Class D Final: Lakers complete 3-peat
March 17, 2012
EAST LANSING – In the first quarter it was Ava Doetsch. In the second, Lexie Robak.
And at the end of Saturday’s third quarter at the Breslin Center, when Waterford Our Lady was strengthening its grip on its next MHSAA Class D title, Tori Duffey came through.
Unlike their first two title runs, this season’s Lakers didn’t have a proven star like 2011 grad and current Oakland University freshman Lauren Robak to take every big shot. The time, they had many.
Our Lady’s 53-37 win over Athens capped a third-straight Class D championship season in the same way the Lakers had won all season – with help from a variety of contributors who took on changed and increased roles this winter.
“People ask us, ‘How do you get excited? You’re going there again.’ The second time they were still saying how is it still exciting,” said Doetsch, who has played on all three MHSAA champions. “Not a lot of people get to come and play under these circumstances. To be with the same people … it’s really exciting to me. For this game, I was more excited than my freshman year.”
Our Lady, which entered the tournament ranked just No. 7 in Class D, finished 23-4 this season. Over the last four, the Lakers have a record of 90-16, with four District and Regional championships to go with three wins at the MHSAA Finals.
Juniors Lexie Robak and Jessica Parry have joined Doetsch on all three championship teams.
“You don’t believe it the first time. You don’t feel like it’s real,” Parry said. “Who does that, three in a row? It’s a crazy feeling.”
It began to set in with some big shots by Robak at the end of the second quarter, and took solid hold after Duffey’s barrage to finish the third.
The Lakers led Athens by just a basket, 21-19, with 2:49 to play in the first half when Robak drained consecutive 3-pointers and another shot to push the advantage to 10 heading into halftime.
Athens (21-6) cut the lead back to eight before Robak hit a jumper and Duffey, a senior, knocked down two 3-pointers and nabbed a steal as Our Lady closed the third quarter up 42-26.
For the game, the Lakers made 56 percent of their shots from the floor including 6 of 12 tries from 3-point range. Athens made just 28 percent of its shots, and 2 of 10 from behind the arc.
“They had really good shooters. That’s something we haven’t seen a lot of this season,” Athens sophomore guard Payton Wood said. “Some teams have had definite 3-point shooters than we knew we had to stay on. But they are just all-around a great shooting team, and (that’s) just something that took over the game.”
Duffey and Doetsch both scored 13 points to lead Our Lady. Doetsch had nine points, two rebounds and a steal in the first quarter to help the Lakers keep pace before beginning their break-away in the second. Robak finished with 12 points.
“Instead of having to always go to one player, we had five or six we always get the ball to, to count on them to score that lay-up or basket,” Doetsch said. “The other team didn’t know who we were going to pass it to, and that made it a lot more fun … because no one knew who we were going to get the ball to to score.”
Athens – making its first MHSAA Final appearance – had just two seniors this season. Sierra Stevens capped her high school career with a game-high 15 points.
Click for the box score. Watch the game and both teams' postgame press conferences at MHSAA.tv.
PHOTOS: (Top) Waterford Our Lady celebrates its third-straight Class D championship. (Photo courtesy of Terry McNamara Photography.) (Middle) Athens guard Leo Plaisir drives around Our Lady guard Anna Robb. Plaisir scored four points Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Flights, Flexibility, Fun & New Friends All Parts of Beaver Island's Sports Story
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
August 27, 2021
Chartered flights and overnight stays for all away games are part of the normal routine for one northern Michigan high school’s student-athletes.
Opportunities to make lots of new friends always come with the games too.
That’s the norm for Beaver Island athletes representing the Lakers in soccer, volleyball and basketball while competing in the Northern Lights League.
“We fly everywhere, and it is awesome,” says second-year soccer coach Bryan Doughman. “I thoroughly enjoy the travel.
“The biggest challenge is the kids forgetting something, and I am ultimately responsible for ‘How am I going to fix this?’”
Beaver Island is the largest island in Lake Michigan, northwest of Charlevoix in the Lower Peninsula and southeast of Manistique in the U.P. The island is home to 600 year-round residents, with 60 students kindergarten through 12th grade, including 17 in grades 9-12 this school year.
Doughman manages a restaurant on the Island. He is a native of Cincinnati. Coaching the co-ed soccer team has permitted him to make his first trips to the Upper Peninsula and Mackinac Island.
But social aspects provide the most benefit for the student-athletes. The Islanders will make their first trip of the season Sept. 15 to Concord Academy Boyne. As they do at home, the Islanders will play a game Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. The overnight experience is provided by the home school.
“The kids will be seeing and meeting new friends,” Doughman noted. That’s what they ultimately look forward to … socially with different people.
“We all know the situation of going to work where you interact with the same people over and over again and can’t wait to meet new people,” he continued. “That’s what they kinda go through their whole lives.”
Beaver Island’s girls volleyball team opened its season Aug. 27 with a pair of losses at Maplewood Baptist in Kinross, located in the eastern Upper Peninsula.
The soccer and volleyball teams will open their home seasons Sept. 10 and 11, hosting Hannahville Nah Tah Wahsh, another U.P. opponent.
“The island community enjoys being able to come and cheer on the island teams,” noted second-year volleyball coach Bridget Martin.
The boys and girls basketball teams will go through their seasons this winter similarly. Athletics and social opportunities are a source of satisfaction for Kerry Smith, Beaver Island’s athletic director. She grew up on the Island and competed for the Islanders.
“The best part of being an AD on an island is the great deal of satisfaction I get from watching our kids be able to connect with other kids their age and play a sport and have a great time doing it,” Smith said. “The kids here know what a privilege it is to be able to have a sports program, and they show their appreciation through their outstanding sportsmanship – and that makes me beam with pride!”
Dianna Behl, Beaver Island’s language arts teacher, will take over the girls basketball team this winter. She has served as the school’s Nordic ski club advisor the past four years and has practiced with the basketball team frequently. She was a three-year letter winner at Charlevoix High School.
She’s expects her team to benefit from players taking part in fall sports.
“I am very excited for our season because many of the players are participating in soccer and volleyball, so they should be in great shape for basketball season,” she said. “I hope to build on their solid base.”
Dan Burton will be entering his seventh season as the varsity boys basketball coach. He’s also developing an elementary basketball program and guiding the middle schoolers. He expects to have a middle schooler or two join the high school team to fill out the roster this winter.
“The best part of coaching is getting these the students an outlet for sports,” said Burton, a business owner on the island. “Otherwise, there’s nothing much else to do in a small town like this.
“Keeping a sports program is the most important thing.”
The soccer team also is relying on middle schoolers as it attempts to find enough players to compete. The co-ed roster is dominated by girls, and the Islanders have only two seniors and one junior on the squad.
“I just hope we can improve a lot on our basics this year,” Doughman said. “I hope to just have fun. The biggest challenge is they’re all first and second-year players, except for a handful.”
Weather is the most difficult challenge of being an island-based sports team, the coaches acknowledged.
“The greatest challenge of coaching an island team is Mother Nature,” Behl said. “The girls practice hard for days and then at the last minute bad weather comes in and the planes aren't flying us out, or our competition in, for the games.
“It is heartbreaking and happens every season,” she continued. “Nonetheless, I am so impressed with how well the girls handle it. It is a life lesson in flexibility, and they are pros.”
Because of those frequent weather changes, spotting the athletic director in the school hallways often is a bad sign.
“The weather is a major frustration and always a factor for us,” Smith said. “On game day, I try not to show my face down in the high school wing because the kids always think I am coming to deliver bad news.”
The school often chooses which teams will go on to MHSAA postseason play based on their success in the league. Beaver Island sent its boys basketball team to Districts last season.
The last Beaver Island team to move past the first round of Districts was the volleyball team in 2013. The Islanders beat Mackinaw City and went on to play Engadine before seeing their season come to an end. The school’s best-ever tournament run was by the soccer team in 2005.
“They were District winners; this was the farthest any team has ever gone,” Smith recalled. “It was a huge celebration. The team was greeted by the fire trucks, parents and pretty much the whole community when they flew home that day.”
Beaver Island anticipates sending the boys basketball team to Districts again this year, and possibly the girls basketball team as well.
Mackinac Island is the Islanders’ favorite place to travel, according to coaches’ consensus. That’s the host for the volleyball and soccer Northern Lights Conference tournaments.
“One of our favorites would have to be Mackinac Island because the girls enjoy flying to another island, riding in the horse drawn carriage and the rare treat of getting to go to a Starbucks,” she said.
Mackinac Island will host conference tournaments for soccer Oct. 16 and volleyball Oct. 23.
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) Beaver Island's Ella Moon passes during a volleyball match this fall. (2) Olga Burton winds up to serve. (3) Beaver Island plays its lone home soccer game during the 2020 season. (4) The Beaver Island boys basketball team participated in District play this past winter. (Photos courtesy of the Beaver Island athletic department.)