Grand Blanc Starts Fast, Finishes Strong in Advancing to 1st Title Game
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
March 22, 2024
EAST LANSING – The formula for Grand Blanc’s success in Friday’s Division 1 Semifinal was simple.
Start the game fast, and finish the same way.
The Bobcats built an early double-digit lead, but had to stave off Belleville’s second-half comeback attempt to pull out a 54-45 win at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center.
Grand Blanc (23-4) scored 14 of the game’s final 17 points to advance to the program’s first Final.
“We thought it was going to be easier than it was after the way we started because we got off to a great start, but then momentum went the other way,” Bobcats coach Bob Taylor said. “We got off to a nice comfortable lead, and then they charged back in the third quarter.
“It was give and take after that, and we were fortunate enough to make some plays in the end.”
Grand Blanc sprinted out to an early 10-0 and increased it to 19-6 by the end of the first quarter.
Senior Kate DeWitt, who played all 32 minutes, made a pair of 3-pointers to ignite the fast start.
“We started out well, but after they came back we just needed to stay calm, cool and collected,” DeWitt said. “We didn’t want the season to stop, and it’s just basketball. It’s a simple game.
“We just had to play our game (at the end), and there’s no words to describe how this feels right now. All I can do is smile.”
Despite the rocky start, Belleville, which didn’t arrive until 11:30 a.m. due to the snowy weather conditions, didn’t waver. The Tigers slowly chipped away at the early deficit.
A 3-pointer by SeCrette Carter and a lay-up from Jordan Petersen during the final minute of the second quarter cut the Grand Blanc advantage to 25-15 at the half.
Belleville freshman sensation Sydney Savoury then led a furious third-quarter surge.
The 6-foot forward scored 11 of her game-high 24 points in the third and drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Tigers their first lead of the game, 37-35.
Belleville outscored the Bobcats 22-10 during the period.
“We started off in the first quarter real slow, but we kept our tempo and we knew we would make a run and we did that at the end of the third quarter and into the fourth,” Tigers coach Jason Wilkins said. “Our shots weren’t falling at first, but then they started falling and our defensive intensity picked up.
“But credit to Grand Blanc. They didn’t give up, they fought hard and made the clutch plays when they were needed.”
The Tigers led 42-40 with six minutes left, but managed only three points the rest of the game as Grand Blanc’s defense tightened.
“The mindset was to keep their key players from shooting,” said Grand Blanc senior Chelsea Bishop, who had 13 points and four steals.
“They started to get hot in the second half, so it was just keeping them from shooting and driving.
Grand Blanc junior Rayven McQueen, who finished 6 of 9 from the field for 12 points, scored back-to-back buckets to cap a 10-0 run and put the Bobcats ahead 50-42 with 2:28 remaining in the game.
Friday’s was the first trip to the Semifinals for Belleville (24-3) after the team won its first Regional title since 2001.
“Grand Blanc was the better team today, but I’m proud of my team and getting here was a great accomplishment.”
Starting guard Parc Liggins led Grand Blanc with 14 points and was 5 of 6 from the free throw line.
PHOTOS (Top) Grand Blanc’s Rayven McQueen (21) makes a move toward the basket during Friday’s first Division 1 Semifinal at Breslin Center. (Middle) Malaya Brown (24) looks to get to the lane with Belleville’s Sydney Savoury (31) defending. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Miss Basketball Answers Call as Rockford Makes Good on Season-Long Goal
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
March 21, 2025
EAST LANSING – Rockford’s Anna Wypych showed during Friday’s Division 1 Semifinal why she was more than deserving of winning this season’s Miss Basketball Award.
The senior standout put the Rams on her back and carried them to a 61-32 victory over Wayne Memorial at the Breslin Center.
Wypych scored a game-high 30 points to propel Rockford (27-1) into Saturday’s 12:15 p.m. Division 1 Final against Belleville.
“A great player, an absolutely great player,” Wayne Memorial coach Jarvis Mitchell said. “We had a gameplan, but she had a gameplan as well and her gameplan was just a little better than ours. She’s a tough-minded kid with a refuse-to-lose attitude and just the way she bounced around out there. She’s been here before.”
Wypych, a 6-foot point guard who has signed with Butler, connected on her first eight shots of the game and made 4-of-5 from behind the 3-point line.
She was a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line.
“She’s just a winner and such a competitor, and you saw that tonight in the game,” Rams coach Brad Wilson said. “She has a big target on her back, and everyone wants to go at her and give her their best shot. But Anna never flinched the whole game.
“She’s confident when she’s open, and she does what’s best for the team. She’s the best player I ever coached, and I’m so proud of her, but the job is not done. We know we are going to need her tomorrow.”
Wypych, the school’s all-time leading scorer, tweaked an ankle during the first quarter, but it didn’t slow her down as she had 16 first-half points and was perfect from the field.
“I just kind of fell on my ankle, but I knew if I tightened up my shoes a little tighter then I would be good,” Wypych said. “Our team is so deep, and it was my teammates that gave me good looks so I credit them a lot. You can try to stop one of us, but you can’t stop all of us, and that’s why we are a very special team.”
The Rams held a slim 12-10 lead after the first quarter, and it swelled to 27-14 during the second quarter after another Wypych 3-pointer. But Wayne Memorial ended the half with an 8-0 surge to trim the deficit to 27-22.
“That’s who we are,” Mitchell said. “We play fast, our shooters make shots and we attack. I was very happy at the end of the second quarter, but Rockford is a very tough team and a very experienced team, and you have to play next-to-perfect to beat them.”
The third quarter was all Rockford as it outscored the Zebras 20-10 to pull away. The Rams built a 47-30 lead over the final minute of the period after a lay-in by Audrey Muterspaugh.
Rockford will play in its second Final over the last three years.
“We’ve been fortunate enough to make it over here four years in a row, and our theme this year was ‘the return’ and the goal was to get back here – and everything we did was with that in mind,” Wilson said.
Muterspaugh, a junior, added 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for Rockford.
“She’s been our energy bug all season long, and she goes in and does the little things that don’t show up in the stat book,” Wilson said. “Every year we have different players that step up in March, and she’s one of those. She picked up big rebounds and helped us win the game.”
Colleena Bryant, a Miss Basketball finalist, led Wayne Memorial with 15 points.
It was the Zebras’ fourth appearance in the Semifinals over the last seven years and first since 2021.
PHOTOS (Top) Rockford’s Anna Wypych works to get past Wayne Memorial’s Zoe Hightower during their Semifinal on Friday. (Middle) Addison Wypych (14) brings the ball upcourt for the Rams. (Photos by Keionna Banks/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)