'Fire & Ice' Sail Mona Shores into Regional
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
March 6, 2017
Guard play is crucial in girls basketball.
Especially in March, and definitely in the second half of a District championship game against a crosstown rival.
Jordan Walker, a 5-foot-7 Miss Basketball finalist for Muskegon Mona Shores, took control the way a senior guard is supposed to – scoring the first eight points of the second half Friday, including hitting two big 3-pointers, and finishing with a game-high 21 points as the Sailors blew open a relatively close game and held on for a 50-43 victory over host Muskegon Reeths-Puffer for their third consecutive Class A District title.
“You can’t stop her,” Mona Shores coach Brad Kurth said amidst the postgame celebration. “You can slow her down, but she’s going to keep coming.”
Mona Shores, 19-3 and champion of the Ottawa-Kent Conference Black, advanced to face O-K Red champion East Kentwood (22-1) in Tuesday’s 6 p.m. Class A Regional opener at Zeeland East.
Walker, who has signed with Western Michigan University where she will play with her older sister, Jasmyn, has been driving hard toward a big finish all season long. She now has more than 1,500 career points after breaking the Mona Shores girls basketball scoring record in January, held for 22 years by another Miss Basketball finalist, Jamie Ahlgren, who went on to star at Oakland University. Walker scored 39 points in a win over Muskegon and notched a quadruple-double with 22 points, 14 rebounds, 14 steals and 10 assists in a win over Grand Rapid Union.
But as impressive as Walker has been, the reason the Sailors have been able to knock off teams with superior front lines like Reeths-Puffer is because Walker is not alone in the backcourt.
Joining Walker is 5-6 sophomore dynamo Alyza Winston, a duo Kurth has dubbed “Fire and Ice,” and opposing coaches have pulled their hair out trying to contain.
Walker is the “ice” – the refined, composed senior who never gets rattled despite constant double teams, box-and-ones and other gimmicks designed to throw her off her game.
Winston is the “fire” – the energetic, speedy sophomore who breaks down defenses off the dribble (and with an ankle-breaking crossover dribble) and steps up anytime the Sailors’ offense gets stagnant.
The way that dynamic duo interacts and conspires to frustrate opponents was on display in Friday’s District championship game.
Walker caught fire to open the second half, turning a 10-point halftime lead into a seemingly comfortable 31-13 advantage early in the third quarter. That’s when Reeths-Puffer coach Brandon Barry called a timeout and adjusted even more of the Rockets’ defense toward the task of slowing down Walker.
Enter Winston.
For much of the remainder of the game, Shores started its attack with the ball in the hands of Winston, whose dynamic ball-handling skills have brought her plenty of offers from Division I college programs, even though she still has two years of high school remaining. Winston, who finished with 13 points, repeatedly broke through fullcourt pressure and then either pulled it out to run off clock or dished it off inside to fellow underclassmen Nia Miskel, Ryleigh Wehler and Veronica Kastelic.
“Our guards were the difference,” said Walker, whose mother, Danielle Smith-Walker, is a counselor at Mona Shores and a varsity assistant coach. “People say that a basketball team will go only as far as the guards will take them, so we’ll see how far we can go.”
While the District title game was a classic matchup of Reeths-Puffer’s inside strength vs. Mona Shores’ guards, Tuesday’s Regional showdown with East Kentwood will feature two of the top backcourts in West Michigan.
Kentwood went undefeated in the O-K Red behind the guard trio of senior Anaya Powell, defensive stopper Amari Brown and Mauriya Barnes. How that threesome matches up with Walker and Winston could determine the outcome of the Regional showdown, but on Friday night, Kurth was just relieved to finally be playing an opponent outside of the Muskegon area.
Over the past two seasons, the lakeshore “big three” of Mona Shores, Reeths-Puffer and Muskegon High have battled during O-K Black and District action. Shores discovered how hard it is to beat a good team three times in one season Wednesday night, when it needed two clutch free throws from Kastelic in the waning seconds to edge Muskegon, 50-49. Then the Sailors had to turn around two nights later and fend off Reeths-Puffer, which had beaten them by nine points the last time they played at Puffer’s gym.
“I know it breaks their heart to lose this game,” Kurth said, speaking after Friday’s Reeths-Puffer game, though the same emotions applied to Wednesday’s win over Muskegon. “These rivalries have made us all better, and it has made Muskegon-area basketball better.”
Walker is the lone senior starter for Mona Shores, whose season ended last year in a Regional championship game loss to Hudsonville, 45-44.
Hudsonville faces Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern in Tuesday’s second Regional game at Zeeland East.
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Mona Shores' Jordan Walker (22) works to get past a Muskegon defender during a game earlier this season. (Middle) The Sailors' Alyza Winston (3) races for a loose ball. (Photos by Tim Reilly.)
Countdown to Calvin: Girls Report Week 7
January 21, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Let the second half of Michigan high school girls basketball season begin. We have plenty to watch for right away.
Pewamo-Westphalia and Detroit Edison kick things off immediately with a huge matchup, and many more are on the way this week – we’ve listed a few of them below. Teams also are reaching the midpoints of their league schedules – with at least a few championships possibly being decided this week.
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. Flint Carman-Ainsworth 65, Detroit Country Day 60 – The Cavaliers bounced back in part from the previous week’s loss to reigning Class A champ Saginaw Heritage with this win over the 2018 Class B title winner.
2. Detroit Cass Tech 55, Ypsilanti Arbor Prep 44 – Downing Division 3 contender Arbor Prep on the Gators’ court Saturday should boost Cass Tech as it rolls into this week’s rematch with rival Detroit Martin Luther King.
3. Negaunee 46, Ishpeming Westwood 36 – The one-loss Miners handed Westwood its first defeat of the winter, lining up their second meeting Feb. 15 as the likely decider in the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference Iron.
4. Centreville 44, Schoolcraft 42 – Centreville won this highly-anticipated nonleague matchup of undefeated teams both highly-regarded in Division 3.
5. Charlotte 51, Portland 33 – The Orioles handed the Raiders their first defeat this winter to move into first place alone in the Capital Area Activities Conference White.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
• Ann Arbor Pioneer (8-1) – The Pioneers won nine games total last season and tied for fifth in the Southeastern Conference Red. Last week Pioneer handed Saline its first loss of the season, holding onto a first-place tie in the league with Monroe. Pioneer’s only loss was to one-loss DeWitt.
• West Bloomfield (8-1) – The Lakers are unbeaten aside from a loss to still-undefeated Walled Lake Western on Dec. 11, a vast improvement from last year’s 7-14 finish. West Bloomfield in turn handed Avondale its only loss of this season and is closing in on guaranteeing its first winning record since 2010-11.
DIVISION 2
• Carleton Airport (8-1) – The Jets have won 17 games in back-to-back seasons and could be making another jump; their only defeat this winter was to reigning Class D champion Adrian Lenawee Christian by six Dec. 13. A major matchup is set for Thursday: Airport faces one-loss Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central for first in the Huron League.
• Kingsley (9-1) – The Stags are coming off arguably the best week of any team in the state. The opened with a 42-point win over Highland Conference leader Manton and finished by taking over first place alone in the Northwest Conference with a 47-39 victory versus Maple City Glen Lake. An early loss to always-solid Goodrich aside, Kingsley hasn’t slowed down after making last year’s Class B Semifinals.
DIVISION 3
• Michigan Center (10-0) – The Cardinals, also Class B semifinalists last season, have had one of the most memorable first halves of this winter. They sit atop the competitive Cascades Conference and have nonleague wins over Adrian Lenawee Christian and Flint Carman-Ainsworth. They also beat Williamston 95-90 in five overtimes, tying the longest game and ranking second for highest-scoring in MHSAA history.
• New Haven (8-1) – The Rockets just missed reaching .500 last season, but did win reportedly their first District title. And the momentum has continued to build; New Haven lost early to St. Clair Shores South Lake, but is undefeated and atop the standings after the first run through the Macomb Area Conference Bronze schedule. The Rockets also have a chance to avenge that South Lake loss in a Feb. 8 rematch.
DIVISION 4
• Athens (8-1) – The Indians finished 21-5 overall and second a year ago in their first season in the Southern Central Athletic Association West. They’re lining up for a possibly similar run – they’ve won eight straight since falling to one-loss Battle Creek Calhoun Christian in the season opener, and they are tied for first in the SCAA West with one-loss Climax-Scotts coming up this week and undefeated Bellevue on the last day of the month.
• Bear Lake (6-0) – With one more league game played (and won), Bear Lake has a slim lead atop the West Michigan D League over Pentwater after those two shared last season’s title. They meet for the first time next week; no team has come closer than 17 points to catching the Lakers so far this winter.
Can't-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Monday – Detroit Edison (10-1) at Pewamo-Westphalia (8-0) – This sets up as one of the best matchups statewide of the regular season after these two met in the 2017 Class C Final and 2018 Semifinals, both Edison wins.
Tuesday – Sandusky (9-1) at Brown City (9-1) – The matchup for first place in the Greater Thumb Conference East features two teams that also have statewide Division 3 aspirations.
Wednesday – Detroit Cass Tech (9-2) at Detroit Martin Luther King (10-0) – King won the first meeting by three two weeks ago and can clinch a share of the Detroit Public School League Midtown title with another victory in the rematch.
Thursday – Detroit Mumford (10-2) at Detroit Renaissance (8-4) – Mumford faces Cody first Wednesday, but with a win that night could head into this one able to clinch the PSL West-Town championship outright after winning the first meeting with Renaissance by two.
Friday – East Kentwood (8-2) at Grand Haven (9-0) – Two teams with Division 1 statewide possibilities will be playing this one for first in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Red. Both are undefeated in league play.
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: Ithaca, here against Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary, is hoping to surge in the Tri-Valley Conference West during the season’s second half. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)