To Get Ahead, Heritage Gets Defensive
March 16, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
GRAND RAPIDS – This season, the Saginaw Heritage girls basketball team had, as junior Shine Strickland-Gills called it, an “epiphany.”
And it’s made the difference between another 20-win season and getting a chance to play for the Class A championship.
Expectations have been high the last few seasons for a Hawks group that’s shown plenty of ability against big-time opponents, but never put it entirely together for an MHSAA Tournament run.
After Friday’s 46-28 Semifinal win over Grosse Pointe North, Heritage finds itself one more victory from making good on all of that potential.
“It was a disappointment (last year) because we lost in second round Districts, and we were supposed to win,” Strickland-Gills said. “We didn’t because we really didn’t come out hard, and I feel like we’ve done what we’re supposed to do. We’ve actually listened and taken heed of what (coach Vonnie DeLong) has told us. And we’ve actually applied it in a game, and it really works.
“We had an epiphany.”
Heritage will face East Lansing in Saturday’s 12:15 championship game at Calvin College’s Van Noord Arena.
A Class A title would be the Hawks’ first since 2002 and cap a fourth straight season with at least 20 wins – but after Heritage was eliminated during the first week of the tournament a year ago.
All but four of the team’s points Friday were scored by four players with lots of experience, but who also had experienced last season’s disappointment.
Junior Mallory McCartney had 13 points, while Strickland-Gills added 12, seven rebounds and four steals. Senior Jessica Bicknell had eight points and three steals, and junior Moira Joiner had nine points, five rebounds and three steals.
Joiner scored six points below her average and had only a point during the first half. But she also defended Grosse Pointe North star junior Julia Ayrault –holding her to 13 points, six below her average as well.
“My (coaches) go a great job scouting and really let us know what we have to do,” Joiner said. “For me, if I’m guarding the best player, I need to look at film and know what their tendencies are. Like Julia, she likes to drive and pull up, or she’ll shoot the long 3 so I have to get my hands up. It’s just a lot of paying attention.
“It was pretty obvious today; I didn’t have the best game I could have. But I knew if I could keep Julia to a certain amount of points, then my team could pick it up on the offensive end.”
Despite shooting only 38 percent from the floor over the first 16 minutes, Heritage (26-1) led by three after a quarter and nine at halftime. The Hawks kicked into gear during a 17-6 third quarter run as they drilled 57 percent of their shots and pulled away.
The 6-foot-2 Ayrault, who already has committed to sign with Michigan State, had nine rebounds and four blocks to go with her 13 points. But North (20-6) couldn’t recover from 23 turnovers, and as a team put up 18 fewer shots than the Hawks.
The 28 points were a season low by 13, but the experience should prove valuable for a team graduating only one senior.
“This whole season has been pretty much a gift to us. When we started, I didn’t think we were a very good basketball team,” said North coach Gary Bennett, who completed his 35th season. “Some time in January, things started to click a little bit and we started to become a better basketball team. And I mean a team in the truest sense of the word – we have a superstar and we’ve got role players, and the role player know they need the superstar and the superstar knows she needs the role players. And that’s kinda been our season.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Saginaw Heritage’s Madison Camp, left and Mallory McCartney provide a pair of obstacles between Grosse Pointe North and the basket Friday. (Middle) Heritage’s Moira Joiner defends North’s Julia Ayrault.
Zarycki Leaves as Top Scorer, Big Winner
March 25, 2019
By Wes Morgan
Special for Second Half
She didn’t envision 79 varsity victories, three District championships, three league titles or a program scoring record at the time.
As a young girl in her driveway years ago, Edwardsburg’s Kaitlyn Zarycki just wanted to master dribbling between her legs and behind-the-back passes.
Zarycki, who just completed her final basketball season as the Eddies’ electric point guard, likely will sit atop the school’s all-time list of scorers for many years to come after netting 1,609 career points in her four-year career. She also led the team to a record 23 victories this season following a one-loss campaign that ended with a 60-39 defeat to Hamilton in the Division 2 Regional Semifinals.
“It was really hard when Coach took me out in the last minute,” the four-year starter said. “It started to sink in that it was finally over. We had an amazing season, and I’m proud of all these girls. All the hard work we put in was worth it.”
Everything else she has accomplished is slowly starting to register as well. Zarycki, who already held the girls scoring record at Edwardsburg, was aware of the fact she was on the verge of passing Josh Kozinski as the school’s top scorer including both hoops programs. Kozinski ended his time with the Eddies with 1,580 career points in 2013.
In a District title game against Three Rivers, Zarycki poured in 27 points, setting a new record in the third quarter.
“I knew how many points I had, but when I hit it, I had no idea,” she said. “I was just more focused on the game. Afterwards, it felt nice. I am very proud. It makes me happy to see how proud I’ve made my family. I know I couldn’t be here without the program and my teammates as well.”
With a talented and cohesive group, led by a senior class with ample chemistry which also included guards Claire Alby, Bailey Anson, Chloe Bartz and Madison Robinson, the Eddies were able to secure back-to-back District championships for the first time.
Edwardsburg was a combined 79-14 over her four varsity seasons.
“We knew that if everybody played unselfishly and played for each other that we could do something special,” said coach Jon Pobuda, who took over the program four years ago. “We had a great season last year, and we thought we could take it to another level this year. Those girls are always together and enjoyed playing together. It is just a great group of young ladies.
“We went from not knowing if we could win (four years ago) to now expecting to win every game. You have to give credit to Kaitlyn Zarycki. She has taken our program to whole new level. She’s just an amazing talent, selfless and she makes everyone around her better.”
What’s even more impressive is Pobuda and Zarycki didn’t milk blowouts in order to set an individual scoring record. The Wolverine Conference champion’s average margin of victory was around 28 points per game, and Zarycki averaged only 23 minutes per game.
“It’s nice to see these girls who don’t normally get to play, play,” she said. “I’m not a selfish person. I just like to see them play. I knew when I was in that I wasn’t going to play the whole game, so I needed to make every minute count.”
Zarycki finished the year averaging around 22 points, four assists, six steals and five rebounds per contest.
Growing up a coach’s daughter – her father Mark has coached both the girls varsity and JV over the years – it comes as no surprise spending so much time in a gym has translated to accolades and opportunities. Zarycki, who signed to play at Saginaw Valley State University next year, was named to The Associated Press all-state second team as a junior in 2018 and has a good chance to make the first team this year. She was an honorable mention as a sophomore.
Saginaw Valley State had a rough winter, finishing 6-21 overall with all six victories coming in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play. But it’s a program hoping to turn things around after seven losses by fewer than 10 points. Saginaw Valley State started two freshmen in all 27 games, which is a great sign for Zarycki next season.
On top of all that, Zarycki earned all-state after an eighth-place finish in the 400-meter relay at last year’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Girls Track & Field Finals at Zeeland Stadium. Along with teammates Jocelyn Hack, Alexa Markel and Cameron Cleveland, the Eddies logged a school-record time of 4 minutes, 9.72 seconds.
But her legacy will be that of a ball-handling dynamo who finished at the bucket, made eyebrow-raising plays, displayed court vision and tenacious defense on the basketball court.
“I’m glad she’s been with me the last four years,” Pobuda said. “I’m sure a lot of teams are OK with her not coming back next year. She didn’t really care about the stats; she cared about winning.”
Wes Morgan has reported for the Kalamazoo Gazette, ESPN and ESPNChicago.com, 247Sports and Blue & Gold Illustrated over the last 12 years and is the publisher of JoeInsider.com. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Edwardsburg’s Kaitlyn Zarycki gets a shot up despite being surrounded by three defenders. (Middle) Zarycki runs the offense against Three Rivers. (Photos by Michael Caterina/South Bend Tribune.)