Divine Child Family Grows with New Season
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
December 11, 2015
DEARBORN – Last April, Dearborn Divine Child assistant girls basketball coach Julie Kaniewski received some news for which she was not prepared.
Kaniewski and head coach Mary Laney have been close friends most of their lives. They played basketball together at Divine Child, graduated the same year and played on two Class B championship teams (in 1993 and ’94). Kaniewski and Laney were putting a close on the season when Laney made a stunning announcement.
“We were working with the returning players,” Kaniewski said. “We were going over some stuff for the summer, and as we were ending things Mary said, ‘By the way, I’m pregnant.’ Being a math teacher, I put it all together. That put her due date near the start of the season. She said she’d be there for tryouts. I said, can you guarantee that?”
On Nov. 24, Laney gave birth to an 8-pound, 8-ounce boy, Owen Michael Laney. He’s the third child for Mary and her husband Chris Laney.
But Owen Michael was the first to be born during the basketball season. Their first child, Ellen, was born on Oct. 26, 2010, and their second, and first boy, Niall, was born Sept. 18, 2012.
The birth of Owen Michael added a little excitement for the Laneys on Thanksgiving, and a bit of consternation for Kaniewski.
“Some things are just out of my control,” Mary Laney said. “It made for a nice Thanksgiving. It was the best Thanksgiving ever. Things will be better when (Owen Michael) gets his days straightened out from his nights.”
Things are already better for Kaniewski. Her best friend is back on the bench and coaching. In fact – and to the relief of Kaniewski – Laney was back coaching Dec. 2, two days before the Falcons’ opener at Chelsea.
No question, it was stressful for both coaches. What helped alleviate some of the pressure is their friendship. There’s nothing Kaniewski wouldn’t do for Laney, and vice versa.
And laughter helped.
“I was a little nervous,” Kaniewski said. “I can joke with her. I told her you’ll be on epidural and I’ll be coaching.”
Their bond extends to their immediate families as well. Kaniewski has two children approximately the same age as Laney’s first two. Kaniewski’s oldest is Elizabeth, who will be 5 years old in May. Thomas will turn 3 in April. Elizabeth and Ellen Laney attend dance class together, and in late October the coaches came to pick up their children when Laney sounded an alarm.
“She said she was having contractions,” Kaniewski said. “I said, no, no, no. That can’t happen.”
It was a false alarm.
Laney did miss nine days with her team, including scrimmages. The preparation would have been a challenge even without the pregnancy. Divine Child was 20-6 last season but all five starters graduated. Add that two players suffered injuries, one a torn knee ligament, the other a concussion.
Formulating tryouts and making cuts tested Kaniewski’s resolve. Both Laney and Kaniewski had ideas on who their starters would be for some time, but things change. Players get better. Some don’t progress as quickly as others.
“That’s been the hard part,” Kaniewski said. “Then there was the parent meetings. I told Mary, no, no. I don’t want to do that alone.”
Laney, for the sake of both, moved the parent meeting up so they could tackle that together.
Then they received some outside help. Mary Lou Jansen, who coached those fine Divine Child teams during the early 1990s, offered her assistance. Kaniewski was grateful.
“She spent a few days with me,” Kaniewski said. “The kids were responsive. It’s just a different set of eyes.”
The lack of experience has forced the two to concentrate on the basics and not over-complicate things. Divine Child had opened 0-3 heading into Saturday night’s game against Saginaw Nouvel.
“Not many teams come back with no starters,” Laney said. “This group has been receptive. We’ve had five of six Division I players over the past several years. We don’t have that. We’re not worried about wins and losses. We want them to play hard and communicate.”
Tom Markowski is a columnist and directs website coverage for the State Champs! Sports Network. He previously covered primarily high school sports for the The Detroit News from 1984-2014, focusing on the Detroit area and contributing to statewide coverage of football and basketball. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Chris and Mary Laney hold their newborn, Owen. (Middle) The Laney children, Ellen, Niall and Owen, smile while wearing their Divine Child hats. (Photos courtesy of the Laney family.)
Breslin Bound: Girls Report Week 9
February 3, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
It’s rematch time for MHSAA girls basketball teams.
Fewer than four weeks remain until the start of District play March 2. From this point on, most teams will be seeing league opponents for the second time – and often with much on the line.
See below for teams that impressed last week, many doing so in rematches or with key ones coming up.
CLASS A
Midland Dow (10-2) – The Chargers took a half-game lead in the Saginaw Valley Association North by beating previous leader Saginaw Heritage 45-39 on Friday. Dow had fallen to Heritage 49-39 on Dec. 16 and now can keep an eye out for third-place Midland, which it will host Feb. 13.
Muskegon Reeths-Puffer (11-3) – Friday’s loss to Grand Rapids Union aside, this has been a nice run for the Ottawa-Kent Conference Black co-leader. The Rockets finished third last season but led the league this winter until falling to third-place Union by a point, 46-45. Reeths-Puffer takes on co-leader Mona Shores on Friday.
Southfield-Lathrup (11-1) – These Chargers are undefeated in Michigan with their only loss coming by a bucket to Toledo Rogers on Dec. 13. Southfield-Lathrup has beaten a solid group of opponents including last week Oakland Activities Association Red second-place Rochester Hills Stoney Creek, which is 10-3. The Chargers get another second-place OAA Red team this Thursday in 11-3 North Farmington.
Wyoming (11-2) – The Wolves sit atop the O-K Bronze standings at 5-0 through the first half of the league schedule. They haven’t lost a league game since Jan. 8, 2013, but face second-place Grand Rapids Northview on Friday in their second matchup of this season.
CLASS B
Croswell-Lexington (11-2) – The Pioneers have won eight straight since falling to Port Huron Northern in the semifinals of the Marysville Invitational and are tied with Armada for first place in the Blue Water Area Conference. The only league loss came to Capac, and Croswell-Lexington avenged it with a 33-29 overtime win last week.
Houghton (12-2) – It’s shaping up as another special season for the Gremlins, who split last season’s West Peninsula Athletic Conference title but lead second-place Calumet after beating the Copper Kings by three on Jan. 20. Houghton beat last season’s co-champion, L’Anse, 64-31 on Monday after edging 10-win Kingsford in overtime Friday.
Kalkaska (11-1) – The Blazers' only slip-up this winter came Jan. 9 to Traverse City St. Francis, the only team ahead of Kalkaska in the Lake Michigan Conference standings. It’s a nice jump from last season’s 12-win finish – and with the rematch against St. Francis still to play.
Midland Bullock Creek (14-0) – The Central-leading Lancers dominated a tough Tri-Valley Conference crossover week, beating East leader Frankenmuth 57-40 (both of Frankenmuth’s losses are to Bullock Creek) and then handing West leader Ithaca its first loss this season, 63-52.
CLASS C
Laingsburg (13-0) – The Wolfpack edged 10-win Class B Perry 31-28 last week to remain perfect and lead Pewamo-Westphalia by half a win in the Central Michigan Athletic Conference thanks to a 36-33 win over the Pirates in mid-December. Those two meet again Thursday.
Leroy Pine River (8-1) – The Bucks have won seven straight and lead the Highland Conference after finishing second to McBain a year ago. McBain is in second to start this week and hosts Pine River on Thursday.
Ishpeming (11-2) – The Hematites took a tough loss Monday, 34-32 to Iron Mountain. But they remain in first place in the Mid-Peninsula Athletic Conference with their only other loss to nonleague Gladstone during the season’s second week. Ishpeming had beaten Iron Mountain by 15 in their first meeting.
Niles Brandywine (12-1) – Last week we highlighted Class A Kalamazoo Central, the only team to beat Brandywine this season (and in double overtime). Brandywine continued to cruise last week, finishing with a 62-59 win over Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph West contender Buchanan – Brandywine has dealt the Bucks both of their losses this winter.
CLASS D
Baraga (8-4) – The Vikings have bounced back nicely off last season’s six-win finish. They are tied for first place in the Copper Country Conference despite a tough stretch of three straight losses, including two to league foes, in mid-January.
Gaylord St. Mary (12-3) – The reigning champion in the Ski Valley Conference is chasing from third but has won seven straight and with the teams it trails next up on the schedule – first-place Johannesburg-Lewiston tonight and second-place Bellaire next week.
St. Ignace (10-5) – The Saints are holding on to slim lead in the Straits Area Conference thanks in part to senior Margo Brown, an MHSAA Scholar-Athlete Award winner this week who has a season high of 41 points and recently set the school record with 11 3-pointers in a game.
St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic (9-3) – The Lakers are one of few teams in Michigan that play in multiple conferences; they’re in third place behind Class C Brandywine and Class B Buchanan in the BCS West, but are undefeated atop the Red Arrow Conference.
PHOTO: Detroit Pershing opened this season's Public School League Tournament with a victory over Detroit Communication Media Arts last week. (Photo courtesy of the Detroit Public School League.)