Bengel Seizes Big-Play Moment, Takes Over Final Quarter to Send P-W to Saturday
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
March 19, 2026
EAST LANSING – Pewamo-Westphalia senior guard Elly Bengel wasn’t afraid of the big moment.
Bengel took charge when the Pirates were in the midst of a scoring drought while hanging on to a slim lead over Roscommon in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s first Division 3 Semifinal.
She scored seven of her game-high 20 points during the final period as P-W secured a 46-33 win over the resilient Bucks at Breslin Center.
“She’s not afraid of the moment, and that’s what big-time players do” P-W coach Steve Eklund said. “They can feel it, and they can sense that the team was a little bit shell-shocked and she decided to step up and went and got a bucket.”
It was the team’s 24th win of the season by 10 points or more and sent the Pirates (26-2) to their first Final since 2019, tipping off at 4 p.m. Saturday. They will attempt to finish a P-W Division 3 sweep, as the boys team won last weekend’s championship at Breslin.
After watching a double-digit lead dwindle to six (33-27) with six minutes remaining, Bengel took matters into her own hands and sliced through the defense for a three-point play to push the advantage back to nine.
Roscommon would get no closer.
“We moved the ball better and got her into a catch-and-rip opportunity, and she did a good job of drawing contact,” Eklund said.
Bengel scored seven consecutive points during the final quarter and made 7-of-9 shots from the field, including a perfect 2-of-2 from behind the 3-point arc.
“This is my fourth year on the team, so I knew I had to step up and do it for my team,” Bengel said.
P-W’s defense held the Bucks to 29 percent (9-31) shooting from the field, while forcing 19 turnovers.
“A of credit goes to Roscommon because that was one of the finer defensive teams we've played all season, and they made us work for everything,” Eklund said. “But we love to play defense, and that’s what we base our program around and it stood up. We got some big stops late.”
P-W led 26-15 at the half after back-to-back triples by Adrianna Eklund and Bengel, but the Pirates scored only seven points during the third quarter.
Adrianna Eklund, a sophomore, finished with seven points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.
Roscommon was making its first trip to the Semifinals since 1996 and finished 21-4.
“That’s just a really good basketball team,” Bucks coach Greg Kauffman said. “I’m proud of the kids, they played hard, but they were just a little bit better. Sometimes it comes down to that.
“We returned 90 percent of our team so we felt like we could get here this year. We felt we deserved to be here, and we just ran into a team that was a little bit better than us.”
Senior guard Zoey Kauffman led Roscommon with 14 points and five rebounds, while junior guard Mara Williams added 11 points.
PHOTOS (Top) Pewamo-Westphalia’s Alonna Thelen (40) moves the ball up court Thursday while defended by Roscommon’s Mara Williams. (Middle) The Bucks’ Nemiah Carper (24) and Cami Hamina defend the lane as P-W’s Adrianna Eklund (10) looks to the perimeter. (Photos by Lilanie Karunanayake/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Jahfetson Makes History from 3-Point Range in Taking Baraga to 2023 Finals
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
April 23, 2024
Baraga’s Corina Jahfetson graduated in 2023 as one of the most accomplished 3-point shooters in MHSAA history and coming off one of the most impressive single seasons from beyond the arc.
Her 103 3-pointers as a senior over 29 games were the second-most for one season and included eight in a Quarterfinal win over Mackinaw City – the second-most in an MHSAA Quarterfinal, Semifinal or Final.
She finished with 236 3-pointers over 96 games and four seasons, ranking 12th on that career list, and Baraga finished the season as Division 4 runner-up. She’s continuing her career at Northern Michigan.
See below for more recent additions to the MHSAA girls basketball record book, and click the heading to view the record book in full.
Girls Basketball
Alma junior Bailey Walkington earned her school’s first single-season individual record book entry for girls basketball in 2022-23. She made the steals list with 143 over 23 games.
Dalton DeBoer became the latest Midland Dow long-range shooting ace to make the records after she drained 70 of 206 3-point attempts over 24 games in 2022-23. DeBoer is a junior this school year.
Durand senior Jordyn Lawrence earned her school’s first girls basketball individual record book entry with 15 steals in her team’s 44-31 win over Flint Kearsley on Dec. 2, 2022. She’s continuing at Mid-Michigan College.
Leah French finished her Engadine career in 2023 with a series of game, season and career record book entries detailing her scoring and defensive skills. She earned single-game listings for 54 points and 19 free throws against St. Ignace on Feb. 6, 2023, and nine 3-pointers against Manistique that Jan. 9. She made the single-season list with 81 3-pointers, 177 free throws and 168 steals over 25 games as a senior. And she made the career lists with 171 3-pointers, 354 free throws and 405 steals over 85 games and four seasons. She’s continuing her career at Aquinas College.
Arieonna Ware earned Battle Creek Central's first girls basketball record book entry with 51 points in a Feb. 11, 2020, win over Portage Northern. She actually finished with a triple-double, adding 12 rebounds and 12 steals. Ware also was added for 47 points in a March 6, 2019, District game against Sturgis.
Mesick senior Kayla McCoy made the MHSAA record in 2022-23 as a junior, totaling 144 steals over 23 games. It was Mesick’s first individual entry in the girls basketball record book.
Coldwater’s Carlee Crabtree made a career-high 52 3-pointers during her senior season of 2019-20 on the way to making the MHSAA career list for long-distance shots with 163, in 469 attempts, over four seasons and 88 games total. She went on to play at Central Michigan and Hope College.
Battle Creek Pennfield’s Kaylee Glidden capped her three-year varsity career in 2023 among the most accurate free-throw shooters in MHSAA history – and also among top 3-point aces. She made 90.6 percent of her free-throw attempts as a senior, good for fifth-highest percentage all-time for one season, and her 84.4-percent success rate ranks fourth on the career list. She also made the single-season 3-pointers list with 67 that winter and the career list with 168. She continued at Kellogg Community College and has committed to Great Lakes Christian College.
Larissa Huffman made a pair of career lists upon completing her four-year varsity career in 2023 at Mackinaw City. She was added for 468 assists and 411 steals, both over 92 games, and she’s continuing her career at St. Norbert (Wis.). Additionally, Mackinaw City was added to the single-game field goals list as a team for making at least 39 in a game six times over the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, with a high of 45.
Lansing Christian earned a listing on the team 3-pointers list when it sank 14 on 32 attempts against Webberville on Jan. 20, 2023. Seven players drained at least one of the long-distance shots.
Grayling’s 66-49 win over Houghton Lake on Dec. 19 included one of the most impressive defensive performances of all-time as senior Makayla Watkins had 19 steals – tying for third-most in one game.
Brooklyn Columbia Central’s Zoandria Bamm grabbed 28 rebounds during a Feb. 14, 2023, game against Clinton to make the single-game list in that category and on the way to finishing her senior season with 380 rebounds over 25 games – tying for 13th most on that list. She’s playing at Jackson College.
Riley Abney became the first player to be listed for points scored in a quarter of a girls basketball game when she sank 21 of her 36 total during the fourth quarter of a 64-47 loss to Linden on Jan. 16. The Ortonville Brandon senior has committed to be a preferred walk-on at Oakland.
A pair of Paw Paw standouts earned single-game accomplishments within three days of each other in January. On Jan. 26 against Sturgis, junior AJ Rickli grabbed 31 rebounds, tied for seventh-most for one game. On Jan. 29 against Three Rivers, sophomore Stella Shaefer made the single-game assists list with 14.
Keira Maki joined the single-game points list on Feb. 22 when she scored 47 in Escanaba’s 64-49 win over Sault Ste. Marie. The senior will continue at Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
PHOTO Baraga’s Corina Jahfetson (22) brings the ball upcourt during the 2023 Division 4 Final against Glen Lake at Breslin Center.