Frankenmuth Drives League Streak to 97
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
December 13, 2016
Tom Keller is willing to talk about the streak if you ask him.
He’s starting to get used to it.
“It’s funny; it seems like a lot of people are bringing it up lately,” said the Frankenmuth girls basketball coach, who has led his team to 97 straight Tri-Valley Conference East wins. “We actually talked about it in practice the other day for one of the few times.
"(The streak) happens on a day-to-day basis. In our program, we don’t really set a lot of goals; we’re much more concerned about the process. If we do things the right way day after day, those wins and those streaks kind of take care of themselves.”
Frankenmuth hasn’t lost a conference game since Feb. 10, 2009 -- a 37-31 setback against Birch Run. Since then, eight senior classes have graduated, and dozens of players have gone through their entire varsity careers without a conference loss.
While it’s not something Frankenmuth players dwell on, it’s also not something they take for granted.
“You don’t just show up and put on your uniform and get the streak,” senior Hannah Karwat said. “We do have to work hard to get the winning streak we have. We work hard in practice.”
Karwat is one of very few Frankenmuth players on this year’s team with varsity experience. She’s a third-year player and first-year starter. Her classmate Lindsey Mertz started several games as a junior and is in her fourth year with the team, but Frankenmuth graduated five of its top six players from a year ago.
The Eagles have done well so far, starting the season 3-1, including earning a 36-34 win this past week against TVC East rival Essexville-Garber to stretch the streak to 97. Their next league games are Wednesday at Bridgeport and home Friday against Millington.
“It’s always an interesting way to start the season when you have kids who are brand new to varsity,” Keller said. “Also, we have those kids that are returning in completely different roles than what they played in the past. We have two seniors who have played, and they’re going from being role players to go-to girls on this year’s team.
“It’s fun. I think it makes for great competition. When you have so many openings for a new team, it’s fun and great competition because everybody is vying for those roles. It does seem to draw out the best competitors.”
Mertz has settled in as a forward, although she has experience as a post player and a guard from her first three seasons and can go back to either if the Eagles need it. Karwat’s role has expanded following the graduation of a pair of 6-foot-plus post players. She’s 5-4½, but appears unfazed by the height disadvantage she faces each night.
Mertz and Karwat are two of five seniors on the team. Among the others is Sara Aldrich, who spent her junior season toward the end of the bench but has worked her way into a starting role, something Keller said he loves to see. Kayla Kueffner and Emily Janson, the Eagles’ other two seniors, are injured and have yet to play this season.
What those seniors may lack in experience, they make up for with leadership.
“Something that our program has valued is leadership,” Mertz said. “We have been doing leadership lunches once a week where we meet and talk about leadership and how serving the other girls on the team and dedicating time would help everyone grow on the team.”
Frankenmuth is matching that leadership with an aggressive style of play, making up for a lack of size.
“We’re making efforts to really attack the paint,” Keller said. “We still get touches inside, but we do it through penetration. In years where we’ve had two 6 footers, we were a high-post, low-post kind of team and we took advantage of that. This year, we’re very guard-oriented.”
Changing his team’s style based on personnel has helped Keller find success in each of his previous 10 seasons as Frankenmuth’s girls coach. The Eagles have won a conference title in each of those seasons, and added five Class B District titles, including at the end of the last two seasons.
Keller said he was fortunate to inherit a great program, one that won the Class B title in 1992 and Class C in 1996 and also owns four MHSAA Finals runner-up finishes.
It’s a tradition, Mertz and Karwat said, that has girls in the community’s youth program pining to put on a Frankenmuth jersey one day. They also grow up knowing what it takes to get that honor.
“When I was younger, a lot of the girls in my grade loved basketball,” Mertz said. “But a lot of girls have quit because they know what’s expected and they know they can’t match that effort. Sometimes we’ll frighten some girls out of the program, but that makes the team we have one of the toughest group of girls because you have to be tough to be a part of it.
“Usually the girls that come out are the ones that are in it for the long haul, and willing to do the dirty work and put in the effort.”
Keller said he wasn’t quite sure what would equal a successful season for this year’s team. Getting better and more consistent each day is his main focus, and he’s optimistic that will happen.
As for the streak, Keller and the Eagles would love for it to survive. If it doesn’t, however, they’ll simply work to start the next one.
“It’s going to come to an end eventually, whether it’s this week or later this season or next season,” Keller said. “When it happens, we’ll just come back the next day and get ready for the next game.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Frankenmuth's Brooklin Karwat drives to the basket against Essexville-Garber last week. (Middle) Eagles coach Tom Keller speaks with Kaylee Kujat during the tightly-contested matchup. (Below) Frankenmuth players celebrate after defeating the Dukes 56-54. (Photos by Chip DeGrace/Eagle Eye Photography.)
Undefeated Brandywine Eager to Earn Return Trip to Breslin Center
By
Scott Hassinger
Special for MHSAA.com
March 5, 2025
NILES – Josh Hood recalls receiving multiple texts the Monday following spring break last year.
Those messages came from various players on his Niles Brandywine girls basketball team inquiring about when they could get back into the gym and begin preparing for the 2024-25 season.
After losing a 33-30 heartbreaker to powerhouse Ypsilanti Arbor Prep in the 2024 MHSAA Division 3 Final, the top-ranked and undefeated Bobcats, 26-2 a year ago, are hungry for a return trip to the championship game at Michigan State University's Breslin Center later this month. They open up District play at 5:30 p.m. today against Bridgman on the Bees’ home floor, and will host next week’s Regional.
"Once you get a taste of the type of success we had last year, you can respond to it in one of two ways. You can either take the summer off, have fun and ride out your senior year and be content with what you've done or you can get to back to work right away,” Hood said. “We took a week off and after spring break, there were those texts from our girls asking, ‘Coach, when can we get back into the gym?’ We didn't have to ask who was going to show up each night either when we played our 14 dates and 25-game schedule in the summer. All of the girls were there ready to work.”
Hood graduated his top two players in Ellie Knapp, last year's starting point guard, and post player Kadence Brumitt. The two all-staters led a squad that earned the school's second Semifinals appearance and first Finals berth.
"Last year we had Ellie and Kaydence, who were our top two scorers for four years. The biggest difference this season is that we have eight girls averaging between four and 12 points,” Hood said. “Nobody we play can say they must focus on one certain player. Any one of our girls is capable of scoring. Our ability to spread the ball around and be unselfish have been two of our biggest strengths.”
Despite those two key graduation losses, the Bobcats (22-0) haven't missed a beat even while playing a difficult schedule that's included several games against Division 1 or Division 2 schools.
Brandywine, the two-time repeat Lakeland Conference champ at 8-0, has gotten good performances all season out of its seven seniors, along with a solid group of underclassmen. The Bobcats have taken advantage of their athleticism and quickness to outwork their opponents.
"The great thing about this group is that they aren't just basketball players. The success that we've had here at Brandywine in the last 16 years isn't because they focus just on basketball. Every one of these girls in our program are multi-sport athletes," Hood said.
The experience of playing on the big stage last March has been a big motivator to senior leaders Miley Young and Adeline Gill, along with classmates Adelyn Drotoz, Ireland Prenkert. Lexi Troup, Paige Krisher and Niyah Mason.
Gill, Brandywine's tallest player at 5-foot-9, is the only player averaging double-digit scoring at 12.5 points per game, followed by Young (9.0 ppg.) and Drotoz (8.5 points).
"Adeline is our leading scorer and a four-year starter like most of our seniors. She is a quiet leader who just goes about her business on the court. Her consistency in scoring and rebounding are big assets. Just like Miley, she is a tireless worker," Hood said.
"Miley was another player who received all-state honors last year not for her scoring, but simply because she was the best defender that everyone saw play at Michigan State in the Finals. She brings great tenacity and is fearless on the floor. Her energy on defense keys our man-to-man pressure, and she is the catalyst at the point position. Her work ethic has been exemplary all four years. Every day she is the first one at practice and the last one to leave."
Gill also averages 4.7 rebounds and two steals per contest.
"The experience of playing at Breslin last season was amazing and taught our team a great deal. We know what it takes to get there and how hard we have to work in practice and play in games” said Gill, who next plans to major in biology at Kalamazoo College with her career goal to become a physician's assistant. “We are quick and get lots of steals on defense. This group is hardworking, and we are always getting after it. We study a lot of film on other teams and ourselves, and it really helps us prepare for games. Our team is just really motivated to get back to state,"
Young sports averages of four rebounds, 4.4 assists and 3.1 steals per game.
"Getting to Breslin last year was something we really wanted to do since we were younger. Our team has supported each other very well. We lost two key players from last year, but we have some young talent and returners that have really stepped it up this season," Young said. "Last season we were bigger in the post, but this year we just try to use our quickness to wear other teams out. We might be smaller, but we're going to get the job done with our defense. Most teams don't have the depth that we do, and that allows us to wear our opponents out. We are held to a high standard, and our coaching staff help us to be the best we can be. I've never seen anyone like Coach Hood who watches as much film as he does."
Young said that playing in Knapp's shadow last year was a good learning experience.
"In my opinion Ellie was the best point guard in the state. Going against her in practice really helped me,” Young said. “I had to switch my role up this year knowing I'm not going to get the ball on fastbreaks. I'm comfortable in my new role and getting my teammates the shots."
Drotoz, who will end her Brandywine career as the school's top 3-point shooter, has made 52-of-132 (39 percent) attempts from behind the arc this season.
The Bobcats are a dangerous team with their ability to either drive or swing it back outside for a 3-pointer. Brandywine is 157-of-535 (29.3 percent) on 3-point attempts.
Sophomore guard Mackenna Price (5.5 ppg.) is a big contributor off the bench for the Bobcats. Other standouts seeing heavy minutes are Prenkert, Troup, Krisher, Mason, sophomore Lily Gill and junior post player Karleigh Byrd.
Lily Gill averages seven points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.8 steals, while Byrd is averaging 5.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.1 steals.
Brandywine, which is averaging 58.9 points as a team and giving up just 26.2 per game, owns impressive wins over last year's Division 2 quarterfinalist Vicksburg (45-28), along with Stevensville Lakeshore (45-37), Richland Gull Lake (70-38), Kalamazoo Central (50-34), Kalamazoo Loy Norrix (59-27), Battle Creek Central (56-41) and St. Joseph (51-36).
"When you average what we do offensively and give up only 26 points per game, it says a great deal about our commitment to defense,” Hood said. “With our team it’s always been about defense translating to offense. That's become the culture of our program, and we're going to work real hard at it.”
Brandywine's last three games of the regular season were all against Division 1 schools in Battle Creek Central, Loy Norrix and St. Joseph.
"There's intent behind our schedule. Much of the credit goes to our athletic director (Dave Sidenbender) because we ask him to give us the best schedule that we can possibly have. When you play seven conference champions and 17 of your 22 games against Division 1 or Division 2 opponents, it makes our girls fearless,” Hood said. “Our schedule prepares us well. Losses happen, and you don't lose anything with a little adversity and playing tough competition. If you have a little hiccup, those film sessions are better than if you win by 40 points because you learn from that adversity. Our girls embrace that and they know that iron sharpens iron, and that's why we play the schedule we do. We play the seventh-toughest schedule out of 683 schools in the MPR (Michigan Power Ratings) rankings. When the ball goes up in the air, these girls are ready to play and it’s an honor to coach them."
In outlining the keys for another strong tournament run, Hood identified Brandywine's pressure defense as a key ingredient.
"We've never had a player taller than 5-10 at Brandywine since I've been here,” he said. “We have girls who are only 5-8 or 5-9, so that forces you to make it a 90-foot game and we've done a good job of that all season. Our rotations have been stellar. We feel like we are in charge of what we do on the court with the defensive pressure we apply. We are a very effective team when we can push the ball up the floor and not let our opponents get comfortable in the half-court.”
Young has committed to play college basketball at Lake Michigan College, while Adeline Gill made a recent verbal commitment to play at Kalamazoo College. Troup will play women’s soccer at Trine University and Drotoz plans to continue her softball career at Alma College.
Scott Hassinger is a contributing sportswriter for Leader Publications and previously served as the sports editor for the Three Rivers Commercial-News from 1994-2022. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Brandywine senior Miley Young (22) takes her turn cutting down the nets after last week's final regular-season home win over Kalamazoo Loy Norrix. (Middle) Bobcats Adelyn Drotoz (3) and Adeline Gill (0) apply defensive pressure. (Below) Drotoz, middle, is escorted by her parents Chad and Heather Drotoz on Senior Night. (Photos by Scott Hassinger.)