Hemlock Arrives at Breslin, Makes Itself at Home in Reaching 1st Final
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 16, 2023
EAST LANSING — Hemlock certainly made up for a lost opportunity in its Division 3 Semifinal against Hart on Thursday.
In 2021, after advancing to the Semifinals for the first time, Hemlock had to withdraw from the tournament after a positive COVID-19 test was discovered before its scheduled game at Breslin Center against Grass Lake.
Earning its way back to the Division 3 final four this year, Hemlock played for that 2021 squad and this year’s team with intensity from the opening tip.
Instead of playing nervous in its first Semifinal game, Hemlock came out like it was playing in the comforts of home during a December practice, storming out to a 21-1 lead after the first quarter en route to a 57-26 win over the Pirates.
The Huskies will meet Blissfield at 4 p.m. Saturday for the Division 3 title in a matchup of two teams both looking to win a Finals championship for the first time.
“I’ve received so many well wishes and texts from players who didn’t get that opportunity who were on that team and were encouraging these girls,” Hemlock head coach Scott Neumeyer said. “I told them that they should’ve had that opportunity. I hope they felt they were a big part of this.”
Senior Regan Finkbeiner led all scorers with 24 points, and junior Lauren Borsenik had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead Hemlock (25-3).
Finkbeiner went 9 of 13 from the field overall and 4 of 7 from 3-point range, while Borsenik went 8 of 10 from the field.
Senior Aspen Boutell scored seven points to lead the way for Hart (24-4), which was making its first trip to the Semifinals.
“They came out and really executed the game plan,” Hart head coach Travis Rosema said of Hemlock. “We had some nerves and had some shots that didn’t fall. But they executed better than us.”
The first quarter was all Hemlock, which made 9 of 14 shots from the field, held Hart to 0 of 9 shooting and forced eight turnovers.
The quarter was perfectly punctuated when Chloe Watson hit a 3-pointer just before the buzzer sounded to end the first.
“Our first quarter has been our best quarter,” Neumeyer said. “We’ve jumped on several teams this year. I’m not going to say I was surprised. I know what these girls are capable of.”
Hart played Hemlock close to even in the second quarter, but the Huskies still took a 29-7 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The third quarter was also fairly even, with Hemlock holding a 43-19 advantage going into the fourth quarter.
Hart had a flurry to cut its deficit to 19 halfway through the fourth quarter, but couldn’t put a further dent in Hemlock’s lead the rest of the way.
“What happened two years ago was obviously really devastating and sad,” Finkbeiner said. “The year after, we were like ‘We will make it to Breslin this year. This is our year.’ We lost in Districts. This year, we really focused on the next game. Not Districts, not Regionals and not the Breslin. Just one game at a time. Being here and playing here is unbelievable.”
Now, Hemlock will try and make its season more unbelievable with a win over Blissfield.
“We know we’ve got a tough opponent ahead of us in Blissfield,” Neumeyer said. “They’ve got size, they’ve got speed and they’ve got guards. But (my team) came here to play two games, not one.”
PHOTOS (Top) Hemlock’s Hannah Borsenik (24) works to get a shot up over Hart’s Chloe Coker during Thursday’s Semifinal. (Middle) Kylee Miller (1) is defended by Marianna VanAgtmael (23).
4-Sport Standout Salenbien Stacking Varsity Letters, Leading Adrian's Hoops Rise
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
January 8, 2026
ADRIAN – Ella Salenbien is very competitive.
And maybe a little stubborn.
Salenbien didn’t want to have to choose which sports to concentrate on at Adrian High School – so she picked them all. Salenbien is on track to graduate this spring with 16 varsity letters for the Maples – four each in volleyball, swimming, basketball and soccer.
“Sometimes a coach, even college coaches, would ask me if I was going to concentrate on swimming and I would say no,” Salenbien said. “I didn’t want to choose. I wanted to play them all.”
Salenbien hasn’t just played sports at Adrian; she’s set records and excelled. This winter, she’s leading something of a re-birth of basketball for the Maples, who are off to a 6-1 start, the best for the school in more than a decade, maybe two.
“It’s exciting,” she said. “We are definitely playing as a team. This is the third or fourth year that a lot of us have played together. We are all very close.”
Salenbien is closing in on 1,000 career points in basketball and is likely to set the Maples career rebounding record.
In volleyball, she finished with more than 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs. She holds five school records in swimming. Last spring she set the Adrian assists record in soccer with 17.
Playing four sports requires a lot of time management, communication and cooperation between coaches, which Salenbien says has been great.
“I send out a weekly schedule to my coaches and parents just so everyone knows what’s going on,” she said. “There are days where I might have swimming practice and volleyball practice, so I split my time. It’s never been a problem. I feel like it was a lot my freshman year, but after that I got the hang of it.”
Swimming evolved into her top sport and something she did year-round for years between varsity swimming with Adrian and club swimming, both outdoor and indoor.
“I’d swim for the (Lenawee County) Gators after my high school season,” she said. “I’d train and compete for the state meet, zone meet and national meet, which is in Greensboro, North Carolina. Then I would come back, take a short break, and go into soccer. There’s not a lot of breaks in between seasons. I don’t have a lot of down time.”
Salenbien isn’t one to ask for down time.
“I’m pretty competitive and like to stay busy,” she said.
She started swimming with the Maple Pride program at the age of 7.
“I picked it up fast and enjoyed it,” she said.
She’s developed into a sprinter in the pool. Salenbien finished third in both the 50 and 100-yard freestyles at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Finals in November.
“I love the pace and jumping in the water and going as fast as I can,” she said. “I’m not a distance swimmer. There is a rush you get. I love anchoring a relay. I love it when I am one or two lengths behind when I dive in and I catch up and pass someone. I am swimming and I can look over and think, ‘I got this.’”
She committed to Hope College for swimming.
“My (college) coach even asked me if I was interested in talking to the volleyball coach,” she said. “I told him that I didn’t think so. I am kind of excited to have the chance to focus on swimming in college and see how I do.”
The daughter of Eric and Sarah Salenbien of Adrian has two younger siblings, both of whom are already deep into athletics. Ella likes to spend the summer at her grandmother’s lake house in the Irish Hills, especially in the water.
“I love tubing,” she said. “I sometimes will take a swim across the lake and back. It’s about two miles.”
Salenbien also works at a nursing home in Adrian and recently received her Certified Nurse Assistant certification.
The 17-year-old is happy to be focusing on basketball right now, especially with the Maples off to such a great start under second-year coach Caylie Boehmer, an Adrian graduate.
“She’s been great,” Salenbien said. “She played college basketball, so she has us practicing like they do in college. She leads us well.”
Boehmer called Salenbien an outstanding athlete and even better human being.
“She has been a huge asset to all the programs at Adrian that she has been a part of, and we are lucky to have her,” she said. “She is an extremely hard worker, fierce competitor and as tough as they come.”
Friday the Maples take on their biggest rival, Tecumseh, the reigning Division 2 champion and heavy favorite in the Southeastern Conference White.
“It’s going to be tough,” Salenbien said. “They are very good. I know a lot of the girls on the team. They are tough, but we have nothing to lose. We are just going to go out and do our best. We’re not going to back down.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a news and sports reporter at the Adrian Daily Telegram and the Monroe News for 30 years, including 10 years as city editor in Monroe. He's written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. He is now publisher and editor of The Blissfield Advance, a weekly newspaper. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Ella Salenbien swims a race this past season. (Middle) Salenbien (21) elevates for the opening tip at the start of a game against Dundee. (Photos provided by Salenbien family.)