Performance: Mancelona's Eileene Naniseni
January 22, 2017
Eileene Naniseni
Mancelona senior – Basketball
The 6-foot-3 center has had a monumental impact on the Ironmen girls basketball program over the last four seasons, and recently reached an individual milestone as part of that team-elevating effort. Naniseni scored her 1,000th point (and 32 in the game) during her team’s 54-40 win over Fife Lake Forest Area on Jan. 11 to earn the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.”
Mancelona had lost 41 straight games before Naniseni took the court for the varsity for the first time and helped the Ironmen to a streak-breaking win in the 2013-14 season opener. Her team is 6-6 this winter, but Mancelona won only four games both last season and in 2014-15 and led during the fourth quarter of four of this winter’s losses. Naniseni is averaging 21.5 points, 13.9 rebounds and 5.6 blocked shots per game making 51 percent of her shots from the floor – she has five triple-doubles over the last four seasons including two this winter. She’s approaching the MHSAA record book list in rebounds with 878 over her career, and her 332 career blocked shots already rank 12th all-time.
Naniseni – whose first name is pronounced “I-lee-nay” in nods to her maternal great-grandmother Eileene and her father’s Tongan roots – became the third in school history and first since 1996 to reach 1,000 points. She made the all-Ski Vally Conference first team last season after making the second team both of her first two seasons, and she also has earned all-league honors in volleyball and will compete again this spring in track & field running the 400 and participating in discus and high jump. She’s also built a 3.98 grade-point average in earning a basketball scholarship to Lake Superior State University, serving as a basketball team captain for three seasons in addition to providing leadership as well as part of National Honors Society, student council, the school’s peer leaders group and SAFE (Substance Abuse Free Environment).
Coach Ben Tarbutton said: “Eileene has been a great leader and captain for this basketball program. E is one of those players that every coach wishes everyone could be like on a team. Not because of her scoring or rebounding ability, but her determination in building this program up from multiple one or two-win seasons. This is why she has earned the leadership and captain role of the team over the last three years. This year has been one of the most fun years to coach. What is different about this year is we are beating teams that we have not beat in 10 years, and four of our six losses we were leading at one point in the fourth quarter. The only way this is possible is because of the senior group of Eileene Naniseni, Caitlin Ancel, and Jill Smigielski. … Without these three and the leadership of E, our season would not be where it is today. E is a leader in both academics and athletics. She is an individual that exemplifies what a student, athlete, and leader should look like for younger students to follow.
Performance Point: “We don’t normally get a lot of spectators for our games,” Naniseni said. “But the first thing I remember was more people in the stands, more in the student section than I’d seen the past three or four years playing. All my family and friends were there to watch me; that was awesome. And my teammates were so unselfish with the ball – I think I had to get 31 points (to get to 1,000), and whenever they’d get the ball they were thinking ‘E’. I think because it was so close, we wanted to push and get it that night.”
Transformer: “When I first came into (Mancelona) freshman year – I moved to this school in eighth grade (from Central Lake) – I wasn’t aware of how the varsity had been doing, and I didn’t even understand how much that (streak) was until we won our first game. Now that we look back on it, these last couple of years we haven’t been super successful, but I notice right now, I know I’m making an impact. I see it at the younger ages. We do these camps every year … and when I started out there would be two eighth graders or five seventh graders, but this past year the seventh and eighth grade teams have 38 together, and the JV has 12 (players). I want people to get more excited about girls basketball. I want Mancelona to keep growing and progressing. My sophomore year we had six or seven on the varsity team, so it was hard; this year we have nine girls, so that’s the most interest I’ve ever seen and it makes me excited.”
More to accomplish: “We wanted to win more games than in the past, and we’ve already achieved that. We recently beat Onaway and Joburg (Johannesburg-Lewiston), which we hadn’t beaten in 12-15 years. We want to beat them again and beat teams that we’ve been underdogs to for years and that no one expects us to beat. I can tell (from opponents) when we’re warming up that because they’re playing Mancelona, they think it’s going to be an easy win. But I want them to be surprised … because they always underestimate us.”
Born to lead: “When I was a freshman, I had a really good art teacher who really was into leadership stuff, and the athletic director then let me go to a lot of leadership programs. Those definitely helped shape my leadership qualities and opened my eyes to what a leader should be, and I took a lot of notes. I try to be trustworthy and always try to work hard too – the captain of the team is expected to work hard – and if someone has questions they need to ask or if they need to confide in you, you can listen, but be strong too; you can’t be a pushover. When I was younger, I guess my confidence level, I didn’t realize how much that played a role in being a leader. … I want to build confidence in my teammates to show them that they are good players.”
Dr. Naniseni: “I would like to be a pediatric oncologist, or really anything in pediatrics because I love children. I think I’ll go into biology when I get up to Lake State; I’ve thought about being a teacher, but my family always has been medical-related, and the medical field fascinates me. I like how if (people) are hurting, you can give them something and make them better. That blows my mind sometimes.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2016-17 school year, Second Half and the Michigan National Guard will recognize a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2016-17 honorees:
Jan. 12: Rory Anderson, Calumet hockey – Read
Dec. 15: Demetri Martin, Big Rapids basketball – Read
Dec. 1: Rodney Hall, Detroit Cass Tech football – Read
Nov. 24: Ally Cummings, Novi volleyball – Read
Nov. 17: Chloe Idoni, Fenton volleyball – Read
Nov. 10: Adelyn Ackley, Hart cross country – Read
Nov. 3: Casey Kirkbride, Mattawan soccer – Read
Oct. 27: Colton Yesney, Negaunee cross country – Read
Oct. 20: Varun Shanker, Midland Dow tennis – Read
Oct. 13: Anne Forsyth, Ann Arbor Pioneer cross country – Read
Oct. 6: Shuaib Aljabaly, Coldwater cross country – Read
Sept. 29: Taylor Seaman, Brighton swimming & diving – Read
Sept. 22: Maggie Farrell, Battle Creek Lakeview cross country – Read
Sept. 15: Franki Strefling, Buchanan volleyball – Read
Sept. 8: Noah Jacobs, Corunna cross country – Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Eileene Naniseni, dribbling, works to get past a defender. (Middle) Naniseni, middle, holds up with teammates a banner celebrating her 1,000th point after reaching the milestone Jan. 11 against Fife Lake Forest Area. (Photos by Joanie Moore/JoanieMoore.com.)
Playoff Poise Gives Heritage Final Edge
March 22, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
GRAND RAPIDS – Seniors Moira Joiner, Shine Strickland-Gills and Mallory McCartney have helped Saginaw Heritage to a 93-7 record over their four seasons on varsity.
They earned one more opportunity to take the court together Thursday by tapping into what’s made them one the most successful senior classes in Michigan girls basketball history.
After leading Wayne Memorial most of the first three quarters of the day’s first Division 1 Semifinal, the Hawks found themselves behind by a basket with 5:47 to play.
But the lessons of nearly 100 wins – and last year’s Class A title run – came through at the end as Heritage held on for a 58-55 win to earn the opportunity to repeat as an MHSAA champion.
Wayne also was a semifinalist last season, and provided plenty of trouble with senior Jeanae Terry scoring a game-high 26 points. But Heritage got through some rough patches – like 21 turnovers – and made 4 of 5 shots from the floor and all five free-throw attempts after trailing for 23 seconds during the final period.
“We always said that even if our shots aren’t falling, or we’re turning it over, as long as we stick together we’ll be fine,” McCartney said. “There’s no one who can beat us if we all just stick together.”
Heritage (24-2) will play for the Division 1 championship against Southfield Arts & Technology at 12:15 p.m. Saturday at Van Noord Arena. The Hawks defeated Southfield A&T by two points in early December, and Southfield A&T hasn't lost again.
Strickland-Gills, one of the stars of last year’s Finals weekend at Calvin College, started quickly in her return Thursday, scoring 11 of her team-high 15 points during the first quarter as Heritage jumped out to a 16-8 lead.
Joiner hit stride during the third quarter with six points and three assists as the Hawks carried a 40-37 edge into the fourth. She also had six points over the final five minutes of the game, starting with a 3-pointer at 4:52 that briefly gave Heritage back a three-point lead.
Terry did her best to match, tying things back up with a 3-pointer at 3:58 and sinking another with six seconds to play.
But of those 21 Heritage turnovers, only three came after Wayne took its fourth-quarter lead. The Hawks also outrebounded the Zebras 9-4 during that final stretch.
“Due to our experience, we were like, ‘We have to value our possessions, we have to execute, we have to do what needs to be done’ – which was keep the ball in our hands and withstand the pressure,” Strickland-Gills said. “And we did that. Down the stretch we put in buckets that needed to be put in, and we took care of the ball and didn’t turn it over. We hit free throws we were supposed to, and that really secured the game for us.”
“This game, you’re playing against a very experienced team. If you don’t … capitalize when you have your chance, it’s going to be a long night for you,” Wayne coach Jarvis Mitchell concurred. “That’s a championship-caliber team. They answered the call.”
Freshman guard Lauren Gunn had four of her nine points and an assist as well during the closing stretch. Joiner – a Miss Basketball Award finalist this winter – finished the game with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. McCartney added 10 points and three steals, and Strickland-Gills also grabbed 12 rebounds despite being limited a bit with foul trouble.
“We’ve been talking about that for four years with Mo, and the versatility and the fact that she plays every position on the floor,” Heritage coach Vonnie DeLong said. “She guards the best player, she rebounds, she gets assists. I did not realize she had a triple double, and that’s what’s neat about it – it’s so quiet. She’s not flashy, but she’s extremely good and very talented and has such a high basketball IQ, it enables her to do everything she does.”
Terry connected on five 3-pointers on the way to her game-high scoring total and had five rebounds, three assists and six steals. Senior forward Jayah Hicks added 14 points and seven rebounds, and sophomore forward Alanna Micheaux grabbed eight rebounds.
The Zebras started off cold, making just 3 of 17 shots in the first quarter – but improved their shooting percentage every quarter after that to get back on the verge of the Final.
The Semifinal appearance was the second straight for Wayne, which finished 24-3 after going winless only five seasons ago in Mitchell’s first running the program.
“I thought we were really close this year,” Mitchell said of taking another step as a championship contender. “The thing is, is basketball, you can’t control it. You can’t control sometimes the ball falling in. All you can control is how hard you play. And that’s always been my goal in talking to the kids and telling them, ‘I’m just proud of how hard you’re playing.’ Some shots are going to go in, turnovers are going to happen, but the most important thing is we play to get better – whether it’s the state championship or the first game of the year.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Heritage’s Keyonie Champion gets up a shot during Friday’s first Division 1 Semifinal at Van Noord Arena. (Middle) The Hawks’ Shine Strickland-Gills (32) and teammates defend the post.