Breslin Bound: Girls Report Week 10
February 6, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
We’re getting late into this girls basketball season. But that hardly means everything is figured out, even as league titles are being awarded and tournament contenders are keeping an eye on possible opponents who could crop up down the road.
See Ypsilanti Community, which fell for the first time this season Saturday, to Muskegon. Or Goodrich and Byron, two Flint-area teams who also took unexpected defeats last week to Davison and Durand, respectively.
Bottom line: A lot of teams still have the chance to create an exciting finish this winter even as odds look stacked again them. Read on to learn about a few more that have stuck out in this week’s Breslin Bound report, powered by MI Student Aid.
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Carson City-Crystal 35, Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart 32 – The Eagles broke the 19-game regular-season winning streak of the reigning Class D runner-up, and followed this win by also avenging its other loss this season to Merrill.
2. Detroit Country Day 60, Southfield Arts & Technology 51 – In a season of impressive wins, this one ranks right up there for the Yellowjackets, with the Warriors falling to 9-4 versus one of the state’s toughest schedules.
3. Williamston 74, East Lansing 47 – The Hornets have put together a strong run over the last two seasons, but this win over a 13-2 Class A team has to be among the most impressive victories during that time.
4. Detroit Edison PSA 43, Flint Hamady 39 – Sandwiched between losses to Class A Detroit Martin Luther King and Class B Country Day, DEPSA downed Class C Hamady, the only team of the three it could see again in the postseason.
5. Edwardsburg 57, Buchanan 39 – The Eddies backed up their status as a rising team in Class B by handing the first loss this season to Buchanan, which then fell again to rival Comstock in its next game.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each class making sparks:
CLASS A
Brownstown Woodhaven (11-3) – The Warriors have won eight straight and beat Wyandotte Roosevelt 53-51 last week to move into first place with the Bears in the Downriver League. Woodhaven finished second in the league last season to Allen Park, with which it split this winter.
Roseville (10-5) – The Panthers have won seven straight to clinch the Macomb Area Conference Silver championship. One more win will guarantee an improvement on last season’s 10-10 overall finish as well.
CLASS B
Detroit Country Day (13-0) – The Yellowjackets have come back from last season’s Semifinal loss to Grand Rapids South Christian on a tear. Last week might have been their best with the above-mentioned win over Southfield Arts & Technology and another over DEPSA, and Country Day is the only team that has beaten Detroit Martin Luther King.
Kingsley (10-3) – The Stags were quietly cruising to a solid season when they made a big wave by handing Kalkaska its first loss this season, 53-43, on Thursday. The victory also tied Kingsley’s win total for all of last season.
CLASS C
Homer (12-3) – The Trojans trail leader Springport by two wins in the Big 8 Conference but have a win over the Spartans and see them again Tuesday. They also see second-place Jonesville again next week, controlling their destiny as they look to repeat as league champions.
Kingston (13-2) – A quarterfinalist in Class D last season, Kingston is continuing its surge but now in Class C. The Cardinals sit first in the North Central Thumb League and have won nine straight since falling to still-undefeated Sandusky in December.
CLASS D
Custer Mason County Eastern (12-2) – The Cardinals have doubled up last season’s six wins in taking the lead in the West Michigan D League. A 61-60 win over Bear Lake on Thursday avenged one of those two losses this winter.
Waterford Our Lady (12-2) – Coming off making the MHSAA Semifinals last season, the Lakers are building for another run with 11 straight wins after opening 1-2. Those losses, though, came against arguably the Class B favorite in Country Day and 12-win Class A Clarkston.
Can't-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Monday – Marquette (14-1) at Houghton (15-0) – From a strong group of Upper Peninsula teams, these might be the best in addition to being among the largest of likely MHSAA title contenders from that side of the bridge.
Tuesday – Birch Run (11-3) at Frankenmuth (11-4) – The Eagles needed a two-point win over Millington on Thursday to run their Tri-Valley Conference East win streak to 105, but the Panthers may present the toughest challenge of this season.
Tuesday – Sandusky (14-0) at Reese (13-1) – The Thumb has some of the state’s best Class C teams, and these might be the top of the crop, with one undefeated and the other winners of 13 straight.
Tuesday – Marine City (13-1) at Ypsilanti Arbor Prep (15-0) – This is a matchup of top Class B teams in the state, with Marine City getting a chance to show it’s in the title mix along with one of the most discussed contenders.
Friday – DeWitt (14-1) at Lansing Waverly (10-4) – The Warriors on Jan. 4 handed DeWitt its only loss, and a sweep would all but give Waverly the Capital Area Activities Conference Red title.
PHOTO: DeWitt, here in a win over Mount Pleasant, can avenge its only loss this season when it takes on Lansing Waverly on Friday. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Jokela Caps LL-H Career As 3-Sport Star, Among Track's Most Accomplished Greats
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
June 26, 2025
ESCANABA — It would nearly be an understatement to say Emily Jokela has enjoyed a stellar high school athletic career.
The recent Lake Linden-Hubbell graduate earned a dozen victories at the Upper Peninsula Division 3 Track & Field Finals during her prep career, winning the 400-meter dash and 300 hurdles four times apiece, taking the 100 dash three times, adding a 200 title as a sophomore and 100 hurdles championship this spring.
Jokela also owns the all-time U.P. Finals record in the 300s at 44.8 seconds and the UPD3 record in the 400 (58.61) set a year ago – with school records in those events as well.
“I started running in fifth grade and fell in love with hurdling,” she said. “All my events were close together. I do weight training four times a week and sometimes go to the Michigan Tech track to get a break from our asphalt surface. The asphalt track is harder on the legs. It’s nice to get on a rubberized track.”
She concluded her prep basketball career here June 12 by leading the West All-Stars past the East, 50-41, at the 39th Annual Upper Peninsula All-Star Basketball Game.
Jokela, who scored 18 points in her final prep hoops appearance at Bay College, was selected Most Valuable Player. She finished her Lake Linden-Hubbell basketball career with a school-record 2,010 points, leading the Lakes through a 17-7 season this winter and earning an all-U.P. Division 4 first-team honor.
Jokela did double-duty this spring, also as a pitcher in softball. Lake Linden-Hubbell went undefeated in the Copper Mountain Conference (10-0) and finished 28-7 overall after dropping a 2-0 decision to Gogebic (Bessemer/Wakefield-Marenisco’s cooperative team) in their Division 4 Regional Final.
“I started playing basketball and softball at a young age,” she said. “I made some of my best friends in basketball. I’m going to miss all the girls I played with for four years. I’m so proud of how far we went in softball. I’m also very happy with how basketball went and quite happy with the way our track & field season went.”
LL-H brought home the Division 3 runner-up trophy from the U.P. Track & Field Finals at Kingsford by scoring 76 points, just eight fewer than Newberry. The Lakes were crowned U.P. champions last season and shared the title with Stephenson in 2023. Jokela was four-time all-state selection and three-time CMC MVP, and scored more than 1,000 points during her career. As a junior she won the 100, 200, 400 and 300 hurdles at the UPD3 championship meet and remains one of only seven girls to win four individuals events at a Finals.
On the basketball court, she was a two-time conference MVP and four-time member of the CMC’s elite team, and selected twice to The Associated Press, Basketball Coaches Association and Detroit Free Press all-state teams. In softball, Jokela was a two-time conference MVP and named CMC Pitcher of the Year.
Jokela earned another high honor in late May, being named her school’s Outstanding Female Athlete. She is bound for Grand Valley State University, where she’ll become a member of the women’s track & field team.
“I met my roommates, and they seem nice,” Jokela said. “It will be a lot more intense in college. I’m really going to have to work hard for everything. I need to work on my endurance. It was a challenge balancing track with softball, but I like being busy.”
Jokela also was a two-time all-state academic selection and a National Honor Society member. After carrying a 3.79 grade point average in high school, she plans to major in health science at Grand Valley.
John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
PHOTO Lake Linden-Hubbell’s Emily Jokela (5) leaps the final hurdle on the way to an impressive win in the 300 at last month’s Upper Peninsula Division 3 Finals in Kingsford. (Photo by Cara Kamps.)