Tradition-Rich Kingston Adding to Legacy
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
January 31, 2018
Camryn MacGuire remembers watching Kingston varsity basketball games and dreaming about the day she could be on the court.
Evan Neff enjoyed going to games so much as a kid, he kept coming back even after his family moved away for a few years while he was in middle school.
Now both are leading the way for the Cardinals on the court as the Kingston girls and boys basketball teams are inspiring another group of youngsters in their small town.
“I know a lot of little kids come to our games and are huge fans,” said Neff, a sophomore on the boys team. “I know I’ve talked to a couple eighth graders, and they say they can’t wait to play on varsity with me their sophomore year. I think a lot of the littler kids can’t wait to be a part of it.”
Basketball is king in Kingston, and this winter, Cardinals fans have plenty to cheer about. The girls team was 12-0 heading into Wednesday night’s game against Croswell-Lexington, and ranked No. 1 in Class D by the Detroit Free Press and No. 2 by The Associated Press.
The boys started the season on a nine-game winning streak, and are 11-2.
“I think it’s the same thing wherever you’re going to: if you’re winning, if you’re putting a good product out there, you’re going to see a lot of people there,” boys coach Dave Lester said. “In our little town, it seems like everybody is there for the girls games and guys games. We’ve got a great, great student body. Our home games are electric. It’s a fun atmosphere. It’s fun to coach, and it’s gotta be fun to play.
“It’s what high school sports are all about. I think that atmosphere attracts your younger athletes to want to be a part of it. If they’re there and seeing us win, that’s contagious.”
Lester and girls coach Jay Green have been part of it for the better part of the past three decades, first as players for Kingston and now as coaches.
They played together in the late 1980s, and in Green’s senior year, he helped the boys team reach the MHSAA Quarterfinals.
Green returned to coach the girls team and win four District titles in four years – along with his brother, Dave – during the late 90s. Lester took over the girls program in 2003 and coached the team to the Quarterfinal. The Greens came back to the program in 2011, and Lester took over the boys team midway through the 2013-14 season.
“I think there’s probably a little more passion toward what you do, and what you’re trying to instill into the girls and the boys because you are an alumni,” Jay Green said. “I think both of us could say we were successful alumni in the past. And we both learned under coach Leon Westover when we played, then developed our own ideas, and we have that pride of seeing both the boys and girls doing well.”
Green credits his team’s current success, in part, to the parents in the program, who have taken the time to get their girls to the gym for years and been supportive throughout.
MacGuire agreed.
“My parents, and a bunch of the girls on my team’s parents were always pushing us, and always getting us to play as much as we could,” the point guard said. “They were always telling us that big things were coming. Our starting five is all juniors, and we’ve been playing together since the fourth grade or third grade.”
Kingston’s girls aren’t focused too much on the rankings, or the record, but more on preparing themselves for the postseason. They’ve already scored a win against Class C power Sandusky, and the game against Cros-Lex will provide a test against a strong Class B program. A game against another Class B school, Yale, was postponed because of weather this past Monday.
“I love playing bigger schools,” MacGuire said. “It gives you more competition, and you get to push yourself even more; then it’s even better if you come out with the win. It’s going to benefit us in the tournament.”
Their classmates are providing plenty of support to both teams. MacGuire said there’s been a buzz in the hallways all season, and both she and Neff said their teams make sure to cheer each other on whenever their schedules allow.
“I never really watched girls basketball until seventh or eighth grade when we moved back to Kingston,” Neff said. “I remember watching those teams, and I was really impressed. My eighth grade year, they had like four or five freshmen on varsity, and I knew they were going to be outstanding. Those girls work really hard, and they’re great athletes.”
“We try to make it to as many (boys) games as we can, even the road games,” MacGuire said. “We support each other both ways. It’s a good atmosphere.”
No Kingston team has ever been beyond the Quarterfinals, but the conference and District championships have piled up through the years. And as dedicated players keep walking into the program, it could just be a matter of time before a group of them breaks through.
“It’s just a tradition here, and our kids know it,” Lester said. “When you walk into our gym, there’s tons and tons of basketball banners. We really talk about tradition and how it would be great to continue that tradition and put up more banners.
“Obviously, we would like to make a long run. At some point, you want to win a state championship, but it’s a process. We’ve got some kids who were playing a lot of basketball, putting a lot of time into it. They want to win, and they want to be a part of that tradition.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Kingston’s Carley Smith, left, pushes the ball upcourt while junior Nathan Cloyd, right, launches a shot. (Middle) Gerilyn Carpenter looks for open teammates during a game this season. (Below) Sophomore Evan Neff works to get around a Bad Axe defender. (Photos by Spot On By Shari.)
Breslin Bound: 2024-25 Girls Report Week 9
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 3, 2025
Several girls basketball leagues across Michigan are being paced this season not just by a couple of top teams locally, but by top local teams that also have worthwhile statewide aspirations.
We saw several of that caliber of matchup this past week, with many more on the way, and we’ve highlighted some of the most intriguing below in our looks back and forward as we continue to push toward March.
“Breslin Bound” is powered by MI Student Aid and based on results and schedules posted for each school at MHSAA.com.
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Wayne Memorial 57, Belleville 52 Wayne (10-5) took over first place alone in the Kensington Lakes Activities Associate East with this stunner, handing Belleville (14-1) its only defeat.
2. Negaunee 45, Gladstone 28 Negaunee (15-0) remains undefeated after handing Gladstone (12-1) its only loss, and they meet again Feb. 27.
3. Rockford 45, Grand Haven 34 The Rams (15-1) strengthened their spot atop the Ottawa-Kent Conference Red by finishing a season sweep of Grand Haven (12-2) – no other opponent has defeated the Buccaneers this winter.
4. Tecumseh 56, Chelsea 39 Tecumseh (12-1) also finished a season sweep of a league rival, in the Southeastern Conference White, and remains the only team to defeat Chelsea (11-2).
5. Yale 69, Armada 62 Yale (13-1) moved into first alone in the Blue Water Area Conference by handing Armada (12-1) its only defeat in league play and overall. They meet again Feb. 20.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
Northville (10-5) The Mustangs have moved to the top of a competitive KLAA West that has six of eight teams playing above .500 overall. Northville took over the top spot alone with a week that saw a 49-43 win over Howell and then a 51-44 victory over Hartland; Howell is now third and Hartland second, and Hartland had won the first meeting with the Mustangs 47-24. Northville has won seven straight, with notable early losses to Clarkston (11-5), South Lyon (13-1) and Midland (12-1) and another impressive win to start this month over Farmington Hills Mercy (11-3).
Wayne Memorial (10-5) The Zebras had lost last year’s matchups with Belleville by 28 and 11 points, but Saturday’s 57-52 win over the Tigers was their eighth in nine games this winter and boosted them up to No. 8 in statewide Division 1 MPR. A 2-4 start this season was filed with valuable losses to Rockford, Detroit Edison (48-46 in overtime) and a pair of Indiana teams, and the only loss since was to an Ohio opponent. Wayne’s rematch with Belleville (14-1) is Feb. 14, and the Zebras also have a key KLAA East win over third-place Livonia Stevenson, 60-53, and will see the Spartans (12-4) again Feb. 18.
DIVISION 2
Detroit Edison (11-3) The reigning Division 2 champion has put together another run to set up a potential playoff push, with its only losses in double overtime to Tecumseh (12-1), by two to Detroit Renaissance (15-1), and to another Division 2 contender Parma Western (13-1). Balance that out with wins over Wayne, Clarkston, Utica Eisenhower (14-1), Detroit Cass Tech (10-5) and most recently annual Illinois contender Bolingbrook. Five of the Pioneers’ six nonleague opponents remaining are 11-3 or better, and the sixth is reigning Division 1 champion West Bloomfield. Circle Feb. 21 at Belleville and Feb. 22 home against Frankenmuth as arguably the best weekend of basketball in the state before the MHSAA Finals.
Frankenmuth (13-2) The Eagles also are gearing up for another potential tournament run, riding an 11-game winning streak with those early losses by a combed five points against Portland (12-3) and Midland Dow over the first two weeks of December. Frankenmuth clinched a share of another Tri-Valley Conference Red title last week against Saginaw Swan Valley and can finish the championship outright by closing out a season sweep this week against Freeland (11-2). The Eagles also have notable wins over Flint Powers Catholic (10-3), Detroit Country Day (12-3) and Saginaw Heritage (12-3), and will head toward March with a string of seven opponents that have all won at last nine games and includes matchups with Goodrich, Rockford, Edison and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s.
DIVISION 3
Cass City (12-1) The Red Hawks moved up five spots to No. 6 in statewide Division 3 MPR this week as they pulled within two more wins of clinching the inaugural Big Thumb Conference White championship. They’ve jumped from 14-11 a year ago and won eight straight since suffering their lone loss, 53-46 to Division 4 contender Kingston (9-1). Cass City also had a solid early win over Deckerville (10-4) and cleared Caro and Unionville-Sebewaing by impressive margins in the first meetings against their closest league challengers. Cass City closes against undefeated Sandusky, a rematch of last season’s Regional Semifinal that ended the Red Hawks’ season.
Harbor Springs (12-2) As 2,000-point scorer Olivia Flynn surges toward the conclusion of her high school career, Harbor Springs is looking like a great possibility to surpass its longest tournament run of her career so far, to the Regional Semifinals a year ago. The Rams shared the Lake Michigan Conference title last season and lead the Northern Shores Conference by two games, with their only losses overall to Division 2 Sault Ste. Marie and Division 4 contender St. Ignace. Harbor Springs also has downed Indian River Inland Lakes (10-3) and East Jordan (10-4), and has an intriguing matchup with Gaylord St. Mary (11-1) to finish the regular season.
DIVISION 4
Baraga (10-4) Although the Vikings will need help to catch Ewen-Trout Creek in the Copper Mountain Conference, they also put L’Anse a game back in the standings with a 52-49 overtime win over the Purple Hornets (11-2) last week. That victory avenged a 68-50 loss to L’Anse from mid-December and came after Baraga opened last week with a 49-46 revenge win over Lake Linden-Hubbell (11-4) – which had won their first meeting 49-37. Baraga will hope to keep that rebound streak going if they see E-TC in a Regional Semifinal – E-TC won the regular-season matchup 61-34 – but in the meantime the Vikings will face last season’s champion Ishpeming on Feb. 10 in what should be their toughest regular-season game the rest of the way.
Gaylord St. Mary (11-1) A mid-December loss to Division 1 Muskegon Mona Shores has been the only flaw in an otherwise perfect run for the Snowbirds, who own a one-game lead in the Ski Valley Conference thanks to a 51-47 victory over Indian River Inland Lakes (10-3) two weeks ago. Those two will meet again Feb. 25, and St. Mary also has a rematch coming up with East Jordan (10-4) after winning their first game impressively. As noted above, The Snowbirds will test themselves against Harbor Springs on Feb. 27, which could provide a nice momentum boost as they pursue a potential fifth-straight District title and possible first Regional championship since 2022.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Monday – New Lothrop (13-1) at Ovid-Elsie (13-2) – A third meeting might be ahead in Division 3 District play, but for now these two are likely the decide the Mid-Michigan Activities Conference title with New Lothrop leading thanks to a 46-37 win in their first meeting Dec. 20.
Tuesday – Shelby (12-2) at Hart (12-1) – Hart has a slim lead in the West Michigan Conference Rivers thanks to a 37-34 win over second-place Shelby from Dec. 10, and these two also could meet again in Division 3 District action.
Wednesday – Pewamo-Westphalia (14-0) at Fowler (12-1) – The Central Michigan Athletic Conference has at least two Finals contenders again this season, and the Division 3 Pirates defeated the Division 4 Eagles 46-43 in their first meeting Dec. 17 to earn their current one-game lead in the league.
Friday – Grand Rapids South Christian (13-2) at Grand Rapids West Catholic (13-1) – The O-K Gold title is almost assuredly coming down to these two, and West Catholic has a one-game lead after winning their Jan. 10 matchup 62-49.
Friday – Michigan Center (13-1) at Grass Lake (12-3) – The Cascades Conference East has two intriguing playoff contenders as well, and Division 3 Grass Lake tops the standings after downing Division 2 Michigan Center 56-46 on Jan. 9.
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PHOTOS (Top) Ishpeming's Jenessa Eagle brings the ball into the paint against Gwinn during Wednesday’s 54-30 Hematites win. Eagle scored her 1,000th career point in the victory. (Middle) Flint Powers’ Kendyl Smith (23) powers to the basket during her team’s 71-41 win over Davison on Tuesday. (Ishpeming/Gwinn photo by Cara Kamps. Powers/Davison photo by Terry Lyons.)