Belleville Succeeds in Breslin Return, Earns 1st Trip to Championship Day
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
March 21, 2025
EAST LANSING – Belleville has been chasing history since the start of the MHSAA Tournament.
The Tigers overcame a giant hurdle in pursuit of it Friday.
Belleville knocked off 2024 champion and perennial powerhouse West Bloomfield 60-55 in the first Division 1 Semifinal at the Breslin Center.
The Tigers (27-1) will play in their first Final at 12:15 p.m. Saturday.
“It means everything,” said sophomore Sydney Savoury, who tallied game highs of 21 points and 11 rebounds. “We felt the heartache from the loss last year so we really wanted to change the outcome and we knew from the beginning of the season that we had a chance to do it, and we knew that we could have a lasting impact on our school.
“It’s an exciting moment and we know the pressure that comes with it, but it’s a good pressure.”
Belleville, which lost to Grand Blanc last year in their first trip to the Semifinals, had defeated West Bloomfield by double digits during the regular season.
However, coach Jason Wilkins figured the rematch would be more difficult, especially against a program that had advanced to the Breslin the past four years.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Wilkins said. “They are two-time state champs, and they’ve been here four years in a row, so we knew Coach (Darrin) McAllister would come with a gameplan and they were going to play hard. We came out and made a quick run, but we knew they were not going to back down.”
Belleville jumped out to an early double-digit lead during the first five minutes as junior Se’Crette Carter knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Tigers a commanding 21-5 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
“That’s how we play,” Wilkins said. “In every game we make a run, it’s just a matter of when, and we made it in the first quarter. We knew we had to withstand their run, and us getting out to a big lead helped us.”
The Lakers (19-9) rallied in the second quarter and trimmed the deficit to 21-13 on a mid-range jumper by Sheridan Beal. Ava Lord drained a 3-pointer for West Bloomfield later in the first half to make it 28-23.
The Lakers continued to make a push in the third quarter. A driving lay-up by Breasia Gamble-Jones cut the Belleville lead to only two (31-29).
However, the Tigers responded with a 9-2 run and led 45-36 entering the final quarter. A three-point play from Paisley Stephens with 2:17 left sealed it for Belleville.
West Bloomfield, which returned only one starter from last year’s championship team, started the season 1-4 before winning 16 of their next 19 games.
“A lot of people counted us out,” McAllister said. “We lost four dynamic players, and we had players still understanding how to play their roles. Nobody thought we could get here, but the crazy part about it is we knew that we could get here.
“This has been an incredible journey just getting back here, and we had a slow start (today) and were like deer in headlights, but we had an opportunity to settle down and come together and showed we could play with the big boys.”
Beal and Gamble-Jones both finished with 17 points for West Bloomfield, while Londyn Hall had 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
Carter made four 3-pointers and added 18 points for Belleville. Stephens, a freshman guard, chipped in 10 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Rylan Buschell, one of only two seniors on Belleville’s roster, was thrilled to get over the hump and have an opportunity to play for the school’s first Finals title.
“We worked hard all summer and during the year, and we always wanted to come back here,” she said. “Last year was a heartbreak, but we just wanted to make it to the last day and make it count.”
PHOTOS (Top) Belleville’s Sydney Savoury places her school on the championship game line of the Division 1 bracket after the Tigers’ clinched their first Finals berth Friday at Breslin Center. (Middle) Belleville’s Jaida Quinn (5) and Iyana Stephens defend as West Bloomfield’s Breasia Gamble-Jones considers her options. (Photos by Keionna Banks/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Blissfield Edges Bishop Foley to Earn Long-Awaited Title Game Return
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 16, 2023
EAST LANSING – The Blissfield girls basketball program from this point on hopes it’s a lot sooner than 2073 before it returns to a state championship game.
But for the time being, the Royals will enjoy returning after a 50-year absence.
For the first time since finishing as Class C runner-up in 1973, Blissfield will play for a Finals championship after defeating Madison Heights Bishop Foley, 45-41, in a Division 3 Semifinal on Thursday.
“It was a typical game for us,” Blissfield head coach Ryan Gilbert said. “A gritty win. We gutted it out. I thought we made plays when we had to and played our best when we needed to play our best.”
The difference in the game was Blissfield’s frontcourt, where seniors Sarah Bettis and Julia White proved too much for Bishop Foley to overcome.
White finished with 11 points and seven rebounds, while Bettis had eight rebounds to help Blissfield earn a 34-21 advantage on the boards.
The Royals (27-1) had 14 offensive rebounds to just three for Bishop Foley.
“That was our thought going in,” Gilbert said. “We wanted to get it inside early and try to get them in foul trouble. We finished some, we missed some. But we got a lot of rebounds. We did a great job on the glass.”
Junior Avery Collins scored 10 points, and freshman Leigh Wyman had nine to flank White for Blissfield.
Collins said many community members have been telling her for years that this season was the time for the team to get to East Lansing, given the nucleus of the team and what grades they were going to be in.
Now, that vision has been fulfilled. Blissfield will face Hemlock in Saturday's Division 3 Final at 4 p.m.
“I believed in us as soon as it started,” Collins said. “I believed in us.”
Junior Ryan Moorer scored 11 points, senior Abby Pasinos had 10 and senior Alyssa Samartino added nine points for Bishop Foley (21-7), which advanced to the Semifinals for a second-straight year.
“To make it two years in a row is tough,” Bishop Foley head coach Colleen Szakacs said. “These girls battle day in and day out, especially in this game. We battled back no matter what and made it a down-to-the-wire, exciting game. Unfortunately, there were a couple of plays we could have done better here and there. But hats off to Blissfield and how well they performed.”
Blissfield entered giving up 26.8 points per game, while Bishop Foley had given up 33 points a contest while playing a scheduled filled with Division 1 and Division 2 schools.
But before the fourth quarter was two minutes old, each team had given up more points than their average.
Blissfield held a 44-38 lead with 27.9 seconds remaining, but Bishop Foley cut the deficit to 44-41 with 17.2 seconds left on a 3-pointer by Pasinos.
The Ventures then got the ball back on a turnover, but after a timeout, missed a 3-pointer with under 10 seconds remaining that was rebounded by Wyman.
Following a foul with 8.1 seconds left, Wyman hit a free throw to give Blissfield a 45-41 lead.
A last-second 3-point attempt by Bishop Foley missed, essentially ending the game.
Trailing 30-25 going into the fourth quarter, Bishop Foley cut the Blissfield lead to two points on three occasions during the first four minutes of the period.
However, Bishop Foley couldn’t get over the hump and tie the game, and Blissfield took a 41-35 lead with 1:47 remaining after a putback by sophomore Peyton Tennant.
Bishop Foley cut its deficit to 41-38 with 1:32 remaining after a 3-point play by Samartino.
Blissfield had an answer, taking a 43-38 lead with 51.3 seconds remaining on a layup by Wyman and then going up 44-38 with 27.9 seconds to go on a free throw by Collins.
PHOTOS (Top) Blissfield's Abrie Louden (3) gets a hand up on a Madison Heights Bishop Foley shot during Thursday's first Semifinal at Breslin Center. (Middle) The Royals' Avery Collins (4) looks for an open teammate.