Highlight Reel: Class C-D Semifinals
March 18, 2016
The Class C and D finalists at the 2016 MHSAA Girls Basketball Tournament, presented by Sparrow Health System, were determined Thursday in front of more than 5,000 fans at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
Click the final score to watch the entire game and order DVDs.
Class C Semifinal – Traverse City St. Francis 53, Niles Brandywine 40
Muscle Hoops - A classic feed into the middle to Traverse City St. Francis center Juliana Phillips results in a basket that put the Gladiators in the lead to stay against Niles Brandywine. Phillips finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Bobcats Stay Close – The closest Niles Brandywine could get in the second half against Traverse City St. Francis was three points when Makenna Hartline scored two of her 17.
Class C Semifinal – Ypsilanti Arbor Prep 72, Ithaca 44
Kayla Cans One For Ithaca - Things went back and forth early between Ithaca and Ypsilanti Arbor Prep. Here the Yellowjackets take the least on a basket by Kayla Belles, who led her team with 16 points.
Chambers Leads Prep - Nastassja Chambers led Ypsilanti Arbor Prep against Ithaca with a game-high 24 points, including a transition basket here.
Class D Semifinal – Pittsford 62, Waterford Our Lady 43
Clark Goes Coast To Coast - In the first quarter of this rematch of a Semifinal at last year's Class D tournament, Pittsford's Maddie Clark grabs the missed shot and takes it all the way for two of her game-high 24 points to go with 16 rebounds.
Senerius 3-Point Play - Tiffany Senerius led Waterford Our Lady against Pittsford with 20 points – including this old-fashioned three-point play in the second quarter.
Class D Semifinal – Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart 45, Stephenson 38
Eagles Tie It - This game had six ties, the last coming midway through the third quarter on this basket by Stephenson's Karley Johnson. Johnson led her team with 12 points.
Take That! And That! - Here's a couple of great defensive plays in the closing moments of the Class D Semifinal between Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart and Stephenson by Averi Gamble of the Irish – one smashing away a pass, the other blocking a shot. Gamble finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
PHOTO: The Pittsford and Waterford Our Lady teams line up for the national anthem Thursday.
Title IX at 50: Portage Northern Star Byington Becomes Play-by-Play Pioneer
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
September 21, 2021
From Portage Northern, to Northwestern University, to the smallest of TV markets in the United States to the sidelines of the most recognized sports networks in the world, Lisa Byington has blazed trails all over the Midwest and beyond.
Beginning this October, she will take another historic step for women in sportscasting.
Byington will take the microphone as Bally Sports Wisconsin’s play-by-play announcer for the Milwaukee Bucks – becoming the first female full-time TV play-by-play announcer for a men’s “major” professional team in the NBA, MLB, NFL or NHL.
This will be just the latest accomplishment for the former Huskies basketball and soccer all-stater, who went on to play four seasons of basketball and two of soccer at Northwestern. Byington began her broadcast career at WBKB in Alpena – currently the third-smallest TV market in the nation – and then moved on to become a beloved fixture at WLNS in Lansing for nearly a decade. Her next moves took her into regional and then national spotlights, from broadcasting games with FOX Sports and the Big Ten Network, among a number of major entities, to working as a sideline reporter from 2017-19 at the NCAA men’s basketball tournament for CBS and Turner Sports. She also was FOX’s play-by-play voice for the 2019 Women’s World Cup and for women’s and men’s soccer coverage on NBC Sports during this summer’s Olympics. She has done play-by-play for WNBA and NBA games, and in March, Byington also became the first female play-by-play voice at the NCAA men’s basketball tournament when she called games for CBS and Turner.
Byington was a finalist for the Miss Basketball Award as a Portage Northern senior in 1993, and according to the Detroit Free Press’ “All-State Basketball Team” report was set to graduate the following spring with 28 school records in hoops, including for 1,392 career points, 384 career assists and 379 career steals. She also made the Class A all-state girls soccer team as a senior after earning honorable mention as a junior. At Northwestern, she was a three-time Big Ten all-academic selection in basketball and two-time academic all-Big Ten pick in soccer.
Second Half's weekly Title IX Celebration posts are sponsored by Michigan Army National Guard.
Previous Title IX at 50 Spotlights
Sept. 14: Guerra/Groat Legacy Continues to Serve St. Philip Well - Read
Sept. 7: Best-Ever Conversation Must Include Leland's Glass - Read
Aug. 31: We Will Celebrate Many Who Paved the Way - Read
PHOTOS courtesy of Lisa Byington and Portage Northern’s athletic department.