Breslin Bound: 2022-23 Girls Report Week 8
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 23, 2023
Of course, what matters most is ending the season with a win – and only four fortunate Michigan high school girls basketball teams do so every winter.
But as we cruise into the second half of this regular season, it’s notable to highlight the 18 teams that have played nearly two months without experiencing defeat.
We detail a few of those below, but the list in whole includes Farmington Hills Mercy, Detroit Renaissance, Temperance Bedford, North Farmington and Flint Carman-Ainsworth from Division 1; Escanaba, Grand Rapids West Catholic, Lake Fenton, Haslett, Vicksburg and Warren Fitzgerald in Division 2; Bronson and Detroit Osborn in Division 3, and Kingston, Morenci, Mackinaw City, Brethren and Norway in Division 4.
“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. Haslett 55, DeWitt 52 The Division 2 Vikings (12-0) won this nonleague matchup of undefeated teams, sending Division 1 DeWitt to 10-1.
2. Flint Carman-Ainsworth 45, Grand Blanc 43 The Cavaliers (10-0) remained undefeated overall and also in the Saginaw Valley League in handing the Bobcats (8-4) their first SVL loss.
3. East Grand Rapids 49, Lowell 40 The Pioneers (10-2) bounced back from defeat to hand Lowell (10-2) its first loss of the season.
4. Morenci 48, Petersburg Summerfield 41 Morenci (12-0) maintained an edge both locally in the Tri-County Conference and statewide in Division 4 with Summerfield (12-2) also among the elite.
5. Utica Eisenhower 47, Grosse Pointe North 46 After losing to North by 14 a month ago, Eisenhower (9-3) evened the season series with this close win over the Norsemen (11-2).
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
Brighton (8-3) In finishing 17-8 and fourth last season in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association West, Brighton lost twice to Howell, Northville and Brighton. In leading the conference this winter, Brighton has defeated all three plus second-place Salem by 20 points. The Bulldogs are on an eight-game winning streak after opening 0-3 with two of those losses to teams still undefeated.
West Bloomfield (11-2) The reigning Division 1 champion Lakers also have won eight straight, with their only losses to reigning Division 3 champion Ypsilanti Arbor Prep (by four) and Indiana power South Bend Washington. Meanwhile, West Bloomfield has wins over South Lyon East, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek, Clarkston and Rochester – which all have won at least eight games – plus Detroit Cass Tech and Illinois power Chicago Kenwood.
DIVISION 2
Dearborn Divine Child (11-2) The Falcons opened the calendar year with a solid 63-62 win over Redford Westfield Prep, then had a brief bobble with losses to Warren Regina and Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard – but are right back in contention in the Detroit Catholic League Central with their first meeting with league leader Farmington Hills Mercy on Tuesday. Divine Child is coming off defeating eight-win Grosse Ile, and also has a nice victory over Salem and handed Dansville its only loss this winter.
Houghton (10-1) The Gremlins are coming off a 51-46 win over another Upper Peninsula contender in Calumet, and have won six straight since their lone defeat to West Iron County. Last season’s 18-4 finish included a split with the Copper Kings, a sweep by Hancock and a playoff loss to Negaunee. Houghton also has a win over Negaunee this season and sees Hancock for the first time Feb. 9. Six of 10 wins are against teams .500 or better, with a 14-point victory over 10-win Baraga another major highlight.
DIVISION 3
Elk Rapids (9-2) There may have been no better way to come back from a Jan. 13 loss to Traverse City St. Francis than Elk Rapids’ 51-42 win over Harbor Springs four days later, and those three teams all top the Lake Michigan Conference with one league loss apiece. Elk Rapids’ only other defeat was to Division 4 contender Maple City Glen Lake. The Elks won the LMC last season before losing to St. Francis in their District, and get the next chance to break that streak against the Gladiators on Feb. 9.
Ypsilanti Arbor Prep (6-4) The Gators always load their regular-season schedule in preparation for the postseason, and it paid off with another Division 3 title last winter. This season’s losses were to Division 2 Westfield Prep, Lake Fenton and Chelsea (two of those in overtime), and to Illinois power Chicago Butler. As noted above, Arbor Prep has defeated West Bloomfield, among four teams with double-digit wins – Tecumseh, Father Gabriel Richard and Madison Heights Bishop Foley are the others.
DIVISION 4
Gaylord St. Mary (9-2) The Snowbirds have won nine straight since opening with losses to still-undefeated Escanaba and New Lothrop. All nine of those wins have come by double digits as St. Mary has vaulted back to the top of the Ski Valley Conference after sharing the title in 2021 and winning it outright last season. Expectations should remain high again after last season’s playoff run ended in the Quarterfinals against eventual champion Fowler.
Pittsford (10-2) The Wildcats also have won nine straight, all by double digits as well, as they seek to build off last year’s 18-4 finish. The losses came early to Hudson and Sand Creek, who both have won at least eight games, and Pittsford also has avenged last season’s defeat to Athens – another eight-game winner so far this winter. Pittsford more recently defeated Hillsdale Academy, a nine-game winner, in a key Southern Central Athletic Association matchup.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – Dearborn Divine Child (11-2) at Farmington Hills Mercy (12-0) – As noted above, this matches two of the top three in the Catholic League Central and after these two split last season’s two meetings.
Tuesday – Byron Center (10-3) at East Grand Rapids (10-2) – EGR has a Saturday matchup with undefeated Detroit Renaissance, but first up is a key Ottawa-Kent Conference White meeting with league leader Byron Center.
Friday – Escanaba (13-0) at Calumet (9-2) – Two of the best in the Upper Peninsula face off, and they’ll actually see each other a second time Feb. 10 when both could be on their ways to league titles.
Friday – Bay City Western (11-1) at Flint Carman-Ainsworth (10-0) – These are two of three still undefeated in the Saginaw Valley League, with the only loss between them Western’s to Big North Conference contender Traverse City Central.
Friday – Temperance Bedford (12-0) at Saline (11-1) – A Saline loss last week to Grass Lake kept this from being a matchup of undefeated squads, but these two top the Southeastern Conference Red and are among the highly-regarded statewide in Division 1.
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PHOTOS (Top) Dansville sets up to defend during last week's 38-28 win over Bath. (Middle) Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest's Aliyah Ozias (2) drives to the basket against Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood during a 62-32 victory. (Top photo by Click by Christine McCallister. Middle photo by Chris Mudd; click for more from National Photo Scout Action Photos.)
3rd-Year Standouts Have Howell Rolling
January 9, 2018
By Tim Robinson
Special for Second Half
For the best players on Howell’s boys and girls basketball teams, the third year has been the charm.
Those players, Josh Palo and Lexie Miller, have combined talent and experience with confidence while leading their teams to fast starts this winter.
Palo is averaging 26 points per game for the boys, who are 5-1, while Miller is averaging 25 for the girls, who are 7-1.
Both are in their third full season on the varsity; Palo is a junior while Miller is a senior.
They also have this in common: Both would much rather talk about their team’s accomplishments.
“It’s all about the team,” said Miller, who has signed with Wayne State University. “I think we have improvements to make, but we’ve been watching film and can do better. I think we’ll get there if we keep working hard.”
Miller is part of a Highlanders team which features four seniors, including Miller, who have spent three full seasons on the varsity. They have been playing together for years.
Miller, who is 5-foot-6, also qualified for the MHSAA Division 1 cross country meet as a freshman before turning her attention to basketball fulltime. Her speed allows her to blow by defenders. She’s not afraid to put up 3s, nor is she afraid to drive to the basket.
But Howell girls coach Tim Olszewski said it’s her competitiveness and drive that help make her first among equals, and confidence that has made her a leader.
“(Two years ago) we had Erin Honkala, who would call team meetings and say, ‘Listen, this is exactly how things are going to go,’” Olszewski said. “Last year, as juniors, none of them wanted to grab the reins and do that. This year, we’ve got great senior leadership, with Lexie at the forefront of that. She will say something, and because of the way she conducts herself out on the court, you have to listen.”
Palo, a 6-2 junior, plays both guard positions for the Highlanders and does whatever is needed on defense.
“He’s kind of a jack-of-all-trades,” Howell boys coach Nick Simon says. “We do a lot of switching (on defense) and a lot of different things and he’ll play where needed on defense. He’s guarded the other team’s point guard in a couple of games, and he’s guarded the other team’s center a few times. He’s very knowledgeable about the game, and he understands how to play it. That allows him to guard guys down low and out on the perimeter.”
Palo scored 33 points in an overtime win at Linden in the Highlanders’ season opener, displaying the first results of a busy summer.
“I put in a lot of work over the summer,” he said. “I was always in the gym. Kip (teammate Kip French) has a little gym at his house with a shooting machine, and I was out there shooting every day this summer. That’s why I think I’m doing so much better this year. I have more confidence this year, knowing what I can do, when I can score and when I can get my looks.”
Simon led Howell’s boys to a Class A Quarterfinals four seasons ago. That run included the first time Howell had won a District title in nearly 20 years. The Highlanders have gotten to the Regionals the last two seasons, and Palo says he thinks his team can go farther.
“I really do,” he said. “We’ve got a good group of guys here, and we’re all bought in on what we’ve got to do. We’re going hard in practice every day, trying to get better. Everyone gets their role pretty well, and we always go into games confident. We never think we’re the underdog. We can always pull one out if we need to.”
Howell plays in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association, where boys and girls play at alternate sites on the same night.
As a result, neither Palo nor Miller has seen the other play often – but the rare impressions are lasting ones.
“Josh is really shifty,” Miller said, emphasizing the last word as a compliment. “His moves are really good. He finishes really well. I’m really impressed, honestly.”
“She’s real fast,” Palo said. “She can dribble pretty well. She could spot up and hit some 3s for us.”
Both will have opportunities to see the other play in the postseason. But as of now, they have their own dreams and team goals for which they are striving.
“It’s interesting to have a guy who’s had a breakout year and get him back for another year,” Simon said of Palo. “Traditionally, you see guys peak as seniors, and that’s when they come out of their shell. For a guy who’s in his third year on varsity (as a junior), I think that’s a huge advantage. You’re able to get him out of that shell a little earlier.”
Miller, while being the leading scorer on the Howell girls team, is far from the only offensive threat. Opponents who key on Miller learn that, to their dismay. By the time they adjust, often, Miller makes them pay at a key moment.
“She lives for the big moment,” Olszewski says. “She wants the ball in her hands. She’s definitely an ice-in-the-veins kind of kid, and I would have no problem giving her the ball in any situation at the end of a game.”
Palo and Miller both look to stand out in a team concept, and that drive could well determine the final destination for both teams this winter.
PHOTOS: (Left) Howell’s Josh Palo pushes the ball upcourt during a practice this winter. (Right) Lexie Miller works on her shooting; she’s averaging 25 points per game. (Photos by Tim Robinson.)