Class D: Lakers Press On to Saturday
March 15, 2012
EAST LANSING – For three quarters Thursday, Waterford Our Lady struggled to find the gear that has allowed the Lakers to become Class D’s latest powerhouse program.
With 5 minutes, 32 seconds to play, everything clicked.
Game over.
Champions do that kind of thing. And Our Lady will go for its third straight Saturday after surviving a good scare from Portland St. Patrick before advancing with a 54-44 win.
“I feel like all game we were trying to find our rhythm. It’s an intense atmosphere being here, and you don’t really know what to expect,” Our Lady senior Tori Duffey said. “Something just kinda came over us. … We knew we had to do it now. We’re talented enough that we can do that.”
The No.7 Lakers (22-4) will face either Crystal Falls Forest Park or Athens at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Our Lady never trailed against Portland St. Patrick. The Lakers pushed their lead to double figures three times.
But St. Patrick, which owns six MHSAA titles and has sat in the favorite spot plenty of times, pulled within three points of the lead – 34-31 – with a quarter to play.
The Shamrocks entered the postseason unranked at 19-6. But they were 12-1 over their last 13 games. And it seemed like St. Patrick’s first lead, if gained, might be able to stand until the final buzzer.
“I guess I didn’t feel like they were the favorites coming in. I thought if we played well and took care of business, I thought it would be a two or four-point ball game,” Portland St. Patrick coach Al Schrauben said. “The way we played the second half of the year, I was quite comfortable playing with anybody.”
But with 5:32 to play, and the Lakers lead just 38-34, everything fell back into place for Our Lady.
Thanks in large part to a suffocating defensive press, the Lakers took advantage of five St. Patrick turnovers over just more than two minutes – and pushed the lead to 49-34.
“Even if the shots aren’t going in, and we make a couple of mistakes, the thing about this group is they never hang their heads,” Our Lady coach Steve Robak said. “They continued to play on the defensive end, and eventually good things happen.”
Senior Carlee Cottrell scored a game-high 17 points and had five assists for Our Lady, and junior Ava Doetsch added 14 points and four assists. Junior Lexie Robak had eight points and nine rebounds.
Juniors Tori Goodrich and Courtney Dixon each scored seven points for St. Patrick, and senior Sidney Hill had seven rebounds.
“When we were 7-5, I didn’t think we’d even get a District title,” Shamrocks senior Stephanie Miros said. “I love the girls on this team. We’re great friends. So it’s a great memory.”
Click for the box score. Watch the game and both teams' postgame press conferences at MHSAA.tv.
PHOTO: Our Lady sophomore guard Anna Robb takes a shot Thursday. She scored four points. (Photo courtesy of Terry McNamara Photography.)
House's Letters Spell R-E-C-O-R-D
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
December 18, 2018
COMSTOCK — As a freshman, Abby House could not decide whether to play volleyball or golf, so she compromised and did both.
Little did she know that first dual-sport fall season would put her on track to Comstock High School history.
She will graduate in May with a school-record 22 varsity letters — 21 for sports and one for band.
The previous record, set by Robert Bellisle in 1943, was 17. Bellisle was inducted into the Comstock Hall of Fame in 2011.
“I just really like sports and starting freshman year with five, I didn’t really know there was a record for it,” House said.
She has four letters each in bowling, golf, basketball and softball, three in volleyball, two in soccer and one in band.
The school supports dual-sport athletes under specific conditions, athletic director Justin Ansel said.
“Primary and secondary coaches have to agree on the details before it can happen,” he said. “If we don't have their agreement along with the player understanding of expectations, we don't allow it.
“I think it's important to just give the kids opportunity. It works best with picking a team sport as the primary sport and then an individual sport as secondary.”
House’s father, Rich House, said he and his wife have no problem with their daughter playing six sports a school year.
“It wasn’t really ever a plan; it just kinda happened,” he said. “She was always good at it and has always been a good student.
“We always told her as long as she could handle it and keep up – the school work is most important. She always seemed to do a good job at that.”
Schoolwork has not been a problem for House, who carries a 3.88 grade-point average.
This year, she has just one class at Comstock – band – but took psychology, physics and accounting at Kalamazoo Valley Community College. Next semester, she will study sociology, chemistry and medical terminology at KVCC, working toward a degree in nursing.
Although House plays sports for fun, her dad said his daughter is a high-level competitor in all of them.
“She has multiple conference titles, qualified for state twice in golf, once in bowling, all-District catcher two years in a row,” Rich House said.
This year, she was Comstock’s top golfer and is the team’s top female bowler, carrying a 150 average.
Decisions, decisions
As a freshman, House earned varsity letters in golf, basketball, bowling and softball.
She played the same sports the next year, but also was moved up to varsity in volleyball, giving her five letters.
Her junior year, House added soccer, and is continuing to play six sports her senior year.
She chose volleyball because “I played (volleyball) with my teammates since middle school and I’ve enjoyed it when I played in season,” House said.
Golf is a family affair for the House family, including her brother, Mason.
“My parents are big golfers and we’re a big golf family and the coach was really into wanting me to golf, so she talked me into it and I thought it would be fun to try,” Abby House said.
Since she started playing basketball in elementary school; it was a no-brainer to continue in high school. She was called up to varsity after a month during her freshman year.
The bowling coach had an inside track to recruiting her – it’s her dad.
Softball was her only spring sport until her junior year.
“When I was younger, I played softball and soccer, but I chose softball because I liked it more,” House said.
“We had a softball coach who wanted us to concentrate only on softball, so I didn’t play soccer.”
Her junior year, the softball coach left and House decided to add soccer, giving her two sports in each of the three seasons.
Everything falls into place
House is an expert at time management.
“In school, whenever teachers get done with notes and we have homework I try to do it,” she said. “Or with any free time I’ll do it and what’s left, I do after practices.
“Freshman, sophomore year I did a lot on the bus.”
Choosing a favorite sport is not possible.
“Everybody asks me that,” she said. “I can choose one per season, but not one overall.
“Basketball, golf, softball have always been my top.”
House has stepped up this year, helping lead the basketball team to a 3-0 overall record, 2-0 in the Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference Red as a point guard, her fourth position in four years.
As a freshman she was a post player, as a sophomore she shifted to forward, and then to shooting guard last winter.
Last season, she averaged seven points and seven rebounds per game. This year, it’s 18 points, eight rebounds and nearly six assists on average, she said.
“Abby has always been a solid player even since fourth grade when (she and Daisy Ansel) started playing some travel ball together,” said Justin Ansel, who also coaches the girls basketball team.
“I think Abby has always been a very coordinated athlete, and it doesn't surprise me that she does so well in so many different things. She has contributed at a high level in a lot of sports.”
Ansel said he thinks House could be extremely good if she focused on a particular sport, but “I think she just loves competing so much that she would rather play all kinds of sports all the time.”
Ansel said House complements leading scorer Daisy Ansel well.
“Abby's start to this season from an offensive standpoint has been tremendous,” he said. “Both girls are shooting very well from the outside, and both girls are able to attack so defenses can't just key on one of them – which is amazing for Daisy.”
House will not go into sports withdrawal once she graduates.
She hopes to continue to play in college, but just one sport, either basketball or golf, she said.
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Abby House’s varsity letter jacket shows off many of her accomplishments over her first three-plus years of high school. (Middle) Abby House and her father Rich House. (Below) Abby House takes part in some of her sports – with her dad at the bowling center, golfing, and hitting in softball and volleyball. (Action photos courtesy of the House family. Head shots by Pam Shebest.)