Marshall Leaves No Room for Regrets
March 19, 2016
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING — Sal Konkle couldn't hold back the tears as she watched her Marshall basketball players celebrate the fulfillment of a dream that appeared to vanish 35 years ago.
Konkle was a star senior on the only other Marshall team to play for an MHSAA championship, but she was on the losing end of a 64-52 decision to Okemos in the 1981 Class B title game.
In almost every case, that's where the dream ends. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity comes and goes. High school athletes move on with the rest of their lives, but can have lingering regrets about the championship that got away.
The first step toward redemption for Konkle occurred back in 1999 when she became Marshall's head coach and won her first 23 games. But 11 District championship teams in her first 15 seasons couldn't take it all the way.
Her 16th season proved to be the sweetest, as Marshall beat Grand Rapids South Christian, 51-42, in the Class B championship game Saturday night at the Breslin Center.
"I got numerous texts from former teammates saying we can do it," Konkle said. "One is in the stands. She called me this morning. She said to me, 'Hey, I know you're busy, and I'll be there, but not a lot of people get do-overs in life, and you got a do-over. So, can you just make this happen?' I got a text from coach (Tom) Duffey, who was my coach at the time. He said, 'Second time's a charm; you've got this.'"
Making the championship even more special for Konkle is she was able to achieve it with her 14 daughters — her actual flesh and blood, junior guard Jill Konkle, and 13 other girls she regards as adopted children.
"They're kind of all my girls," coach Konkle said. "When you grow up in a small town, these kids are over at your house. Jill hangs out with them. They go to proms. They do everything together. That's what makes it so special for us. These kids are close. This is something they're going to remember the rest of their lives. I remember doing it with my best friends. It's just very, very special."
Jill Konkle said her mother doesn't bring up tales of her glory days or the opportunity that got away in 1981 often, but the topic came to the forefront more in recent weeks as the current group of Marshall players chased that elusive championship. This year's team and the 1981 squad are the only ones from Marshall to get past the MHSAA Quarterfinals.
"Only because we got this far did we talk about it more," said Jill Konkle, who scored a team-high 13 points against South Christian. "Other than that, not as much. She did bring it up with the team a bit. We talked about it the last couple of weeks quite a bit. I was always telling her, 'I'm gonna get it. I'm gonna beat you,' and I did."
Marshall won the Class B title with a group of girls who have played together since their early elementary school years. It was back in those formative years that they became acquainted with the woman who would coach them to a championship as teenagers.
"We all have this respect for her," said Emily Delmotte, the only senior on the team. "I've had it since I was little, watching her teams since I can remember. She's always been a presence. It's not like the kind of coach that as soon as you get into high school is the first time you meet her. In basketball, the first time I met her was in first or second grade. She makes herself present. She's a part of the program, no matter what age you are."
Coach Konkle's pregame message to her team hinted at the lingering pain of that 1981 loss.
"I told them, 'You can do anything for 32 minutes,'" she said. "'If you do this for 32 minutes, you're going to be state champions. If you don't do it for 32 minutes, you're going to regret that for the rest of your life.' Every timeout, every quarter, I'm telling them, 'Eight more minutes, eight more minutes, you've got this. Or 3:20, you've got this.' They're a resilient group. They're a hard-working group — and they got this."
With the largest cheering section of the weekend in their corner, the Redhawks took the lead with 2:01 left in the first quarter and never relinquished it. Marshall built a 12-point lead late in the first half before taking a 25-15 advantage into the break.
When Nicole Tucker scored on the fast break with 4:24 left in the third quarter, Marshall had its biggest lead of the night at 33-19.
South Christian, which had three seniors who played on the 2014 MHSAA runner-up team, battled back. A basket by Mariel Bruxvoort with 6:44 left in the game cut Marshall's lead to 37-32.
The Redhawks responded with a 5-0 run, all from the free throw line, to go up 42-32. What could have been a key moment for the Sailors came when Markayla Vander made a free throw and missed the second one, only to have Bruxvoort score off an offensive rebound and get fouled. When Bruxvoort made the free throw, South Christian had four points in a one-second span to get within 42-36 with 3:38 left.
The Sailors didn't get a chance to build on that momentum, as Taryn Long made a 3-point play with 3:10 left to put Marshall up 45-36. South Christian couldn't put together consecutive scores the rest of the game.
"It took us a little while to get into an offensive flow," South Christian coach Kim Legge said. "Actually, I'm not really sure we did get into an offensive flow. Marshall did a good job with their defense on us. Obviously, they had scouted well. We've been behind before and usually can make runs, but they did an excellent job of stopping that. The momentum never did swing to our favor."
Taryn Long finished with 10 points and Carlee Long had five assists for Marshall (26-1), which won its final 26 games after a season-opening 40-33 loss to Williamston.
Vander had 16 points and Jennifer DeBoer 13 for the Sailors (25-3), who had only four players score. Vander, DeBoer and Sydney DeYoung were the only holdovers from the 2014 South Christian team that went into the Class B title game with a 26-0 record before losing to Eaton Rapids.
"It's definitely been a fun four years," DeBoer said. "I've enjoyed every second of the experience. I think the thing I'm going to miss the most are my teammates and all the memories we made. I'll never get these experiences back, so I'm just really thankful for them."
The Girls Basketball Finals are presented by Sparrow Health System.
PHOTOS: (Top) Marshall players storm the floor while coach Sal Konkle, far left, covers her face for a moment after her team had clinched the Class B title. (Middle) Jill Konkle works to hold onto the ball with South Christian’s Jennifer DeBoer (4) trying to gain possession.
Hovey's Elite Talent on Track Helping Hart Hoops Continue to Fly High
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
January 10, 2025
HART – Addi Hovey has certainly shown she's built for speed – not only in track & field, but on the basketball court as well.
Hovey won three individual events at last year’s Lower Peninsula Division 3 Girls & Field Track Finals (leading the Hart girls to their third-consecutive team championship), and now the senior is using her unique blend of speed, jumping ability and aggressiveness to wreak havoc on the hardwood.
“All of us have grown up playing that style of basketball, just running all the time,” explained Hovey, who is the reigning LPD3 champion in the 100 meters, 200 meters and high jump.
“We are a short team, but we make up for it with speed. That’s our game.”
Hart, which has averaged better than 19 wins per season over the past three years, improved to 7-1 on Tuesday with a 62-42 win over Ravenna, led by a game-high 23 points from Hovey.
“We have great basketball players, but more than that, we have great athletes who can run and trap,” said seventh-year Hart coach Travis Rosema. “Addi is a huge part of that. We are undersized, so sometimes I need her to play post, and she is willing to do that.”
Hovey, a 5-foot-10 left-handed guard/forward, first made her mark on the state stage two years ago as a sophomore when the Pirates took on No. 1-ranked and heavily-favored Buchanan in a Division 3 Quarterfinal game.
Rosema needed someone to guard Buchanan’s 6-4 senior center Faith Carson, who now plays for Ohio State. Hovey, then a 5-8 sophomore, drew the assignment and battled Carson all night, making her work for all of her 22 points in Hart’s upset win (and Hovey also knocked down four free throws over the final 30 seconds).
Last week, she was assigned to a smaller player, Mason County Central guard Mallory Miller, and held her to 10 points – eight points below her average.
On Tuesday, Hovey was back to playing all over the court: trapping, cutting off dribblers with her speed and getting into passing lanes with her long arms.
It is that incredible athleticism which led Hovey, who already holds Hart school records in the 100 (12.27), 200 (25.51), high jump (5-11) and 400 relay (50.13), to receive offers from a variety of schools for both basketball and track. In August, she announced she would join her older sister Jayd at Indiana Wesleyan, an NAIA school in Marion, Ind., and play both sports.
“My family is very important to me, and basketball is something that brings us all together,” said Hovey, 17, the daughter of Jeff and Staci Hovey. “I felt like God was calling me to play at IW with my sister.”
Indiana Wesleyan is currently 16-0 and ranked No. 2 nationally in NAIA. Jayd, 21, is out for the season with an ACL tear after missing most of her senior basketball season at Hart with a torn ACL in her other knee.
Parker, 19, the only boy in the four-child family, is a 6-5 starting forward at Hope College, where he is having a strong season at nine points and seven rebounds per game.
The final piece of the Hovey puzzle is Mia, a 12-year-old seventh grader at Hart who serves as the varsity team’s manager – and will be a player to watch in the very near future.
Hart finished 17-6 last year and lost to Ludington in Districts after moving to Division 2. The Pirates have all five starters back from that team and are back in Division 3, sparking hope for another long tournament run.
The Pirates looked sharp in the first half Tuesday, when all five starters and several key reserves were involved in the scoring.
“I tell the girls all the time that we are a team of 10,” said Rosema. “I want to rotate through and wear the other team down, continue to press and keep that pressure on all game.”
Hovey is the tallest Hart starter at 5-10, followed by senior Kelsey Copenhaver (5-9), who averages seven points and six rebounds per game. The other senior in the starting lineup is guard Breslyn Porter, who averages five points and four rebounds.
The Pirates’ other starters are sophomores. Breslyn’s younger sister, point guard Rilynn Porter, who is off to a great start with nine points and 5.5 assists per game. Reese Smith does a little bit of everything for the team, contributing 8.7 points, 2.8 steals, 2.3 assists and 2.2 rebounds.
But when push comes to shove, just like in the high jump, Hovey is the one best-suited to elevate her game.
Ravenna, which is having a strong year and dropped to 6-2 with the loss, outscored Hart in the third quarter to get within 10 points. That led to Hovey taking over at the start of the fourth quarter, scoring 10 consecutive points off a variety of steals and deflections to put the game away.
Last year, Hovey became the third player in Hart girls basketball history to surpass 1,000 career points. Ironically, all three of those players – Amy Pickard Contreras, Landyn Lorenz and Hovey – are left-handed.
Hovey leads the Pirates in most statistical categories, averaging 16.3 points, nine rebounds, six steals, three assists and 1.5 blocked shots per game.
The one question which Hovey had difficulty answering was to name the individual highlight of her Hart basketball career.
After a pause, she instead began talking about some of Hart’s many team breakthroughs over the past three seasons – such as finally breaking through and defeating Kent City in Regionals two years ago, which was followed up by the monumental upset of Buchanan that gave the Pirates their first-ever berth in the Semifinals at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center.
“Basketball is my first love because it’s a team sport,” said Hovey, who is considering a career in teaching and coaching. “I don’t care about stats. I just want to do everything I can to help my team win.”
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Hart’s Addi Hovey (24) brings the ball upcourt during a game. (Middle) Hovey competes in the high jump during the spring. (Photos courtesy of the Local Sports Journal.)