Breslin Bound: Girls Report Post-Break
January 8, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Many of the girls basketball teams impressing us most this season are those we're used to watching march to the Breslin Center every winter.
But others are popping back on the radar in a big way for the first time in a few years – and this week's list includes a few of those as well.
The following 10 teams were among those most impressive while school was out these last few weeks. Records and scores are based on those submitted to the MHSAA.com Score Center.
1. Muskegon Oakridge (11-0) – Oakridge now has won 24 straight regular-season games including a pair at this season’s Oakridge Holiday Tournament, an event it did not win a year ago.
2. Southfield-Lathrup (7-0) – The Chargers have been expected to dominate, and they’re making good on that forecast. Their only close game was still a 51-45 win over a solid Ypsilanti Arbor team.
3. Flat Rock (8-0) – The Rams showed signs of this ability going 16-7 last season. A 47-44 win over a strong Eaton Rapids team is among those most impressive so far this winter.
4. Center Line (6-0) – After opening last season 3-0 and finishing with just four wins total, the Panthers have won all of their games this winter by at least 20 points.
5. Goodrich (7-1) – On one hand, Goodrich lost for the first time since the end of the 2010-11 season. On the other, that loss came to Twinsburg, Ohio, meaning the Martians still haven’t lost to an in-state team in more than a year – and beat Class A power East Lansing the day before that defeat.
6. Grosse Pointe South (6-0) – It’s been hard not to mention this reigning Class A Semifinalist yet. And 15 and eight-point wins on back-to-back days over Livonia Ladywood and Brownstown Woodhaven made it even tougher to wait any longer.
7. Freeland (6-0) – Michigan State recruit Tori Jankoska and her teammates are favorites to make another run at Class B after reaching the Semifinals last season. A one-point win over Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett should build some momentum for that effort.
8. Calumet (6-1) – This volleyball school is showing some skills on the basketball court as well and is already halfway to last season’s win total. On Thursday, Calumet handed L’Anse its first loss this winter.
9. Saginaw Valley Lutheran (5-1) – The Chargers have been elite for a few seasons now, and can add a 69-40 win over much larger Saginaw Arthur Hill to recent accomplishments. Their only loss this season was to Freeland on opening night.
10. Saginaw Nouvel (6-1) – The frequently-powerful Panthers are off to another nice run. They bounced back from that lone loss, to undefeated Reese, with a 46-44 win over Dearborn Divine Child.
PHOTO: Grosse Pointe South's Aliezza Brown looks for an open teammate while being guarded by multiple Brownstown-Woodhaven players during a win at the end of December. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Heritage Girls Pushing for Breslin Return
January 6, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Saginaw Heritage girls basketball coach Vonnie DeLong doesn’t start a senior this season and has three freshmen playing prominent roles.
But she also has three starters back from the lineup that made the Class A Semifinals a year ago – and the Hawks' sights are set on contending again this March.
Heritage is the Applebee’s Team of the Month for December thanks to a 6-0 start that included a key Saginaw Valley League North win over Midland and ended with a 39-29 victory over reigning Class B champion Detroit Country Day in the marquee game of the Motor City Roundball Classic.
The Hawks finished 22-4 last season and 16-5 in 2013-14, their first under DeLong, who was part of three MHSAA championship teams as a player at Carrollton from 1979-1982 and coached Saginaw Arthur Hill’s Class A runner-up team in 1998. Heritage improved to 7-0 on Tuesday with a 38-10 win over Mount Pleasant and has won 13 of its last 14 games dating to last season.
“The expectations from the kids’ perspective are very high,” DeLong said. “They want to win. They want to get back to the Breslin. With as many kids as we had coming back, and with what we added, it’s a realistic goal for them – but they know it's going to be hard to do.”
Heritage has beaten all of its opponents but one by at least 10 points, downing Flushing by only nine, 36-27, on opening night. Five of seven players who saw the floor in the Semifinal loss to DeWitt last season are back, including returning starters Jaela Richardson, Haley Brefka and Courtney McInerney. Richardson is a sophomore; Brefka and McInerney are juniors. Senior center Jenna Falkenberg and sophomore guard Jessi Bicknell both also played at Breslin last March.
But the lineup, while experienced, is paced in scoring by a pair of freshmen. Mallory McCartney and Moira Joiner lead the balanced offensive effort averaging 9.6 and 8.3 points per game, respectively, with Joiner adding 7.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and three steals per game and McCartney grabbing 2.5 steals per contest.
Richardson grabs 7.2 rebounds to go with 7.3 points per game, while Bicknell averages 6.4 points and 2.5 steals and McInerney grabs six rebounds per game.
The Hawks also are giving up only 23 points on average. No opponent has scored 30. Country Day's 29 points were their fewest since scoring 30 in a Quarterfinal loss to Flint Powers Catholic in 2013.
“Country Day is so good, and every year; they’ve just been phenomenal,” said DeLong, who also coached at Saginaw Valley State University and played at Notre Dame and Michigan. “For our kids to get a win like that, against such a good team, it’s huge. Especially for the young kids.”
Past Teams of the Month:
November: Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard volleyball – Report
October: Benton Harbor football – Report
September: Mason and Okemos boys soccer – Report
PHOTOS: (Top) Heritage's Jessi Bicknell pushes the ball upcourt with Jaela Richardson calling for the pass. (Middle) Heritage got past Country Day, 39-29, to cap December. (Photos courtesy of Chris Bicknell.)