Countdown to Calvin: Girls Report Week 6
January 14, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
As the midpoint of this Michigan high school girls basketball season approaches, most teams are focusing on league competition – and there are plenty of stories to tell.
Start with the top game in our “Week in Review” below – which saw the end of an 82-game conference winning streak. Three of our five games to watch over the coming week also have league title significance.
Of course, there are some epic nonconference matchups still on the way – and we highlight a few of those as well.
Expect to see District brackets added to the MHSAA Website this week and first-round games added to team schedules. Countdown to Calvin is powered by MI Student Aid and based on results and schedules posted for each school at MHSAA.com. To offer corrections or fill in scores we’re missing, email me at [email protected].
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Whitehall 67, Muskegon Oakridge 56 (3 OT) – Whitehall handed Oakridge its first West Michigan Conference loss since 2013, a stretch of 82 league games, to move into a first-place tie with the Eagles.
2. Saginaw Heritage 48, Flint Carman-Ainsworth 41 – Saginaw Valley League Red leader Heritage remained undefeated by downing Blue leader Carman-Ainsworth in the former’s second-closest game this winter.
3. Detroit Martin Luther King 56, Detroit Cass Tech 53 – The Crusaders held on to the top spot alone in the Detroit Public School League Midtown division by handing the Technicians their first league loss.
4. Detroit Edison 64, Muskegon 42 – The Pioneers won a star-studded matchup that featured multiple Miss Basketball Award hopefuls.
5. Kalamazoo Christian 48, Comstock 38 – The Comets bounced back from two straight losses to hand Comstock the only defeat of an impressive winter so far.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
• Saline (7-0) – The Hornets appear on their way to soon surpassing last season’s 11-11 finish. Their first game closer than 19 points came Friday in the Southeastern Conference Red opener, when Saline won a battle of unbeaten edging Temperance Bedford 57-56.
• Southfield Arts & Technology (8-1) – The Warriors are playing for a third straight Oakland Activities Association Red title, but that could be just the start. A&T beat reigning Class B champion Detroit Country Day 65-54 last week and owns a 13-point win over Flint Carman-Ainsworth, noted above. The defeat was by two points to reigning Class A champion Saginaw Heritage in the season’s second game.
DIVISION 2
• Armada (6-1) – Reigning champion Armada has won 19 straight Blue Water Area Conference games and is tied for first heading into Tuesday’s matchup with co-leader Croswell-Lexington (see below). The loss came to Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse in mid-December, but the Tigers haven’t had another game closer than 22 points since their season opener.
• Croswell-Lexington (6-1) – Croswell-Lexington tied for second in the BWAC a year ago and has five wins by double digits this winter including a 19-pointer over third-place Imlay City on Friday. The only defeat came by nine to Port Huron Northern, an annual power from one of the state’s best leagues.
DIVISION 3
• Gobles (7-0) – Two straight first-game MHSAA Tournament exits has taken Gobles out of the state spotlight some, but the Tigers are roaring back. They avenged last season’s District loss to Kalamazoo Hackett last week, and could earn another boost against also-unbeaten Martin on Friday in a matchup for first place in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Lakeshore.
• Iron River West Iron County (6-2) – The Wykons may have started slowly, relatively speaking, at 1-2 this winter including a loss to still-undefeated Ishpeming Westwood. But they handed Negaunee its first defeat last week and followed that with a one-point win over Menominee. Both were nonleague victories, but West Iron sits first in the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference Copper as well.
DIVISION 4
• Adrian Lenawee Christian (9-1) – The Cougars began their reign as last season’s Class D champion with an opening-night 59-54 defeat to Michigan Center, a strong Division 3 contender this winter. But that competition no doubt prepared Lenawee Christian as it has since beaten Country Day by five, one-loss Carleton Airport by six and one-loss Bay City John Glenn by 15 – and last week avenged last season’s only defeat by beating Monroe by 13.
• Mackinaw City (6-1) – The Comets are looking to build on last season’s 15 wins, a six-win improvement from 2016-17, and appear on the way with all double-digit victories this winter to go with a lone loss to Brimley. Mackinaw City is tied for first in the Northern Lakes Conference with undefeated Wolverine – Friday’s opponent – and last week doubled up reigning league champion Harbor Springs Harbor Light Christian 66-32. The Comets lost three times last season to the Swordsmen, including in a Regional Semifinal.
Can't-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – Rockford (8-2) at Grand Haven (8-0) – These are two of three teams unbeaten early in Ottawa-Kent Conference Red play, and Rockford plays the third, East Kentwood, on Friday.
Tuesday – Grosse Pointe North (7-1) at Port Huron Northern (8-2) – Both are unbeaten in the Macomb Area Conference Red and carry statewide intrigue as well.
Friday – Schoolcraft (8-0) at Centreville (7-0) – These two Division 3 powers both have won all of their games by double digits this winter.
Friday – Farmington Hills Mercy (6-1) at Bloomfield Hills Marian (7-0) – This continues to be one of the best hoops rivalries in the state, and they’re tied early atop the Detroit Catholic League Central standings after sharing the title last season.
Saturday – Detroit Edison (9-1) vs. Detroit Mumford (9-1) at Warren Fitzgerald – The PSL West-Town leading Mustangs are a two-point loss to St. Ignace from unbeaten, and Edison hasn’t lost to an in-state opponent in a calendar year.
Second Half’s weekly “Countdown to Calvin” reports are powered by MI Student Aid, a part of the Student Financial Services Bureau located within the Michigan Department of Treasury. MI Student Aid encourages students to pursue postsecondary education by providing access to student financial resources and information, including various student financial assistance programs to help make college more affordable for Michigan students. MI Student Aid administers the state’s 529 savings programs (MET/MESP) and eight additional aid programs within its Student Scholarships and Grants division. Click for more information and connect with MI Student Aid on Facebook and Twitter @mistudentaid.
PHOTO: Sandusky held on to its share of the lead in the Greater Thumb Conference East on Thursday with a 36-29 win over Harbor Beach. (Click to see more from Varsity Monthly.)
Country Day Claims Senior-Dominated Semi
March 16, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
GRAND RAPIDS – The eras come and go as standouts cycle through coach Frank Orlando’s Detroit Country Day program.
Win or lose Saturday, another will close as all-staters Kaela Webb and Maxine Moore play their final high school game attempting to lead the Yellowjackets to a third Class B championship over the last four seasons.
They earned that opportunity with a 70-54 win over previously undefeated Kingsley in the second Class B Semifinal on Friday at Van Noord Arena.
“It’s truly a blessing. Me and her have been together since sixth, seventh grade, and we always talked about winning state titles,” Moore said. “Our sophomore year was heartbreaking (a Semifinal loss to Grand Rapids South Christian). But it was a goal of ours coming in here to work hard every day, go hard especially on defense – we know defense is the key to winning championships – and I’m just really excited and blessed to go out there tomorrow and compete.”
Reigning title winner Country Day will take on Jackson Northwest in the 6:15 p.m. championship game at Calvin College.
It was a Semifinal full of seniors. Although Country Day’s are only Webb, Moore and Destini Lewis, Webb has started all four years of her high school career and Moore is a four-year varsity player and three-year starter.
Kingsley, meanwhile, saw six seniors finish their careers with their only defeat this season after leading the team to its second Semifinal ever and first since 2008.
“As a senior, it’s just an amazing feeling to get here and be part of such an amazing team,” Stags senior Lindsey Boyajian said. “The seniors this year, we came together and we were just like a family. The whole team was a family. It was so exciting. To end my season, as a senior, to make it to Calvin, it was just great.”
The game was nearly a draw through a quarter, with Country Day (22-4) leading only 14-12 heading into the second. But the Yellowjackets broke out for a 29-16 advantage over the next eight minutes – the eventual difference as the teams played to a near-deadlock over the final two quarters as well.
The most telling stats dealt with turnovers – and their results. Kingsley gave away the ball 22 times, compared to 12 for Country Day. And Country Day scored 33 points off those turnovers, while Kingsley managed just six off their takeaways.
Although the teams shot nearly identical percentages from the floor, and Kingsley outrebounded the Yellowjackets by three, the Stags (26-1) made only 1 of 12 tries from 3-point range – negating something else that usually is a strength.
“We got beat at our own game,” Kingsley coach Matt Schelich said. “Thirty-three to six off turnovers, that’s our ammo. But we ran into a team that’s got incredible size and speed, and as a team there’s not a lot of weak spots out there.”
Junior Maddie Novak scored a game-high 20 points for Country Day, while Webb had 15 points, eight assists and four steals. Moore added 11 points and seven rebounds and junior Adrian Folks had 10 points.
Webb finished with four fouls but managed to play 31 minutes, second on her team.
“I’ve been here and I know how it gets when the crowd gets into it. … I knew we had to stick together,” Webb said. “What was more important was stopping them from scoring, and me fouling was going to help them score. I had to just lock down mentally with that.”
Brumfield had 14 points for Kingsley despite seeing only 12 minutes of action because of foul trouble as well. Senior Rebekah Crosby had 12 points and seven rebounds and sophomore Brittany Bowman had 11 points.
PHOTOS: (Top) Country Day’s Kaela Webb pushes the ball up the floor Friday while Lacey Benton (10) keeps pace. (Middle) Kingsley’s Jacie King drives toward an opening with Jasmine Power defending.