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.)
Breslin Bound: 2024-25 Girls Report Week 7
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 20, 2025
We've reached the midpoint of this girls basketball season, but the second half is just the start of the buildup for the most exciting part of every year.
Most teams have played their league opponents once, with upcoming rematches set to decide champions. As noted earlier, for the first time this season District brackets will be seeded completely, meaning every team is playing to affect its position for when the MHSAA Tournament starts in seven weeks. And below we continue to detail several of the latest moves in league play and District ranking for teams hoping to be in a championship mix.
“Breslin Bound” is powered by MI Student Aid and based on results and schedules posted for each school at MHSAA.com.
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. DeWitt 62, Haslett 50 – The Panthers (10-1) broke a two-game losing streak against their longtime rival Vikings (8-2), picking up great momentum heading into one of DeWitt’s toughest weeks of the regular season.
2. Frankenmuth 65, Detroit Country Day 39 The Eagles (9-2) have won eight straight and handed Country Day (10-1) its lone loss in a matchup of Division 2 hopefuls.
3. Grass Lake 49, Leslie 39 Grass Lake (9-3) sits alone atop the Cascades Conference East after handing Leslie (6-3) its only league loss and after delivering the same to Michigan Center a week earlier.
4. Midland 56, Midland Dow 41 After last month ending an 11-game losing streak against rival Dow, Midland High (9-1) finished its first regular-season sweep of its rival in 11 years.
5. Detroit Renaissance 67, Grand Blanc 43 The Phoenix (13-1) are soaring again with three straight double-digit wins since suffering their lone loss, this victory coming at the Martin Luther King Showcase at West Bloomfield.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
Rockford (12-1) The Rams have reached at least the Division 1 Semifinals the last three seasons – winning the title in 2023 – and they are prepping well for another run despite playing a schedule of opponents with a combined .750 in-state winning percentage. The lone loss came Dec. 14 to Division 2 contender Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard, and Rockford has handed the only losses to Tecumseh and Grand Haven. The 51-45 win over Tecumseh on Jan. 11 was the only win decided by fewer than 12 points.
Temperance Bedford (8-1) The Kicking Mules have moved into first alone in the Southeastern Conference Red with wins over contenders Dexter and Saline over the last week – and after splitting with Saline last season, when those two shared the league title. Bedford reached the Quarterfinals a year ago, finishing 24-3, and opened this winter by avenging last year’s loss to Sylvania Northview. The only defeat this time has against Tecumseh to finish the season’s first week, and all but one of Bedford’s victories have come over opponents with at least a .500 record.
DIVISION 2
Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard (10-1) Coming off last season’s trip to the Division 2 championship game, and runner-up finish, FGR has played the toughest in-state schedule in any division with its Michigan opponents posting a combined .827 in-state winning percentage. The Irish gave Adrian Madison and Rockford their only losses, and are just a 46-45 loss to undefeated Belleville from being undefeated instead. FGR also is leading the Catholic High School League Central East and has another telling Division 2 challenger on the schedule with Chelsea making the trip to Ann Arbor on Feb. 18
Tecumseh (9-1) Coming off last season’s run to the Division 2 Quarterfinals, and right behind Father Gabriel Richard on that toughest schedules list, Tecumseh has played opponents with a combined .773 in-state winning percentage – second in the state regardless of division. As noted above, a 51-45 loss to Division 1 Rockford is all that is separating Tecumseh from being undefeated. Wins over Bedford and Blissfield remain those opponents’ only losses, and a 53-41 win over Chelsea on Jan. 9 has Tecumseh first in the Southeastern Conference White; the rematch is Jan. 31 at Chelsea.
DIVISION 3
Evart (9-1) The Wildcats have won 19 games both of the last two seasons and are pushing again for what would be a first league title in at least a decade. They are among three teams tied for the first in the Highland Conference, their lone loss to McBain and with that rematch coming up Feb. 7. No other opponent has come closer than nine points, and wins over Manton, Frankfort, Sanford Meridian and Fremont have been the most notable of another solid run so far.
Niles Brandywine (11-0) The Bobcats moved into first place alone in the Lakeland Conference last week with a 42-point win over previously-undefeated Berrien Springs, and the reigning Division 3 runner-up has won all of its games by double digits and nine by at least 30 points. The second half of the regular-season schedule presents a number of challenges as Brandywine gears up for another playoff run – most notably undefeated Division 1 St. Joseph and Division 2 Vicksburg, a Berrien Springs rematch and next week’s game against Division 1 Stevensville Lakeshore.
DIVISION 4
Concord (9-2) The Yellow Jackets made an incredible jump a year ago, finishing 20-6 after going 4-17 in 2022-23. They haven’t slowed down and already have avenged losses from last winter to Hanover-Horton, Bronson and Springport. The only defeats this time came to still-unbeaten Morenci by two points Dec. 9 and Division 2 Brooklyn Columbia Central during holiday break. Concord also leads the Big 8 Conference and can avenge another 2023-24 loss Jan. 27 at Michigan Center.
Kingston (7-1) A 44-40 loss to Division 2 Imlay City on Dec. 10 is all that’s kept the reigning Division 4 runner-up from being undefeated to this point, and a 53-46 win over Cass City has helped Kingston get there as well as it remains Cass City’s only loss. Kingston is tied atop the Big Thumb Conference Blue with Deckerville heading into Tuesday’s first of two matchups between them this season. The Cardinals also have solid February tests against Division 2 Croswell-Lexington and Division 1 Saginaw Heritage.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Monday – Goodrich (9-2) vs. Grand Rapids West Catholic (10-1) at Saginaw Valley State – These Division 2 contenders will face off in the 3 p.m. matchup at SVSU’s Martin Luther King Classic.
Tuesday – L’Anse (10-1) at Ewen-Trout Creek (11-1) – This could decide the Copper Mountain Conference championship as they are two of three teams undefeated in league play and this their only matchup.
Wednesday – Indian River Inland Lakes (9-1) at Gaylord St. Mary (9-1) – These Division 4 statewide hopefuls also are tied for first in the Ski Valley Conference heading into this first of two meetings.
Friday – Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart (8-0) at St. Charles (7-1) – These two are undefeated atop the Mid-State Activities Conference heading into this first of two matchups this season after St. Charles won the league and Sacred Heart finished second a year ago.
Friday – Holt (8-3) at DeWitt (10-1) – As noted above, DeWitt has one of its toughest weeks ahead, but a rematch win would be a rewarding way to finish it as the Rams lead the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue after winning their first meeting 47-39.
MHSAA.com's weekly “Breslin Bound” previews and reviews are powered by MI Student Aid, a division within the Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP). MI Student Aid encourages students to pursue postsecondary education by providing access to student financial resources and information. MI Student Aid administers the state’s scholarship and grant programs that help make college Accessible, Affordable and Attainable for you. Connect with MI Student Aid at www.michigan.gov/mistudentaid and find more information on Facebook and Twitter @mistudentaid.
PHOTOS (Top) DeWitt's Tara Kurncz (14) drives to the basket during her team's 48-38 win Friday over Lansing Waverly. (Middle) Detroit Edison's Isis Johnson Musah (2) make her move toward the lane during her team's 50-48 loss to Detroit Renaissance on Dec. 21. (DeWitt/Waverly photo by Terry Lyons. Renaissance/Edison photo by Team Arreguin Photos.)