Detroit Edison girls basketball dominates Arbor Prep

DETROIT, Mich. -- The Detroit Edison Pioneers girls varsity basketball team took on the Ypsilanti Arbor Prep Gators on Friday at Detroit Edison High School, and Detroit Edison completed a dominating win over Arbor Prep 51-35.

The Edison girls team jumped out to a promising lead quickly as its defensive pressure and ability to move the ball gave it a 36-18 lead heading into halftime. The second half wasn’t much of a different story. Edison continued to dominate its way to a 51-35 win.

Here are two takeaways from the game:

Edison’s defensive intensity led them to a huge win

Detroit Edison’s defensive intensity and pressure was a key factor to Edison’s dominating win over Arbor Prep.

Edison brought the pressure on defense, especially on the perimeter, causing a low productive night on offense for Arbor Prep as they only scored 18 first half points.

“I loved our intensity on defense in the beginning,”  Detroit Edison head coach Monique Brown said. “I’ve loved the intensity throughout the year.”

Detroit Edison forced many Arbor Prep turnovers throughout the game, with four of them coming in the first half through its full-court press.

“That’s always kind of been our game plan,” Brown said. “It’s something that they know if you’re coming over to Edison, that is what we are looking for first.”

The second half wasn’t much of a different story, as more turnovers forced by the defensive presence of Detroit Edison, as well as only 17 second half points from Arbor Prep, led Edison to the win.

The trio of Devin Hagemann, Bailey Pickens and Myana Cooksey

While causing havoc on the defensive end, Detroit Edison turned that into offense behind the stellar play of Edison’s Devin Hageman, Bailey Pickens, and Myana Cooksey.

“They are very important,” Brown said. “It’s crazy because they are all in new roles.”

The trio combined for 28 of Edison’s 51 points.

Guard Bailey Pickens finished the game with 10 points. Two first half three-pointers from her sparked Edison’s quick lead early on.

Guard Myana Cooksey also finished the game with 10 points as she was a silent killer out on the floor for Edison. All of her points came within the paint.

Guard Devin Hagemann paced the offense for Edison on Friday night. She finished with eight points and also hitting two early 3-pointers to contribute to Edison’s early lead.

“It took them a few games to realize what their roles were, and they had to score in order for us to be successful,” Brown said. “Just seeing them looking for their shots it gives me high hopes for our long haul down the stretch.”