Breslin Bound: Girls Report Post-Break
January 6, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The new year and end of break means midseason is approaching for MHSAA girls basketball teams – and the elite are beginning to separate from the rest of the pack.
See below for four teams from each class that shined especially brightly while school was out. Also new from Second Half this week – we’ll print by class each Monday a list of the undefeated teams left in Michigan and add in those with one and two losses as the season rolls on and the undefeated are down to just a few. (Click for this week’s list.)
Class A
Detroit Martin Luther King (7-0) – The Crusaders are again among the elite regardless of class, and no opponent has gotten within 23 points – including one-loss Port Huron Northern, discussed more below.
Grand Rapids Union (4-1) – The Red Hawks stumbled to just four wins last season but equaled that total with a 63-59 victory over McBain on Dec. 27 at the Motor City Roundball Classic. The day before, Union fell by only eight to strong Bay City John Glenn.
Port Huron Northern (6-1) – The Huskies did lose to King but have dominated locally with the second win this season over Marysville claiming that school's invitational title Saturday.
Warren Cousino (5-1) – Despite losing big to Bloomfield Hills Marian during the second week, Cousino has beaten its other opponents all by at least 14 points and swept Dexter and Northville to win the latter’s tournament at the end of December.
Class B
Kingsford (5-2) – The Flivvers entered the break on a two-game losing streak, but did defeat West Iron County 57-27 to break the brief downward run; Kingsford is only three wins from equaling last season’s total.
Manistee (7-0) – After going 22-1 last season, Manistee hasn’t slowed a bit in dominating its first seven opponents by an average of 30 points per.
Spring Lake (6-0) – Spring Lake turned a 2-5 start last season into 13-8, but is on the move earlier this winter with only one of its wins by fewer than 19 points.
Wayland (6-0) – The Wildcats are nearly halfway to last season’s 13 wins after winning the Blue division of the Cornerstone University Holiday Invitational; only Grand Rapids Christian in that title-deciding game has come closer than 20 points.
Class C
Galesburg-Augusta (5-2) – The Rams should be contenders in the Kalamazoo Valley Association and won their holiday tournament with victories over Sturgis and Bronson; the losses came to Class B Plainwell and Battle Creek Pennfield.
Laingsburg (6-0) – The Wolfpack heads into 2015 coming off wins over league rivals Fowler (33-29) and Pewamo-Westphalia (36-33) and with three more over Class B teams.
Sandusky (7-0) – The Redskins are following up nicely on last season’s Regional Final run and have only one loss total over the last two regular seasons.
Ypsilanti Arbor Prep (7-0) – Arbor Prep’s perfect start included a pair of strong wins at the end of December, 58-53 over Dayton Carroll of Ohio and 59-55 over one-loss Grand Rapids Catholic Central.
Class D
Bellaire (4-0) – The Eagles finished second to Gaylord St. Mary in the Ski Valley Conference last season and get their first of two matchups with the Snowbirds on Friday.
Big Rapids Crossroads Academy (6-0) – The Cougars could be on their way to repeating in the West Michigan D League with all of their wins – including five in league – by at least 16 points; second place Bear Lake is next up.
Mackinaw City (6-0) – The Comets have started 6-0 for the second straight season and lead the Northern Lakes Conference with a big win over Boyne Falls the highlight so far.
McBain Northern Michigan Christian (5-0) – These Comets are already halfway to equaling last season’s win total with 30 points their closest win margin so far.
PHOTO: Detroit Martin Luther King’s perfect run has included a win against Chicago Crete Monee during the Detroit Public School League Holiday Classic. (Photo courtesy of Detroit Public School League.)
Kent City Finds Shooting Touch to Reach 1st Final
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
April 7, 2021
EAST LANSING – Kent City has overcome every obstacle this season, and Friday the undefeated Eagles will play Grass Lake for the Division 3 girls basketball championship after defeating Calumet 59-53 in a Semifinal on Wednesday at the Breslin Center.
Grass Lake (19-1) advanced to Friday’s championship game when Hemlock opted out of the tournament Wednesday morning. Both Kent City and Grass Lake will be playing in a Final for the first time.
The Eagles (21-0) opened up an 11-point lead to start the fourth quarter Wednesday and held on despite the Copper Kings getting to within 54-50.
Kent City had a balanced offensive attack with Jenna Harrison scoring 15 points, Madelyn Geers 14, Kenzie Bowers 13, and sister Lexie Bowers 10.
“We just had to take a deep breath and relax,’’ said Harrison. “We knew eventually the shots would start falling.’’
Elli Djerf led the Copper Kings (20-1) with 22 points.
“She kept us in the game; she played her heart out,’’ said Calumet coach Matt Laho. “We needed to have a couple more players go with her, but unfortunately that didn’t happen.
“We had some defensive breakdowns in the third quarter, some bad rotations. It’s easy to make shots when you’re wide open.’’
Kent City pressured Calumet from the start as both teams struggled offensively in the first quarter. Both teams were under 25-percent shooting over those first eight minutes as the teams managed just 14 points for a 7-7 tie.
Geers, who scored four points in the first quarter, picked up her second foul with 9.8 seconds left in the period. Calumet then went on an 8-3 run to start the second quarter, using a triple from Djerf to take a 15-10 lead and force Kent City coach Scott Carlson to call a timeout.
Consecutive 3-pointers from Lexie Bowers got the Eagles back to within two of the lead, 17-15, as the offenses heated up.
A 10-0 run including consecutive threes from Bowers gave the Eagles a 24-19 advantage. But Djerf scored the last three points of the quarter to get the Copper Kings to within 24-22 at halftime.
“We knew eventually we’d make shots,’’ said Carlson.
Strom and Djerf scored the first six points of the third quarter to give Calumet a 28-24 lead, but Kent City’s offense, led by Geers, responded with a 20-9 run to take a 44-37 lead on a triple and floater by Kenzie Bowers.
Harrison finished the frantic quarter with a triple to give Kent City a 49-41 lead heading into the final eight minutes.
When Geers scored to start the fourth quarter, the Eagles had their largest lead of the game, 51-41.
Up 11, 52-41, Kent City went to its delay game, forcing the Copper Kings to foul.
“We have enough ball-handlers to run clock for five minutes.’’ said Carlson. “They were tired, and playing defense that long wears you out.’’
Lexie Bowers led Kent City with 10 points while Marybeth Halonen had seven for the Copper Kings.
“We’re living the dream right now on the big stage,” Carlson said. “I think it’s a huge advantage for us having played today (while Grass Lake didn’t).’’
PHOTOS: (Top) Kent City's Jenna Harrison (4) makes her way around a Calumet defender Wednesday at Breslin Center. (Middle) Madelyn Geers (24) defends as Calumet's Jana Loukus looks for an opening. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)