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.
Tecumseh Finds 2nd-Half Stride Again to Reach 1st Final in 50 Years
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
March 21, 2025
EAST LANSING – Tecumseh coach Kristy Zajac wasn’t too worried when her team got off to a sluggish start during the first half of Friday’s Division 2 Semifinal.
The second half has proved to be when her team is at its best.
Tecumseh overcame a double-digit deficit and rallied to defeat Frankenmuth 52-43 at the Breslin Center, earning the program’s first championship game appearance in 50 years.
“Every game all year we start slow, but finish strong, and we were able to pull it out tonight,” Zajac said. “I’m super proud of these girls because they fought back, and this is a great win for our program.”
Tecumseh will play for the Division 2 championship at 6:15 p.m. Saturday, seeking its first Finals title since 1974 and after also finishing Class B runner-up in 1975.
Tecumseh, which outscored Frankenmuth 34-20 during the second half Friday, improved to 26-1. It's only loss was to Division 1 finalist Rockford.
The win was bittersweet, though, after junior Maddy VanBlack suffered an apparent leg injury during the final minute.
“Super special for our girls, but that last play of the game is just so hard,” Zajac said. “She’s worked so hard to get back to us after missing almost two years of seasons, and that’s why these girls are all in tears. I feel so terrible for her, and we’re hoping she’s OK.”
Frankenmuth led 30-20 midway through the third quarter after a 3-pointer from Clare Conzelmann. However, Tecumseh slowly chipped away at the deficit and eventually tied it at 32-32 with a 10-2 run to end the third quarter.
Miss Basketball Award finalist Alli Zajac struggled with foul trouble, but her teammates picked her up and ignited the second-half blitz.
“It’s not a great thing that I was in foul trouble, but I’m kind of glad that I was just so I can see how well they work together when I'm not in there with them,” Alli Zajac said. “It was amazing to see other girls step up.”
One was senior Ashlyn Moorhead, who drained 4-of-6 3-point attempts and finished with 14 points.
“I loved seeing her knock down those 3s and hit those pull-up jumpers,” Kristy Zajac said. “She stepped into beast mode in the second half. She started slow, but I knew she had it in her and stepped up that confidence.”
Said Moorhead: “I knew that my teammates and coaches had confidence in me. I just went up and let it fly.”
Sophomore Addi Zajac also fueled the comeback with 16 points and 14 rebounds.
“She’s one of the best rebounders I’ve ever seen, and we knew that other people had to step up and they did,” Kristy Zajac said. “That’s what is great about this team. There’s not one person you can shut down and then try to beat us. You have to beat all of us.”
An 11-0 run in the fourth quarter sealed the win.
“These girls deserve this,” Kristy Zajac said. “They’ve worked hard for this, and they’ve put in the time.”
The Eagles were in search of a return trip to the Final after finishing runner-up in 2023, but suffered through a five-minute scoring drought during the final quarter and shot a dismal 8-of-27 during the second half.
“One day short of what our goal was,” Frankenmuth coach Joe Jacobs said. “The first half went in our favor, but then they made shots in the second half and the game got away from us. But it doesn’t take away from what these girls accomplished, and we have three seniors that have been here two times, so it was a special opportunity for them.”
Conzelmann led the Eagles with 15 points and three blocked shots. Macy Donovan and Isabelle Bernthal finished with nine and eight points, respectively.
PHOTOS: Tecumseh’s Makayla Schlorf (3) makes her move toward the basket with Frankenmuth’s Grace Brenner guarding her Friday at Breslin Center. (Middle) Chloe Bullinger (10) keeps the ball inbounds, sending it over Brenner’s outstretched arms. (Photos by Keionna Banks/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)