No Disappointment for Arbor Prep
March 17, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – She needed about a month. But by the end of last April, Nastassja Chambers got over Ypsilanti Arbor Prep’s loss in the 2015 Class C Semifinals.
This weekend, she and her teammates are one step closer to avoiding disappointment – and then some.
The Gators set themselves up for a first championship in school history Thursday by returning to the Semifinals and downing Ithaca 72-44 at the Breslin Center.
Arbor Prep learned its share of lessons from last season’s four-point loss to eventual runner-up Flint Hamady. And they played all season to earn Saturday’s opportunity to face Traverse City St. Francis for the Class C title.
“That motivated us a lot. We’ve been talking about it all year,” Chambers said of the Hamady loss. “Every game we scheduled this year was to prepare us for now. So we made the schedule even harder than last year so we’d be ready this year. (And) we’ve been here before, so we’re not that nervous.”
Top-ranked Arbor Prep did play, arguably, the toughest schedule of any team in Class C this season. The Gators (23-2) beat two top-five teams in Class B and filled the schedule with larger schools including the reigning champions in Class B and Class A.
After a first quarter Thursday played nearly to a draw – Arbor Prep led at the end by one, 16-15 – the Gators unleashed what they’d learned over the last 12 months and a lot of what they’ve become known for over the last few seasons.
Arbor Prep outscored Ithaca 50-15 over the second and third quarters, taking advantage of 20 turnovers over those 16 minutes by scoring 30 points off those takeaways.
“That’s our style of play,” Chambers said. “We get the ball up the court, push it and run. We do good on the 3-on-2 fastbreak, the 2-on-1 fastbreak – that’s our bread and butter.”
Ithaca also suffered an unfortunate loss during the second quarter that surely affected ball security when senior point guard Brooklyn Dolloff was sidelined with a painful sprained ankle.
She had totaled four points – making both of her shots – two rebounds and an assist in her seven minutes, numbers that would’ve translated well over an entire game. Her absence also forced Ithaca – playing in its first Semifinal after also winning its first Regional title – to shift players into less familiar positions and roles.
“It was very upsetting. My coach even said, when it first happened, that I was more upset that I was going to be out than (because of) the pain,” said Dolloff, a three-year varsity player. “I really wanted to be there for my team.”
Arbor Prep, meanwhile, hit its stride. Although Ithaca made 50 percent of its shots for the game, it got off only 34 – half as many as the Gators.
Arbor Prep coach Rod Wells said his team focused on shooting this winter after making only 33 percent of its attempts from the floor during the 2015 Semifinal. This time, the Gators made 42 percent in addition to cutting their turnovers from 12 last season to seven.
“Energy, anticipation and just playing together. The ladies trust each other now,” Wells said. “We’ve been talking about trust all year. When you put pressure on the ball you can feel like you’re on an island. But the ladies understand that someone’s got your back.
“They remember the pain last year. I remember waking up Saturday morning and I didn’t know what to do. That feeling, they were feeling the same way. We just put it into our practices. Every time they ran a sprint or something, and didn’t reach our goal, we talked about it. Our goal was to get to Breslin, but not just get here – we’ve seen how it looks. But to win it.”
Chambers had 24 points, six assists and seven steals, making 10 of her 15 shots from the floor. Junior guard Ro’zhane Wells added 11 points, and junior guard Adrienne Anderson had 10 points, four steals and three assists.
Sophomore center Kayla Belles had 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists to lead the Yellowjackets (24-3), and junior center Maddie Brock added 11 points.
Ithaca entered the postseason ranked No. 7 and had its best season despite finishing only 5-16 three years ago, and then losing coach Bob Anderson midseason this winter when he retired due to health issues.
“We talked about it in the locker room; we said this feeling is not a good feeling. It kinda stinks,” said Ithaca coach Jessie Rayburn, who took over for Anderson after assisting him prior to his departure. “However, all the feelings leading up to it were pretty cool. And our community is awesome.”
The Girls Basketball Finals are presented by Sparrow Health System.
PHOTOS: (Top) Arbor Prep’s Cydney Williams pushes the ball upcourt during Thursday’s Class C Semifinal. (Middle) The Gators’ Kayla Knight (24) and Ithaca’s Kayla Belles grab for the opening jump.
Arbor Prep Back on Track After Early Injury, Inexperience Fueled Slow Start
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
March 11, 2025
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
It’s March, and Ypsilanti Arbor Prep will play for a Division 3 Regional championship Wednesday. Nothing unusual about that. What is unusual is the journey for the Gators, who are above .500 for the first time since opening the season with a victory.
At 13-12, head coach Scott Stine said this is not the season he expected.
“The season hasn’t gone the way I probably envisioned it,” said Stine. “I knew we would probably take a step back.”
It was tough to not.
In 2023-24, the Gators won 25 games while playing one the toughest schedules in the state for any division. They beat Niles Brandywine in the Division 3 championship game, collecting the third girls basketball Finals title in school history.
In the first preseason scrimmage this winter, Autumn Pernell torn an ACL. She was one of three seniors on the roster, and Stine anticipated her being the team’s best player.
“If we had Autumn (now), I think we’d probably be one of the favorites to win a state championship,” Stine said. “We played the vast majority of the year without two of our three seniors.”
Stine has had incredible success at Arbor Prep, which is situated in rural Ypsilanti Township, several miles from Ann Arbor and off US-23, not far from Rolling Hills County Park. In eight seasons, Stine is 154-46. Getting to the Semifinals is an annual ritual for Stine.
This year, that didn’t look likely.
After opening the season with a win, the Gators went through two four-game losing streaks.
The Gators were 3-8 at one point. The schedule was not kind, either. Stine, who is an assistant principal and athletic director, had assembled the usual difficult slate for his team to face.
“I think most years we probably play the toughest schedule in the state. I’d say this year we are top five,” he said. “We’ve been challenged. I’ve told the girls for the last couple of weeks that at this point, there is no one that is going to throw something at us that we haven’t seen. Or, no player that we will (face) is better than anyone we have seen. We’ve seen it all.”
That schedule is paying off. But with such an inexperienced team, Stine has had to do a lot more teaching this season.
“This year has taken us back to almost year one of the school when we had just freshman,” Stine said. “Our expectations haven’t changed. How we do things haven’t changed. We have a way that we go about things in terms of effort and play the game the right way. We still go about our practice with the same principles.”
On cue, as March drew closer, however, things began to click.
“Something started to click that last week of the regular season,” Stine said. “I have three sophomores who have improved greatly. They are giving us valuable minutes now, and that’s because they played early on more than I ever thought they probably would have.”
Those sophomores are Jalaya Banks, Madison Dirra and Annecia Clark. Banks and Dirra are starters while Clark has adapted to her role coming off the bench.
Senior Eliza Bush is the Gators’ point guard. She’s a four-year varsity player with the most experience on the team.
“She’s part of the reason why we turned it around,” Stine said. “She has always been a pass-first, set everybody up. This year, we need her to be more offensive-minded. That’s something we’ve been preaching to her all year. She’s really stepped up her game.”
Junior Angela Meggisson is the Gators’ top scorer and rebounder, averaging a double-double. She also leads the team in steals and blocked shots.
“We rely on her playmaking,” Stine said. “She’s got a knack for putting the ball in the basket. She’s in that mold of some of the kids we’ve had in the past. She’s a tremendous athlete who does everything.”
Standing in the way of the Gators reaching the Quarterfinals is 22-2 Blissfield, a team Arbor Prep has become familiar with in recent years.
“Blissfield is definitely the favorite,” Stine said. “They have a great program. I respect them tremendously. He’s a great coach and they play the right way. They have more experience than us, and they are used to winning.”
Blissfield head coach Ryan Gilbert expects a battle.
“They are as well-coached as any team in the state,” he said.
Blissfield knocked Arbor Prep out of the MHSAA Tournament a couple of seasons ago.
“It’s a challenge,” Stine said. “We have three kids who are back from two years ago when they beat us in the Regional Final. We’ll probably talk about that before we play them this time.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a news and sports reporter at the Adrian Daily Telegram and the Monroe News for 30 years, including 10 years as city editor in Monroe. He's written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. He is now publisher and editor of The Blissfield Advance, a weekly newspaper. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Arbor Prep girls basketball coach Scott Stine, pointing, directs his defense during last season’s Division 3 championship game. (Middle) Angela Meggisson (2) handles the ball in the post for the Gators. (Below) Eliza Bush (12) considers her next pass during her team’s win over Niles Brandywine.