Lakes 'Family' Ready to Run Again
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
December 13, 2018
WATERFORD – Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes has taken a big step forward and become a perennial state power in girls basketball since Steve Robak became the coach before the 2007-08 season.
Robak guided the Lakers to a Regional Final that first winter and a Quarterfinal appearance in 2009 before Our Lady went on to play in its first MHSAA Final in the sport – and tie the Class D girls basketball record with three straight titles. The Lakers followed that run by losing in the 2013 championship game.
Although Our Lady hasn’t reached a Final since, the Lakers have been to the Semifinals three times (including last winter) and as far as the Quarterfinals on another occasion. The only season the Lakers haven’t won at least a District title under Robak was 2013-14.
Any coach who has experienced similar success will tell you it takes a certain amount of talent to reach this level. Robak is no different. But at this Detroit Catholic League school, you’ll find achieving such success goes far beyond talent.
Our Lady of the Lakes offers a community aspect to the high school experience that only a few small public and non-public schools provide. The students and faculty are like family, no more so than for Robak and his extended family.
Robak, 51, is a graduate of Our Lady and attended school there for 12 years, from 1st-12th grade. The school offers students a K-12 education and is one of four within the Catholic League to do so, along with Allen Park Cabrini, Dearborn Divine Child, Royal Oak Shrine and Clarkston Everest Collegiate. Thirty or 40 years ago this was quite common within the Detroit Catholic League. It isn’t so now and makes places like Our Lady rare, a fact not lost on those who attend or work within a parish school.
Vic Michaels is the director of athletics for the Detroit Catholic League, and in the 1980s was the boys basketball coach at Center Line St. Clement when it was a parish school.
“Years ago there were a lot of schools like that,” he said. “It’s a comfortable environment. You have the support of the parish. The kids continue through high school and, yes, you will get some new students. But (your) classmates, for the most part, remain the same.”
Robak is the oldest of seven children, all of whom went to Our Lady of the Lakes.
“There’s a real comfort there,” Robak said. “You’ve been friends for seven or eight years before you get to high school. We’ve had some come in the ninth grade, but it’s a small number. We’ve had two transfers in our program in my tenure.
“When you’re at a parochial school, (and people say), ‘Oh, you recruit.’ That doesn’t happen here. Our players come up through the system. That’s not to say we haven’t had some go on to play in college. I’m not a travel-AAU guy at all. A good athlete will be found no matter where you play.”
Another word that’s often associated with a winning program is stability. When Robak took over the program, his brother Paul came on as an assistant before switching to take over the boys program six years later. Replacing him was Tim Ross, the Robaks’ brother-in-law. Last season Paul returned to the girls program as an assistant.
We’re just starting with this family thing.
Steve had two daughters play for him: Lauren, a 2011 graduate, and Lexie, who graduated two years later. Both were all-staters. Ross had two daughters come through the system, Lindsay and Megan. And not to be left out, Paul’s oldest daughter, Brooklyn, is a sophomore on the team this season and one of the top players. Paul has another daughter, Elli, but she’s still in grade school. Another niece, Maria Oliver, is a freshman on the team.
Want more? Steve has two more daughters, currently in grade school, who are expected to be a part of the program in the future.
And therein lies a big reason for the program’s success. The students are in the same building from the elementary level through high school. The younger ones look up to those on varsity, and the coaches at all levels are on the same page teaching the same system.
“We get to the younger coaches, showing them how to teach our younger kids through clinics and stuff,” Steve said. “A lot of times volunteers are needed. When you have coaches who have the same philosophy, it helps. Also, winning helps. Winning has helped get kids out who might not have played.”
This season the Lakers are in a bit of a transition. Three starters graduated and there are just two seniors, two juniors and no junior varsity. Our Lady is 0-3 having lost to Flint Hamady, Romeo and Harper Woods Chandler Park, all from higher enrollment divisions, with a combined record of 9-1.
Isabelle Kline started playing basketball at Our Lady when she was in 6th grade. Kline rarely missed a varsity home game while in grade school and noticed the high level of determination those players displayed – which she said played a major role in her work ethic and development.
Now a junior, Kline, a three-year varsity player, is one of two starters returning. She said even though there isn’t a lot of experience, the team is progressing despite a slow start.
“We have a young team but the transition has been very good,” she said. “We’ve been bonding as a team.
“We came into (the game against Romeo) with our heads low, and that wasn’t the right thing to do. But we played incredible. We were talking on defense. It was a team effort. We played great team defense.
“We knew those (first three) teams we’re really good. When we saw who we were playing it was like, ‘Steve, what are you doing?’ But we played a tough (nonconference) schedule last year with Detroit Country Day and (Ypsilanti) Arbor Prep and we made it to the semis. We know we have to play good teams to get better.”
Tom Markowski is a correspondent for the State Champs! Sports Network and previously directed its web coverage. He also covered primarily high school sports for the The Detroit News from 1984-2014, focusing on the Detroit area and contributing to statewide coverage of football and basketball. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Our Lady coach Steve Robak (standing) directs his team during last season’s Class D Semifinal against Chassell at Van Noord Arena. (Middle) Isabelle Kline (23) blocks a path as the Panthers look to push the ball up the floor.
Frankfort Hoops Staff Bolstered by Past Stars Giving Back in Banktson, Kreski
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
July 18, 2023
Veteran Frankfort girls basketball coach Tim Reznich will have a couple of true superstars on his bench this winter.
They don’t have MHSAA eligibility remaining, but they should really help the Panthers. They’ve used up their college eligibility as well.
They are Lindsey (Pettit) Banktson, a 2008 graduate of Portland High School and all-state forward, and Presley (Hudson) Kreski, a 2014 product of Wayland High School and all-state guard. And, they are now serving as assistant coaches for Frankfort.
Banktson has been on Reznich’s bench 10 years, and Kreski is headed for her first at Frankfort. Kreski has been on women’s basketball coaching staffs at Western Michigan University and Central Michigan University since her playing days.
“I have always felt very fortunate in my situation at Frankfort,” Reznich said. “I have felt like we have always been able to provide our players with the resources and opportunities to excel at basketball, if that is what they wanted to do.
“When Lindsey came those resources increased, and now adding Presley to the mix just brings everything over the top,” he continued. “Our players are already starting to realize it.”
Kreski, who will be teaching health and physical education at Frankfort, and Banktson, now a physician assistant with Crystal Lake Clinic, are excited to work together and with Reznich this winter as he begins his 22nd season at the helm of the Panthers.
“I’ve loved coaching with Rez the past 10 seasons and am just as excited for season number 11,” said Banktson, who went on to play basketball and softball at Ferris State University. “Every year, the night before our first day of practice, is always like Christmas Eve for me.
“I can’t sleep and I can’t wait for my alarm to go off to head to the gym to start our 2-a-days,” she continued. “I am so grateful to coach with Rez and learn from him.”
Kreske too is eager to work with Rez after getting involved with the Panthers in summer ball.
After Wayland, Kreski went on to an illustrious playing career Central Michigan where she won the NCAA 3-point contest in 2019. She also played with the Seattle Storm of the WNBA before playing professionally overseas in Poland.
“I am really excited to be at Frankfort and helping the team out,” Kreski said. “The girls work really hard and want to get better.
“Tim is a great coach, and I am looking forward to working with him and sharing my knowledge of the game as well as learning from him.”
Frankfort is coming off a District championship in 2022 and a District title loss to eventual Division 4 champion Glen Lake in 2023.
Reznich says the Panthers have already noted keys to success just by being around Kreski and Banktson. Reznich, who guided Frankfort to back-to-back Class D championships in 2005 and 2006, admits he may have softened up a bit on his players over the years. Conditioning will be a top priority this year.
“They (Kreski and Banktson) have the first-hand experience of the benefits of pushing yourself hard and not cutting corners,” Reznich said. “Our players will be in the best shape of their lives when those two are finished with them.”
And Banktson is happy to pass on her high school experience to the Panthers. She graduated in 2008 as the Lansing State Journal’s “Female Prep Athlete of the Year” after shining in three sports and leading Portland to the season’s final weekend in two.
“As a player, high school athletics taught me a lot about hard work and dedication,” she said. “High school sports taught me that you have to put in the extra work if you want to be great.
“You have to be in the gym getting extra shots outside of practice, you have to be at the field getting extra reps on the weekends,” she continued. “If you work hard and give everything you’ve got to develop your game, you will be successful.”
Kreski recalls fondly her high school days working hard and having fun with her friends and teammates, along with making deep runs in the tournament.
“High school sports is the truest form of competition,” Kreski said. “It starts with a community who supports everyone from a young age and involves all the friends and family you grew up with.
“High school sports help guide young people into leaders, teaching them how to work hard and be disciplined.”
Kreski led CMU to Sweet 16 her junior year. She is the all-time leading scorer at CMU (2,309) and career assist leader (643). Central won the Mid-American Conference three times during her days with the Chippewas. She married Gage Kreski after that chapter of her career was done.
Banktson met her husband Max Banktson at Ferris State, where he played football. They moved to Frankfort, where Max was born and raised. They have a 3-year-old son named Briggs and a 6-month old daughter named Landyn.
Both Reznich and Banktson express respect and appreciation for their coaching together. They’ve been on the same page with game plans and scouting reports, and they expect it will continued with Kreski aboard.
“Rez and I really work well together,” Banktson said. “He has always respected me as a player and coach and has given me so much autonomy with our teams.
“He is always open to my input when it comes to running certain drills in practice, putting in new offenses, or adding defensive schemes,” she continued. “He trusts me to handle our subbing during games.”
Reznich agrees.
“I have always appreciated Lindsey’s perspective on what the girls are doing on the court,” he said. “It is going to be a lot of fun and exciting to add Presley’s ideas.
“We have always treated the regular season as practice for the tournament, making adjustments and tweaking things,” he continued. “I can’t wait to see the end product this year.”
Banktson was a three-sport, four-year varsity player at Portland earning a combined 12 varsity letters in basketball, softball and volleyball. She helped the Raiders win league, District and Regional titles. Her teams reached MHSAA Semifinals for softball twice and basketball once.
It doesn’t take much to get her back in game mode.
“I can still remember the feeling of adrenaline getting ready in the locker room with my teammates, running out to our warm up music, and battling on the court each game,” she said. “I am thankful for my teammates who, when on the court, were so unselfish. We just wanted to win.”
She hopes to continue to instill greatness in the Panthers.
“I always tell the girls, ‘We were tough’ — not just physically but mentally,” she said. “We had a type of swagger – we played like we knew the bullseyes were on our back, and every game we had to fight to stay at the top.
“We took pride in wearing that Portland Raider jersey,” she continued. “I just want to instill that same mental toughness and swagger into my girls here at Frankfort.”
Having a pair of women who played now coaching and serving as mentors is beneficial on a personal level as well.
“I feel like I can relate to players on a personal level,” Banktson said. “I always try to be a good role model for them and someone they can come to with anything.
“I’m their biggest cheerleader but also not afraid to hold them accountable and help steer them down the right paths of life.”
And Banktson has learned how she might have coached herself.
“I would push myself to continue to work on my right hand, because everyone in the gym knows I’m a lefty,” she said with a smile.
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PHOTOS (Top) Lindsey Banktson plays at Portland in 2008 and stands for a celebratory photo with Frankfort’s District champion last season. Presley Kreski plays for Wayland in 2014 and more recently served on Central Michigan's coaching staff. (Middle) Kreski directs the offense during her time at CMU. (Below) The Banktson family: From left, Landyn, Max, Lindsey and Briggs. (Photos of Banktson courtesy of Lindsey Banktson. CMU photo courtesy of CMU sports information. Wayland photo courtesy of Joel Bissell, MLive.com)