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.
Senior Standout Aiming to Add to Grass Lake & Family Fame
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
August 17, 2021
GRASS LAKE – What will Lexus Bargesser do for an encore?
The Grass Lake senior had an unbelievable junior year, leading the Warriors to their first-ever MHSAA Finals basketball championship, in Division 3, then winning three events to pace Grass Lake’s team title at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 track & field championship meet. She spent her summer on the basketball circuit, traveling the country to compete against top competition.
As she embarks on her senior year of high school, Bargesser is looking forward to having fun, working hard – and bringing home more hardware.
“It was pretty amazing,” she said this summer. “Everything came together and worked out.”
The Bargesser family certainly could have been called the first family of Grass Lake sports over the last few years – in the least for track & field – and Lexus is likely to add a few more highlights during 2021-22. She won’t play a sport for Grass Lake this fall as she’s prepping for basketball season and a hopeful encore to last winter’s achievement. But next month she will begin making college visits and could make a decision before the 2021-22 basketball season begins.
“I don’t really have a timeline,” she said. “I’m looking forward to the season and helping the younger girls on the team grow. I’m excited for it.”
Grass Lake’s Bargesser surge began with 2020 grad Xavier, who’s currently playing basketball at Alma College.
Second-oldest Brennen Bargesser made a splash last school year as a senior both on the basketball court and track, during the spring winning three individual events and running on a first-place relay to lead the boys team to a Finals title as well.
“My older brother and my younger sister are insane athletes,” Brennen said. “I’m the middle child and just wanted to make a name for myself.”
Lexus Bargesser had won the 100 and 200 dashes as a freshman at the 2019 Finals, then burst onto the national prep basketball scene with an amazing summer that saw colleges from across the country start offering her scholarships.
Their parents also are part of the mix. Father David Bargesser coached the Warriors boys basketball team last season and was an assistant to the girls team. Mother Lori Bargesser was the scorekeeper for the boys team.
Sports is the common bond that links the entire family.
“We’re a really close family,” Lori said. “We’ve always just played sports. That’s what we did. We were in the yard from the time I can remember.”
David, who played basketball and golfed in college, and Lori are from upstate New York. They originally moved to Belleville, then landed in Jackson when he accepted a job at the Michigan Department of Corrections. The family has lived in Grass Lake for about 25 years.
“When I got off work, we’d go outside and play basketball or throw the football,” he said. “From the time I can remember, we were always outside playing something.”
Lori said the organized sports started through a local YMCA.
“Xavier was probably 3 or 4 years old,” she said. “David helped coach. Ever since they started, they were always in at least two sports. It was hectic at times, with practice schedules and everything. It was weird when one of them could drive because they could take themselves to practice.”
Xavier, being the oldest, was the first to play organized sports. Brennen soon followed.
“Basketball is very important in my family,” Brennen said.
“As soon as they could walk, they had a basketball in their hands,” Lori said.
Lexus showed her basketball talent and poise from a young age.
“Basketball was the thing that took off for her,” her father said. “I remember realizing how fast she was on the basketball court. I didn’t realize how fast she was.”
One of the first colleges to offer was UCLA.
“Once one started offering, they all took notice,” David said. “It was a fun two weeks where everyone started calling. She’s would get 4-5 calls in an hour and a half.”
The Bargessers might have had the best day for any one family in state track & field history. Along with both Grass Lake teams winning championships, Brennen won the 100 with a time of 11 seconds, the 200 in 22.6 and the 400 in 49.10. He also anchored the 400 relay that came in first with a time of 44.43.
Lexus repeated as LPD3 champ in both the 100 with a time of 12.12 and the 200 in 25.30. (She had won both in 2019, and the 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19.) She set an LP Division 3 meet record with a time of 55.54 in the 400, then helped the 400 relay place second with a time of 4:11.54.
Between the two siblings were seven first places, one runner-up finish and two team championships.
“When Brennen won that first race, I was so happy for him,” Lori said. “He had worked so hard. Lexus had won before, but he never had. That was a great moment.”
The seeds of those championships were formed during the spring of 2020 when in place of their season Brennen and Lexus trained together almost every day.
“It’s insane to think (about) what we were able to accomplish,” Brennen said. “She’d run the 100 and win it, then I’d run the 100 and win it. I got so excited for her, then I had to run my race. In the conference meet I jumped (early) and was disqualified. I was nervous at the state meet that I would do that again.”
Lexus and Brennen have always been close. Training together brought them closer.
“We spent all summer running together,” Brennen said. “She was my pacer. She was helping me get my times in.”
Their dad was confident that both could accomplish what they set out to do at this spring’s Finals because he had watched their times closely all summer.
“Going into the year, I was checking times and seeing what other kids were doing,” David said. “I knew both had a chance to do it in all three events. It was definitely the goal. It helped them by training together. Brennen really was into lifting, and I think that helped Lexi get into it. The two of them were always training together, pushing each other.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) The Bargesser family celebrated a championship-loaded Lower Peninsula Division 3 Finals; pictured from left: father David, Brennan, Xavier, Lexus and mother Lori. (Middle) Lexus Bargesser (1) gets a hand up on defense during Grass Lake’s 52-50 win over Kent City in April’s Division 3 Final. She finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and five steals. (Below) Brennen Bargesser crosses the line first in the 100 at the Finals in June. (Top photo courtesy of the Bargesser family; Brennen Bargesser photo by Jason Ruggles.)