Breslin Bound: 2022-23 Girls Report Week 10
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 6, 2023
Championship time is quickly approaching this girls basketball season.
We’re still three weeks out from the start of District play. But league contenders are clashing all over the state, with a handful of conferences finishing up their schedules this week and several favorites facing off soon with titles on the line. We make mention of a number of those below.
“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. West Bloomfield 59, Detroit Edison 49 Last season, West Bloomfield (15-2) became the first in-state team to defeat Edison (12-3) since 2018 – and the Lakers have become the only one to do so again this winter.
2. Maple City Glen Lake 51, Traverse City St. Francis 45 The Lakers (13-2) are up to No. 2 in Division 4 MPR, while St. Francis (12-2) sits No. 4 in Division 3.
3. Holt 55, DeWitt 53 The Rams (14-2) sit alone atop the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue after sending the Panthers (13-2) into second in a matchup of top Division 1 teams statewide.
4. Hancock 50, Calumet 47 The Bulldogs (13-1) maintained their one-game lead in the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference West with their second win this season over third-place Calumet (11-3). Both are among the top seven statewide in Division 3 MPR.
5. Detroit Edison 44, Farmington Hills Mercy 42 The Pioneers bounced back from the West Bloomfield loss with a pair of close wins, this one over Mercy (14-2) followed by a one-pointer over Grand Rapids Catholic Central on Saturday.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
Muskegon Reeths-Puffer (11-5) After a 2-4 start with those losses to top Division 1 and 2 teams statewide, Reeths-Puffer is 9-3 and tied for first in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Green with Muskegon after edging the Big Reds 56-52 on Friday. That avenged a 14-point loss to Muskegon on Jan. 6, and the Rockets have since gone on an eight-game winning streak. They also opened last week with a 42-39 victory over 11-win Ludington.
Wayne Memorial (13-4) The Zebras further solidified their standing atop the Kensington Lakes Activities Association East standings with last week’s 75-57 win over second-place Belleville. That followed up a 44-41 win over the Tigers on Jan. 6, and total Wayne has won 12 straight since a 1-3 start that included two-point losses to Division 1 contenders Detroit Renaissance and Hudsonville and a third defeat to Illinois power Chicago Whitney Young.
DIVISION 2
Goodrich (14-1) The Martians are locked in another battle atop the Flint Metro League Stars with Lake Fenton and trail the Blue Devils by a game after a 50-44 loss Jan. 20. That’s Goodrich’s only defeat, and they’ll attempt to avenge it in the league finale Feb. 17. In the meantime, the Martians can continue their statewide push upward with 13-win Flushing coming up Wednesday and 15-win Ovid-Elsie next week as well.
Redford Westfield Prep (11-6) The Warriors take on many of the state’s best, evidenced by their No. 8 MPR despite six losses. Westfield has won seven of its last eight games, the lone defeat during that streak 55-53 to still-undefeated Flint Carman-Ainsworth on Jan. 16 – and with perhaps its most notable instate win of the season 46-45 in double overtime Jan. 12 over reigning Division 3 champion Ypsilanti Arbor Prep.
DIVISION 3
McBain (13-4) The Highland Conference race could go down to the finish, especially after McBain avenged its earlier 17-point loss to second-place Evart with a 51-35 win last week. McBain also has a six-point loss to league leader Lake City from Jan. 20, but can avenge that in the regular-season finale Feb. 23. The Ramblers additionally have a pair of victories over 12-win Beal City and a solid early loss to still-undefeated Division 2 Escanaba.
Ovid-Elsie (15-2) The Marauders haven’t slowed down a bit after last season’s 21-2 finish with league and District titles, the latter in Division 2. This season in Division 3, Ovid-Elsie is up to No. 6 in MPR with a 14-game winning streak since suffering its lone losses early to Pewamo-Westphalia (10-5) and Dansville (15-1). The Marauders handed Mackinaw City its first defeat Saturday, 59-55 on a neutral court, and also has a victory over 14-win Ithaca plus a two-game lead in the Mid-Michigan Activities Conference.
DIVISION 4
Fowler (11-6) Coming off back-to-back Division 4 championships, Fowler put together a schedule featuring solid-to-strong teams from Divisions 1-4 and sit No. 3 in Division 4 MPR. The losses have come to Midland Dow, Haslett, Lansing Catholic, Kent City and league rivals Dansville and Portland St. Patrick, and the Eagles avenged the Shamrocks defeat 51-44 last week. Fowler will need help to catch Dansville in the Central Michigan Athletic Conference, down two games from the league leader, but will try to get one back from the Aggies on Feb. 14.
Norway (16-1) The Knights are leading the large-school division of the Skyline Central Conference with the likely deciding matchup coming at Bark River-Harris next week. Norway has lost only to Niagara (Wis.), by five two weeks ago, and handed Carney-Nadeau (13-2) one of its losses among other strong work – and after ending last season’s 11-10 run with a 15-point District loss to the Wolves.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – Coldwater (15-1) at Jackson Northwest (15-1) – The Mounties lead Coldwater by a win in the Interstate 8 Athletic Conference thanks to a 50-46 win in their first meeting Jan. 10.
Tuesday – Utica Ford (14-1) at Grosse Pointe North (13-2) – North has clinched a share of the Macomb Area Conference Red title heading into tonight’s league finale, while Ford won by a large margin in the MAC White.
Thursday – Houghton (13-1) at Hancock (13-1) – As noted above, Hancock leads the West-PAC West by a game – but will face second-place Houghton twice over the next two weeks.
Friday – Standish-Sterling (15-1) at Hemlock (13-3) – Hemlock owns the lead in the Tri-Valley Conference West 10-1 thanks to a 62-31 doubling up in the first meeting Jan. 6. But that remains the Panthers’ lone loss, and they’ve since handed TVC 10-2 co-leader Saginaw Valley Lutheran one of its two defeats.
Friday – Saline (15-2) at Temperance Bedford (16-1) – Saline is first and Bedford second in the Southeastern Conference Red thanks to Saline’s 41-22 win in their first meeting Jan. 27.
MHSAA.com's weekly “Breslin Bound” previews and reviews are powered by MI Student Aid, a part of the Office of Postsecondary Financial Planning located within the Michigan Department of Treasury. MI Student Aid encourages students to pursue postsecondary education by providing access to student financial resources and information. MI Student Aid administers the state’s 529 college savings programs (MET/MESP), as well as scholarship and grant programs that help make college Accessible, Affordable and Attainable for you. Connect with MI Student Aid at www.michigan.gov/mistudentaid and find more information on Facebook and Twitter @mistudentaid.
PHOTOS (Top) A trio of Fowler defenders surround a Bath player driving to the basket during a 49-27 win earlier this season; they meet again Thursday. (Middle) Maddie Bradford of Maple City Glen Lake contests a shot by Maggie Napont of Traverse City St. Francis during the Lakers' 51-45 win over the Gladiators last week. (Top photo by Click by Christine McCallister. Middle photo by Rick Sack/TC Rick Photo.)
Lutheran Northwest Capitalizes on 2024 Semifinal Experience, Takes Next Step
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 20, 2025
EAST LANSING – A basketball circle of life will be completed Saturday for Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest head girls basketball coach Jimmy Mehlberg.
Back in 1992 as a 10-year-old, Mehlberg sat on the bench as his father, Ed, coached Auburn Hills Oakland Christian to the Class D championship.
On Saturday, Jimmy will have Ed (now a Lutheran Northwest assistant) and also a third generation of Mehlbergs on the bench when Lutheran Northwest goes for its first Finals title following a 43-38 win over Calumet in a Division 3 Semifinal on Thursday.
“I definitely remember it,” Jimmy Mehlberg said of Oakland Christian’s 1992 crown. “I was on the bench with him just about every game. I had my kids on the bench with me (today) and had my Dad on the bench. It’s pretty cool.”
After making its first Semifinal trip last year and falling in that game, Lutheran Northwest (21-6) took the next step this time by jumping out to a big lead and then holding off a late Calumet rally.
Trailing 42-30 with 2:59 remaining, the Copper Kings fought back with an 8-0 run to cut the Lutheran Northwest lead to 42-38 with 38.9 seconds remaining after a 3-pointer by sophomore Millie Loukus.
But Lutheran Northwest held firm, going up 43-38 with 22 seconds left on a free throw by senior Morgan Griswold and then forcing a Calumet turnover during the waning seconds before running out the clock.
Junior Paige Macavage scored 14 points, and Griswold added 12 for Lutheran Northwest (21-6).
“I think having the experience from last year, we knew what to expect,” Crusaders junior Charlotte Gramzow said. “We know how the day was going to go and coming out for warmups, we were trying to build our own energy with one another and build confidence within one another. Just keep it relaxed, and I think we did that really well.”
Lutheran Northwest jumped to a 30-16 lead by halftime thanks to a dominant rebounding performance. The Crusaders held a 26-12 rebounding advantage at the break, with 13 offensive rebounds – one more than Calumet’s total for the first half.
Calumet managed to turn that around and finished the game with only three fewer rebounds (37-34), which helped the Copper Kings climb back after trailing by 18 points early in the third quarter. But too big of a hole had been dug.
“I thought early on, their length gave us some trouble,” Calumet head coach Charlie Kemppainen said. “We adjusted a little bit too late to that. I think the fourth quarter was probably a better indicator of who we were all season long. But that’s a credit to them for taking us out of that.”
Sophomore Jess Anderson scored 10 points and Loukas, sophomore Bailey Strom and senior Jackie Kiilunen each added eight points for Calumet (22-6), which stayed in Mackinaw City after its Quarterfinal win Tuesday over Sanford Meridian in Manistique before driving down to East Lansing.
This was Calumet’s second Semifinal appearance over the last five years.
PHOTOS (Top) Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest players celebrate their Semifinal win Thursday at Breslin Center. (Middle) The Crusaders’ Scarlet Brown (1) considers her options as a second Calumet defender closes in.