Breslin Bound: Girls Report Week 12
February 24, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
March is almost here, warm weather downstate has given us at least a reminder of spring, and the final week of girls basketball regular season is another indication that the most exciting part of a long winter is nearly upon us.
Of course, there are a few championship to decide before next week’s start of the MHSAA Tournament, and a few more big-time nonleague matchups to get in as teams prepare to take their best shots at becoming Breslin Bound.
We offer a glance at some of those below. Next week we’ll come back with previews of three Districts of particular interest in each Division as we move closer to our final destination at Michigan State. “Breslin Bound” is powered by MI Student Aid and based on results and schedules posted for each school at MHSAA.com. Send corrections or missing scores to [email protected].
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Hartland 36, Brighton 33 – The Eagles (17-1) and Miss Basketball Award finalist Whitney Sollom avenged their lone loss, 41-33 on Jan. 24, to move past Brighton (16-2) and clinch the Kensington Lakes Activities Association West championship.
2. Lake City 36, Manton 26 – The Trojans (18-1) finished a perfect run through the Highland Conference to win their first league title since 2000, downing second-place Manton and then third-place McBain two days later.
3. Port Huron 42, Grosse Pointe North 39 – The Big Reds capped a 20-0 regular season by downing North (13-6) to win the Macomb Area Conference Red/White Tournament.
4. Farmington Hills Mercy 51, Bloomfield Hills Marian 40 – After a regular-season split that led to a shared Detroit Catholic League Central championship, Mercy (17-2) clinched the Bishop Tournament title with this deciding game over the Mustangs (14-4).
5. Montague 59, Hart 46 (3OT) – The Wildcats (15-4) clinched the West Michigan Conference championship after previously losing to Hart (16-4) on Jan. 17, 39-31.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
East Kentwood (15-3) The Falcons are carrying an eight-game winning streak since suffering their only Ottawa-Kent Conference Red loss, 45-41 to Hudsonville on Jan. 17, and will earn a shared league title if both teams win out this week. East Kentwood is the reigning league champion and beat this week’s opponents Grand Haven and Caledonia by 37 and 43, respectively, the first time through the schedule. The Falcons’ only other losses came to two other Division 1 contenders – Detroit Renaissance by two and East Grand Rapids by seven, both in mid-December.
Hudsonville (17-1) The Eagles’ only defeat this season came to East Kentwood on Feb. 14, 53-46, and a shared league title would give them their first league championship since 2015-16. They beat their opponents for this week, Holland West Ottawa and Grandville, by 35 and 41, respectively, during the first round of league play. In addition to defeating East Kentwood in January, Hudsonville also handed recently-clinched O-K Gold champion East Grand Rapids (18-1) its only loss, on Dec. 13.
DIVISION 2
Detroit Edison (17-0) We’ve highlighted one of Edison’s wins in the above section of this report nearly every week – which is what happens when a team goes undefeated against a slate of opponents with a combined .810 winning percentage. Among those, Edison has beaten arguably the top three teams in Division 1 – Ann Arbor Huron, East Lansing and Detroit Renaissance – with its only two single-digit in-state wins to Renaissance by two and last week to reigning Division 4 champion Adrian Lenawee Christian 67-62. Standout senior Gabrielle Elliott also is one of three Miss Basketball Award candidates.
Freeland (14-4) The Falcons defeated Frankenmuth (13-5) on Friday 43-39 to clinch the Tri-Valley Conference East outright, continuing a courageous run this season after the unexpected death of highly-respected coach Tom Zolinski on Nov. 22. Freeland opened the season 3-3, but has lost only once since Dec. 18, to Division 1 Saginaw Heritage (12-6) by four. The Falcons avenged one of those early defeats by beating TVC East second-place Standish Sterling 60-54 on Jan. 28, and they also own an impressive win over Kingsley (13-6).
DIVISION 3
Flint Hamady (18-2) Last season’s Division 3 runner-up is back in tournament form and closed its regular season by clinching the Genesee Area Conference title outright with a 63-54 double-overtime win over Morrice (13-4). Hamady swept the Orioles and rival Flint Beecher (12-6) in league play, and also earned solid wins over Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes (12-6) and Grand Blanc (10-8) during the first weeks of the season. The only losses came to Division 1 Flint Kearsley (13-5) and Davison (11-7), the Davison defeat by just a point.
Springport (16-2) The Spartans have clinched the Big 8 Conference title for the second-straight season and run their league winning streak to 29 despite playing in a conference this winter with four other teams that have won at least 10 games. Total, Springport has won 10 games over teams with double-digit victories, with its only defeats to Cascades Conference co-leaders Grass Lake (16-2) and Michigan Center (15-3).
DIVISION 4
Fowler (14-4) The Eagles locked down second place in the Central Michigan Athletic Conference last week behind reigning Division 3 champion Pewamo-Westphalia. And if last season’s run to the Division 4 Semifinals was an indication, another high league finish should pay off for the Eagles. Five CMAC teams have at least 10 wins or more going into this final week, and Fowler swept the rest including Portland St. Patrick (14-4). The Eagles’ other losses were to reigning Division 4 champ Adrian Lenawee Christian (17-2) and Division 2 power Portland (16-3).
Ubly (17-1) The Bearcats have locked up the Greater Thumb Conference East title, their first league championship in at least a decade, after finishing fourth in the East and 11-11 overall last season. This winter’s run included sweeps of Sandusky (15-4) and Harbor Springs (13-5), and the only defeat came Dec. 17 to eventual GTC West champion Caro. Ubly is holding opponents to a mere 24.4 points per game.
Can't-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Monday – Brighton (16-2) at Wayne Memorial (15-3) – The KLAA East champion hosts the West runner-up, with the winner playing for the overall league title Thursday against either Hartland or Dearborn.
Tuesday – Williamston (15-3) at Michigan Center (15-3) – With Friday’s one-point win over Haslett, Williamston is in position to win at least a share of the Capital Area Activities Conference Red, but first faces a Michigan Center team in the same scenario in the Cascades Conference.
Thursday – Farmington Hills Mercy (17-2) at Detroit Renaissance (17-2) – The Detroit Public School League champion Phoenix host the Catholic League Bishop champion Marlins at the annual Operation Friendship games.
Thursday – Plainwell (13-5) at Edwardsburg (17-1) – The Eddies tied for first in the Wolverine Conference South and host North champion Plainwell; Edwardsburg winning their Feb. 11 meeting.
Friday – Midland Dow (16-2) at Flint Carman-Ainsworth (15-3) – Dow from the Red and Carman-Ainsworth from the Blue will play for the overall Saginaw Valley League championship.
Second Half’s weekly “Breslin Bound” reports are powered by MI Student Aid, a part of the Office of Postsecondary Financial Planning located within the Michigan Department of Treasury. MI Student Aid encourages students to pursue postsecondary education by providing access to student financial resources and information. MI Student Aid administers the state’s 529 college savings programs (MET/MESP), as well as scholarship and grant programs that help make college Accessible, Affordable and Attainable for you. Connect with MI Student Aid at www.michigan.gov/mistudentaid and find more information on Facebook and Twitter @mistudentaid.
PHOTO: East Lansing’s Aaliyah Nye, a Miss Basketball Award finalist, gets a shot up over two Okemos defenders last week. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
With Hodos Again Showing the Way, Pittsford Primed for Another Title Chase
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
February 26, 2025
Becky Hodos waited about an hour before she called her husband, Chris.
“I know. I saw it,” he said when he answered the phone.
“I think you should take it,” Becky responded.
The two were discussing a Facebook post in October in which Pittsford announced it was looking for a varsity girls basketball head coach.
“They posted it on the Pittsford Facebook page at 8:30 in the morning,” Hodos said. “I had eight or nine calls by 10 o’clock. Then my wife called.”
Chris Hodos indeed applied, interviewed and got the job as the Pittsford girls basketball coach, returning to a job he thrived before stepping away five years ago. The results have been eerily similar to before.
The Wildcats are 21-0, ranked among the top Division 4 teams in the state and about to start what Hodos hopes is another long tournament run.
“I really didn’t know what to expect from the girls,” Hodos said. “I’ve been away from it. I wasn’t paying very close attention.”
Everyone is paying attention to Pittsford now. The Wildcats have already clinched the Southern Central Athletic Association East championship and are one of just two undefeated teams remaining in Division 4. They are the top seed in next week’s District at Reading.
“There is little doubt having Chris back on the sideline was a good thing,” Pittsford athletic director Mike Burger said. “Our community loves our kids and the effort they put into everything they do. Chris brings energy every day, so I know they are happy with the swagger he brings.
“(Plus) I thought it was good for him,” Burger said. “He just seemed a little withdrawn. Coaching helped bring his fire back.”
Hodos stepped aside after the 2018-19 season. His son was about to play college baseball in northwest Ohio, and he planned on relaxing and watching baseball. He had been coaching football, basketball and baseball at Pittsford.
“No one believed me when I said I was stepping away,” he said.
The Wildcats went to three Class D Finals in a row from 2015-2017 under Hodos, winning championships in 2016 and 2017. If Pittsford defeats Waldron on Thursday, it will be the sixth time in his nine seasons as head coach that the Wildcats have gone unbeaten during the regular season.
Pittsford has had some close calls this season but has found a way to come back even from double-digit deficits in multiple games.
“When you have the best player on the court every night, that helps,” Hodos said.
His best player is Grand Valley State University signee Ava Mallar. She is a four-year starter who is just shy of 1,600 career points, and played significant roles as Pittsford won 18 games each of the last three seasons.
“I honestly was pretty shocked on how well we are doing,” Mallar said. “We lost two seniors, one of which put up a lot of points. I wasn’t expecting this. It’s been awesome. Beating Reading after losing to them twice last year was really good.”
Mallar was a student manager for Pittsford and Hodos years ago.
“I was the manager when he coached my older sister,” she said. “He worked well with our last coach (Aaron Davis). So, when he came, the expectations were the same and practices were sort of the same.”
Hodos also was familiar with Mallar in another way. His day job is as a salesman at Frank Beck Chevrolet in Hillsdale. He sold Mallar a car a couple of years ago.
“He has a good relationship with our whole family,” Mallar said.
Hodos is highly complimentary of his lead scorer.
“She’s the real deal,” he said. “Against Saline (Washtenaw) Christian she had 17 points in the fourth quarter and we came back from 10 points down. She had 27 of our 37 against Reading.”
Mallar said she elevated her game against Washtenaw Christian.
“There’s a point where I know where I have to step up,” she said. “The best part of my game is when I am driving to the basket and making people guard me and creating shots for my teammates. I knew I had to take over if we were going to pull it off.”
Mallar had a triple-double earlier this season and came within two assists of a quadruple-double.
“I honestly thought I had a horrible game, then I found out I had a triple-double. I guess it wasn’t too bad,” she said.
While Hodos has built the team around his star senior, he is also building for the future. Two Wildcats starters are freshmen and two more freshmen come off the bench. He said he is planning to stay at least five years this time around.
“Mike (Burger) asked me if this was just for one year,” he said. “I said, ‘No, I’ll stay five.’ I might stay longer. We’ll see.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a news and sports reporter at the Adrian Daily Telegram and the Monroe News for 30 years, including 10 years as city editor in Monroe. He's written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. He is now publisher and editor of The Blissfield Advance, a weekly newspaper. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Chris Hodos (left of scorer’s table) coaches his Pittsford girls basketball team this season. (Middle) Ava Mallar sets up for a free throw against Reading. (Photos by Joe Flaherty/Hillsdale Daily News.)