Classic Finish Delivers Statewide Stardom
March 15, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
GRAND RAPIDS – Michigan, meet Bree Salenbien – the Adrian Lenawee Christian freshman who stands as tall as a center, plays like a guard, and made a shot Thursday that most seniors never get a chance to launch.
The 6-foot-2 Cougars standout instantly may have bought herself three more years of statewide expectations by draining the winner in her team’s 46-44 Class D Semifinal overtime win over Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart.
But if her full-game performance at Van Noord Arena was an indication, she’ll be up for all of them.
Salenbien’s pull-up jumper from just inside the free throw line with four seconds to play gave her the last of 16 points – and sent her team to its first MHSAA championship game since 2010.
Lenawee Christian (25-1) will face Chassell at 10 a.m. Saturday with a first girls basketball title in school history on the line – and another chance to show a statewide audience more of this phenom and her teammates from the southeastern corner.
“It’s really fun. But I think the whole team is showing the state who we are, not just me,” Salenbien said. “We’ve battled through so many games this year. That one loss helped us this year not want to feel that way again, to battle through everything.
“We knew we’d have to fight like that to the end.”
That lone defeat, by one to Class A Monroe on Jan. 9, clearly was a learning experience for a team with lots of talent but only one senior.
But it will be buried by the memories Salenbien and her teammates continue to make this weekend and the next few years to come.
She finished with eight rebounds, four assists, three blocks and six steals to go with those 16 points against a Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart team that was undefeated entering the night and playing in its third straight Semifinals. Salenbien also had to contend at times with Irish 6-foot all-stater Sophia Ruggles, who finished with 19 points, 15 rebounds and five blocked shots.
The teams were deadlocked 13 times, and the lead changed 11. Only six points were scored during overtime – two free throws by Ruggles 27 seconds in, followed by two by Salenbien with 1:05 to play and then her game-winner at the end.
Salenbien actually missed a free throw with 12 seconds left in regulation that would’ve given her team a one-point lead. But, as Sacred Heart coach Damon Brown noted, the freshman plays well beyond her years – and was about to show it again.
“She doesn’t always,” said Dani’s father and Lenawee Christian coach, Jamie Salenbien. “But when she does, it’s because of the time she’s put in. All of the kids on this team are committed to fundamentals, the coaching staff preaches it and pushes it, and they’ve bought into it and put a lot of time in when no one was there. But she has a lot of athletic gifts God gave her, and she’s using them now at the young age of 14.
“I’m proud of her hanging tough when she could’ve folded, after missing that free throw especially.”
Sophomore guard Dani Salenbien, Bree’s sister and Jamie’s daughter as well, added 11 points and four blocks.
Lenawee Christian’s “gamers,” as Jamie Salenbien called them, contended with a Sacred Heart lineup returning all five starters from last year’s run. Junior guard Scout Nelson added 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, senior Grace Reetz had five steals and five points – including a late 3-pointer that nearly became the game winner – and seniors Megan Nowak and Hadyn Terwilliger finished with five points and seven rebounds, respectively.
Certainly unexpected, Sacred Heart’s full starting lineup and one senior sub entered the postgame press conference full of smiles and laughter.
The Irish (25-1) went a combined 94-10 over the last four seasons, and wins came off the court as well as on. Brown talked about how he nearly left coaching after the 2013-14 season and the death of his wife, Sacred Heart boys basketball coach Keisha Brown, after her fight with cancer. Last season, the Irish ended their tournament run in the Semifinals on March 16 – three days before the death of Haydn Terwilliger’s mother Denise, who also fought cancer.
“We’ve been through these last four years together, and I think that’s why we’re so happy with each other,” Brown said. “From what we’ve been through, this game in no shape or form defines what this team has been through. We’ve held hands through the darkest times. … What we have here is more important than any score.”
And Reetz took the opportunity to lighten the mood one last time.
“This is kind’ve how our team is,” she said. “We laugh about everything. Sophie had 999 career points. It’s sad, but it’s just kinda humorous. (Ruggles actually finished her career with exactly 1,000.)
“I just feel like we all feel we couldn’t have done anything else out there. It’s just kinda a toss-up. We tried our best, we wanted a state title, but being together is enough for us.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Lenawee Christian’s Bree Salenbien, right, hugs her sister Dani after making the game-winning shot in Thursday’s second Class D Semifinal. (Middle) Bree Salenbien pops a shot as Sophia Ruggles (15), Hadyn Terwilliger (13) and Megan Nowak (4) surround her.
Lumen Christi Starts Fast, Surges Ahead to Earn 1st Finals Appearance
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
March 19, 2026
EAST LANSING – Jackson Lumen Christi showed in Thursday’s Division 3 Semifinal that it isn’t just a two-person team.
Titans first-year coach Scott Stine anticipated that Niles Brandywine would try and take away his two talented sophomores, Kenna Hunt and Lucy Wrozek, so he turned to a senior starter to provide an early spark.
Lily Ganton buried a pair of 3-pointers during a 14-0 run to start the game, and it paved the way to a convincing 51-33 victory.
“The first 10 minutes of play we played lights out, we made shots,” said Stine, who guided Ypsilanti Prep to three Division 3 titles over the last four years before taking over at Lumen Christi this school year. “They came out in a kind of a funky defense and if you read the newspaper, you guys can change that narrative. We are more than just two players.
“Lily and I had a conversation that if they came out and tried to do a triangle (defense) or something similar, I let her know that I had all the confidence in the world in her and to let it fly. She came out there and really showed that she's a great basketball player.”
Ganton finished with 13 points, with three 3-pointers total.
“You never know how the game is going to go, but it’s great when Coach puts that confidence in you and my teammates trusted me to go out and knock down shots,” Ganton said. “If they leave me open then I’m going to shoot the ball, and it was nice to get that early lead and some cushion in a game like this.”
The Titans (24-3), who were making their first appearance in the Semifinals, now will play in their first Final at 4 p.m. Saturday against Pewamo-Westphalia.
“It’s pretty amazing, but it really shows all the hard work that we’ve put in is paying off,” said Hunt, who filled the stat sheet with 16 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and seven steals.
“We still have one more game so we are going to lock in on that game, but it is truly a blessing to be able to be in this position and get this opportunity to play at an amazing place with this team and coaching staff. It’s the best thing I could ask for.”
Lumen Christi led 18-3 after the first quarter and stretched it to 29-10 at the half.
The Titans, who led by as many as 22 during the second half, registered 17 steals and scored 24 points off turnovers.
“Since the day I've had them they said they wanted to be champions,” Stine said. “And we are still one game away from that, but I told them I know what it takes and I’ve been here and I know what it looks like to win. They have done every single thing I've asked of them.”
The Bobcats, who were making their third-straight trip to the Semifinals, had previously won all of their tournament games this winter by double digits.
However, the slow start, coupled with 23 turnovers, was too much to overcome.
“Rough start, probably bad coaching, but it’s really hard to contain Kenna and Lucy and there’s a reason they are Division I prospects,” Niles Brandywine coach Josh Hood said. “They’re tough to defend, but we could’ve thrown in the towel in the second half and we didn’t.
“We battled, and I’m proud of the girls. Three times in a row here is pretty impressive.”
Freshman Zaya Price led the Bobcats with 18 points and nine rebounds.
PHOTOS (Top) Lumen Christi’s Kenna Hunt works to get to the basket with Brandywine’s Lily Gill (11) defending Thursday. (Middle) Lucy Wrozek (14) looks for an open teammate while Mackenna Price (10) pursues. (Photos by Lilanie Karunanayake/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)