Breslin Bound: Girls Report Week 12
February 24, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Believe it or not, girls basketball practice began more than three months ago.
Fifteen weeks later, we have only one more of the regular season, making this our last chance to tout the races for league titles that will finish playing out over the next six days.
Read on for some of the teams that either accomplished big things over the last week or still can – and we’ll look at more Monday as we jump into the start of District tournaments all over Michigan.
CLASS A
East Kentwood (10-8) – The Ottawa-Kent Conference Red race has been close among the top four teams, and East Kentwood beat fourth-place Rockford on Friday to set up tonight’s likely championship game against Hudsonville (see below). The Falcons were 7-14 and fifth in the league a year ago.
Hudsonville (10-8) – The Eagles’ turnaround has been even more dramatic than that of East Kentwood (above). Hudsonville was 2-19 and last in the O-K Red a year ago, but beat fourth-place Rockford and third-place Holland West Ottawa last week to set up tonight’s conference decider.
Marquette (18-0) – The Redettes locked up their third consecutive Great Northern Upper Peninsula Conference title, but can take the achievement to another level with two more victories this week to finish the regular season undefeated for the first time during this three-season run. Marquette beat West Peninsula Athletic Conference champion Houghton 49-40 on Friday.
Oxford (14-4) – The Wildcats have ridden nine straight wins to the Oakland Activities Association White title, clinching it last week with a 51-32 victory over second-place Troy. Oxford already had eclipsed last season’s 13 wins.
CLASS B
Center Line (16-2) – The Panthers also have won nine straight and must hold on this week against third-place Marine City and seventh-place Mount Clemens to share the Macomb Area Conference Gold title with Marysville. Center Line finished second, a game back, in the MAC Silver last season.
Grand Rapids Catholic Central (16-2) – The Cougars avenged in a big way their only O-K Gold loss – 77-76 to Wayland on Jan. 23 – by beating Wayland 64-42 on Friday to move into a first-place tie with the Wildcats with two league games to play. GRCC has finished league runner-up the last two seasons.
Haslett (14-4) – The Vikings are 9-0 with standout Makenna Ott and went 5-4 without her before she returned from injury for Friday’s 57-53 win over Lansing Waverly (14-5). Her return is just in time to help Haslett hold on to a share of the Capital Area Activities Conference Red title and possibly get revenge in the District against Williamston, the first to beat the Vikings after Ott was hurt.
Kentwood Grand River Prep (14-1) – The Titans haven’t lost since the first Saturday of this season, to Ypsilanti Arbor Prep (14-3), and can clinch a share of the River Valley Conference title tonight against Wyoming Tri-unity Christian. Junior Mariah McCully sets the pace, scoring 24.4 points per game.
CLASS C
Adrian Madison (15-4) – The Trojans locked up the Tri-County Conference title with a win Friday over Petersburg-Summerfield after also avenging their only league loss, Jan. 13 to Britton Deerfield, in their rematch Feb. 10. Two of Madison’s other three losses were to teams that also have won league championships this winter.
Brown City (13-5) – The Green Devils bounced back from three straight losses at the start of February to win four straight and secure a top-three finish in the Greater Thumb Conference East. They get to see how far they’ve come Thursday against league leader Sandusky – which beat Brown City 46-38 on Feb. 3.
Manchester (15-2) – The Flying Dutch have clinched the Cascade Conference championship, besting a field with four more teams that have won at least 11 games overall. It was a nice step up after tying for second last season; the only losses this winter came early to second-place Napoleon and at the end of January to still-undefeated Pittsford.
Unionville-Sebewaing (14-4) – The Patriots’ lone league loss came to Reese – but USA regained the upper hand in the Greater Thumb Conference West by defeating the Rockets 57-44 in their rematch Thursday. USA can clinch a shared title tonight against Vassar, which the Patriots beat by four Jan. 20.
CLASS D
Athens (11-6) – Few Class D teams play in a more competitive mostly-Class C league than the Big 8 Conference, and all six of Athens’ losses were to Class C teams with at least 10 wins. The Indians have won four straight and can get further geared up for a tournament run if they tonight can avenge an earlier loss to Reading.
Battle Creek St. Philip (14-5) – Despite falling to second-place Climax-Scotts on Friday, the Tigers can clinch the Southern Central Athletic Association West title outright by defeating Colon on Thursday. St. Philip did rattle off eight straight wins during a perfect January.
Mendon (10-8) – The Hornets will have to settle for a middle finish in the Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference East, but are 7-2 after a tough start and have avenged losses to second-place White Pigeon and league champion Bronson. Mendon made the Quarterfinals last season and could be gathering steam again.
Waldron (11-5) – The Spartans play in the same SCAA East as the only undefeated team in Class D, Pittsford. But Waldron has won more games than all of last season and gone 9-2 since a rough early start and despite playing in an SCAA division where all four teams have 10 or more wins.
PHOTO: Haslett fell to Goodrich 55-43 on Jan. 20 but enter the final week of the regular season at full strength with the return of Makenna Ott from injury. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com).
Genesee's Zinn Setting School, Family Records While Climbing MHSAA All-Time Lists
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
January 7, 2026
Averie Zinn had a front-row seat as her sister Ryleigh re-wrote the Genesee girls basketball record book.
As a middle school student, and then freshman teammate whose parents are the Genesee coaches, Averie saw exactly what it took for Ryleigh to get there.
She also had a pretty good idea of what would be required to overtake her.
“I remember when I was little I was like, ‘Yep, I’m breaking all her records,’” Averie said. “My mom’s sister, she held all of those before. But I just remember when Ryleigh was getting those records, I was like, ‘Well, I’m going to break them.’”
Averie Zinn has broken those records and then some, splashing her name across the MHSAA record book with most of her senior season still to go.
She’s scored a school-record 1,892 points during her career, and with a per-game average this season of 39.8, could surpass 2,000 by the end of next week – making her the 34th girls basketball player in state history to eclipse it.
If that average holds throughout the season, and even if the Wolves play the minimum number of games remaining, Zinn could become just the seventh female in the state to hit 2,500 points.
That, of course, is a projection of where she could be, but she already appears 20 times in the MHSAA record book.
Her 851 points scored a year ago are third highest in a single MHSAA season. Seven of her single-game scoring performances are listed, including five games of 50 or more (she’s added another 53-point performance already this season that is not yet listed).
Her 21 points in a single quarter are tied for third all-time – she’s since hit 22, which will tie her for second.
She made 186 free throws a year ago, 10th-most in a single season, and has three games of 15 or more makes from the free-throw line.
Then there’s the steals: Two seasons in the top 12 all-time with 218 a year ago (third) and 170 as a sophomore (tied for 12th), and five games with 15-plus.
“I just think it’s such a blessing,” Zinn said. “No one really gets that opportunity, it’s such a select few amount of people. I almost don’t even think I’ve processed it. I think it’s really cool, and the fact that it’s happening with my parents coaching me, it’s really cool.”
Zinn, a 5-foot-10 point guard who also takes the opening tip for the Wolves, has scored 199 points through five games this season, going over 30 in four games and over 40 in two of those four.
She’s recorded 48 steals, as well, going for double digits (11, 12, 16) in each of her first three games.
“I mean, she’s 100-percent locked in,” said Genesee coach, and Zinn’s dad, Mike Zinn. “She’s been training hard with strength and conditioning, working on her range – a different range. Normally, she shoots from pretty deep, from nearly halfcourt like it’s nothing. But she’s been wanting to work on her mid-range game a little bit.”
As the Zinns have had their successes, so has the Genesee program. This year’s team is off to a 4-1 start, and last year the Wolves won a District title and advanced to a Regional Final in Division 3 for the second time in program history. The first came during the 2022 postseason.
Both of those seasons resulted in 17 wins, which is a school record.
The District title in 2022 was the program’s first since the mid-1990s, when their mom, Megan was playing.
“Mike and I graduated from Genesee High School, and we were the last ones to win a District title,” Megan Zinn said. “We decided to stay in the community, raise our kids in the community and coach here. It’s bigger than basketball. We believe we could work to put Genesee on the map, and that’s exactly what we’ve done. Last year, going to the Sweet 16 was the furthest we’ve ever gone. We lost both times, but just to say that we could get there while coaching both of our daughters is pretty special.”
When Averie Zinn is done breaking records at Genesee, she will continue her basketball career at Wayne State University.
She committed this past summer to play for the Warriors, a program she’s felt connected to for years. Not only is assistant coach Andy Ayrault a family friend, but Zinn caught the eye of head coach Carrie Lohr while hitting deep 3-pointers as an eighth grader at a team camp.
“I’m really excited,” Zinn said. “I’m getting more and more excited, especially since the new year is here and knowing this is the year that I’m going away and playing there. I know a lot of my teammates already. Wayne State feels like another home to me. That’s what was most important in my decision.”
Genesee won’t be without Zinns, either. While Mike and Megan will continue coaching, there’s also another player coming through, as Averie and Ryleigh's younger sister Maylee Zinn will be a freshman next season.
“I’d say the (age) gap for me and Maylee is like one year too far,” Averie said. “Me and Ryleigh played together, we would go to trainings together. We got super close that year (they were teammates). I always say that to my mom, that I wish I was back a year so I could get that year with Maylee. She’s pretty good.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Genesee’s Averie Zinn (0) gets to the rim during her team’s 71-30 win over Birch Run on Dec. 22. (Middle) Zinn elevates for a shot while defended by a pair of Panthers. (Photos by McInchak Family Photography.)