Class A: Grand Haven stands tall
March 16, 2012
EAST LANSING – Grand Haven wasn’t prepared for its trip to Michigan State’s Breslin Center last season. It’s as simple as that, Buccaneers’ senior guard Shar’Rae Davis said Friday.
This time?
Grand Haven defeated reigning Class A champion Inkster 43-40 to advance to its first MHSAA Final. And the game got that close only over the last minute, thanks to Inkster’s closing 10-2 run.
“We came in on cloud nine, just floating out there, happy to be there,” Davis said of last season’s run, which ended with a 39-38 Semifinal loss to Detroit Renaissance. “This year, we’re about to win. I’m not taking any other option. I’m so determined to win right now.”
Top-ranked Grand Haven (26-1) will face Grosse Pointe South (22-3) at noon Saturday.
How much difference did a year make for the Buccaneers?
The stat sheet doesn’t tell the story. Grand Haven shot only 33 percent from the floor Friday, was outrebounded and had more turnovers than Inkster.
Instead, consider:
- Senior guard Alex Law scored 16 points and made four 3-pointers. Grand Haven coach Katie Kowalczyk-Fulmer noted a Regional Final two years ago at a smaller gym at Traverse City St. Francis where Law stepped out of bounds multiple times setting up for a long-range shot. A few of her makes Friday were no doubt from similar long distance.
- Junior center Abby Cole, measuring 6-foot-5, had five points, nine rebounds and 10 blocked shots facing a frontcourt filled with players measuring 6-0 or taller.
- Davis also scored 16 points, with six rebounds, and got in her teammates’ ears when Inkster started its late run.
“We learned (from last year) that we have potential. We’re good enough,” Cole said. “We’re even better this year. … We wanted it so much more.”
That the Buccaneers would move on remained in question only through the first quarter, and for maybe that final minute at the end. Grand Haven’s 15-3 run through the second quarter eventually led to a 10-point lead at halftime.
Inkster’s slow start was rooted mostly in its 18 percent shooting during that first half – a result, in large part, of Cole’s presence around the hoop. The Vikings made 4 of 8 shots from the floor during that closing stretch. But they ran out of time.
“First of all, Abby is 6-5 and she presents a presence in the lane, just to start with. I was very impressed with her timing. She was able to not, so to speak, try to block shots while the ball was in our shooters' hands. She was waiting until the ball was released,” Inkster coach Ollie Mitchell said. “Her play in volleyball (this fall) really, really helped her. That was pretty much the biggest concern of mine going into this game. … How we were we going to be able to disrupt her physically.
“For the most part, I think we struggled in that area. But as resilient as our team is, I just felt in the fourth quarter we were going to put a surge on.”
Inkster, ranked No. 10 entering the postseason, finished 21-6. Senior Kelsey Mitchell had nine points and 11 rebounds in her final game before joining the University of Michigan’s program. Senior guard Jamie Madden scored a team-high 13 points.
Grand Haven coaches were told just before tip-off about a vehicle accident that sent multiple students to the hospital as they were en route to the game Friday. Kowalczyk-Fulmer informed her players after the game ended.
“We are happy about the win, but shaken up about their condition,” she said.
Click for the box score. Watch the game and both teams' postgame press conferences at MHSAA.tv.
PHOTO: Grand Haven junior Abby Cole launches a shot over Inkster defenders Friday. She had five points, nine rebounds and 10 blocks in the Semifinal. (Photo courtesy of Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Class C: Knights will Return to Final
March 15, 2012
EAST LANSING – Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett is the only Class C Semifinalist that didn’t bring a perfect record to the Breslin Center on Thursday. The No. 9-ranked Knights have lost four times, including in their final game before the start of the District tournament.
But a loss to end 2011 pushed the Knights through those momentary disappointments and back into the season’s final day for the second year in a row.
University Liggett finished Class C runner-up a year ago in its first MHSAA Final appearance. But the Knights now need just one more win to finish a year-long quest for their championship.
They earned that opportunity with a 49-27 win over No. 2 Concord in the day's first Semifinal.
“Last year we lost and it was pretty heart-breaking. Everyone was pretty upset. But throughout the course of the year it motivated us because we wanted to be here as bad as anything,” said senior guard Madison Ristovski, who was named the state’s Miss Basketball on Monday.
“So yeah, we feel pressure. But at the same time, we want it so bad that it overrides it.”
University Liggett (23-4) will face No. 1 Morley-Stanwood (27-0) in Saturday’s 4 p.m. Final.
Ristovski, who has signed with the University of Michigan, is arguably the best-known player at Breslin this weekend – and the regular catalyst for the Knights over the last few seasons.
But Thursday, junior sister Haleigh Ristovski got University Liggett rolling.
She made her first 3-pointer with the Knights trailing by five points seven minutes into the game. But she finished with six 3-pointers – and 22 points, 12 above her average – along with four steals.
"We just tried to pick it up," Haleigh Ristovski said. "Once I hit the first one, I knew I was going to make more. I just felt it.”
Along with freshman sister Lola, the Ristovskis scored University Liggett’s first 37 points before junior Julie DeRoo scored with 1:30 to go in the third quarter. Madison Ristovski finished with 15 points, six rebounds and seven assists and Lola had six steals.
The teams were tied after the first quarter, but the Knights built a 30-17 lead by the end of the second.
"Sometimes in our games, we start off a little slow. It takes one good shot, one good block, and everybody looks at each other and says, 'All right, now it's time. Let's go,'" Madison Ristovski said. "I'm not going to lie. We were probably a little nervous coming out. But as soon as Haleigh knocked down that first 3, it was like 'All right, here it is. Let's go.'
"It's not the first time she's done that. I've seen her hit seven, eight before."
Concord finished 26-1. Junior Megan Redman had eight points. Junior Maycee Brigham added seven.
They are two of eight juniors who will work to get back to Breslin next season. The Yellow Jackets started four juniors Thursday, and had only three seniors on the roster.
"I'd say that we got a lot farther than we thought (we would)," Brigham said. "We set our minds to get here, and I think it was just a great experience to play here."
Click for the box score. Watch the game and both teams' postgame press conferences at MHSAA.tv.
PHOTO: University Liggett junior Haleigh Ristovski drives for two of her game-high 22 points Thursday. (Photo courtesy of Terry McNamara Photography.)