloomfield to start strong – and they did. The Lakers jumped out to an 8-3 lead midway through the first quarter. But Stoney Creek was able to survive West Bloomfield’s initial burst, and then ran off nine unanswered points to take a lead they would maintain until late in the third quarter.

The win gives Stoney Creek (17-4 overall, 8-2 OAA Red) a share of the OAA Red crown with Clarkston and caps a chaotic 24 hours — with head coach Columbus Williams dismissed from his role on Monday — for the Cougars, who then had to regroup immediately and play a crucial league game Tuesday with the division title on the line. And they came through on pure mental toughness.

“Their leadership within this group. Their mental toughness. Their resiliency as young adults to be able to do this is a testament to them, to their families, and to what they believe in,” Negoshian said.

West Bloomfield is now 16-5 overall and finishes 7-3 in the OAA Red.

Photo gallery from Stoney Creek at West Bloomfield in OAA Red girls basketball action

“Those are the games we look forward to getting us ready for postseason. Of course, we’d like to be on the other side of that. But we took an ‘L.’ But I don’t look at it as a loss. I look at it as a lesson. So we’ve just got to regroup and understand that we’re going to see that the whole postseason,”  Lakers head coach Darrin McAllister said.

Both teams have one more game this week before opening the state tournament next week. Stoney Creek will travel to Macomb Dakota on Thursday, and West Bloomfield will host Detroit Edison on Saturday.

Columbus Williams out as Stoney Creek girls hoops head coach