Breslin Bound: Girls Report Week 6
January 14, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
By the end of this week, we'll have reached the midpoint of this girls basketball regular season.
But plenty of teams are showing they might just be warming up for a much longer run this winter.
Below are 10 that impressed last week, including a handful which have made it through the season's first month and a half without a loss. (Records are based on results reported to the MHSAA Score Center.)
1. Hemlock (8-0, Class C) – After winning a respectable 12 games last season, Hemlock has dominated this winter and already beaten reigning Tri-Valley Conference Central champion Freeland.
2. Holt (8-0, Class A) – The Rams have consistently piled up wins for more than a decade, but often in the shadow of rival East Lansing; a 12-point win over the Trojans last week has helped Holt look like another Lansing-area contender.
3. Charlotte (6-0, Class B) – The Orioles, who finished a game over .500 in 2012-13, proved their perfect start is for real with a two-point win over rival and mid-Michigan power Eaton Rapids on Friday.
4. St. Louis (8-0, Class C) – Volleyball usually is the Sharks’ best game, but they finished tied for third in TVC West hoops last season and have a one-game lead this time thanks to an 18-point win over second-place Carrollton last month.
5. Haslett (6-1, Class A) – Quietly the Vikings also are looking like a team to watch in Class A, although an 11-point win over rival DeWitt on Friday rang loudly.
6. Cadillac (7-1, Class B) – Only a four-point loss to Manistee on the season’s second Friday has kept the Big North Conference-leading Vikings from a perfect start.
7. Midland Dow (8-1, Class A) – Since a four-point loss to Saginaw Heritage before holiday break, Dow has won five straight by an average of 17 points per.
8. Gaylord St. Mary (6-1, Class D) – The Snowbirds are returning to their former roost as a Class D power, with their lone flaw this winter a loss to Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart.
9. Negaunee (5-3, Class C) – After a 1-3 start, the Miners have won four straight to rise to the top of the Mid-Peninsula Athletic Conference.
10. Grand Rapids Covenant Christian (7-2, Class C) – A 1-2 start is a distant memory thanks to six straight wins including handing the first defeat to league foe Kentwood Grand River Prep.
PHOTO: Hemlock defeated league foe Alma last week to improve to 8-0 overall this season. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
West Catholic Comes Back from Double-Digit Deficit to Get Past Reigning Champ
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
March 21, 2025
EAST LANSING – Grand Rapids West Catholic hadn’t faced adversity like that all season.
The Falcons trailed by double digits at halftime of Friday’s Division 2 Semifinal, but forged a furious second-half comeback to upset 2024 champion Detroit Edison 54-48 at the Breslin Center.
“I don’t think we’ve had situations where we were down that much at halftime or in the third quarter, but it just speaks to the resiliency that our kids have,” first-year West Catholic coach Derek Paiz said. “We’re just going to keep fighting.”
West Catholic (24-3) will face Tecumseh (26-1) at 6:15 Saturday in the Division 2 Final.
The Falcons trailed 26-14 at the half and 30-15 with six minutes remaining in the third quarter before making their charge.
Senior Anna Ignatoski was the catalyst and led West Catholic with 29 points, including four 3-pointers. She also added six rebounds.
“This means the world and I give all of it to God, and I’m just so thankful to be back playing and playing with these girls,” said Ignatoski, who missed the past two seasons due to multiple ACL injuries.
“I knew coming into this game that we were the underdogs and we had nothing to lose. I wanted to help my team prove everyone wrong, and we did that tonight.”
West Catholic lost in the Semifinals a year ago to Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard at the buzzer.
“This is my first year, but these girls have done it three years in a row; this is their second home,” Paiz said. “With those girls we had on the floor, I knew we were going to be all right. We’ve been preparing this season for exact moments like this.
“We set a goal at the beginning of the season, my first day in, to go win a state championship, and every day these girls have been working toward that. We never lost faith.”
The Falcons outscored Edison 40-22, including 23-12 during the fourth quarter. Ignatoski had 24 points in the second half and made clutch free throws down the stretch to seal it.
“She’s a shot maker,” Paiz said. “She had that look in her eye. She wanted the ball in her hands at the end of the game. She wanted to put the game away.”
Senior Alisha Dykstra added 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
“This is so surreal, and I’m so blessed,” Dykstra said. “With the love we have for one another, we can do anything if we put our mind to it. We knew they were going to be a good team, but we knew we were built for this because we work hard and we put the time in.”
Nicole James led Edison (19-7) with 23 points, while Isis Johnson-Musah had 12.
“I knew they were going to be hungry to win, and I told my team at halftime that they were going to make a run and we just had to weather the storm,” Pioneers coach Monique Brown said. “Mentally we lost it when they started catching up, and I haven’t seen that in my teams in previous years.”
PHOTOS (Top) Grand Rapids West Catholic celebrates its comeback win Friday at Breslin Center. (Middle) The Falcons' Anna Ignatoski (3) and Detroit Edison's Caitlyn Green rush upcourt during their Semifinal. (Photos by Keionna Banks/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)