Breslin Bound: Girls Report Week 11
February 17, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Only 10 undefeated teams remain with two weeks to play before the start of the MHSAA Girls Basketball Tournament on March 2.
None of those 10 is mentioned below. Instead, these are some of the teams in each class that impressed last week and appear to be getting hot – just in time to be dangerous for those perfect so far.
CLASS A
Fraser (11-4) – The Ramblers equaled last season’s win total with a 43-28 win over Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse last week; although Fraser fell to nonconference Macomb Dakota on Friday, it continues to lead the Macomb Area Conference Blue with a perfect record in league games.
Plymouth (14-2) – After finishing second last season to eventual Class A runner-up Canton, Plymouth went undefeated in-league this winter to win the Kensington Lakes Activities Association South. The Wildcats have won 13 straight, dating to their last loss Dec. 9.
Richland Gull Lake (11-5) – Four losses in five games from mid-December to January knocked down Gull Lake’s record a bit, but the Blue Devils have a chance to avenge the final loss of that run (and the last time it lost this winter) in Friday’s rematch against Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference East leader Kalamazoo Central. Gull Lake fell to Central only 47-43 on Jan. 16.
Southfield (15-2) – The Bluejays have gone from seventh in their former Blue division of the Oakland Activities Association to first in the Gold with a chance to clinch a share of the league title tonight. Its losses are to league leaders that each have only one loss – Southfield-Lathrup and Dearborn Heights Robichaud.
CLASS B
Benton Harbor (13-5) – Tigers would need some help to catch Class A Stevensville Lakeshore atop the SMAC West; they play Lakeshore on Friday after losing 71-69 in their first meeting, but trail the frontrunner by two wins. Benton Harbor is riding high regardless, with six straight victories including an impressive pair last week: 90-79 over SMAC East leader Kalamazoo Central and 62-59 to avenge an earlier loss to St. Joseph.
Brooklyn Columbia Central (14-3) – The Golden Eagles came back from a 69-45 loss to Blissfield on Jan. 19 to beat the Royals 51-42 on Feb. 5 and take back a share of first place in the Lenawee County Athletic Association. Columbia Central finished second to Blissfield last season, but can guarantee at least a share of the title by beating Hudson on Thursday.
Jackson Northwest (13-3) – The Mounties entered this first season of the Interstate 8 Athletic Conference as a reigning league champion, having finished ahead of eventual Class B winner Eaton Rapids in their former conference last season. Northwest’s only league loss this winter was to Marshall, its opponent this Friday.
Muskegon Oakridge (16-3) – The Eagles might be fourth-best in Muskegon, but they’re first in the West Michigan Conference and the best among Class B teams in their immediate area. The three losses were to other Muskegon area teams, but Mona Shores, Muskegon High and Reeths-Puffer are all Class A.
CLASS C
Carson City-Crystal (15-2) – The Eagles beat reigning Class D champion Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart 48-38 on Friday for a season sweep of the Irish and to clinch at least a share of the Mid-State Activities Conference title. Carson City-Crystal’s losses came over a week in January, by one to Morley Stanwood and seven to Saginaw Nouvel.
Concord (15-2) – Second-place Homer and third-place Reading are among three opponents left on Concord’s schedule, but the Yellow Jackets are undefeated in the Big 8 Conference leading Homer by two wins and Reading by three.
Hancock (11-5) – The Bulldogs sit in the middle of the five-team Western Peninsula Athletic Conference but have come on strong over the last month. Hancock is 8-2 over its last 10 games and gets a shot next week at avenging an earlier loss to league leader Houghton.
Harbor Beach (11-5) – The Pirates are cruising at fourth in the Greater Thumb Conference East, but it’s been a season of swings – and Harbor Beach is back on top of a wave. It started 5-0, then lost four of five, and now has won five of its last six – with the defeat by a point in overtime to league leader Sandusky.
CLASS D
Burton St. Thomas More (10-1) – The Crusaders are dominating the Inner State Athletic Conference for the fourth straight season and are again undefeated in league play with the lone loss to a homeschoolers team during the first week.
Mendon (9-8) – The Hornets trail Class C Bronson and White Pigeon in the Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph East standings. But they’ve won six of their last eight after a tough start, avenging earlier losses against both in the process, including last week’s 41-38 overtime win over Bronson.
Three Oaks River Valley (9-7) – We’ve highlighted Red Arrow Conference leaders St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic and Michigan Lutheran already this winter, but third-place River Valley also deserves some recognition. The Mustangs have won eight of their last 11 and equaled last season’s win total in defeating Watervliet Grace Christian 34-29 last week.
Wyoming Tri-unity Christian (9-5) – While the school’s boys team is having a rare down season, the girls have bounced back from a midseason lull to win four of their last six after winning six games total a season ago.
PHOTO: Carson City-Crystal finished a season sweep last week of league rival Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com).
Classic Finish Delivers Statewide Stardom
March 15, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
GRAND RAPIDS – Michigan, meet Bree Salenbien – the Adrian Lenawee Christian freshman who stands as tall as a center, plays like a guard, and made a shot Thursday that most seniors never get a chance to launch.
The 6-foot-2 Cougars standout instantly may have bought herself three more years of statewide expectations by draining the winner in her team’s 46-44 Class D Semifinal overtime win over Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart.
But if her full-game performance at Van Noord Arena was an indication, she’ll be up for all of them.
Salenbien’s pull-up jumper from just inside the free throw line with four seconds to play gave her the last of 16 points – and sent her team to its first MHSAA championship game since 2010.
Lenawee Christian (25-1) will face Chassell at 10 a.m. Saturday with a first girls basketball title in school history on the line – and another chance to show a statewide audience more of this phenom and her teammates from the southeastern corner.
“It’s really fun. But I think the whole team is showing the state who we are, not just me,” Salenbien said. “We’ve battled through so many games this year. That one loss helped us this year not want to feel that way again, to battle through everything.
“We knew we’d have to fight like that to the end.”
That lone defeat, by one to Class A Monroe on Jan. 9, clearly was a learning experience for a team with lots of talent but only one senior.
But it will be buried by the memories Salenbien and her teammates continue to make this weekend and the next few years to come.
She finished with eight rebounds, four assists, three blocks and six steals to go with those 16 points against a Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart team that was undefeated entering the night and playing in its third straight Semifinals. Salenbien also had to contend at times with Irish 6-foot all-stater Sophia Ruggles, who finished with 19 points, 15 rebounds and five blocked shots.
The teams were deadlocked 13 times, and the lead changed 11. Only six points were scored during overtime – two free throws by Ruggles 27 seconds in, followed by two by Salenbien with 1:05 to play and then her game-winner at the end.
Salenbien actually missed a free throw with 12 seconds left in regulation that would’ve given her team a one-point lead. But, as Sacred Heart coach Damon Brown noted, the freshman plays well beyond her years – and was about to show it again.
“She doesn’t always,” said Dani’s father and Lenawee Christian coach, Jamie Salenbien. “But when she does, it’s because of the time she’s put in. All of the kids on this team are committed to fundamentals, the coaching staff preaches it and pushes it, and they’ve bought into it and put a lot of time in when no one was there. But she has a lot of athletic gifts God gave her, and she’s using them now at the young age of 14.
“I’m proud of her hanging tough when she could’ve folded, after missing that free throw especially.”
Sophomore guard Dani Salenbien, Bree’s sister and Jamie’s daughter as well, added 11 points and four blocks.
Lenawee Christian’s “gamers,” as Jamie Salenbien called them, contended with a Sacred Heart lineup returning all five starters from last year’s run. Junior guard Scout Nelson added 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, senior Grace Reetz had five steals and five points – including a late 3-pointer that nearly became the game winner – and seniors Megan Nowak and Hadyn Terwilliger finished with five points and seven rebounds, respectively.
Certainly unexpected, Sacred Heart’s full starting lineup and one senior sub entered the postgame press conference full of smiles and laughter.
The Irish (25-1) went a combined 94-10 over the last four seasons, and wins came off the court as well as on. Brown talked about how he nearly left coaching after the 2013-14 season and the death of his wife, Sacred Heart boys basketball coach Keisha Brown, after her fight with cancer. Last season, the Irish ended their tournament run in the Semifinals on March 16 – three days before the death of Haydn Terwilliger’s mother Denise, who also fought cancer.
“We’ve been through these last four years together, and I think that’s why we’re so happy with each other,” Brown said. “From what we’ve been through, this game in no shape or form defines what this team has been through. We’ve held hands through the darkest times. … What we have here is more important than any score.”
And Reetz took the opportunity to lighten the mood one last time.
“This is kind’ve how our team is,” she said. “We laugh about everything. Sophie had 999 career points. It’s sad, but it’s just kinda humorous. (Ruggles actually finished her career with exactly 1,000.)
“I just feel like we all feel we couldn’t have done anything else out there. It’s just kinda a toss-up. We tried our best, we wanted a state title, but being together is enough for us.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Lenawee Christian’s Bree Salenbien, right, hugs her sister Dani after making the game-winning shot in Thursday’s second Class D Semifinal. (Middle) Bree Salenbien pops a shot as Sophia Ruggles (15), Hadyn Terwilliger (13) and Megan Nowak (4) surround her.