A-B Preview: Return of the Champs
March 15, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Three 2016 MHSAA champions will take the floor for Friday’s Semifinals in Classes A and B.
Warren Cousino is back attempting to repeat in Class A, and Marshall is seeking to do the same in Class B. The third guarantees there will be a new Class C champion this weekend; Ypsilanti Arbor Prep won that title last year but is in Class B and earned the top ranking during the regular season.
All four Class A and B Semifinals will be played Friday, with all four championship games Saturday.
Semifinals - Friday
Class A
Warren Cousino (24-2) vs. Flushing (22-3), 1 p.m.
East Kentwood (25-1) vs. Southfield Arts & Technology (22-4), 2:50 p.m.
Class B
Detroit Country Day (24-1) vs. Marshall (23-2), 6 p.m.
Ypsilanti Arbor Prep (26-0) vs. Freeland (26-0), 7:50 p.m.
Finals - Saturday
Class A - Noon
Class B - 6 p.m.
Class C - 4 p.m.
Class D - 10 a.m.
Tickets cost $8 per pair of Semifinals and $10 per two-game Finals session. All Semifinals will be streamed live on MHSAA.tv on a pay-per-view basis. All four Finals will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Detroit, the Class D, A and C Finals on the network’s PLUS channel and Class B on the primary channel. Free radio broadcasts of all weekend games will be available on MHSAANetwork.com.
And now, a look at the semifinalists in Class A and Class B. Click on the name of the school to see that team’s full schedule and results from this season. (Statistics are through teams' Regional Finals, except Freeland’s are through the end of the regular season.) The Girls Basketball Finals are presented by Sparrow Health System.
Class A
EAST KENTWOOD
Record/rank: 25-1, No. 9
League finish: First in Ottawa-Kent Conference Red
Coach: Jimmy Carter, sixth season (79-57)
Championship history: Has never played in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 57-43 over No. 7 Muskegon Mona Shores in the Regional Semifinal, 59-45 and 63-46 over Grand Haven, 51-49 (District Final) and 52-43 over Grand Rapids Christian.
Players to watch: Lazurea Saunders, 6-0 jr. C (14 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 4.0 spg); Alona Blackwell, 5-10 soph. F (10 ppg, 3.0 apg);
Outlook: East Kentwood has its second 20-win season under Carter, but also has increased its win total each of the last four winters. The Falcons are 11 victories better than a year ago and won their first Regional title last week. The only loss was to Class B No. 4 Grand Rapids Catholic Central in East Kentwood’s second game. Eight players average at least five points per game; sophomore guard Mauriya Barnes (11.5 ppg) and junior center Corinne Jemison (10) add plenty of scoring off the bench.
FLUSHING
Record/rank: 22-3, unranked
League finish: First in Flint Metro League.
Coach: Larry Ford, 13th season (228-67)
Championship history: Has never played in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 45-39 over No. 4 Midland Dow in the Regional Final, 47-25 over Flint Hamady, 65-37 and 50-39 (District Final) over Flint Carman-Ainsworth.
Players to watch: Lauren Newman, 5-8 sr. G (11.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg); Shelby Morrow, 5-7 jr. G (10.9 ppg, 2.5 spg).
Outlook: Flushing has advanced to its first Semifinal since 1976 and won 21 of its last 22 games after opening 1-2 this winter. The Dow win in the Regional Final avenged one of those early losses, and the others were to No. 3 Saginaw Heritage and Class B top-ranked Arbor Prep. Only league rival Fenton (41) has scored more than 40 points against the Raiders since Dec. 6. Senior 6-foot center Bre Perry adds to a balanced attack with 8.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.
SOUTHFIELD ARTS & TECHNOLOGY
Record/rank: 22-4, No. 6
League finish: First in Oakland Activities Association Red
Coach: Michele Marshall, 22nd season (276-92)
Championship history: First season as a program.
Best wins: 55-51 over No. 1 Detroit Martin Luther King in the Regional Final, 68-52 over Detroit Renaissance in the District Final, 52-38 over Ann Arbor Huron in the Quarterfinal.
Players to watch: Deja Church, 5-10 sr. G (20.1 ppg, 8.5 rpg); Alexis Johnson, 5-10 soph. F (14.8 ppg, 7.0 rpg).
Outlook: Although Southfield A&T technically is a new program, Marshall formerly built Southfield Lathrup into a top program before that school and the former Southfield High merged last fall. Lathrup won the Class A title in 2005. Church was a Miss Basketball finalist and will continue at University of Michigan. Freshman guard Cheyenne McEvans adds another 10.3 points and six rebounds per game and with Church is among three who had at least 22 3-pointers this season entering the week.
WARREN COUSINO
Record/rank: 24-2, No. 2
League finish: First in Macomb Area Conference Red
Coach: Mike Lee, eighth season (150-43)
Championship history: Class A champion 2016.
Best wins: 47-41 over Farmington Hills Mercy in the Quarterfinal, 41-39 over Bloomfield Hills Marian in the Regional Final, 53-51, 52-34 and 66-45 over No. 7 Port Huron Northern.
Players to watch: Kierra Fletcher, 5-9 sr. G (22.7 ppg, 13 rpg, 6.2 apg, 5.2 spg, 2.1 bpg); Erin McArthur, 5-6 sr. G (13.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 5.4 apg, 4.1 spg, 65 3-pointers).
Outlook: Cousino was as big a surprise last season as a 23-win team could be – but definitely won’t be this weekend. Fletcher was a Miss Basketball finalist after starring in last season’s Finals, and she’ll continue her career at Georgia Tech. In addition to Fletcher and McArthur, senior Rachel Hayes and sophomore Mackenzie Cook also started in last season’s championship game and current starter senior Aubrey Fetzer played 21 minutes off the bench. Cousino also picked up two wins over league foe Macomb Dakota, which also made the Quarterfinals.
Class B
DETROIT COUNTRY DAY
Record/rank: 24-1, No. 2
League finish: Does not play in a league.
Coach: Frank Orlando, 36th season (757-113)
Championship history: Eleven MHSAA titles (most recent 2015), four runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 55-46 over Class A No. 1 Detroit Martin Luther King, 56-46 over Class A No. 4 Midland Dow, 60-51 over Class A No. 6 Southfield A&T, 53-35 over Ann Arbor Huron.
Players to watch: Destiny Pitts, 6-0 sr. G (22.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 3.3 apg, 71 3-pointers); Kaela Webb, 5-7 jr. G (14.8 ppg, 3.0 apg, 36 3-pointers).
Outlook: Country Day returned to the Semifinals last season and will try to send off Pitts with a second title in three seasons. She also was a Miss Basketball finalist and will continue at University of Minnesota. She was named Class B Player of the Year by The Associated Press, and Webb also made the all-state first team. In addition to an impressive Class A lineup and its Class B run, the Yellowjackets beat Class C semifinalists Detroit Edison PSA and Flint Hamady during the regular season.
FREELAND
Record/rank: 26-0, No. 5
League finish: First in Tri-Valley Conference Central.
Coach: Tom Zolinski, 10th season (198-45)
Championship history: Class C champion 1998.
Best wins: 68-45 over No. 9 Bay City John Glenn in the District Semifinal, 57-35 and 39-38 over Saginaw Swan Valley, 53-38 over Cadillac in the Quarterfinal.
Players to watch: Jenna Gregory, 5-10 sr. F (10 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.5 spg); Alyssa Argyle, 5-9 soph. F (9.7 ppg, 2.7 spg);
Outlook: The Falcons are back in the Semifinals for the first time since 2012 and with only two wins decided by fewer than 10 points. Freeland is 47-3 over the last two seasons and has dominated this one with a balanced lineup; five players average at least seven points per game, and five entered the postseason with at least 20 3-pointers. Bullock Creek was the other opponent to get within 10 points, and the Falcons beat the Lancers in the District Final by 40.
MARSHALL
Record/rank: 23-2, No. 6
League finish: First in Interstate Eight Athletic Conference.
Coach: Sal Konkle, 17th season (305-95)
Championship history: Class B champion 2016, runner-up 1981.
Best wins: 49-27 over No. 4 Grand Rapids Catholic Central in the Quarterfinal, 55-29 over Comstock in the District Semifinal, 41-40 and 50-29 over Jackson Northwest.
Players to watch: Nikki Tucker, 5-10 sr. F (15.1 ppg, 7.1 rpg); Jill Konkle, 5-6 sr. G (11.3 ppg, 43 3-pointers).
Outlook: The reigning Class B champion is surging again, avenging its second loss by beating GRCC in the Quarterfinal; the other defeat came to No. 3 Williamston on opening night. Four senior starters are back from last season’s Final. Balance and defense are again the names of Marshall’s game: six players score at least 4.8 ppg, and of the 23 wins, only that first over the league rival Mounties came by fewer than 10 points.
YPSILANTI ARBOR PREP
Record/rank: 26-0, No. 1
League finish: Does not play in a league.
Coach: Rod Wells, sixth season (129-17)
Championship history: Class C champion 2016.
Best wins: 41-39 over No. 3 Williamston in the Quarterfinal, 53-38 over No. 8 Ida in the Regional Semifinal, 38-28 over Flushing, 53-33 over Ann Arbor Huron, 72-31 over Detroit Mumford, 57-39 over Class A No. 7 Muskegon Mona Shores.
Players to watch: Adrienne Anderson, 5-7 sr. G (13.7 ppg, 4.2 spg); Ro’zhane Wells, 5-5 sr. G (10.6 ppg, 3.6 apg, 2.9 spg).
Outlook: Arbor Prep’s encore to last season’s Class C title has been to move to Class B and go undefeated. Senior forwards Cydney Williams (9.1 ppg) and Kayla Knight (4.8) joined Anderson and Wells starting in last season’s championship game, and 6-0 junior forward Lasha Petree adds another 10.4 ppg this winter. Only Williamston and Dearborn Heights Robichaud in the District Final have gotten closer than 10 points as the team has given up more than 40 only five times. Arbor Prep also downed Class C quarterfinalist Detroit PSA.
PHOTO: Freeland downed Ithaca last week to claim a Class B Regional title. Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Standout Juniors Pace Portland's Historic Finish
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
April 9, 2021
EAST LANSING – Through almost three quarters Friday, only three Portland players had scored in the Division 2 girls basketball championship game.
But the work of juniors Alivia Densmore, Ava Guilford and Ashley Bower was enough to carry the offense as the Raiders (20-2) racked up a 52-32 victory over Newaygo at the Breslin Center.
Bower led Portland with 20 points, while Guilford and Densmore chipped in 12 each. Earlier this season, Bower went over 1,000 points for her career and set the school scoring record.
“This whole season has been fun,’’ she said.
Friday’s Final matched a Raiders team making its first championship game appearance and a Newaygo team playing for its first title since 1985. It also was a rematch from Feb. 24, when Portland defeated Newaygo 38-33.
Portland coach Jason Haid recalled Friday how his team had a cancellation during the season and “we wanted to find a team that would test us. Newaygo came down during the middle of the week.
“Having played them helped. The number one thing we had on our minds going into this game was defense and defending ball screens. We know everything they were going to do would come off ball screens. The Longs (sisters Jaylee and Jaxi) are tough, and we knew we had to get out on them.’’
The Raiders trio combined for 40 points through three quarters as Portland built a 42-25 lead against the offensively-struggling Lions (21-2), who didn’t have a player reach double figures scoring.
Portland increased its advantage to 21, 48-27, on two free throws from Ava Gruber with 5:54 to play.
“It wasn’t our night,’’ Newaygo coach Nate Thomasma said. “They took us out of a lot of things we wanted to do. It wasn’t for a lack of effort. That was the sum of the story.’’
After Bower scored the first four points of the game, the Lions went on an 8-0 run. But Densmore hit a floater in the lane as the first quarter ended to give the Raiders a 9-8 lead. Neither team shot better than 23 percent from the field over the first eight minutes.
Portland started hitting an offensive stride and outscored Newago 9-3 to open up an 18-11 lead during the second quarter. Densmore, along with Bower and Guilford, combined for all 18 points.
Densmore, just like she did in the first quarter, hit a buzzer beater to send the Raiders to the locker room with a 20-12 cushion.
Starting the second half, the Raiders got a triple from Guilford – the team’s sparkplug – a three-point play from Bower and another triple from Guilford to push the lead to 29-12.
Said Guilford: “My teammates were able to find me. Ashley is always unselfish, and it was important for us to stay confident and relaxed.’’
Newaygo got offensive life when senior guard Anna Brummel hit consecutive 3-pointers and Jaylee Long added a third to trim the deficit to 35-24 with 3:11 to play in the third quarter. But the Lions would get no closer.
Junior forward Emmerson Goodin led Newaygo with eight points and nine rebounds, and Jaylee Long and Brummel also both scored eight. Jaxi Long had seven rebounds and four assists.
Bower was 8 of 16 from the field and also had four assists. Densmore hit 6 of 11 shots and had three blocked shots. Portland finished the game making 42 percent of its shots from the field, while Newaygo connected on just 21 percent of its attempts.
PHOTOS: (Top) Portland’s Alivia Densmore works for an opening during Friday’s Division 2 Final at Breslin Center. (Middle) The Raiders' Ashley Bower makes a move at the rim with Newaygo players walling her off. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)