McLaughlin Building Meridian Legacy with Record Scoring, Unmatched Success
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
January 15, 2025
Halen McLaughlin wasn’t aware she had broken the Sanford Meridian career scoring record when her coach called timeout to make sure the accomplishment was properly recognized.
She just knew she had hit a layup and was about to go to the free-throw line for a chance at a 3-point play, and she wasn’t super thrilled about the interruption.
“She was like, ‘Why are you calling a timeout? Are you trying to ice me?’” Meridian girls basketball coach Tanner Smith said. “I was like, ‘No, you just broke the record.’ For me, that shows she’s more of a team-first kid. She just knew she had to score to help us.”
McLaughlin has been scoring to help Meridian win games for three-plus seasons, and now she’s done it more than anyone to ever wear a Mustangs uniform. As a junior, she became the first girls basketball player in school history to eclipse 1,000 points, and on Jan. 9 she passed Ron Fillmore for the most in school history regardless of gender. Filmore’s old record was set at 1,641 in the early 1980s, and McLaughlin scored 30 in a win against Pinconning on a night she needed just 10 to break it. Her total is up to 1,689 with more than half this season to play.
“I couldn’t have done it without my teammates,” McLaughlin said. “I couldn’t have done it on my own. … It means a lot (to pass Fillmore). I have a lot of respect for him and what he’s done. I was told that he played three sports and was really solid at all of them. It’s cool that I was able to accomplish something like that, but honestly for me it was so surreal because I’ve put in so much time and effort and energy into this game.”
McLaughlin is averaging 28 points per game for the Mustangs, who are 7-2 on the season. For her career, she’s averaging 21.4 ppg.
But more important for her, she has a career winning percentage of .886, as Meridian is 70-9 during her time. The Mustangs haven’t lost a Jack Pine Conference game during McLaughlin’s career, a win streak that has reached 48 games, and they’ve won 20 or more games all of her three full seasons.
That’s a remarkable record on its own, but even more so when considering her freshman season was the first winning season for the program since 2011-12.
“Coming into high school, I knew how their record was and I wanted to change that,” she said. “I’ve never been one that liked losing. I’m a big competitor, and I definitely wanted to get more wins than they had been. So much has changed, and I’ve been so happy to be a part of that, to help put in the work and be a part of that, and help show the younger players how hard work can help change a program and impact a game.”
Smith knew before McLaughlin enrolled in the high school that she had the potential, along with a strong Class of 2024, to lead a program renaissance.
“I saw her back in seventh grade,” Smith said. “They were double-, triple-teaming her, and she’s got her head up, making all the right passes.”
By that time, years of work had already been put in by McLaughlin, who began playing as a second grader and moved on to travel ball as a fifth grader after being noticed by Tim Kolnytis with Fast Break out of Midland. She’d eventually move to the Michigan Mystics, but credits Kolnytis for helping jump-start her career.
While her parents are not basketball players, she also credits them. Her mom coached her first rec team, and her dad has spent countless hours with her in their driveway, working on her game.
“I always say that’s where I get my handle, from playing on rocks,” McLaughlin said. “There were times where we were out there until 12 at night, 1 in the morning. I fell in love with it. There’s just something about the ball bouncing up to me. If I’m having a rough day at school or anything, I would go outside and play basketball. It was an escape for me, and I just loved it.”
As ready as she was when she got to high school, her first game still provided a rude awakening, as McLaughlin managed just six points in a 36-20 loss against Freeland.
“(Coach Smith) got into me right away,” McLaughlin said. “He said, ‘You’re scoring the ball. That’s what we need you to do.’ It hit hard, but I knew I was better than what I showed. Ever since then, it was a reminder to me that no matter what, you have to give it your all. That was definitely a turning point for me.”
It was a turning point for the program, too. The Mustangs won their next 18 games, and McLaughlin averaged 17.5 points per game as a freshman.
She’s only improved, averaging between 23 and 24 points per game both of her next two seasons before settling in near 30 this year. She’s also filling the stat sheet in other ways, averaging 4.5 assists, eight rebounds and 5.1 steals per game this winter.
“You’re not going to take the ball from her; she’s that good of a dribbler,” said Smith, who called McLaughlin a three-level scorer who can finish equally well with either hand at the rim. “I think one huge trait that people overlook is that she’s a phenomenal passer. … I think some people question her top-end speed, but to me, she’s like a comparison to Luka Doncic. She’s not going to blow you away with super speed, but she plays with pace and has a variety of moves and counters to get her to where she needs to be.”
McLaughlin is zeroing in on a college decision, with Lake Superior State and Wayne State as her finalists. When that announcement is out of the way, all her focus can turn to helping the Mustangs win a third District title during her four years. Her main goal, however, is to win the program’s first Regional title, something she and her teammates were a game away from accomplishing a year ago.
“Since I was a freshman in high school, I always wanted to have a Regional win on the board,” McLaughlin said. “All these achievements, all these awards are amazing, and I’m so blessed and grateful. But for me, it’s about winning. I want Meridian, these girls, to have a Regional win on the board. That’s the goal for me.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Sanford Meridian’s Halen McLaughlin puts up a layup against Hemlock during last season’s District Final win at Pinconning. (Middle) McLaughlin holds up the celebratory basketball she received after becoming her school’s all-time leading scorer. (Photos courtesy of the Sanford Meridian girls basketball program.)
Inland Lakes Stacking Successes as Expectations Continue to Grow
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
March 21, 2025
Now that another great girls basketball season is over, Daryl Vizina is spending more time off the court.
But the Indian River Inland Lakes coach is spending just as much time in court.
Vizina, who serves as probate judge in Cheboygan County, has been balancing coaching and estates since 2019. At the time he was first elected, he also was coaching middle school boys basketball for Inland Lakes.
He took over the girls varsity basketball program in 2020, assuming the helm of a team coming off a 3-18 season. And, the Bulldogs hadn’t won a District championship in three decades or a conference title in two.
Inland Lakes now has won three straight Division 4 District titles. The Bulldogs reached a Regional Final for second time in three years, falling to St. Ignace. And, after capturing the Ski Valley Conference trophy a year ago, the Bulldogs racked up 21 wins against just five very close losses this winter in finishing second in the league.
The Bulldogs and Vizina are looking forward to returning next winter with even higher expectations. They will graduate only two seniors this spring.
The culture has changed from expecting a few wins to winning every time the Bulldogs step on the court.
“Winning comes at a price,” said Vizina, who was riding a bus back from a middle school game at Central Lake as the election results were being tabulated for his first term on the judicial bench. “The expectations are a blessing in a lot of ways but they also cause a lot of strain on the program. The girls walk into the gym every day knowing we’re expecting to perform, expecting to play well, and it’s a different state of mind.”
Next year’s expected returnees include center Ava Belford, who just had a terrific freshman season. Junior forward Chloe Robinson, who averaged 15 points and eight rebounds, will also be back, as will defensive standouts Elizabeth Furman, a sophomore, and junior Mary Myshock.
Furman and Myshock are considered among the best defenders in the area. They combined to shut down or slow down other teams’ leading scorers and were key reasons the Bulldogs held opponents to fewer than 40 points in 18 games.
“I would expect we are going to be better next year,” Vizina said. “We’ve got some young players that if they (experience) the growth I anticipate I think they are going to become really great ball players, and we have a core of older players that will be returning that are high-level.”
But you never can be certain, Vizina noted.
“You don’t know how much time people are willing to put in during the summer,” admitted Vizina. “You don’t know about injuries and other things that happen outside our control. But if we take care of business and we have good health and keep on the trajectory we’re on, I would expect us to be really, really good next year.”
The Bulldogs were only a few points shy of an undefeated regular season as the largest margin of defeat was only seven points – to this year’s conference champion, Gaylord St. Mary. The Bulldogs played their conference rival twice, as they always do, and fell short in overtime in the other contest.
“Our four regular-season losses were by a grand total of 14 points,” Vizina recalled. “If you look at really how close to being even better than 21-5 we were, we had a lot of success.”
The Bulldogs have patterned their play after the Michigan State Spartans and longtime coach Tom Izzo. In particular, they like the Spartans’ transitional offense.
“I am a big Michigan State guy,” Vizina said. “They are such a threat to run on you the other (way).”
Pressure defense and rotating eight to 10 players most games – and sometimes all 11 rostered players – has been a point of emphasis for Vizina since his middle school coaching days.
“We want to guard people the minute they get off the bus,” Vizina said, while noting the Bulldogs’ previous history featured a sit-back zone style. “It was really a struggle to get the girls to play fast, both transitional offense and fullcourt defenses. This year is the first year they really started to buy into it.”
Other keys to the Bulldogs’ success are the establishment of more youth programs and the increase of the school’s top female athletes making basketball their number one sport.
“Most of our great athletes in the school play basketball, and with a lot of them it’s become their primary sport, and I think that’s so important because where you really make ground is in the summer time,” Vizina explained. “They can choose between softball or volleyball or going to the beach, or basketball.”
Inland Lakes started a third and fourth-grade team five years ago, and some of those players made big contributions to the varsity this year.
“With our youth programs, we’ve got girls starting to fall in love with basketball at a young age,” Vizina said. “They’re now coming in as freshmen playing good minutes on varsity, and it’s really rewarding to see that bear fruit.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Inland Lakes junior Mary Myshock (11) defends during a game against East Jordan this season. (Middle) Bulldogs coach Daryl Vizina directs his team during a timeout. (Below) Junior Chloe Robinson (12) puts up a jumper over a pair of defenders. (Photos by Jared Greenleaf/Cheboygan Tribune.)