Latest Flushing Title Creates Lasting Buzz
April 17, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The banner is on its way.
Those who followed Flushing’s unexpected run to this season’s Class A girls basketball title – the school’s first in any sport since 1977 – should quickly understand the significance.
History, at least in small part, played a motivational role for the MHSAA/Applebee’s Team of the Month for March as it reached the Semifinals in girls hoops for the first time since 1976 and then added that second title in Raiders history to the first won by the girls golf team four decades ago.
And the fever is still going strong. On Tuesday, the team is scheduled to be recognized by the Flushing school board. On Thursday, the Raiders will join Sen. Ken Horn for an introduction on the Senate floor in Lansing. On Friday, the girls will be recognized during a ceremony at the school, hopefully with that banner to unveil. And of course, they’ll be part of Flushing’s annual Summer Festival parade June 7.
“I’ve been with the program 20 years – the first seven as an assistant – and when I first started, back when girls basketball was in the fall and we played in the old Big Nine Conference, we always had probably some of the bigger fan support than a lot of the other schools in the conference,” Flushing coach Larry Ford said. “Girls basketball has really been embraced by the community. When we switched seasons (to winter), it dropped off a little … but I still feel we have one of the better followings in the area. What the community did behind the run this year, it was second to none.”
And the same was true for a team not necessarily expected to be standing with the trophy on the season’s final day, despite a group that played for that moment going back to middle school.
After playing together at Flushing's junior high, now-seniors Lauren Newman, Breanna Perry and Kamryn Chappell joined the varsity starting lineup as freshmen, and senior guard Carson Wilson was added the following winter as a sophomore. They were four of six seniors from a class that dominated in middle school and over the last four seasons led the varsity to a combined 81-16 record – including a school record 24 wins both this winter (finishing 24-3) and in 2014-15 (24-1).
Still, the Raiders entered this postseason unranked by The Associated Press after losing two of their their first three games of the season but winning 17 of their final 18. Flushing’s only defeats came to Saginaw Heritage and Midland Dow during that opening run and eventual Class B runner-up Ypsilanti Arbor Prep during the final week of the regular season.
Flushing more than proved its merit during the playoffs. The Raiders opened by avenging last season’s District Final loss to St. Johns, and went on to eliminate 18-win Flint Carman-Ainsworth, 17-win Lapeer, 21-win Dow and 19-win Macomb Dakota. They knocked out reigning champion Warren Cousino (24-3) in the Semifinal 52-36 before downing East Kentwood (26-2) in the championship game, 49-38. All but the Dow win were by double figures.
“When they were eighth graders, we started talking to them about state championships,” Ford said. “I was over there for one of their games, and talked to them, or maybe at practice the next day, and I asked them if they knew what a state championship is. When they’re in eighth grade, that look at you like what is that?
“But we started making it a point (freshman year) what we wanted to do. I thought as juniors and seniors they might have a decent chance to make a run like this. These last two years they really were committed to it.”
The Raiders also can boast some all-around successes. Perry and sophomore Thailyia Christensen are multi-sport athletes also competing in track & field, while Wilson and Chappell play soccer during the spring and Newman played softball as well earlier in her high school career. Newman and Wilson carry 4.0 grade-point averages, while Chappell is at 3.5. Perry, a 6-foot forward, will continue her academic and basketball careers next season at Temple University.
But for now, she and her teammates have a busy week ahead and a lot more to celebrate from their history-making winter.
“They are humble beyond belief, and it’s really nice to see,” Ford said. “They’re very appreciative of the accolades they’re getting, the number of cards and emails they’ve gotten from fans and supporters. They’re really enjoying it."
Past Teams of the Month, 2016-17
February: Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central girls skiing - Report
January: Powers North Central boys basketball - Report
December: Dundee boys basketball - Report
November: Rockford girls swimming & diving - Report
October: Rochester girls golf - Report
September: Breckenridge football - Report
PHOTO: Flushing's girls basketball team poses with its championship trophy after winning the Class A title last month.
West Catholic Comes Back from Double-Digit Deficit to Get Past Reigning Champ
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
March 21, 2025
EAST LANSING – Grand Rapids West Catholic hadn’t faced adversity like that all season.
The Falcons trailed by double digits at halftime of Friday’s Division 2 Semifinal, but forged a furious second-half comeback to upset 2024 champion Detroit Edison 54-48 at the Breslin Center.
“I don’t think we’ve had situations where we were down that much at halftime or in the third quarter, but it just speaks to the resiliency that our kids have,” first-year West Catholic coach Derek Paiz said. “We’re just going to keep fighting.”
West Catholic (24-3) will face Tecumseh (26-1) at 6:15 Saturday in the Division 2 Final.
The Falcons trailed 26-14 at the half and 30-15 with six minutes remaining in the third quarter before making their charge.
Senior Anna Ignatoski was the catalyst and led West Catholic with 29 points, including four 3-pointers. She also added six rebounds.
“This means the world and I give all of it to God, and I’m just so thankful to be back playing and playing with these girls,” said Ignatoski, who missed the past two seasons due to multiple ACL injuries.
“I knew coming into this game that we were the underdogs and we had nothing to lose. I wanted to help my team prove everyone wrong, and we did that tonight.”
West Catholic lost in the Semifinals a year ago to Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard at the buzzer.
“This is my first year, but these girls have done it three years in a row; this is their second home,” Paiz said. “With those girls we had on the floor, I knew we were going to be all right. We’ve been preparing this season for exact moments like this.
“We set a goal at the beginning of the season, my first day in, to go win a state championship, and every day these girls have been working toward that. We never lost faith.”
The Falcons outscored Edison 40-22, including 23-12 during the fourth quarter. Ignatoski had 24 points in the second half and made clutch free throws down the stretch to seal it.
“She’s a shot maker,” Paiz said. “She had that look in her eye. She wanted the ball in her hands at the end of the game. She wanted to put the game away.”
Senior Alisha Dykstra added 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
“This is so surreal, and I’m so blessed,” Dykstra said. “With the love we have for one another, we can do anything if we put our mind to it. We knew they were going to be a good team, but we knew we were built for this because we work hard and we put the time in.”
Nicole James led Edison (19-7) with 23 points, while Isis Johnson-Musah had 12.
“I knew they were going to be hungry to win, and I told my team at halftime that they were going to make a run and we just had to weather the storm,” Pioneers coach Monique Brown said. “Mentally we lost it when they started catching up, and I haven’t seen that in my teams in previous years.”
PHOTOS (Top) Grand Rapids West Catholic celebrates its comeback win Friday at Breslin Center. (Middle) The Falcons' Anna Ignatoski (3) and Detroit Edison's Caitlyn Green rush upcourt during their Semifinal. (Photos by Keionna Banks/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)