Anayya Davis heard the disrespect.

After her Ford Falcons lost to Eisenhower by 15 on Jan. 28, she and her teammates were counted out by just about everybody in the Macomb Area Conference but themselves.

“This game wasn’t just ‘beat Ike because they beat us,’” the Ford senior said. “It was also to prove everybody wrong. We went to Grosse Pointe North, and the crowd was saying how Ike was going to beat us. We went to Dakota. The crowd was saying Ike was going to beat us. Cousino, Ike was going to beat us. Grosse Pointe South, Ike was going to beat us.

“So, I mean, we wanted to prove everybody in the MAC wrong.”

Davis and the Falcons out-scored Eisenhower by 20 points in the first half and held off a spirited comeback effort to beat Eisenhower, 60-45, on Friday, Feb. 21 in Sterling Heights, clinching a share of the MAC Red championship between the two, avenging the past loss and, of course, proving the doubters wrong.

Ford head coach Matt Joseph said that their goal was to hold the Eagles under 50 points, especially after he said they were “embarrassed” in allowing them to score 65 in their last meeting.

They got off to a good start in that department; Eisenhower was held to seven points in the first quarter and four in the second. And while Ike struggled to put the ball in the hoop, Ford used a team effort to get ahead. When Davis, their leading scorer, was held scoreless in the first quarter, they got three from Tyra Wright, four by Emily Leusby and six from Claire O’Brien.

Then Davis got going.Ford