'All in' Lenawee Christian Locks Up D4
March 23, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
GRAND RAPIDS – By Bree Salenbien’s admission, she was “kinda out of it” during Saturday morning’s Division 4 Final at Van Noord Arena.
But that gave Adrian Lenawee Christian a chance to show this year’s title was won by a fully talented team in addition to being paced by one of the state’s top sophomores.
The all-stater and no doubt early candidate for the 2021 Miss Basketball Award was as off as 17 points, 13 rebounds and six assists can be, perhaps. But junior sister Dani Salenbien scored a game-high 19 points, and as a team the Cougars held St. Ignace to its season low for points – and held on 48-46 to earn their second-straight championship after claiming the Class D title a year ago.
Scoring came to a standstill as both teams locked down defensively during the second half. Lenawee Christian didn’t even have a field goal during the fourth quarter and scored their second-fewest points of this winter. But the Cougars held onto the lead for all but 26 seconds of the final period and made a pair of defensive stops over the final two minutes to keep from relinquishing it at the end.
“(It showed) that we played together and we trust each other, and when one person’s down we’re going to pick each other up,” Dani Salenbien said. “We have girls who will step up when we need it, and that helps a lot. We are there to pick each other up no matter what.”
Lenawee Christian finished 26-2, its only losses to ranked Division 3 teams Grass Lake and Michigan Center. The Cougars are a combined 52-3 over the last two seasons – and of the seven players who saw the floor Saturday, only guard Brooke Brinning was a senior.
St. Ignace (27-1) was going for its first championship since winning Class C in 2015, and first 28-0 finish of its storied history. The Saints should also be considered major contenders again next season, as they’ll graduate significant senior forwards Emily Coveyou and Madison Olsen but are set to return the rest of this season’s roster.
The teams Saturday couldn’t have been more perfectly matched, with the 6-foot-2 Bree Salenbien and 6-foot Coveyou used to carrying the offensive loads for their respective teams while talented casts provided perhaps underrated contributions around them.
The score was tied 10 times and for 9 minutes and 35 seconds total. At the end of it all, the deciding basket may have been sunk just before halftime. After Bree Salenbien and St. Ignace sophomore guard Emmalee Hart traded 3-pointers to make the score 30-30 late in the second quarter, Dani Salenbien sank a 2-pointer with nine seconds to play in the first half that gave her team a slight edge heading into the break.
And Lenawee Christian would end up needing every point.
“I can kinda just tell if she’s in a little zone,” Cougars coach Jamie Salenbien said of his eldest daughter on the team. “And it looked like she was, so we just wanted to try to get her in good spots. She was feeling it tonight. … She’s got a real good change of speed, change of direction. So it helped at the end of the second quarter, when she got to the baseline and laid it in.”
St. Ignace made 30 percent of its shots from the floor for the game, and Lenawee Christian connected on 33 percent. St. Ignace applied its signature press, and the Cougars had 21 turnovers. Lenawee Christian had a plan to press as well during the fourth quarter – “but that got thrown out the window,” coach Jamie Salenbien said. “We just tried to hang on at the end. With the amount of good defense being played out there, it was hard to get good looks. … They were up in our grill.”
The Saints dominated below the basket as well, outscoring Lenawee Christian 28-10 in the paint. But the best “all-in” effort by Lenawee Christian – keeping with the team's motto this season – came in limiting St. Ignace’s 3-point shooting, as the Saints could connect on only 2 of 18 from beyond the arc.
“I’m proud of our kids, their stick-to-itiveness even though we couldn’t make a shot,” St. Ignace coach Dorene Ingalls said. “We kept at it, kept fighting. … We knew it was going to be an epic game, but we fell a little short. They definitely were there all heart, and I’m proud of them.”
Coveyou scored 17 points to lead St. Ignace, and sophomore guards Hallie Marshall and Hart both added 11 and combined for seven of the team’s nine points during the fourth quarter. Marshall also added three assists and four steals, and the defensive-minded Hart had six rebounds and one steal and many more contributions that didn’t show in the box score. Her basket during the final second made the final margin.
“Even though we didn’t win today and have the season we hoped for,” Coveyou said, “it still doesn’t take away from the awesome season we had.”
Bree Salenbien – who made the game-winner to send her team to the championship game a year ago – connected on only 3 of 14 shots Saturday. But Dani Salenbien made 6 of 11, and Brinning, junior guard Libby Miller and freshman guard Cara Anderson all added four points. Despite the lack of a field goal, the Cougars made 10 of 11 free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter, and Bree Salenbien finished 9 of 10 from the line for the game.
“I’m so proud of the culture these girls have created, led by my seniors Brooke and Grace (Beach), and our captain Dani and the rest of them. Everybody’s accepted their role in an era when, quite frankly, no one wants to share,” Jamie Salenbien said. “These girls are all about sharing, commitment, trust, love, sacrifice and their faith, and it’s carried us through to here.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Adrian Lenawee Christian players celebrate their second straight MHSAA Final win Saturday at Calvin College. (Middle) The Cougars’ Bree Salenbien (35) works to get to the basket with three Saints defending, including Emma Feleppa (42).
Lumen Christi Rises to Historic Occasion, Marks it with Milestone Victory
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
March 21, 2026
EAST LANSING – Jackson Lumen Christi girls basketball coach Scott Stine thought the moment got to his team early Saturday during the Division 3 Final at Breslin Center.
But he knew eventually the Titans would rise to meet it, and as the moment became even bigger, they did just that.
Lumen Christi pulled away from Pewamo-Westphalia in the fourth quarter, winning 52-36 in a game that was tied after the third.
“We went in at halftime, regrouped, and did what we needed to do,” Stine said. “They’ve been challenged all year, so being tied up going into the fourth quarter, it wasn’t anything new for us. As I told them coming into the game, when we get into that moment I have complete confidence in them, because they’ve been there and done that.”
While the Titans have been there and done that this season, they had never been here or done what they did Saturday, as the title was the first in program history. Prior to this season, Lumen Christi had never been to Breslin, or anywhere else, for a Semifinal.
“I think it means a lot to all of us. We’ve dreamed of this ever since we were freshmen,” Titans senior forward Paige Lefere said. “We haven’t had the best teams our freshman and sophomore year. Last year, we got pretty close (Quarterfinals), so being able to do it this year means a lot to us. We knew if we worked together, we could get here.”
While the final weekend of the season was new for the Titans, it wasn’t new for Stine, who coached Ypsilanti Arbor Prep to three Division 3 titles over the past four years.
When he arrived at Lumen, he said the team did not shy away from big goals, as making history as the first girls basketball team to win a title was the aim.
“I think from the beginning we knew this was going to be special,” Lumen Christi senior wing Lily Ganton said. “That’s credit to Coach Stine, Coach Jibri (Taylor), Coach (Don) Ward, Coach (Andy) Hawley, Coach Brenna (Wrozek). They’re special. They’re a special group of coaches, and they really push us to be our best. You don’t get that from a lot of teams. As a senior and a three-sport athlete, I’ve been on a lot of teams and this is something special. They really came in and it was all gas, no brakes.”
Sophomores Kenna Hunt and Lucy Wrozek led the way for Lumen Christi on Saturday, playing all but the final seconds when all five starters were pulled for a curtain call. Hunt had 21 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, while Wrozek had 14 points.
They combined for 12 of the Titans’ 16 points during the fourth quarter, starting with a Hunt 3-pointer 18 seconds in that gave them a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
“I thought it was pretty big, it really was just a momentum shift,” Hunt said. “We got momentum right off the start of the fourth quarter, which was awesome. I gotta give credit to my teammates (for) making me available for that type of shot.”
Pewamo-Westphalia coach Steve Eklund said he knew Hunt would find her points Saturday, but his Pirates were focused on not letting someone else join her. Unfortunately for them, Wrozek did.
“We knew one player wasn’t going to beat us,” Eklund said. “At halftime we went in incredibly happy; I think Wrozek had two or three points. None of their other players had really gotten involved offensively. I thought we were getting a little shaky offensively turning the ball over, but I thought, ‘We’re in a good spot.’ So, fourth quarter, Wrozek got it going a little bit. She’s a real nice complementary player to Hunt.”
The fourth quarter explosion went well beyond the sophomores for the Titans (25-3), who didn’t miss a shot (4-of-4) from the field in the final frame, and were 9-of-12 from the free-throw line, while the Pirates were 0-of-9 from the field.
Lumen Christi also had three steals and forced five Pirates turnovers.
“I think they stopped thinking so much and started playing like pitbulls,” Stine said. “The effort on the glass in the second half was much better. We just settled down a little bit. It’s hard to stop these two guards (Hunt and Wrozek) in man-to-man, so we were able to create some matchups even in the third quarter. We just stuck with it, and the kids made great plays.”
Senior Elly Bengel scored 12 points to lead Pewamo-Westphalia (26-3), which was trying to pull off the same double it did in 2019, when both the boys and girls won Finals titles in the sport. The PW boys won the Division 3 title a week ago.
“It’s been so amazing,” Bengel said. “This team is so special to me, and I’ll never take this for granted.”
PHOTOS (Top) Lumen Christi players meet on the floor in celebration of their Division 3 championship Saturday. (Middle) The Titans’ Lucy Wrozek (14) makes a move around a P-W defender. (Photos by Keionna Banks and Lilanie Karunanayake/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)