Posted Monday, Dec. 13, 2021

   While the long winning streak is finally over, Detroit Edison Public School Academy Early College of Excellence looks in championship form only two games into the girls basketball season.

   A reloaded Edison opened the season with an impressive 54-30 victory over Illinois powerhouse Chicago Butler Preparatory on Friday, Dec. 10, at an invitational at Belleville High School. Miss Basketball favorite Ruby Whitehorn scored 20 points for Edison. Junior Dakota Alston totaled 16 points and senior Madisen Wardell added 10 points as Edison cruised to its 60th straight victory.

   Whitehorn is bound for Clemson. Wardell will play at DePaul.

   But longtime head coach Monique Brown has once again challenged her team with a schedule filled with some of the best teams in Michigan and the Midwest.

   The streak ended Saturday against ESPN No. 15-ranked South Bend (Ind.) Washington 74-72 in a double-overtime thriller. Edison is currently ranked at No. 18 nationally in the same ESPN rankings.

   “It was a great high school basketball game in front of a great environment, only thing that was bad about it is that we lost by two points,” Brown told reporters after the game. “I wouldn’t have changed a thing. We love playing against great competition, came back from a nine-point second half deficit to force overtime, then had a chance to win it on the last possession but turned it over. This game will help us get ready for the rest of the season.”

   Washington (12-2) is the top-ranked team in Class 3A in Indiana and is coached by former Western Michigan University standout Steve Reynolds. Washington features his three daughters, Maryland-bound 6-2 guard Mila Reynolds (6-4), junior Amiyah Reynolds (6-0) and freshman Kira Reynolds (6-3). Mila scored 23 points and grabbed 15 rebounds against Edison. Kira had 27 points, 15 rebounds, and seven blocks in the win. Amiyah added 14 points.

   Whitehorn was stellar against Washington, with 33 points, 16 rebounds, seven steals, and four assists. Alston had 18 points and four assists. Sophomore Na’Kiya Bonner totaled 16 points and five assists.

   It doesn’t get any easier for Edison (1-1) as it faces defending Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 1 champion Hudsonville on Saturday, Dec. 18, at Aquinas College.

   Edison (1-1) has not lost to a Michigan team since 2018. That streak still stands at 69 games.

   According to Brown, winning streaks are not important to the Pioneers.

   “I don’t even know how that streak became because we’ve always played such a tough schedule and losses are expected,” Brown told reporters. “We never even mention it.”

   Edison’s 2021 season started late as it was unable to play against two Illinois powerhouses in a Chicago invitational last weekend. The MHSAA denied the request as a team from St. Louis (Mo.) was also scheduled to play in the invitational, which violated a distance rule.

   Edison will also face perennial state powerhouses Flint Carmen-Ainsworth (Jan. 4), Detroit Cass Technical (Jan. 11), East Lansing (Jan. 20), Parma Western (Jan. 25), Bloomfield Hills Marian (Feb. 8), Farmington Hills Mercy (Feb. 9), Ypsilanti Arbor Preparatory (Feb. 11), West Bloomfield (Feb. 15), and Saginaw Heritage (Feb. 24) this season.

   Edison will be looking for its fourth-straight MHSAA championship “on the court” this season. It a parallel universe, Edison would most likely be a five-time defending state champion. But due to the pandemic, the Pioneers will never know.

   The Pioneers won Class C championships in 2017 and 2018 and the Division 2 championship in 2019.

   Edison had a 23-0 season come to an end in 2020 when the pandemic forced the cancellation of the MHSAA playoffs after regionals. It was the first season in girls basketball state history when a champion was not crowned.

   After an abbreviated regular season, Edison was 11-0 before players within the program were diagnosed with COVID-19, forcing a forfeit during district action earlier in 2021.

   Edison’s last loss to a Michigan team was to Ypsilanti Arbor Preparatory on Jan. 11, 2018, 54-49.

   Edison is once again the heavy favorite to reclaim its MHSAA Division 2 championship again this season. Without Edison in the tournament last season, Portland was able to claim the title.

   The past three Miss Basketball players have come from Edison -- Rickea Jackson (2019), Gabby Elliott (2020) and Damiya Hagemann (2021).

   Despite the unfortunate ending to the past two seasons, Brown considers herself “blessed” to be able to coach a team that has achieved so much in just a handful of seasons.

   “It’s been an incredible ride,” Brown told reporters. “Definitely an unbelievable ride. It’s something that you don’t set any goals to try to have a ride like this. My goal is to always do my best to make sure our players get better. I’ve done a lot of coaching to make sure I continue to get better. I’ve done a lot of coaching to make sure I get better in the process as well.”