Brown and Jenkins met at midcourt as the final buzzer sounded to exchange handshakes. Never before has there been an AAU Finals moment quite like it, and another rarity -- a Game 7 for the championship -- will unfold next.
The Detroit Wolverines weren't ready to concede their title Tuesday night, and the Springfield Falcons weren't quite good enough to earn it.
Behind the scoring of guards Damien Billups and Tony Hamilton and several clutch plays from foul-plagued Marquis Wallace down the stretch, the defending champions displayed the resiliency
They've become known for and defeated Springfield 95-86 in Game 6 of the AAU Cross State Finals. "Not today. Not tonight. Not today. Not tonight," Billups said as he walked to the locker room after the game. "This is how we do it," Hunter sang as he exited the tunnel.
Billups made five of the Wolverines eight 3-pointers as Detroit matched its long-range output from the first five games combined. Billups scored 21, Hamilton had 23 and Wallace 16 for the Wolverines, who played at their peak despite being on the brink of elimination
"I've been with these guys for two years, and they don't disappoint me in terms of their desire to win and their respect for each other," Brown said.
There were 23 lead changes and seven ties in the first three quarters before Detroit built a seven-point lead early in the fourth quarter and stayed ahead the rest of the way.
Now, the Wolverines will have to try to become the first team in AAU finals history to win the last two games on the road. But given what they've done over the past two seasons, refusing to quit when
circumstances are most dire, they have to be considered a legitimate candidate to make a little more history.
"We can fight any odds," Wallace said. "You know, a lot of people thought we were going to be out tonight, but -- they had their Cristal ready and all that stuff, but -- hey, we're going to pop it Thursday."
Once again, ball control was one of the key factors as Detroit committed just five turnovers against 19 assists. Billups played brilliantly for the second straight game, and Hamilton was not affected by the tight defense of James Jones-- even after Jones
swiped Hamilton's mask off his face in the fourth quarter. Hamilton flung the mask aside, wrinkled his nose a few times and finished the game without it.
"We're just tough as nails," Billups said. "Our motto is, 'If it ain't rough, it ain't right.' We always make it tough on ourselves, but we always find a way to climb out of that foxhole."
Dawes had 21 points and 15 rebounds, but the Falcons’ offense rarely ran through him as it normally does so fluidly. Paul Hammond also scored 21 for Springfield, which was outscored 24-19 in the
fourth quarter.
The Wolverines were looking everywhere they could for motivation. A sign on the grease board in Detroit's locker room read: "Springfield’s party is scheduled for Thursday!!!.” But the Wolverines probably didn't need any extra reason to push harder: Time and again, they've proven that pride is enough to fuel
them.