Experience Pays for Veteran Saints
March 14, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Senior Sarah Cullip and junior Kelley Wright learned a few things during their previous trips to Breslin Center that surely came to mind during Thursday’s Class D Semifinal against Climax-Scotts.
And with neither team able to find the back of the net, both had to call on those lessons to lift the top-ranked and undefeated Saints back to a familiar spot among those who will play on the final day of the season.
Wright made only 6 of 20 shots from the field, but connected on the go-ahead 3-pointer with 3:54 left in regulation. Cullip missed more than half the game because of foul trouble, but made two free throws with her team up only three and 25 seconds to play as the Saints held on for a 42-36 victory.
St. Ignace (26-0) will face three-time reigning champion Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes at 10 a.m. Saturday to try to earn a second MHSAA championship in three seasons. The Saints fell in last season’s Class C Semifinals, but won Class C in 2011 and finished runner-up in 2010.
“I think it was really crucial that I’d been here and played in this gym multiple times before, to know I have to calm down in a pressure situation,” said Cullip, who has been on the floor during all four of her team’s Breslin trips. “It’s just another free throw. It could be the first play of the game or the play that saves the game.”
The Saints have proven plenty this season that they can win big. Their first and only game closer than 10 points before Thursday came in the Regional Final, a 74-68 win over No. 6 Posen. St. Ignace has scored more than 80 points six times this season and more than 90 on three occasions.
But unranked Climax-Scotts (20-6) didn’t allow the Saints to get into their usual rhythm.
The Panthers finished with more field goals, 17-15, and the same number of rebounds. They actually shot better from the floor, 38 percent to 32. But Climax-Scotts got to the free throw line for only two attempts and had 20 turnovers. St. Ignace made 10 of 20 free throw tries and turned the ball over only 10 times.
The trip to Breslin was Climax-Scotts’ first to Finals weekend since finishing Class D runner-up in 1986.
“I can’t be prouder of my girls. They took on the number one ranked team in the state – number one from the get-go – and gave them probably the best game they’ve played all year,” Climax-Scotts coach Dana Perrin said. “I told the girls after the game they had nothing to hang their heads about, be sad about.”
St. Ignace coach Dorene Ingalls, meanwhile, recalled some of the tears in her players’ eyes after they fell during last season’s Class C Semifinals to eventual champion Morley-Stanwood – and how those likely paid off in extra resolve this time around.
Senior guard Brook Chambers could play only seven minutes Thursday because of an ankle sprain she re-aggravated during the Quarterfinal. Cullip, the team’s second-leading scorer and best defender, played only 15 minutes because of foul trouble.
“It obviously wasn’t the prettiest of games,” Ingalls said. “But at this state of the game, if you can win ugly, it’s a good thing."
Senior center Fallon Froberg led Climax-Scotts with 14 points and seven rebounds, but she had nearly half of her team’s 17 field goals. “Just them making chaos is the toughest thing,” Climax-Scotts senior guard Janae Langs said of the Saints’ defensive pressure.
Wright finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and three steals. Freshman forward Abbey Ostman grabbed 13 rebounds for the Saints.
Click for a full box score.
PHOTOS: (Top) St. Ignace three-year starter Kelley Wright pushes the ball up court during Thursday's Semifinal. (Middle) Wright defends Climax-Scotts' Destiny Froberg (10). (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Ewen-Trout Creek Right on Time in Advancing to 1st Final Since 1985
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 20, 2025
EAST LANSING — Conventional wisdom might say having a roster with no seniors, four freshman and two eighth graders indicates a team is years away from state title contention.
But Ewen-Trout Creek head coach Jacky Besonen didn’t need to abide by that conventional wisdom at the beginning of this season, and Thursday’s Division 4 Semifinal against Concord showed why.
For the first time in 40 years, Ewen-Trout Creek will play for an MHSAA Finals championship in girls basketball following a 34-24 win over Concord.
Advancing to their first championship game since the Class D Final in 1985, the Panthers will go for their first title since winning the inaugural Class D crown in 1973.
Not bad at all for such a young roster that seems to be way ahead of schedule.
“Last year we lost in the Regional Final to (eventual Division 4 champion) Ishpeming,” Besonen said. “We knew we could get to this point. As the year went on, the girls did a really good job of staying focused every game. We didn’t talk about it, but we knew it was a possibility to get to this point.”
Coming off a 47-37 win over St. Ignace in the Quarterfinals, Ewen-Trout Creek was able to draw some inspiration from the boys team that made it to the Division 4 Final in 2022.
“When our boys team went in 2022, I think that helped us a lot to be familiar with the atmosphere,” junior Emma Besonen said. “Seeing that they could do it like it was normal, we figured we could do it to.”
The Panthers survived a close, defensive grind of a game until pulling away late. A layup by junior Hannah Ferguson gave them a 27-24 lead with 5:18 remaining, and then a basket by freshman McKayla Basel with 1:24 left gave Ewen-Trout Creek a 30-24 lead.
A couple of defensive stops and four free throws by freshman Bree Besonen over the final minute wrapped it up for the Panthers.
Besonen scored 15 points, junior center Irelynd McGeshick had eight and 15 rebounds, and Basel added eight points for Ewen-Trout Creek (27-1).
Each team went 1 of 8 from 3-point range. The difference was that Ewen-Trout Creek got to the foul line more regularly. The Panthers made 9 of 13 free-throw attempts, while Concord connected on 1 of 5.
“That was definitely a grind,” Jacky Besonen said. “Concord was really tough to score against and tough to stop. We were able to grind it out at the end and take care of the ball enough to get some points.”
Junior Cieara Barrett scored nine points to lead the way for Concord (22-5), which like Ewen-Trout Creek is also a young team.
The Yellowjackets will graduate just two players – Lauren Trader and Grace Thorrez. The roster featured four freshmen and four sophomores.
“I told the girls before the game that no matter what the result is, as long as they play hard and leave everything out there, then I’m proud of them,” Concord head coach ArShawn Parker said. “That’s what they did tonight. They left everything out there and played extremely hard. That’s all I can ask.”
PHOTOS (Top) Ewen-Trout Creek’s Emma Besonen (22) directs the offense while Concord’s Cieara Barrett (12) defends Thursday at Breslin Center. (Middle) The Panthers’ Bree Besonen, right, walls off Bradie Lehman.