Performance: Wayne's Camree' Clegg
March 2, 2018
Camree’ Clegg
Wayne Memorial senior – Basketball
The 5-foot-5 senior guard has led her team to an 18-4 record heading into tonight’s Class A District Final against Dearborn Heights Crestwood. She scored 31 points in Wayne’s 50-46 win over Howell in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association championship game Feb. 22 to earn the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.”
Clegg recently was announced as one of four finalists for this season’s Miss Basketball Award, and she brings plenty of impressive credentials – Clegg is averaging 23.7 points, 6.4 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game this season and has scored more than 1,000 points for her career. She’s making 46 percent of her shots from the field and 39 percent of her 3-point attempts. Wayne finished 0-21 in 2014-15, but since Clegg joined the program as a sophomore (after transferring from Detroit Country Day) the Zebras have won two KLAA division titles, two overall league titles and a District championship.
Also a strong student, Clegg carries a 4.5 grade-point average and is dually enrolled at Schoolcraft College. She will graduate with nearly 30 college credits and has signed to continue her academic and basketball careers at Clemson University. She’ll major in sports communications with hopes of someday becoming a TV sportscaster, following a lengthy professional hoops career.
Coach Jarvis Mitchell said: “Camree’ embodies the structure of a progressive student-athlete. Not only is she a standout on the court, but she scored 1200 on the SAT test and currently carries a 4.5 GPA. She is a great kid with an unparalleled passion for competing. In my 14 years of coaching, I have never coached a player that competes every possession of a game or practice the way Camree’ does. She scores the ball well, and has a "follow me" like aggression towards the game of basketball. Not only has she propelled herself into an elite company, she has also been the nucleus of Wayne Memorial's plunge into relevancy. As a coach, she provides relief because I know I will get the extent of her effort each contest.”
Performance Point: “We were plagued by foul trouble … so I took it upon myself to carry the team,” Clegg said of the Howell win last week. “That’s kinda something I’ve been doing for the past three years, so it wasn’t anything new to me. Whenever we find ourselves in potentially a dire situation, I take it upon myself like, ‘OK, we’ve got to get this going. I try to get my team going as well as myself going, and usually it ends up working in our favor."
Fear and encouragement: "I just put some energy into them, like ‘Come on guys, let’s go.’ Nobody wants to lose, so I try to put a little bit of fear into them like, ‘Do you guys want to lose? Come on, now. You guys gotta pick this up.’ And usually it ends up working – they end up getting fired up, they become more confident in themselves, they start hitting shots, they start making the right decisions. ... I think my team, you have to use psychology with them. Like say they miss a shot, they'll get into their own heads: 'I can't seem to make a shot.' You've just got to be like, 'No, you’re OK. Just come on. Just pick it up.' And usually they get the confidence back.”
Program builder: “It’s really a great feeling because I’ve been able to see everything turn around (at Wayne). To know I’ve been a trailblazer, a pioneer in this, it’s a great honor. And I hope it continues to get even better. … The easiest part has definitely been my coach has made it super easy for me – it’s easy to play for him because he has so much trust in me. The hardest part was probably going through the trials and tribulations, trying to make everyone better around me. Making them smarter because most of them came in as freshmen, (and) especially trying to play varsity as a freshman … just getting their minds right, making sure they get better, making sure they know the game is faster and adjusting them to the game. Just being that leader and trying to guide them in the right direction.”
This can be our year: “Everybody’s pretty much locked in. I believe last year we probably could’ve won it. We were definitely set back by injuries. But this year, everybody’s healthy, everybody’s doing good. Everybody’s getting so much better throughout the year, throughout all the preseason workouts. We feel like we’ve worked harder than anybody else, and we feel like we can definitely win it this year.”
Always working: “I have to excel in all facets of my life. I just try to balance it. I have somewhat of a short (class) schedule, so I have some time to do homework before practice, and after practice if I have a little bit left I just do it. I find myself extremely tired at the end of the day, but it’s all paying off. … My Plan A is I definitely want to become a pro basketball player, whether that’s here in the WNBA or potentially overseas, or potentially both. At the end of my career or if I don’t make it, I want to go into (becoming) potentially an analyst or a journalist within sports. My dream is to potentially end up on ESPN one day, so we’ll see if I can make that happen.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2017-18 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army 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 2017-18 honorees:
February 23: Aliah Robertson, Sault Ste. Marie swimming - Read
February 16: Austin O'Hearon, Eaton Rapids wrestling - Read
February 9: Sophia Wiard, Muskegon Oakridge basketball - Read
February 2: Brenden Tulpa, Hartland hockey - Read
January 25: Brandon Whitman, Dundee wrestling - Read
January 18: Derek Maas, Holland West Ottawa swimming - Read
January 11: Lexi Niepoth, Bellaire basketball - Read
November 30: La'Darius Jefferson, Muskegon football - Read
November 23: Ashley Turak, Farmington Hills Harrison swimming - Read
November 16: Bryce Veasley, West Bloomfield football - Read
November 9: Jose Penaloza, Holland soccer - Read
November 2: Karenna Duffey, Macomb L'Anse Creuse North cross country - Read
October 26: Anika Dy, Traverse City Central golf - Read
October 19: Andrew Zhang, Bloomfield Hills tennis - Read
October 12: Nolan Fugate, Grand Rapids Catholic Central football - Read
October 5: Marissa Ackerman, Munising tennis - Read
September 28: Minh Le, Portage Central soccer - Read
September 21: Olivia Theis, Lansing Catholic cross country - Read
September 14: Maddy Chinn, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep volleyball - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Wayne Memorial guard Camree' Clegg splits a pair of Novi defenders. (Middle) Clegg fires a no-look pass. (Photos courtesy of the Wayne Memorial girls basketball program.)
Young Bedford Emerges with Quarterfinal Run
March 18, 2019
By Doug Donnelly
Special for Second Half
TEMPERANCE – The timing of girls basketball season in Michigan was about to change, and Temperance-Bedford boys and girls basketball coach Bill Ryan knew he had a difficult choice.
It was about that time that 10 girls walked into his Bedford High School classroom and asked him to remain their basketball coach. It was a slam dunk decision.
“I have no regrets about that,” said Ryan, who will coach the Mules in Tuesday’s Division 1 Quarterfinal against Wayne Memorial after winning his second Regional championship last week. “None.”
Ryan has had a string of success coaching the Bedford girls, including a 25-1 team in 2008-09 and this year’s team that turned some heads in southeast Michigan by going 20-5 and reaching the Quarterfinals despite carrying just two seniors on its roster and being led in scoring and rebounding by freshmen.
“I knew we would be okay,” said Ryan. “But the Southeastern Conference is so strong. Saline had a real solid team, and Ann Arbor Pioneer is loaded. I knew we would be good, but I didn’t know what the wins and losses would look like.”
This is Ryan’s fourth run into the Quarterfinals. He was an assistant coach on two Bedford girls teams that made consecutive trips to the Class A Quarterfinals in the early 2000s. He was the Bedford boys varsity basketball coach from 2001 to 2007.
He spent three seasons coaching both varsity teams. When the seasons shifted beginning with 2007-08, however, that was no longer possible. That’s when the girls came to his classroom and said they wanted him to remain their coach and keep the program rolling.
Ryan, who played basketball at Bedford, is 244-101 as the Mules girls varsity coach. Combined with 72 victories in his seven boys seasons, he now has 316 wins at his alma mater.
“They just said, ‘Let’s stay together,’” Ryan said. “Several of the girls were sophomores at the time. They were a coach’s dream. If I was having an open gym or something all I would have to do is call one girl and they would all be there. It ended up being a good move for me.”
Ryan has made all the right moves from the sidelines of this Kicking Mules team. In addition to its tough SEC schedule, Ryan piled onto its slate a handful of high-quality teams from northwest Ohio to help the Mules get ready for not only the conference battles but the MHSAA Tournament. That is paying dividends now as Bedford has won 13 of its past 14 games.
“We had two really good games in the Region to advance,” Ryan said. “I think our District got us ready for those games.”
Bedford started the season blazing hot, winning its first five games, including two to claim the Southgate Holiday Tournament championship. That’s when the Mules hit a rough patch – dropping four of six games, including three SEC Red games. The Jan. 18 loss to Monroe was a turning point, Ryan said.
“We let a 10-point lead evaporate in the fourth quarter,” Ryan said. “Monroe is a big rival for us. That didn’t sit well with a lot of girls. There were no team meetings or anything like that, but they were aware.”
By then Ryan had also turned to 6-foot-2 freshman Sophia Gray and his 5-11 freshmen daughter, Grace Ryan, for more productivity. They responded in a big way. Grace leads the team in scoring at about 9.5 points a game. It’s a typical Ryan-coached team, however, where the girls seemingly take turns leading the team in scoring and several average around the 7-10 point mark.
“They could start for us, but I like the way things have worked out,” he said. “They come in about the 4-minute mark, sometimes the 2-minute mark, and they give us an immediate spark. Once they learned the nuances of our defense, I had no inhibitions about leaving them out there at key points of the game.”
Ryan and Gray both came into the season ready to play.
“They are friends, and they have played together all along,” Ryan said. “They have played some AAU and travel ball. They’ve played a lot of basketball, competitive basketball, against a lot of good competition. When they get to the varsity, they’ve played against a lot of great players already. They are not in awe of anyone. They were ready for the rigors of varsity basketball.”
The team has been balanced all season, but during the tournament run that sharing of the scoring wealth seems to have taken on even greater meaning.
In the Regional Semifinal win over Detroit Cass Tech, 6-1 sophomore Molly Koviak scored 14 points and Ryan 12. In the Regional Final win over Dearborn Heights Crestwood, junior Aubrie Zeunen and Savannah Killinen shared the team lead with 12 points each while junior Madison Norton and Ryan each scored 10 points.
Bedford’s two seniors are Selena Sandoval and Sarah Koviak, and both play important roles on the team. Killinen is a talented 5-7 sophomore.
“She has some swag about her that we really like,” Ryan said.
After the Regional championship, Killinen didn’t seem fazed by the fact the Mules were headed to the elite eight.
“It feels good, especially since we are a really young team,” she said. “This is what we’ve dreamed of – to see it come true is awesome,” she said.
The Kicking Mules will get its toughest test to date Tuesday against 23-2 Wayne Memorial, a team loaded with college signees and next-level prospects.
“It’s a win-win game for us,” Ryan said. “I wanted them to get a deep run into the tournament to get that experience. To win a Regional is just the cherry on top. But I wouldn’t put anything past our girls. They don’t cower to anyone, and I know they’ll be fighting to the end. We wear the underdog role pretty well.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTO: Temperance Bedford girls basketball coach Bill Ryan talks things over with his players during a game this season. (Photo by Vanessa Ray.)