Class C-D Preview: Pursuing perfection
March 18, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A pair of undefeated teams from Class C and D will play for their first MHSAA girls basketball championships this weekend.
Laingsburg, in Class C, and Class D Pittsford also won their first Regional titles on the way and are joined by two others hoping to reach championship games Saturday at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center for the first time in their programs’ histories.
But standing in the way are a three-time champ in Class C and three teams with a combined nine titles seeking to win again in Class D.
All four Class C and D Semifinals will be played Thursday, with all four championship games Saturday.
Semifinals - Thursday
Class C
Calumet (22-2) vs Laingsburg (26-0), 1 p.m.
Ypsilanti Arbor Prep (22-3) vs Flint Hamady (25-1), 2:50 p.m.
Class D
Pittsford (25-0) vs Waterford Our Lady (12-12), 6 p.m.
Frankfort (24-1) vs St. Ignace (20-5), 7:50 p.m.
Finals - Saturday
Class A - Noon
Class B - 6 pm
Class C - 4 pm
Class D - 10 am
Tickets cost $8 per pair of Semifinals and $10 per two-game Finals session. All Semifinals will be streamed live on MHSAA.TV on a pay-per-view basis. All four Finals will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Detroit, the Class D, A and C title games on FOX Sports Detroit's primary channel and the Class B game on FOX Sports Detroit-PLUS. Free radio broadcasts of all weekend games will be available on MHSAANetwork.com.
And now, a look at the semifinalists in Class C and D. Click on the name of the school to see that team’s full schedule and results from this season. (Statistics are through teams' Regional Finals.)
Class C
CALUMET
Record/rank: 22-2, unranked.
League finish: Second in Western Peninsula Athletic Conference.
Coach: Jeff Twardzik, first season (22-2).
Championship history: Has not played in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 43-37, 53-36 and 45-37 (District Final) over Hancock, 46-23 over Tawas in the Quarterfinal.
Players to watch: Lexie Rowe, 5-5 sr. G (11 ppg, 2.7 spg); Ellen Twardzik, 5-10 sr. C (9.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg).
Outlook: Calumet is making its first Semifinal appearance after playing in its first Quarterfinal since 1977. The Copper Kings are only a pair of losses to Class B and league rival Houghton from a perfect record. Seven seniors lead a veteran group, with four in the starting lineup. Junior Clara Loukus adds 7.6 points and 3.1 assists per game. Twardzik took over the varsity after previously leading the junior varsity to a 38-0 mark.
FLINT HAMADY
Record/rank: 25-1, No. 5.
League finish: First in Genesee Area Conference Blue.
Coach: Keith Smith, 13th season (292-38).
Championship history: Three MHSAA titles (most recent Class C 2010), one runner-up finish.
Best wins: 44-42 over No. 10 Saginaw Nouvel in the Quarterfinal, 42-26 over honorable mention Sandusky in the Regional Semifinal, 45-33 over honorable mention Flint Beecher in the District Final, 54-29 and 44-32 over Class D No. 9 Morrice.
Players to watch: Jalisha Terry, 5-7 jr. G; Aaliah Hill, 5-9 sr. C (statistics not provided).
Outlook: Hamady is back at the Semifinals for the first time since 2011 after winning back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010. The Hawks again cruised through the GAC Blue for their sixth league title in seven seasons, and fell only to Class B semifinalist Detroit Country Day. Terry is a three-year varsity player at the point and one of the state’s top juniors, and she and Hill are surrounded by three underclassmen in the starting lineup with another freshman playing a key role off the bench.
LAINGSBURG
Record/rank: 26-0, No. 1.
League finish: First in Central Michigan Athletic Conference.
Coach: Doug Hurst, third season (55-15).
Championship history: Has never played in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 33-26 over No. 2 Niles Brandywine in the Quarterfinal, 40-29 over Morley Stanwood in the Regional Final, 33-24 over Kent City in the Regional Semifinal, 28-17 over No. 10 Carson City-Crystal in the District Final, 32-26 (District opener), 36-33 and 39-29 over Pewamo-Westphalia.
Players to watch: Lindsey Smith, 5-7 jr. F (11.2 ppg, 2.4 spg, 41 3-pointers); Julia Angst, 5-4 jr. G (8.0 ppg, 2.8 apg).
Outlook: Although Laingsburg has had nice seasons playing in a league that includes multiple previous MHSAA champions, this clearly has been the Wolfpack’s best run. The juniors above are the leading scorers but surrounded by three seniors in a starting lineup that is balanced not just in putting points on the board but rebounding and defensively as well – four players have between 54-64 steals and seven have grabbed at least 50 rebounds.
YPSILANTI ARBOR PREP
Record/rank: 22-3, tied for No. 3.
League finish: Does not play in a league.
Coach: Rod Wells, fourth season (78-14).
Championship history: Has not played in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 59-39 over No. 8 Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett in the Regional Final, 58-38 over No. 6 Blissfield in the Regional Semifinal, 59-55 over Class B No. 3 Grand Rapids Catholic Central, 54-39 over Class B No. 6 Detroit Country Day.
Players to watch: Nastassja Chambers, 5-9 jr. G (15.3 ppg, 2.1 apg, 3.7 spg); Karlee Morris, 5-11 sr. F (8.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.4 spg).
Outlook: Arbor Prep won Regional titles the last two seasons – it fell to eventual champion Eaton Rapids in last season’s Class B Quarterfinal – and is tested against some of the biggest and best in Michigan with losses to Class A Southfield-Lathrup, Ann Arbor Huron and Bloomfield Hills Marian. Five players score at least six points per game, with senior guard Payton Sims adding eight points per and making 44 3-pointers heading into the week.
Class D
FRANKFORT
Record/rank: 24-1, No. 1.
League finish: First in Northwest Conference.
Coach: Tim Reznich, 13th season (236-72).
Championship history: Class D champions 2006 and 2005.
Best wins: 49-42 over No. 7 Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart in the Quarterfinal, 52-30 over No. 3 Bellaire in the Regional Final, 61-38 over St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran.
Players to watch: Mackenna Kelly, 5-10 jr. G (17.1 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 3.0 apg, 2.3 spg); Cecelia Schmitt, 5-10 soph. G (13.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg).
Outlook: Frankfort emerged from a 10-11 record only two seasons ago to go a combined 47-3 over the last two – and knocked off reigning champion Sacred Heart to reach its first Finals weekend since winning the back-to-back titles. The only loss was in December to Portland, a Class B District finalist. Kelly and Schmitt are strong shooters – Schmitt better than 50 percent from 3-point range – and Kelly gets plenty of rebounding help from seniors Shayla Soto (9.1 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 2.1 apg) and Madison Stefanski (4.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg).
PITTSFORD
Record/rank: 25-0, No. 2.
League finish: First in Southern Central Athletic Association East.
Coach: Chris Hodos, third season (63-7).
Championship history: Has never played in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 65-20 over No. 9 Morrice in the Regional Final, 50-45 over St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran in the Quarterfinal, 47-39 over Manchester.
Players to watch: Maddie Clark, 5-9 soph. F (19.4 ppg, 10 rpg, 4.0 spg, 1.4 bpg); Jaycie Burger, 5-9 soph. G (17.9 ppg, 6.5 apg, 3.9 spg).
Outlook: Pittsford has gotten here in part with an incredible defensive effort. The Wildcats are giving up an average of 27.6 points per game during the postseason and total have kept opponents under 30 points 18 times this winter. Only four of 13 players are upperclassmen, making this potentially the first of a few impressive runs to come.
ST. IGNACE
Record/rank: 20-5, No. 6.
League finish: First in Straits Area Conference.
Coach: Dorene Ingalls, 16th season (335-65).
Championship history: Four MHSAA titles (most recent Class D 2013), three runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 66-51 over No. 10 Crystal Falls Forest Park in the Quarterfinal, 81-51 over Hillman in the Regional Final, 55-40 over Cedarville, 52-48 and 56-35 over Sault Ste. Marie.
Players to watch: Margo Brown, 5-7 sr. G (13.8 ppg, 3.2 apg, 3.4 spg, 51 3-pointers); Abbey Ostman, 5-9 jr. G/F (16.6 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 3.8 apg, 4.0 spg).
Outlook: Class C or D matters not to the Saints; they’ve made six straight Finals weekends and played in two straight championship games, finishing as runner-up in Class C a year ago. Ostman and Smith also started last season and 6-0 senior center Sarah Smith played the most minutes off the bench in the Final; she’s averaging 8.2 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. St. Ignace has won 10 straight since falling to Class A Gaylord on Feb. 2, and all five of its losses were to bigger schools.
WATERFORD OUR LADY
Record/rank: 12-12, unranked.
League finish: Third in Detroit Catholic League East.
Coach: Steve Robak, eighth season (147-52).
Championship history: Three MHSAA titles (most recent 2012), one runner-up finish.
Best wins: 38-35 over honorable mention Birmingham Roeper in the Regional Semifinal, 39-36 over Kingston in the Quarterfinal, 46-44 over Allen Park Inter-City Baptist in the Regional Final.
Players to watch: Tiffany Senerius, 5-8 fr. G (10.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg); Alex Troy, 5-6 jr. G (10.1 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 2.8 apg).
Outlook: Our Lady is in the rare situation as a surprise at the Finals – the Lakers won three straight titles and then finished runner-up from 2010-13 before falling to 8-13 a year ago. They’ve been revived with two freshmen starters and a sophomore in the playing group to go with three junior starters. This weekend will continue to provide valuable experience for a lineup that has gone 8-4 over its last 12 games.
PHOTO: Clara Loukus (10) stands in the way of a Hancock ball handler during Calumet's District championship win. (Photo courtesy of Calumet High School.)
Marian Wins Rematch of Top-Ranked in A
March 20, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Bloomfield Hills Marian is the reigning Class A girls basketball champion.
But sophomore guard Samantha Thomas admitted Friday the Mustangs were nervous the first time they faced Detroit Martin Luther King this season, on Feb. 26.
Marian didn’t see always-powerful King during its championship run. The Mustangs did win that first meeting this winter, but by only one point.
Nerves aside for their Class A Semifinal rematch, the story unfolded much differently – but with a similar ending.
Top-ranked Marian never trailed after the first five minutes and furthered its already-impressive body of work this season by downing the No. 2 Crusaders 57-37 at the Breslin Center.
“I think today we were ready for them. We actually played with confidence,” Williams said. “The last game we were nervous. We’d never played them. Today we went out and played the best we could.”
On Saturday, the Mustangs can prove for the second straight season that no other team in Class A can play better. They’ll take on DeWitt in the noon Final at Michigan State.
Marian’s surge in confidence was just one change from the first meeting. Coach Mary Cicerone made some adjustments to the Mustangs’ stingy man-to-man defense designed to make life a little harder on King senior point guard Janae Williams, who had 17 points in February.
Williams scored a game-high 18 points this time, but eight came on free throws as she had a tougher time driving to the basket against additional defensive attention.
“In this particular game, they were a little bit more aggressive,” King coach William Winfield said. “They took us out of what we wanted to do, which was good on their part. We did the same thing when we played them (the first time).
“They put a lot of pressure on my point guard, and that was it. Any time you have a situation when they take my point guard out of the game, now we have problems.”
Thomas scored with 36 seconds left in the first quarter to launch an 11-2 run that put Marian ahead 20-11 three minutes into the second. The Crusaders cut the deficit back to seven points three minutes later, but never got closer.
Thomas had 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds, plus three blocked shots. Senior guard Jaeda Robinson led Marian with 15 points and senior forward Brittany Gray added 14 as the team made 50 percent of its shots from the floor.
Senior center Malaysia McHenry added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Crusaders (24-2); she and Williams both were four-year varsity players for Winfield and led this first King run to the Semifinals since 2006.
Marian (25-1) is undefeated against in-state competition, its only loss to Chicago Whitney Young. The Mustangs are 50-3 over the last two seasons – and beat the team that handed them their 2013-14 losses, rival Farmington Hills Mercy, in last year’s Semifinal.
Four starters from last season’s championship game likely will be in the lineup Saturday, and Robinson was the team’s top sub a year ago.
“This is what we planned for. Nothing else would’ve been satisfactory,” Cicerone said. “I’m sure you’d see a lot of tears if we weren’t here. But they came to play today, and I’m very proud of them.”
Click for the full box score and video from the press conference.
PHOTOS: (Top) Marian’s Samantha Thomas works to get past King’s Leah Mathis during Friday’s Class A Semifinal. (Middle) King’s Janae Williams starts the offense; she finished with a game high 18 points. Bailey Thomas defends for Marian.