Breslin Bound: 2024-25 Girls Report Week 10
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 10, 2025
We’re just three weeks away from the start of Girls Basketball Districts and two weeks from announcing this season’s brackets, and every day we get closer becomes a better one to start studying the Michigan Power Ratings (MPR) used to determine those pairings.
The MPR tables are searchable by Division, team and District number and update as results are entered. This season, for the first time, entire District brackets will be seeded – making every matchup, including those referred to below – important in deciding who will face who first when we get to March.
“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. Grand Rapids South Christian 58, Grand Rapids West Catholic 51 The Sailors (15-2) picked up a half-game lead in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Gold standings by avenging a 62-49 loss from Jan. 10 to West Catholic (14-2), which made the Division 2 Semifinals a year ago.
2. Pewamo-Westphalia 59, Fowler 53 The Pirates (16-0) are undefeated and took a two-game lead in the Central Michigan Athletic Conference, and they also remain the only team to defeat Fowler (13-2) this winter.
3. Ovid-Elsie 41, New Lothrop 39 (OT) The Marauders (15-2) also edged ahead by half a game in the Mid-Michigan Activities Conference by avenging a 46-37 loss to New Lothrop (14-2) from Dec. 20.
4. Grass Lake 58, Michigan Center 45 Grass Lake (14-3) needs one more win to clinch at least a share of the Cascades Conference East after finishing a regular-season sweep of the Cardinals (14-2), who are tied for second.
5. Niles Brandywine 45, Vicksburg 28 The reigning Division 3 runner-up Bobcats (16-0) continue to look ready for another tournament run after adding an impressive win over the Division 2 Bulldogs (14-2).
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
Saginaw Heritage (14-3) The Hawks have climbed to No. 4 overall in Division 1 MPR with their combination of a tough schedule and plenty of success navigating it. They are tied for second and one game back of Midland in the Saginaw Valley League because of a Jan. 28 loss to the Chemics (14-1), and the other defeats came to Howell (12-5) and Frankenmuth (14-3) to go with wins over Sanford Meridian (12-2), Detroit Cass Tech (13-6), Freeland (12-3), Hemlock (14-3), Berkley (12-6) and last week Mount Pleasant (10-5). Wins over two more opponents could give Heritage especially sizable boosts – Flint Powers Catholic (12-3) on Friday and Kingston (12-1) in the regular-season finale Feb. 25.
Utica Eisenhower (16-1) After finishing 10-13 just a season ago, Eisenhower is potentially closing in on a Macomb Area Conference Red title with its only defeat this winter to reigning Division 2 champion Detroit Edison (12-3) on Jan. 4. Eisenhower handed rival Utica Ford (15-1) its only defeat, 64-49 on Jan. 28, and that result has the Eagles a game ahead in the Red with the rematch finishing the league schedule Feb. 21. Eisenhower also has nice wins over Fraser (11-6), New Baltimore Anchor Bay (14-3) and Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest (11-4) and takes on Armada (13-1) three days before facing Ford again.
DIVISION 2
Parma Western (15-1) A District title to finish off last season’s 15-10 run may have provided momentum as Western has rolled this season. The Panthers opened with a 61-51 win over West Catholic, which as noted above made the Division 2 Semifinals last season, and on Jan. 23 dealt reigning Division 2 champion Edison a 53-48 defeat. Western leads in the Interstate 8 Athletic Conference by half a game with a rematch against second-place Coldwater (11-6) coming up Feb. 18, and the Panthers also have wins over Battle Creek Lakeview (11-5), Dexter (12-5), Marshall (11-4) and Williamston (10-6). That lone loss to Division 1 contender Belleville (16-1) gave Western another look at elite competition.
Wixom St. Catherine (14-2) The Stars have won 11 straight since finishing December with a pair of losses to Division 1 South Lyon (15-1) and Plymouth (12-6). St. Catherine has clinched the Catholic High School League AA title and is coming off a one-point win over Birmingham Seaholm (11-6). A pair of wins over Allen Park Cabrini (10-4) helped secure the league title, with others over Clarkston Everest Collegiate (12-2) and White Lake Lakeland (11-5) also highlighting the run. Two more opportunities to rise are coming up against Clawson (15-1) tonight and Dearborn Heights Crestwood (14-2) on Feb. 27.
DIVISION 3
Hart (9-0) A 41-32 win over second-place Shelby (14-3) last week has Hart one win away from clinching a share of the West Michigan Conference Rivers championship and ran the Pirates’ league winning streak to 52 over the last five seasons. The only defeat this winter was 53-52 on Dec. 13 to Fremont (15-2), and that came just three days after a 37-34 win over Shelby in their first meeting. Hart bounced back from the defeat with a 46-42 win over Spring Lake (10-6), and the Pirates also have a win over Ravenna (10-6) with that rematch coming up Feb. 19. Hart also will travel to Muskegon Western Michigan Christian (8-2) on Saturday and host Morley Stanwood (11-4) on Feb. 25.
Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep (14-2) A 2-2 start to this season has Hackett second in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Valley and needing help to catch leader Kalamazoo Christian for a share of the title. But Hackett has won 12 games straight, including rematches with Christian (13-3) and Schoolcraft to avenge those two defeats, and the Irish on Friday finished a regular-season sweep of Lawton (12-3). Hackett also has downed Onekama (12-4) and Galesburg-Augusta (10-6) during this run and can continue to build momentum for the postseason with nice matchups on the way against Centreville (10-3), South Haven (12-2) and Gobles (11-5).
DIVISION 4
Genesee Christian (12-2) The Soldiers have won 14 games both of the last two seasons and have a great path to surpass that total over the next few weeks after opening this impressive run with wins over Fenton (10-6) and Ovid-Elsie (15-2). Genesee Christian – playing as an independent this season – also owns victories over Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary (12-3) and Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (11-4), with the losses to Flint Hamady (12-1) and Adrian Lenawee Christian (11-6). Matchups with Division 2 Corunna (10-6) and Linden (10-4) should provide more prep for the District, where the Soldiers could run into Everest again after falling to the Mountaineers to close the last two winters.
L'Anse (13-2) Despite a tough 52-49 overtime loss to Baraga on Jan. 30, L’Anse still controls some of its destiny in the Copper Mountain Conference with Lake Linden-Hubbell (12-4) and league leader Ewen-Trout Creek (15-1) coming up this week. It’s a great spot to be in as the Purple Hornets are coming off back-to-back sub-.500 seasons but have 12 wins this season by at least 15 points to go with a one-point victory over Calumet (10-5). L’Anse also has downed Baraga (12-4) in nonleague play and Felch North Dickinson (10-5), with the other loss to Division 2 Houghton (12-4). A second matchup with Lake Linden-Hubbell and meeting with Hancock (10-4) highlight the final weeks of the regular season.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Monday – St. Charles (12-3) at Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart (12-0) – Sacred Heart is undefeated in Mid-State Activities Conference play and St. Charles has one loss, from their Jan. 24 meeting won by the Irish 49-40.
Monday – Yale (15-1) at Sandusky (14-0) – Yale leads the Blue Water Area Conference and Sandusky tops the Big Thumb Conference Black.
Tuesday – Flint Powers Catholic (12-3) at Midland (14-1) – The Chemics lead the Saginaw Valley League by a game ahead of Powers and Heritage, with four league games remaining for all three and Powers at Heritage on Friday.
Friday – Wayne Memorial (12-5) at Belleville (16-1) – Wayne’s 57-52 win over Belleville on Feb. 1 had statewide impact, and the rematch will get plenty of attention as well as likely determine the champion(s) of the Kensington Lakes Activities Association East.
Sunday – Detroit Public School League Tournament Final at Wayne State – Four teams remain in pursuit: Renaissance (17-1), Martin Luther King (9-8), Cass Tech (13-6) and Mumford (8-4).
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PHOTOS (Top) Lansing Christian’s Sophia Carrillo reaches to collect a loose ball during her team’s 43-37 double overtime over Bath on Feb. 5. (Middle) Ishpeming's Mya Hemmer attempts to put up a shot while surrounded by Gladstone defenders during Gladstone’s 53-46 win on Feb. 4. (Lansing Christian/Bath photo by Click by Christine McCallister. Ishpeming/Gladstone photo by Cara Kamps.)
Thompson Erases Doubt, Makes History
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 14, 2017
When Jacara Thompson tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee this past summer, she thought she was done playing basketball.
The fact it was the second torn ACL of her high school career, along with the timing of the injury, had the Swartz Creek superstar doubting her future.
“I thought I wasn’t going to play basketball anymore,” Thompson said. “This is my second knee blowout and I need to be done – that was my first thought. I was going to miss my whole senior year, and that was really hard.”
Thompson proved her initial thoughts wrong, however, and is back on the court making history. Recently, she broke a school record that had stood since 1979, setting the all-time mark for scoring at Swartz Creek. She had scored 1,179 career points through Feb. 10, now well ahead of the former mark of 1,087.
“I don’t even know how to explain it,” Thompson said of setting the record. “Nobody in my family has ever broken a big record like that or anything. It really didn’t hit me until people started telling me congratulations.”
Those congratulations would have been well deserved for any player hitting that mark. For those who have watched Thompson overcome two major knee surgeries and break the record despite missing 17 games, the moment was even more special.
“I was extremely proud,” Swartz Creek girls basketball coach Adrian Trzebiatowski said. “As a player, you have a tremendous amount of respect for anyone that achieves that goal. As a coach, to see a young woman grow up, to blossom, to develop into a very good basketball player and an amazing person, it is an extreme sense of pride and admiration for what she’s gone through.”
It was in Trzebiatowski’s second season at Swartz Creek that Thompson entered high school, and the slashing guard was making an impact on the varsity team as a freshman. But her debut lasted only six games as Thompson’s first torn ACL, in her right knee, came early in her career.
She came back with a strong sophomore campaign, and as a junior joined the state’s elite, averaging 25 points per game and totaling 501. She was named Class A all-state second-team by The Associated Press.
“Early in her career she was a slasher – she could take a bump or two or three and still get to the basket,” Trzebiatowski said. “Last year we really committed to lifting weights, and she could finish with contact. She was able to get herself to the line and finish layups. I wish there was a stat column for how many and-ones she has. She was a strong player who could really plow and weave her way to the basket.”
Thompson also was developing a stronger mid-range game and working on her outside shot to keep defenders even more off-balance. Before she could showcase her advancing skills and build on the momentum of her junior season, she suffered her second ACL tear.
While an initial doubt she could return again was in her own mind, it was something her coach never saw.
“She knew how to rehab, and knew what she had to do to get back,” Trzebiatowski said. “As far as mental toughness, Jacara overcoming this is probably one of the toughest athletes I’ll ever coach.”
As Thompson worked her way back again, she said it was her Swartz Creek teammates who helped her get to the right place mentally.
“I finally got over it when I started to practice with my team,” Thompson said. “I couldn’t scrimmage with them, but they made me feel even better, that you’re going to be even stronger when you come back.”
Trzebiatowski said the team had to learn to play without Thompson over the summer, but despite that, Thompson’s impact on the young Dragons squad remained strong.
“Everybody looked at her as a leader, but I don’t think she’s always felt that way until this year,” Trzebiatowski said. “When we actually voted for team captains, the team decided before we even voted that Jacara would unanimously receive the vote for team captain. That’s never happened to me.”
Thompson missed the first two games of the season, but has come back strong. She’s averaging 17 points per game and has now added a more dangerous 3-point shot to her repertoire, something she said already has caused opposing defenders to take notice.
“I kind of always knew I had to get better at it,” she said. “Shooting wasn’t really my big thing. I always loved driving and getting to the basket and to the free throw line, but I knew I had to add an outside game. I feel like (defenders) look for me to go the basket every time, but now that I have an outside shot, they’re going to have to check me. They’ve caught on. They call me a shooter now.”
She said she feels like her old self now, although it took a while to get there.
“I’d say probably about 90 percent of it is mental, really,” Thompson said. “Because you have to think about what move am I going to do? Am I going to tear my ACL again? You think about every move you do when you’ve been through two ACL surgeries.”
Thompson is undecided on her basketball future, but said she wants to play at the college level. Her injuries have helped her to focus on her off-court future, however. No matter where basketball takes her, Thompson wants to study to become a physical therapist.
“I had always thought about going overseas and even trying to make it to the WNBA,” she said. “I don’t think I want that anymore. I want to do something to help people with ACL injuries.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Swartz Creek's Jacara Thompson prepares to shoot a free throw. (Middle) Thompson, back this season after multiple knee surgeries during her career, looks to get past a defender. (Photos courtesy of the Swartz Creek girls basketball program.)