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.)
MLS Carries Dream Run to Final Game
March 16, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Thursday’s first Class D Semifinal would have produced a dream-come-true scenario whichever team emerged victorious.
Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary coach Brian Blaine just didn’t see that being his team when this tournament began.
A District title was the goal. Then the Regional happened. Then the Quarterfinal. And now the Cardinals have no choice but to adhere to the cliche of taking one game at a time – there’s only one left.
MLS earned its first MHSAA championship game berth with a 64-59 win over Engadine, which also was attempting to make the Finals for the first time.
“To be honest, I didn’t expect to make it this far,” Cardinals coach Brian Blaine said, answering the press conference question many an unanticipated contender is asked.
“Yes, because we wanted it,” senior center Rylee Pankow countered. “He’s always telling us you’ve got to push yourself. So (he’s) a little bit of a hypocrite there.”
All kidding aside, it’s been an incredible run – and it’s not over yet. MLS will face either Pittsford or Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart in Saturday’s 10 a.m. championship game.
The unranked Cardinals have rattled off nine straight wins to get to 18-9 overall, emerging as the fifth-place team from a Tri-Valley Conference West that produced three Regional finalists and two teams that made Tuesday’s Quarterfinals.
And yes, the math is correct – MLS was .500 when it began this run Feb. 21.
“At the beginning of the season, we started focusing on fundamentals. We knew our conference was pretty tough … and the girls just battled and battled,” Blaine said. “We kept coming together as the season progressed, and now we’ve won (nine) in a row – and I’m just really proud of these girls.”
Engadine, an honorable mention in the rankings, enjoyed a similar run. The Eagles had last made the Semifinals in 2005 and emerged this time from an Eastern Upper Peninsula Athletic Conference that had three teams get votes in the final regular-season state poll. They were shooting to reach the Regional Final – and then they beat league rival Pickford to move on to this week, where they upset No. 8 Crystal Falls Forest Park in the Quarterfinal.
“We are really happy to get this opportunity to play in here. These opportunities don’t come very often, and I think we should cherish them,” Engadine coach Roger French said. “It seems like it’s been two months ago getting to the Regionals, and our goal was to be in the Regional Final game and go from there. And we had a lot of special moments during the season as well.”
The Eagles tried to create a few more late Thursday. The teams were tied at halftime. MLS then led for the final 15 minutes and by as many as 12, although Engadine got as close as four when senior Olivia Vaughn drilled a 3-pointer with 26 seconds to play. A final 3-pointer to pull the score closer missed the mark.
Both teams made five 3-pointers, but the Cardinals made theirs on only eight tries – while connecting on 48 percent of their field goal attempts overall compared to 37 percent for the Eagles.
Pankow led MLS with 18 points, and sophomore forward Meghan Blaine added 14 including two of those 3-pointers. Junior forward Reese VanLue added another nine points and 12 rebounds.
Vaughn, who went over 1,000 career points during the District, dropped 30 in her final high school game. Junior forward Aubrey Simmons – already the school’s all-time leading rebounder – added 12 points and 11 boards.
“As a senior, obviously you want your last year to be the best. I had high hopes for this team, and after the District, it was ‘All right, maybe we can do something from here,’” Vaughn said. “To make it to Breslin senior year with this team, I can’t even describe it. It’s a great way to end my season, and I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end my career.”
The Girls Basketball Finals are presented by Sparrow Health System.
PHOTOS: (Top) Michigan Lutheran Seminary’s Rylee Pankow puts up a shot over an Engadine defender Thursday. (Middle) Engadine’s Olivia Vaughn defends the Cardinals' Meghan Blaine.