Marian Keeps Celebrating With 5th Title
March 15, 2014
By Tom Kendra
Special to Second Half
EAST LANSING – With all of the hoopla and postgame celebrating after Bloomfield Hills Marian's emotional MHSAA Class A Semifinal victory over rival Farmington Hills Mercy on Friday afternoon, it's no wonder veteran coach Mary Cicerone was worried about a letdown.
Especially when the next opponent was experienced Canton, arguably the state's most suffocating defensive team.
"We were in celebration mode after beating Mercy," Cicerone conceded, "and I was worried they weren't going to come out here aggressive (Saturday)."
Leave it to a freshman to calm the nerves of her 31st-year head coach.
Samantha Thomas, a 6-foot freshman, scored a game-high 15 points, including nine in the critical third quarter, to lead Marian to a 44-26 victory over Canton in Saturday's MHSAA Class A championship game at the Breslin Center.
"In the first half, we were being selfish a little bit," said Thomas, whose sophomore sister Bailey Thomas scored eight points and finished with a game-high four steals. "We started to spread them out in the third quarter. We drove a few times and missed, and I was there to get the rebound and put it back in."
The Mustangs (25-2) won the 560th game and fifth MHSAA championship under Cicerone, but her first since 1998. Marian won four Class A titles between 1988 and 1998.
Not many figured this would be the team to end that title drought, with a roster that featured just one senior in 6-1 forward Laura Bruton.
Canton did a good job on Bruton, limiting her to three points and two rebounds in her final prep game, but it was the athletic ability of the Mustangs' underclassmen that sparked them in Saturday's second half.
Samantha Thomas, who has yet another family member involved with the program as her father, Derek Thomas, is a Marian varsity assistant coach, scored nine points in the third quarter on three three-point plays as the Mustangs turned a slim 22-16 halftime lead into a comfortable 35-21 leading entering the fourth quarter.
Canton, which is known for its defense and is not a come-from-behind, explosive kind of team, was never able to mount a rally during the final 8 minutes.
"The first 4 minutes of the third quarter were big," said ninth-year Canton coach Brian Samulski, who started three seniors. "Marian is so aggressive, they just pushed us away from the basket and we couldn't execute our offense."
The Chiefs, who finished their best-ever girls basketball season at 22-5 and with their first championship game appearance, had their best success in the second quarter. Senior guard Rachel Winters scored all six of her points in that quarter as she repeatedly got behind Marian's aggressive defense on give-and-go plays.
But those opportunities weren't there after halftime.
"We felt fine at halftime, because we were only down by six points," Winters said. "But Marian's pressure got to us. They kept changing their defense, and it was hard to adjust."
Paige Aresco, a 5-10 senior forward, led Canton with nine points and six rebounds, while 6-1 senior Taylor Hunley added four points and five rebounds.
"I'm proud of this team," Aresco said. "I don't think anyone expected us to be here. It was a great team to be a part of."
Canton was truly the Cinderella team of this year's Class A tournament, entering the dance unranked and barely even garnering honorable mention status in the final Associated Press poll, with just one vote.
Marian entered the postseason ranked No. 5 and will certainly be a threat to repeat next season, with 14 of the 15 players on Saturday's roster returning.
In addition to the Thomas sisters, the Mustangs also should return sharpshooting junior Kara Holinski, who scored nine points on Saturday after going off for 20 in Friday's convincing 67-55 victory over Farmington Mercy.
Another strong-shooting junior who will be back is Jaeda Robinson, who scored five points on Saturday.
"It was definitely a goal to win the state title," explained Robinson. "We were on a mission, and we finished it. We pride ourselves on defense, and today that was what got our offense rolling."
While much of the focus coming into Saturday's finale was Canton's lane-clogging, man-to-man defense, Marian held its seven postseason opponents to an average of 30 points, highlighted by a 43-17 win over Port Huron Northern in the Quarterfinal.
It was truly a full-circle season for the Mustangs, who began on opening night with a 49-38 win over Canton and then ended it Saturday with an 18-point victory. The only two losses came at the hands of Mercy, including a buzzer-beating, heartbreaking loss in the Detroit Catholic League championship game – a defeat Cicerone said burned inside the team and, ultimately, fueled its postseason run.
Cicerone, who publicly wondered in recent years whether she would still be coaching when Marian won its next MHSAA title, said this year's team may have been young, but they were a true team that supported each other and never complained.
"It's easy to come back and coach these kinds of kids," Cicerone said. "I'm the negative one that's nagging them all the time. They pick each other up. They work hard, they don't complain and it's fun."
Click for a full box score and video from the press conference.
PHOTOS: (Top) Bloomfield Hills Marian player rush the floor to celebrate their Class A championship. (Middle) Marian's Bailey Thomas works to stay in front of Canton's Rachel Winters.
HIGHLIGHTS: (1) Paige Aresco of Canton grabs the Marian miss, gets the Chiefs in transition and takes the pass to basket to pull her team closer in the second quarter of the Class A finale. Marian scores after a miss. (2) Samantha Thomas takes a pass from Brittany Gray and scores in the third quarter of the Class A title game against Canton.
Belleville Succeeds in Breslin Return, Earns 1st Trip to Championship Day
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
March 21, 2025
EAST LANSING – Belleville has been chasing history since the start of the MHSAA Tournament.
The Tigers overcame a giant hurdle in pursuit of it Friday.
Belleville knocked off 2024 champion and perennial powerhouse West Bloomfield 60-55 in the first Division 1 Semifinal at the Breslin Center.
The Tigers (27-1) will play in their first Final at 12:15 p.m. Saturday.
“It means everything,” said sophomore Sydney Savoury, who tallied game highs of 21 points and 11 rebounds. “We felt the heartache from the loss last year so we really wanted to change the outcome and we knew from the beginning of the season that we had a chance to do it, and we knew that we could have a lasting impact on our school.
“It’s an exciting moment and we know the pressure that comes with it, but it’s a good pressure.”
Belleville, which lost to Grand Blanc last year in their first trip to the Semifinals, had defeated West Bloomfield by double digits during the regular season.
However, coach Jason Wilkins figured the rematch would be more difficult, especially against a program that had advanced to the Breslin the past four years.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Wilkins said. “They are two-time state champs, and they’ve been here four years in a row, so we knew Coach (Darrin) McAllister would come with a gameplan and they were going to play hard. We came out and made a quick run, but we knew they were not going to back down.”
Belleville jumped out to an early double-digit lead during the first five minutes as junior Se’Crette Carter knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Tigers a commanding 21-5 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
“That’s how we play,” Wilkins said. “In every game we make a run, it’s just a matter of when, and we made it in the first quarter. We knew we had to withstand their run, and us getting out to a big lead helped us.”
The Lakers (19-9) rallied in the second quarter and trimmed the deficit to 21-13 on a mid-range jumper by Sheridan Beal. Ava Lord drained a 3-pointer for West Bloomfield later in the first half to make it 28-23.
The Lakers continued to make a push in the third quarter. A driving lay-up by Breasia Gamble-Jones cut the Belleville lead to only two (31-29).
However, the Tigers responded with a 9-2 run and led 45-36 entering the final quarter. A three-point play from Paisley Stephens with 2:17 left sealed it for Belleville.
West Bloomfield, which returned only one starter from last year’s championship team, started the season 1-4 before winning 16 of their next 19 games.
“A lot of people counted us out,” McAllister said. “We lost four dynamic players, and we had players still understanding how to play their roles. Nobody thought we could get here, but the crazy part about it is we knew that we could get here.
“This has been an incredible journey just getting back here, and we had a slow start (today) and were like deer in headlights, but we had an opportunity to settle down and come together and showed we could play with the big boys.”
Beal and Gamble-Jones both finished with 17 points for West Bloomfield, while Londyn Hall had 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
Carter made four 3-pointers and added 18 points for Belleville. Stephens, a freshman guard, chipped in 10 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Rylan Buschell, one of only two seniors on Belleville’s roster, was thrilled to get over the hump and have an opportunity to play for the school’s first Finals title.
“We worked hard all summer and during the year, and we always wanted to come back here,” she said. “Last year was a heartbreak, but we just wanted to make it to the last day and make it count.”
PHOTOS (Top) Belleville’s Sydney Savoury places her school on the championship game line of the Division 1 bracket after the Tigers’ clinched their first Finals berth Friday at Breslin Center. (Middle) Belleville’s Jaida Quinn (5) and Iyana Stephens defend as West Bloomfield’s Breasia Gamble-Jones considers her options. (Photos by Keionna Banks/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)