Freshman Flynn Has Harbor Springs Hoops Taking Flight Again
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
December 17, 2021
Kalkaska and the rest of the Lake Michigan Conference may not know much of the basketball family history of Harbor Springs point guard Olivia Flynn.
But likely they know all of her high school basketball history.
Flynn, just a freshman for the Rams, has already racked up three 30-point plus performances – over just five career games – entering tonight’s LMC game at home with the Blazers. The Rams are off to a 5-0 start under first year coach Amy Flynn, also the mother of the Rams’ emerging star.
And, the Harbor Spring boys are off to a 3-1 start under first year coach John Flynn, Olivia’s father. The boys suffered their first loss Thursday, to Kalkaska, 51-48.
Last year, Olivia was an eighth grader at Petoskey. She transferred to Harbor to be a part of the growing Flynn family basketball history. Her grandfather, Joe Flynn, is a member of the Harbor Springs High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
Joe Flynn began working for Harbor Springs schools in 1968 as a middle school social studies teacher. He left a lasting impression shaping and molding many Harbor student athletes’ lives during a career spanning more than 30 years.
John Flynn starred for the Petoskey boys basketball team for three years and coached the Northmen the last three seasons. He’s a member of the Petoskey High School Athletic Hall of Fame and the Northmen went 43-16 under his guidance. But he grew up and spent most of his years in Harbor Springs.
The Rams girls varsity helm is Amy Flynn’s first high school head coaching job. But she’s no stranger to coaching youth basketball, and both she and John played at Grand Valley State. She and her husband also coached at East Grand Rapids High School.
Olivia urged her mom to apply for the Rams vacancy, knowing of her 1995-1999 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference record-setting basketball career and all the knowledge she had gained from her mother’s previous experience.
“I wouldn’t want anyone else besides my mom coaching,” Olivia said matter-of-factly. “My mom’s always been there to help me get better.
“She has high expectations of me, so there is no other coach I would want.”
The 30-point performances, the most recent 38 in a lopsided win over Harbor Light Christian, is putting a little pressure on the freshman star. But the first-year coach is not feeling it.
“I don’t feel like there is pressure, just because when Olivia gets out there on the court it’s just so natural,” Amy Flynn said. “There is nothing forced. The game comes to her.”
Credit for Olivia’s fast start in high school also needs to go AAU coaches Rob Ruhstorfer, Jermain Smith and Jake Voelker, both Olivia and Amy noted.
“They had a huge impact on Olivia’s career,” Amy said. “The (Michigan) Mystics have been a great team for her and all the experiences.”
Amy Flynn has watched her daughter’s growth and feels blessed to have a team of players wanting to grow in the game of basketball. Athletes with a winning attitude and desire to learn were awaiting when she took over the Rams.
“Whether she continues to score 30 points or not, her game just will come along and she will bring her teammates along with her,” Amy said. “These girls are amazing – it was all there for me — already set more or less.”
Making the move to Harbor for the Flynn coaches was the best thing for their family, which also includes their second-grade son and boys team manager Johnny, fifth-grade daughter and girls team manager Alaina, and eighth-grade son and member of the Harbor middle school basketball team, Braeden. Another factor was the boys coach’s fond memories of playing for his father.
“I was apprehensive to take this position just because I didn’t know how Olivia would feel about it,” Amy Flynn said. “When she came to me a said, ‘Mom there is a girls opening in Harbor Springs and I want you to take it,’ I said, ‘You want to transfer from Petoskey and you want me to coach … are your sure about this?’ And she said, ‘Yep, and I will learn more from you and this is something we’ll never forget.’
“My husband (John) was on the same page,” the girls coach continued. “He said, ‘These are going to be four short years of her life and our lives. We’re going to do this as a family. If you want this, we’re all in.’”
So far, Olivia is loving high school basketball at Harbor. She’s expecting more difficult challenges ahead though, as she steps on the court each night sporting her No. 33 jersey.
“I am excited I started off on this foot, but I know we have some bigger games coming up too,” she said. “So I have to dial in and focus and get prepared for those games.
“They are going to be tougher competition, so I have to get ready for those.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Harbor Springs’ Olivia Flynn (33) has a spring in her step as she comes off the floor during last Friday’s win over Grayling. (Middle) The Flynn family, from left: Alaina, Amy, Olivia, Braeden, John and Johnny. (Below) Olivia and Alaina share a fun moment. (Photos by Sarah Sheperd.)
Breslin Bound: 2025-26 Girls Report Week 11
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 24, 2026
With Sunday’s announcement of this season’s Girls Basketball District seeds and matchups, more than 650 teams across the state now know their championship paths once the playoffs begin.
But the journey really started months ago – and there’s one more week left this regular season for contenders to build up momentum as they prepare to play for more. We detail some of what we've seen and what to expect below.
“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. Grass Lake 52, Brooklyn Columbia Central 42 These two have met in three straight Cascades Conference championship games, and Grass Lake (19-1) won its third straight title in adding to a previous victory this winter over Columbia Central (17-3).
2. Flint Powers Catholic 49, Saginaw Heritage 40 The Chargers (19-2) won this matchup of Saginaw Valley League division winners, sending Heritage to 15-6.
3. Goodrich 58, Fenton 27 The Martians (21-0) won their third-straight Flint Metro League overall championship, downing Fenton (14-8) for the second time this season.
4. Rockford 61, Grand Haven 41 The Rams (19-1) finished an outright championship run in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Red and a season sweep of the Buccaneers (17-3).
5. Farmington Hills Mercy 60, South Lyon East 47 The Marlins (16-4) handed East (19-1) its only loss this season.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
DeWitt (16-4) The Panthers have wins over four teams with at least 15 victories this winter, and all four of DeWitt’s losses came to teams with at least 15 wins. Despite splitting with Holt, the Panthers finished just behind the Rams in the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue, but could see Holt again in a Regional Final. DeWitt also has an opportunity to see East Lansing again in their District Final after falling to the Trojans in their second of two regular-season meetings.
Holt (15-4) After finishing second and tied for second in the CAAC Blue to DeWitt the last two seasons, Holt celebrated clinching the outright championship by finishing a regular-season sweep of East Lansing on Feb. 13. The Rams then followed with an impressive 52-51 win over Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richand and impressed as well despite falling to Haslett (18-2) by three points on Thursday. All four losses have come to opponents with at least 15 wins this season.
DIVISION 2
Warren Regina (15-5) The Saddlelites have tied last season’s win total with at least three more games to play, and one more victory will give them their highest total in at least 15 years. The losses came in clumps; Regina won its first seven games, lost five of the next seven, but have now won six straight. The Saddlelites finished third in a Catholic High School League Central West that also included Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (16-3) and Farmington Hills Mercy (16-4), both Division 1 teams.
Yale (19-1) The Bulldogs clinched a share of their third-straight Blue Water Area Conference title Friday and can make the championship outright Tuesday against second-place Armada – and after Yale and Armada shared the championship a year ago. The Bulldogs’ only loss this winter came to Division 1 New Baltimore Anchor Bay (17-2), and Armada in the teams’ first matchup is the only other opponent to get within single digits.
DIVISION 3
Kalamazoo Christian (15-3) Five of six teams in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Valley have winning records, and topping them is undefeated Kalamazoo Christian – which has won the title outright with an opportunity to finish a perfect league run against second-place Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep on Tuesday. The three Comets’ losses came to Division 1 and 2 opponents that are a combined 48-12, and K-Christian will be playing next week for a fourth-straight District title.
Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest (15-4) The Crusaders made a memorable jump last season starting 1-3 and ending as the Division 3 runners-up. They got rolling a little more quickly this winter and have won eight straight while clinching the Michigan Independent Athletic Conference Blue title outright despite playing in a league that has four of six teams with at least 13 wins. Lutheran Northwest also has tested itself nonleague with losses to Division 1 Clarkston and Rochester Hills Stoney Creek and Division 2 St. Clair.
DIVISION 4
Mio (16-4) The Thunderbolts will seek to add to two straight trips to the Regional Semifinals when they begin their postseason march next week, and they’ll hope to secure a third-straight league title tonight when they play Hillman with a share of the North Star League Little Dipper championship on the line. Mio split back-to-back games with Au Gres-Sims, which has clinched a share of the title. Mia McGregor has passed 2,000 points this season as a junior and is in line to pursue the all-time MHSAA career scoring record next winter.
Portland St. Patrick (16-4) The Shamrocks have been championship contenders – and won their share – over the last several decades, but this season is a little different as past championship player and assistant coach Michelle Smith has taken over the program from longtime leader Al Schrauben. The success continues. While St. Patrick is fourth in the Central Michigan Athletic Conference – which features four teams with at least 16 wins – all of its losses have come to those other three teams, which all play in Division 3.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – Kingston (21-0) at Deckerville (17-3) – This will finish determining one of the final league races still outstanding, as Kingston has clinched a share of the Big Thumb Conference Blue title but Deckerville can do the same by avenging an earlier 53-34 loss to the Cardinals.
Tuesday – Beaverton (17-2) at Standish-Sterling (17-3) – These two will face off for the overall Jack Pine Conference championship after also facing each other Friday, with Beaverton winning the first round 58-47.
Thursday – Belleville (21-0) vs. Howell (20-1) at Northville – This has been one of the most anticipated matchups in the state for weeks as the reigning Division 1 champion Tigers seek to finish as repeat overall Kensington Lakes Activities Association champs.
Thursday – Rockford (19-1) at Grand Rapids South Christian (20-0) – Both are strong candidates to finish at Breslin Center next month, the Rams in Division 1 and the Sailors in Division 2.
Thursday – Negaunee (19-1) at Gladstone (17-3) – Gladstone will be seeking to avenge a 30-19 loss to the Miners from Jan. 27, and they’re lined up to potentially see each other in a Division 2 District Final next week as well.
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PHOTOS (Top) Mio’s Mia McGregor (33) handles the ball during a game against Saginaw Arts & Sciences earlier this month. (Middle) Baraga's Danica Jahfetson directs the offense against Ishpeming. (Mio/SASA photo by Kolleth Photo. Baraga/Ishpeming photo by Cara Kamps.)