Bucs Earn Shot at Grand Finale
March 15, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Grand Haven’s girls basketball players toppled over each other on the Breslin Center floor Friday afternoon just as they did in celebrating their first Class A championship here a year before.
But the Buccaneers also realized they have one more game to win to finish one of the finest seasons in MHSAA girls basketball history.
Grand Haven earned that opportunity by coming back to defeat Westland John Glenn 55-46 after trailing in the Semifinal with a quarter to play.
The Bucs might not have been expected to put this run together after graduating most of last season’s team. But led by senior Abby Cole – who had a triple-double before the end of Thursday’s third quarter – they not only are in position to repeat, but also to finish undefeated this winter.
“Especially for the seniors, everyone wanted to come back and do what the seniors did for us last year,” Bucs senior Hannah Wilkerson said. “For the juniors now on the team, we wanted them to experience it. It’s still the best memory I have, ever.”
Grand Haven (27-0) will face No. 2 Grosse Pointe South at noon Saturday. The Bucs edged South 54-53 in last season’s Class A Final and have won 50 straight games.
John Glenn came into Thursday with similar credentials to Grand Haven a year ago – carrying only one loss and seeking its first championship game berth. The No. 6 Rockets (24-2) actually were undefeated in Michigan, with their only loss to Toledo Rogers from Ohio.
Pressuring and fastbreaking, John Glenn jumped to a 14-10 lead to end the first quarter after forcing Grand Haven into most of its 10 turnovers in the period and scoring 10 points off the fastbreak.
But Cole was just getting started on a performance that will be remembered among the best of her all-state career.
The 6-foot-5 center finished with 23 points, 19 rebounds and 12 blocked shots, and even hit the first 3-pointer of her career – she had air-balled her only other attempt, earlier this season.
Cole finished third in the Miss Basketball voting on Monday after finishing second in the Miss Volleyball voting at the end of the fall. She was named Class A basketball Player of the Year by The Associated Press, and will play volleyball at the University of Michigan next season.
“She’s the biggest impact player in the state,” Grand Haven coach Katie Kowalczyk-Fulmer said. “Just with her ability to block shots, rebound and score around the rim, and she makes everybody on our team better.”
But the Bucs likely wouldn’t have moved on without some help. Junior forward Taylor Craymer scored 20 points, with half of those coming during the fourth quarter including the final go-ahead basket with 5:21 to play. Sophomore guard Amanda Merz had seven assists as the team steadied itself after the early Rockets rush.
John Glenn senior guard Raven Bankston – who with sister Raine has signed with Delaware State – filled the stat sheet with 23 points, five rebounds, three assists and 11 steals, and senior guard Sha’Keya Graves scored 12 points. But although the Rockets launched 71 shots, they were able to connect on only 17 for the game and 2 of 18 shots during the fourth quarter.
“Bottom line, Abby Cole disrupted everything we wanted to do,” John Glenn coach Eric Kovatch said. “She’s one heck of a ballplayer, and I’m sure a lot of college coaches wish she was playing college basketball instead of volleyball.
“I think that got a little into our heads in the first half. Shots weren’t falling, and a lot of times this year those shots were falling. We want to put up a lot of shots. We just weren’t making as many as we usually do.”
Grand Haven entered the postseason ranked No. 3 in Class A, behind Detroit Martin Luther King and Grosse Pointe South.
Unlike a year ago, the Bucs were undefeated during the regular season after folding in a number of talented contributors from last season’s junior varsity team.
“We have such a good program at Grand Haven. We’re continually getting better, and the coaching staff is a huge part of it,” Cole said. “A lot of people doubted our team this year because we lost so many seniors. But I don’t know that many people knew we had an almost-undefeated team coming up from JV.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Westland John Glenn's Raine Bankston (1), attempts to drive past Grand Haven's Amanda Merz during Friday's Semifinal. (Middle) Merz pushes the ball upcourt during the 55-46 win (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photo.)
Senior Pair's Decision to Play Makes for Memorable Mackinaw City Season
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
March 13, 2026
Mackinaw City gave all of its girls basketball opponents the “friends & family” treatment this season.
And it certainly wasn’t a discount.
But the Comets did sport a discounted roster with just seven players, made up of three sisters and four close friends. And the roster could have been even smaller.
As the Mackinaw City volleyball season ended and the basketball opener was a few weeks away, Jake Huffman – the Comets volleyball and girls basketball coach – was facing the possibility of coaching this basketball season with just five girls on his roster.
Perhaps worse yet, Huffman was visualizing a roster with no seniors and one eighth grader. Kerry-Ann Ming, the Northern Lakes Conference volleyball Player of the Year, was not planning to play her senior season, instead intending to focus on her volleyball game during the offseason. She had been on the Comets’ basketball team the three previous seasons.
Ming’s friend and fellow senior Liz Kruczynski had never played on the Comets’ basketball team. And, in fact, she hadn’t been on any basketball team since she was a second grader.
But that all changed one November day when Ming and Kruczynski were shooting baskets during lunch break in the school’s gymnasium.
“And a lot of our friends were trying to convince both of us to do it, and word got to Mr. Huffman that we were indeed playing basketball and he came walking in and said, ‘Kerry, Liz! You're playing?’ and it was just like, let's go, we’re going to have a sweat season,” recalled Kruczynski. “Coach said, ‘It'll be great,’ and he was jumping up and down.”
And great it was. The Comets went 15-7 and earned a postseason win over Mackinac Island.
“I am so thrilled that both of these ladies played because they did provide some nice solid senior leadership for us, and they were really huge contributors for our team in what they gave to the team and how they worked with their teammates,” said Huffman. “Early in the year, we dropped some of those 50/50 games and towards the end of the season, we were starting to win those. The girls played hard and grew a ton as a team.”
Kruczynski, a forward, and Ming, the team’s center, were keys to that success. Kruczynski averaged better than two rebounds a game while playing great defense and significant minutes.
The pair also helped the Comets battle foul trouble and finish all 22 contests. Mackinaw City did end a few games with fewer than five eligible players due to fouling out or illness.
“Liz is a really good athlete, and for somebody who's never played basketball, she's got a pretty nice shot,” Huffman pointed out. “I'm so glad that she decided to play this year. She was a huge asset.”
Kruczynski chose to play basketball for her friends Ming, Rian Esper and Kenzlie Currie. She also did it for the chance to play a season with her sisters Emily, a freshman, and Ella, an eighth grader.
“There was only seven of us, and I think that a lot of people don't understand how much of like a family it really was with all the girls,” Kruczynski noted. “We're all extremely close, and the bonds go outside of the sport.”
Last summer, thinking of the possibility of playing basketball for the Comets, she put in a lot of work learning the game.
“I knew it would be my last high school sport together with Kerry, and it's one more sport with my friends and my sisters so I just did it,” Kruczynski said. “I took a lot of positive criticism and help from my siblings that have played for years and my friends as well. My siblings were a big part of the reason I enjoyed basketball so much.”
The Comets seniors leaders credit Currie’s passion, Esper’s hard-working mindset and Poppy Wallace’s dedication for a good portion of Mackinaw City’s success on the hardcourt.
But Ming can’t avoid getting the biggest share of the credit.
“Kerry was a very busy young lady this winter between school and basketball and volleyball,” Huffman acknowledged. “She managed to juggle it all.”
Ming led the team with more than 10 rebounds and three steals per game. She also added two blocks and nearly two assists per contest. She finished her career as the school’s second-leading shot blocker and third on the all-time rebounding list. She also set the school single-season rebounding record at 304 as a junior.
“I knew I was going to miss it and regret in the end if I didn’t play (this season),” Ming admitted. “My parents and God were there to support my decision, and my parents cheered me on every game.”
Ming will continue playing volleyball after graduation. She’s signed a letter of intent to play middle hitter for Kirtland Community College.
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) At left, Mackinaw City’s Kerry-Ann Ming pushes the ball upcourt, and at right, teammate Liz Kruczynski considers her options on offense. (Middle) Comets coach Jake Huffman talks things over with his team. (Ming photo by Billy Mac Photos. Kruczynski photo by Heather Huffman. Team huddle photo courtesy of the Cheboygan Daily Tribune.)