Breslin Bound: Girls C-D Semis Preview
March 12, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
There will be some who arrive for the MHSAA Class C and D Semifinals on Thursday already quite familiar with the Breslin Center.
Reigning Class D champion St. Ignace is back, this time in Class C. The reigning runner-up from that class, Saginaw Nouvel, also returns. So too does Athens, a Class D Semifinalist a year ago as well.
But the most discussed player will be the one preparing to make herself most at home. Crystal Falls Forest Park is back for the second time in three seasons and features Miss Basketball winner Alexis Gussert, who has signed with Michigan State University for next season.
All four Class C and D Semifinals will be played Thursday, with all four championship games Saturday.
Semifinals - Thursday
Class C
Saginaw Nouvel (20-4) vs. Gobles (26-0), 1 p.m.
Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett (20-3) vs. St. Ignace (23-2), 2:50 p.m.
Class D
Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart (20-5) vs. Marine City Cardinal Mooney (19-5), 6 p.m.
Crystal Falls Forest Park (25-0) vs. Athens (22-3), 7:50 p.m.
Finals - Saturday
Class A - Noon
Class B - 6 pm
Class C - 4 pm
Class D - 10 am
Tickets cost $8 per pair of Semifinals and $10 per two-game Finals session. All Semifinals will be streamed live on MHSAA.TV on a pay-per-view basis. All four Finals will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Detroit, the Class D and A title games on FOX Sports Detroit's primary channel and the Class C and B games on FOX Sports Detroit-PLUS. Free radio broadcasts of all weekend games will be available on MHSAANetwork.com.
And now, a look at the Semifinalists in Class C and D.
Class C
GOBLES
Record/rank: 26-0, No. 6
League finish: First in Southwest Athletic Conference North
Coach: John Curtis, 12th season (183-91)
Championship history: Has not played in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 49-40 (Quarterfinal) and 39-35 over honorable mention Mendon, 56-52 over New Buffalo in Regional Final, 44-40 over Otsego.
Players to watch: Michaela DeKilder, 5-10 sr. F (15.2 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 3.2 spg); Ellen Doyle, 5-10 soph. G (12 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 5.3 apg).
Outlook: Gobles is making its first trip to the MHSAA Semifinals after its second Quarterfinal ever Tuesday. The Tigers dominated the SAC North, winning all of their league games by double digits. Gobles is 46-3 combined over the last two seasons, and DeKilder has been a force throughout. But she has plenty of help – all five starters average at least seven points per game.
GROSSE POINTE WOODS UNIVERSITY LIGGETT
Record/rank: 20-3, unranked
League finish: First in Michigan Independent Athletic Conference Blue
Coach: Omar Ahart, second season (42-6)
Championship history: Class C runner-up 2012 and 2011.
Best wins: 50-47 over No. 1 Blissfield in Quarterfinal, 48-25 over Class D No. 8 Birmingham Roeper.
Players to watch: Jessica Rotzoll, 5-8 jr. F (13.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg). Nia Ahart, 5-7 fr. G (11.6 ppg, 4.6 apg); Lauren Ristovski, 5-9 jr. G (9.8 ppg, 3.9 apg).
Outlook: Three starters return to Breslin after also playing on the 2012 team that finished runner-up, including the team’s lone senior, guard Angelina Evangelista. Sophomore forward Kendall McConico adds another 10.6 points per game to make this lineup full of scoring threats, especially from the perimeter as only one player is taller than 5-9. Rotzoll also had made 40 3-pointers heading into this week.
ST. IGNACE
Record/rank: 23-2, No. 9
League finish: First in Straits Area Conference
Coach: Dorene Ingalls, 15th season (314-59)
Championship history: Four MHSAA titles (most recent 2013), two runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 54-37 over honorable mention McBain in Quarterfinal, 68-34 over Class D No. 10 Brimley, 58-52 over Detroit Renaissance.
Players to watch: Kelley Wright, 5-10 sr. G (16.2 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 4.2 apg, 6.7 spg); Abbey Ostman, 5-9 soph. F (12.3 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 3.2 spg).
Outlook: The Saints are making their fifth straight trip to Breslin Center and are back in Class C after a one-season hiatus to Class D – where St. Ignace won last season’s championship. Wright was a starter the last two trips to East Lansing as well, and Ostman and senior guards Emily Hinsman (9.1 ppg) and Morgan LaVake (5.3 ppg) also started in that 2013 title game win. Wright is a returning all-stater.
SAGINAW NOUVEL
Record/rank: 20-4, No. 10
League finish: Does not play in a league.
Coach: Mary Jo Skiendziel, first season (8-0)
Championship history: Two MHSAA titles (most recent 2008), two runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 49-43 and 51-40 (Regional Semifinal) over No. 3 Reese, 47-35 over No. 5 Sandusky in Regional Final, 47-40 over honorable mention St. Louis in Quarterfinal, 57-37 over Class B No. 5 Clare, 53-47 over Class B No. 8 Flint Powers Catholic.
Players to watch: Rachel McInerny, 6-2 sr. C (11.7 ppg), Laurel Jacqmain, 5-7 soph. G (12.4 ppg)
Outlook: There have been some big changes in the Nouvel program since its last trip to Breslin, but plenty has stayed the same as well. Assistant coach Skiendziel was promoted to head coach last month and has kept the team rolling with three starters back from last season’s five-point loss to Manchester in the championship game. McInerney can be a force in the post, while Jacqmain and junior forward Nicole Buckingham also played big parts as starters during last season’s run.
Class D
ATHENS
Record/rank: 22-3, No. 5
League finish: First in Big 8 Conference
Coach: Calvin Quist, ninth season (166-53)
Championship history: Class D runner-up 2012.
Best wins: 42-39 over honorable mention St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic in Regional Semifinal, 38-20 over honorable mention Wyoming Potter’s House Christian in Regional Final, 38-30 over Concord.
Players to watch: Audrey Oswalt, 5-9 sr. F (12.1 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 3.6 spg); Allison Fuller, 5-7 jr. G (13.5 ppg, 3.5 spg).
Outlook: Athens has become a regular at Finals weekend, with this its third straight trip emerging from a competitive Big 8 Conference. Fuller was named an all-state honorable mention Tuesday. Senior guard Allysha Beal (9.3 ppg) joined Oswalt and Fuller in the starting lineup for last season’s Semifinal loss to Waterford Our Lady, and all three were among that team’s top scorers as well.
CRYSTAL FALLS FOREST PARK
Record/rank: 25-0, No. 1
League finish: First in Skyline Conference
Coach: Jeff Syrjanen, ninth season (169-37)
Championship history: Class D runner-up 1995.
Best wins: 69-56 over No. 2 Posen in Quarterfinal, 69-52 over No. 4 Eben Junction Superior Central in Regional Final, 56-21 over honorable mention Dollar Bay in Regional Semifinal, 82-38 (District Semifinal) and 61-28 over honorable mention Watersmeet.
Players to watch: Alexis Gussert, 6-0 sr. F (29.4 ppg, 7.7 apg, 11.9 rpg, 1.6 bpg, 4.0 spg); Maria Stankewicz, 5-5 soph. G (7.6 ppg, 2.8 apg).
Outlook: Forest Park is making one more run at its first MHSAA championship with one of the leading scorers in MHSAA history in Gussert, who was named Associated Press Class D Player of the Year on Monday. Gussert – who also led the Trojans to the Semifinals as a sophomore – broke a single-season MHSAA record with her 101st 3-pointer in the Quarterfinal. Senior center Kendra Campbell and junior guard Sierra Robarge join Stankewicz in adding 7.5 points per game.
MARINE CITY CARDINAL MOONEY
Record/rank: 19-5, No. 9
League finish: First in Detroit Catholic League East
Coach: Susan Everhart, 26th season (record N/A).
Championship history: Class D runner-up 2009.
Best wins: 39-20 over honorable mention Kingston in Regional Final, 43-34, 53-51 and 43-36 (Quarterfinal) over Clarkston Everest Collegiate, 49-34 over Class B No. 6 Ypsilanti Arbor Prep.
Players to watch: Katie Theut, 5-10 sr. G (20.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 4.3 apg, 1.4 bpg); Madison Southers, 6-0 sr. C (11 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 5.2 bpg).
Outlook: Cardinal Mooney is back at Breslin for the first time since that runner-up season of 2009 and with a starting lineup featuring four seniors. Theut was named all-state Tuesday and Southers received an honorable mention. The Cardinals feature further frontcourt strength with 5-9 senior forward Lauren Higgins, who averages 10.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. Cardinal Mooney played a host of Class A, B and C schools as well, with four losses coming to those more sizable programs.
MOUNT PLEASANT SACRED HEART
Record/rank: 20-5, unranked
League finish: Tied for first in Mid-State Activities Conference
Coach: Damon Brown, sixth season (107-33)
Championship history: Class D runner-up 2008.
Best wins: 49-35 over No. 3 Frankfort in Quarterfinal, 55-40 and 46-34 (District Final) over honorable mention Big Rapids Crossroads Academy, 34-23 over Class C No. 8 Carson City-Crystal.
Players to watch: Sara Hansen, 5-6 sr. G (19.1 ppg, 3.1 apg, 5.4 spg); Averi Gamble, 6-3 soph. C (12.7 ppg 8.0 rpg, 2.3 bpg).
Outlook: The Irish were stopped in the Quarterfinals two of the last four seasons, but broke through with an upset Tuesday. Still, it can’t be considered a huge surprise, given Sacred Heart’s losses – one to Class C Quarterfinalist Saginaw Nouvel, another to Class C No. 8 Carson City Crystal and a third to Class B No. 5 Clare. Hansen is the lone senior, but gets additional help in the backcourt from junior Riley Terwilliger (9.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.7 apg.).
PHOTO: Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart's Sara Hansen (2) will lead the Irish in its first MHSAA Semifinal since 2008.
Oscoda Teams Rise From Past to Perfection
February 8, 2019
By Chris Dobrowolski
Special for Second Half
OSCODA — The tide has turned in Oscoda.
After struggling year after year in boys and girls basketball, the Owls are enjoying quite a turnaround on the hardcourt this winter as both teams enter the final month of the regular season undefeated — just one of two schools in the state to be collectively unbeaten in boys and girls hoops.
The boys team boasts a record of 15-0 and is 9-0 in the North Star League Big Dipper division, while the girls squad has cruised to a 12-0 mark, including going 5-0 in league play.
It hasn’t always been that way, however.
“There’s a lot of years where we really struggled,” said Oscoda varsity boys basketball coach Seth Alda, a 2003 graduate of the school who is in his seventh year at the helm. “It wasn’t that long ago. There were a lot of years where we not only struggled but a lot of teams beat us by quite a bit.”
The boys team has reached a stretch where it has failed to win a league championship in 27 years or District title in 18 straight seasons, while the girls program became infamous for having lost 89 consecutive games at one point.
“We went almost four and a half years without winning a game,” said Oscoda varsity girls basketball coach Mark Toppi, who took over the girls program four years ago. “They had only had a couple wins in the past three years before I took the job.”
The Owls had been caught in a rut for most of the last few decades, partly due to a precipitous decline in the school’s enrollment after Wurtsmith Air Force Base was decommissioned in 1993. As families left the area, Oscoda became a shell of itself. At one time Class B playing within the North East Michigan Conference, the school was unable to remain competitive with its league rivals as its student population was slashed in half. It eventually made sense to leave the NEMC, and Oscoda toiled as an independent before finding a landing spot in the Huron Shores Conference, which eventually morphed into a reconfigured North Star League in 2014.
Things began to trend in the Owls’ favor last season as a group of talented and ambitious athletes started making their mark. It’s a core of players who have gotten better by working hard, dedicating themselves, including honing their games and picking up additional competition on local travel teams.
“We kind of saw it coming,” said Alda. “Last year we were 14-8, which was our first winning season in 15 years. We returned a lot of players off that team. Last year we were young, and this year we’re still young. We have a lot coming back next year too.”
The Owls’ main core consists of juniors Brayden Mallak, Gabe Kellstrom, Devin Thomas and Chance Kruse, as well as sophomores Owen Franklin and Gavin Lueck.
“We’re guard-oriented,” said Alda. “We like to get up and down the court. We press. We shoot a lot of threes. Typically, we go four out and one in — four guards and one post player. We like to push the tempo. We like to increase possessions. We’ve got three kids (Mallak, Kellstrom and Franklin) who are shooting over 35 percent — a couple of them over 40 — from the 3-point line.”
The girls team managed to come up with 13 wins a year ago despite not having a senior on the roster. That was part of the ascent from three victories in Toppi’s first season, to seven wins two years ago. The 13-9 record in 2017-18 earned Toppi the Associated Press’ Class C Coach of the Year Award.
With all that returning experience from the best girls team Oscoda had seen in years, the Owls were primed for an even better season.
“I could tell we were going to have a good year, just because of all the work they put in over the summer,” said Toppi. “We had a lot of success (last summer). We play up all the time whenever we go to team camps. We always try to play Class B or Class A schools. We take a lot of beatings in the summer. This year was the first year that we were winning against some of those schools. That was a nice sign. I try to tell them, ‘If we’re losing by 15 to a Class A school, that’s not bad.’ This year we were beating some of them.”
The Oscoda girls team has a bit more experience than the boys, with senior Katelyn Etherton in her fourth year as a starting guard. She reached the 1,000-point mark in her career earlier this year. Junior post player Lauren Langley is another key veteran who teams with Etherton, and each average close to 17 points per game. Sophomore Macy Kellstrom leads the team in steals and assists as the point guard, and classmate Izzy Hulverson is averaging a double-double in points and rebounds.
The problem the girls team has discovered is it isn’t getting pushed by the teams on its schedule. The Owls are winning by an average of 34 points per game. A 41-25 win over Tawas was the closest to date. Toppi hopes not having a close game during the regular season won’t hurt the Owls when they get to the postseason. For now, he’s just focused on getting the Owls ready for a tournament run.
“I’m just trying to get them to play hard and practice hard,” he said. “I don’t want them to look at the schedule. We’re still trying to get competition in practice and get better every day.”
The boys games have been a little less one-sided, particularly two clashes against league rival Mio. Oscoda beat the Thunderbolts both times, but one was a seven-point win in a back-and-forth game a week ago and the other was a 35-33 nail-biter earlier this season that wasn’t decided until Mallak drove the length of the court and scored on a buzzer beater.
The buzz has caught up to the Owls as the wins have continued to pile up for both teams.
“Around the school I feel like everybody’s wearing Oscoda across their chest a lot more proudly than what it was a while ago,” said Franklin. “Wherever you go, people know who you are now.
“Every practice Mr. Alda talks to us about how we could be the first in so many years to do this (or that). Early in the year we were 8-0 and he was like, ‘You’ve got a chance to go 9-0. That hasn’t happened in 30 years. He talks to us a lot about making history.”
The struggles the school endured in basketball are not forgotten, but both teams are doing their part to make better memories on the court. The girls already snapped a 48-game losing streak to nearby rival Tawas, and the boys swept the Braves for the first time in 20 years. The boys team is also close to ending that elusive conference championship drought, and both teams have their eyes on earning some District tournament hardware.
“I keep talking about how exciting it is when you get to tournament time, if you can make a run,” said Alda, who was a freshman on Oscoda’s last basketball Regional champion in 2000. “This is just a really cool thing to be a part of.”
Chris Dobrowolski has covered northern Lower Peninsula sports since 1999 at the Ogemaw County Herald, Alpena News, Traverse City Record-Eagle and currently as sports editor at the Antrim Kalkaska Review since 2016. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Lauren Langley, left, and Brayden Mallak have been key to Oscoda’s perfect starts; Mallak here hits the game-winning shot against Mio. (Middle) Katelyn Etherton beats everyone to the basket during a win over Lincoln Alcona. (Below) The Owls celebrate that Mio victory Dec. 13. (Photos courtesy of the Oscoda girls and boys basketball programs.)