Highlight Reel: Girls Basketball Finals
March 19, 2016
The 2015-16 girls basketball season came to a close Saturday night at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, where four first-time champions were crowned.
Here are some highlights from the Finals. Click on the score to watch the game in its entirety and order DVDs:
Class A – Warren Cousino 67, Detroit Martin Luther King 65
Kelly In Transition - Micaela Kelly of Detroit Martin Luther King led all scorers in the Class A Final with 34 points, including this basket in transition after a Warren Cousino miss.
Class B – Marshall 51, Grand Rapids South Christian 42
Vander Last-Second Hoop - Markayla Vander of Grand Rapids South Christian led all scorers in the Class B Final against Marshall with 16 points, including this last-second basket to end the first half.
Transition Hoop For Tucker - Marshall built a 14-point lead midway through the third quarter on this fastbreak basket by Nicole Tucker, who had eight points.
Class C – Ypsilanti Arbor Prep 53, Traverse City St. Francis 37
Steal & Score - Ypsilanti Arbor Prep led all the way in the Class C Final against Traverse City St. Francis. Here's a steal to start the second half that turns into a basket for Cydney Williams.
Lyman Leads Glads - Annie Lyman of Traverse City St. Francis led all scorers in the Class C Final with 15 points, two coming on this layup in the third quarter.
Class D – Pittsford 48, Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart 30
Clark Steals & Scores - Late in the first half of the Class D Final, Pittsford's Maddie Clark makes the steal and takes it in for a basket. Clark had 23 points and 10 rebounds in the game.
Eagle-Eyed Scout - Keeping Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart in the game early with her 3-point shooting was freshman guard Scout Nelson, who led the Irish with nine points.
PHOTO: Grand Rapids South Christian and Marshall played in front of one of the weekend's largest crowds during Saturday's Class B Final. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Heritage Girls Pushing for Breslin Return
January 6, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Saginaw Heritage girls basketball coach Vonnie DeLong doesn’t start a senior this season and has three freshmen playing prominent roles.
But she also has three starters back from the lineup that made the Class A Semifinals a year ago – and the Hawks' sights are set on contending again this March.
Heritage is the Applebee’s Team of the Month for December thanks to a 6-0 start that included a key Saginaw Valley League North win over Midland and ended with a 39-29 victory over reigning Class B champion Detroit Country Day in the marquee game of the Motor City Roundball Classic.
The Hawks finished 22-4 last season and 16-5 in 2013-14, their first under DeLong, who was part of three MHSAA championship teams as a player at Carrollton from 1979-1982 and coached Saginaw Arthur Hill’s Class A runner-up team in 1998. Heritage improved to 7-0 on Tuesday with a 38-10 win over Mount Pleasant and has won 13 of its last 14 games dating to last season.
“The expectations from the kids’ perspective are very high,” DeLong said. “They want to win. They want to get back to the Breslin. With as many kids as we had coming back, and with what we added, it’s a realistic goal for them – but they know it's going to be hard to do.”
Heritage has beaten all of its opponents but one by at least 10 points, downing Flushing by only nine, 36-27, on opening night. Five of seven players who saw the floor in the Semifinal loss to DeWitt last season are back, including returning starters Jaela Richardson, Haley Brefka and Courtney McInerney. Richardson is a sophomore; Brefka and McInerney are juniors. Senior center Jenna Falkenberg and sophomore guard Jessi Bicknell both also played at Breslin last March.
But the lineup, while experienced, is paced in scoring by a pair of freshmen. Mallory McCartney and Moira Joiner lead the balanced offensive effort averaging 9.6 and 8.3 points per game, respectively, with Joiner adding 7.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and three steals per game and McCartney grabbing 2.5 steals per contest.
Richardson grabs 7.2 rebounds to go with 7.3 points per game, while Bicknell averages 6.4 points and 2.5 steals and McInerney grabs six rebounds per game.
The Hawks also are giving up only 23 points on average. No opponent has scored 30. Country Day's 29 points were their fewest since scoring 30 in a Quarterfinal loss to Flint Powers Catholic in 2013.
“Country Day is so good, and every year; they’ve just been phenomenal,” said DeLong, who also coached at Saginaw Valley State University and played at Notre Dame and Michigan. “For our kids to get a win like that, against such a good team, it’s huge. Especially for the young kids.”
Past Teams of the Month:
November: Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard volleyball – Report
October: Benton Harbor football – Report
September: Mason and Okemos boys soccer – Report
PHOTOS: (Top) Heritage's Jessi Bicknell pushes the ball upcourt with Jaela Richardson calling for the pass. (Middle) Heritage got past Country Day, 39-29, to cap December. (Photos courtesy of Chris Bicknell.)