DETROIT — The validation stamp was applied with vigor about 6 p.m. Wednesday, near the intersection of Greenfield and Outer Drive.

The Ferndale High School boys basketball program is back. That much is dead solid certain. No ink smudges or anything.

If anyone doubted the resurrection after the Eagles ripped through the OAA Blue Division undefeated and emerged from the regular season with a 16-3 record, those doubts were erased Wednesday at Renaissance High School in Detroit.

Coach Tom Staton’s Ferndale team opened the Class A state tournament with an impressive, 72-66 district semifinal victory over host Renaissance of the Public School League.

“A lot of people have asked if I am surprised by what has happened this season,” Staton said. “I tell them ‘No,’ because, and this is the honest-to-God’s truth, when we started practice this summer, I told the players that if we lost more than three games and did not go undefeated in the league that it would be a disappointing season.

“The kids looked at me like I was crazy at first. But then we went down to Wayne State and averaged 25-point victories. We scrimmaged against Clarkston, Detroit King, Detroit Southeastern and played well. So we knew we could play with pretty much the best.”

Who will be best Friday? His Eagles move into the district championship game against Southfield. That game will be played at 4:30 p.m., Friday, at Southfield High. The host Bluejays are members of the OAA’s Red Division.

This is Staton’s first year as head coach, and he has done a masterful job of resurrecting the program. The Eagles had fallen on hard times over the last decade or so. Once one of the premiere boys’ basketball programs in the metropolitan area, Ferndale had fallen into a troubling habit of hibernating below .500.

Staton is a Ferndale High grad. He was an all state player in high school and he went on to play at the University of Michigan.

He had faith in this group of kids last summer, and he had faith in them Wednesday evening.

His Eagles trailed 35-26 at intermission. They had been out-scored by Renaissance, 19-9, in the second quarter.

“We felt we could pressure Renaissance with our press, but in the first half we didn’t seem to have energy. We couldn’t finish and we couldn’t get our hands on the ball. We had a hellacious conversation at halftime,” said Staton, laughing again. “Really, I asked them to come out and give me four minutes of all the energy they could give in our full-court press. I asked them to just get us close. Well, they did even better than that. They turned a nine-point deficit into a 12-point lead.”

Staton’s players gave it their all for a lot longer than the coach’s requested allotment. When the third quarter ended, Ferndale had out-scored Renaissance 30-13 and had snatched a 56-48 lead.

“At halftime, we went into the locker room and people came in with their heads down,” said Jody Hill Jr., the Ferndale point guard. “Coach told us we were going to use the Diamond defense in the third quarter, which is our full-court pressure. He wanted us to pressure Renaissance to see if they could handle it. He told us to come out with all our energy and play four minutes like it was the last 30 seconds of the season.”

Actually, nobody could handle Hill. He played an outstanding floor game and controlled the tempo of the Ferndale attack. That was hardly the end of his contribution. A senior, he finished with a game-high 21 points. Senior Shawn Amiker scored 16, while junior Jordan Guinn had 15 points. Rex Jenkins, a senior, scored 12.

Renaissance was paced by senior guard Chene Phillips, who scored 19. Gerald Johnson, a junior guard, had 16 points, while senior forward Corey Norman added 10 points.