EAST LANSING — There is just something about Ypsilanti Arbor Prep and its comfort with playing low-scoring games in the MHSAA Tournament.

After winning the 2024 Division 3 championship game while scoring just 33 points, Arbor Prep didn’t score more than 32 in its final four postseason games this winter.

But that mattered not, as the Gators still managed to win all of them and capture their second-straight Division 3 title and third in four years.

The latest and final triumph of the 2024-25 season was a 32-21 win over Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest on Saturday at Breslin Center. 

“We’re not a great offensive team, and part of that is we are playing five to six girls,” Arbor Prep head coach Scott Stine said. “We slow the ball down. We take time off the clock and when you do that, you’re not going to score a lot of points.”

Arbor Prep (17-12) entered the MHSAA Tournament unranked and with a losing record, but that was more a byproduct of playing a schedule filled with Division 1 and 2 opponents during the regular season. 

“I knew this group was capable of doing what they just did,” Stine said. “I just didn’t know if it was ever going to click. The last week of the regular season, it did, and they continued this magical run.”

The Final against Lutheran Northwest was an offensive struggle for both teams.

Arbor Prep shot 35.5 percent from the field overall (11 of 31), 26.7 percent from 3-point range (4 of 15) and committed 17 turnovers.

Lutheran Northwest (21-7) shot 17.5 percent from the field overall (7 of 40) and went 1 for 14 from 3-point range, with the only made shot from beyond the 3-point line coming with 36.7 seconds remaining. 

“We struggled getting into what we like to do,” Lutheran Northwest head coach Jimmy Mehlberg said. “We like to get into a quicker tempo. Credit to Arbor Prep. They did very well slowing it down on us.”

Arbor Prep held a 13-10 lead at halftime but started to gain a little separation in the third quarter when senior Eliza Bush hit consecutive 3-pointers to give the Gators a 19-12 lead. 

Arbor Prep took a 22-13 lead into the fourth quarter. Lutheran Northwest managed to cut its deficit to 24-18 with 4:31 remaining on a basket by junior Addie Troska. But a driving layup by Angela Meggisson with 1:51 remaining gave the Gators a 28-18 lead and all but wrapped up the game. 

Meggisson finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Bush scored 10 points for Arbor Prep.

Troska scored eight points to lead Lutheran Northwest (21-7). 

The Crusaders took solace in advancing to their first state championship game, and the fact that only three seniors will graduate from a program that has reached Breslin the last two seasons.

Lutheran Northwest lost to Arbor Prep in the Semifinals last year. 

“It’s a great thing for our program to take this bigger step,” Lutheran Northwest senior Molly Griswold said, “and do something nobody else in school history has done.”

Click for the full box score. 

PHOTOS (Top) Arbor Prep’s Angela Meggisson makes a move toward the paint during her team’s Division 3 title-clinching win Saturday. (Middle) Lutheran Northwest’s Morgan Griswold (22) works to get up a shot over the Gators’ defense. (Below) Kylie Calabria (1) prepares to defend. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)