Pittsford Sets Pace to Reach 1st Final
March 19, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Pittsford coach Chris Hodos said he’s never lied to his team about its chances in a game, and sophomore Jaycie Burger backs up that claim.
This season, he’s told his Wildcats they should win every one. And so far, he’s been right – with the most important result left to predict.
Hodos said win big Thursday, and undefeated Pittsford responded, advancing to its first MHSAA championship game with a 57-26 Semifinal win over Waterford Our Lady in a Class D Semifinal at the Breslin Center.
The Wildcats – who had never advanced past Regionals before this season – will face St. Ignace in Saturday’s 10 a.m. championship game.
“I think for me, it’s going to feel like, I don’t want to say the same as every game. It’s going to be more intense, more straightforward,” Burger said. “(But) we all need to play the same way we’ve been playing all year.”
And that’s been at a record-setting pace.
Pittsford (26-0) has been the only undefeated team left in Class D since midseason, and Thursday it became easy rather quickly to see why. The Wildcats led by 11 at the end of the first quarter – and by the end of the fourth added a 19th game in 26 in which they’d held the opponent to fewer than 30 points.
Sophomore Maddie Clark also announced herself loudly on the statewide stage. The nearly 5-foot-10 forward dominated, with 26 points – including 18 of her team’s first 24 – and 15 rebounds.
“She’s strong. Nothing bothers her,” Hodos said. “She takes all the contact, and she works hard in the weight room for me, just like every other girl on my team.”
Pittsford had an edge statistically in a variety of areas, but did outrebound Our Lady 59-35. Senior 5-5 guard Emily Poling grabbed eight rebounds, and Burger added seven to go with 10 points.
The Lakers as a program have much more experience at this stage of the tournament, with three championships and a runner-up finish from 2010-13. But this team also was gaining Finals weekend experience with a number of younger players, and was far less expected to reach Breslin – Our Lady finished 12-13 this winter and didn’t have a senior starter.
“The experience was still great. It’s always exciting any time you get the chance to get here,” Our Lady coach Steve Robak said. “I’m very proud of everything we did to get here this year. Most schools would never get an opportunity to get this.
“We were hoping to keep our little run going, one more game at least, but the experience was wonderful. I know they’re going to have great memories about getting to this point.”
Freshman guard Tiffany Senerius had 10 points and three steals for the Lakers, and junior guard Alex Troy added six points and 10 rebounds.
Seven of eight players who saw the floor most Thursday should return next season. And the Lakers finished 2014-15 on a 9-4 run.
“We’re returning all five starters, and I think we can do really good things next year,” Troy said, “now that we’ve gotten into our groove at the end of the season.”
Click for the full box score.
PHOTOS: (Top) Pittsford’s Morgan Dominique wins a loose ball during Thursday’s first Class D Semifinal. (Middle) Maddie Clark (10) and Our Lady’s Alex Troy contend for possession below the Wildcats’ basket.
Latest Flushing Title Creates Lasting Buzz
April 17, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The banner is on its way.
Those who followed Flushing’s unexpected run to this season’s Class A girls basketball title – the school’s first in any sport since 1977 – should quickly understand the significance.
History, at least in small part, played a motivational role for the MHSAA/Applebee’s Team of the Month for March as it reached the Semifinals in girls hoops for the first time since 1976 and then added that second title in Raiders history to the first won by the girls golf team four decades ago.
And the fever is still going strong. On Tuesday, the team is scheduled to be recognized by the Flushing school board. On Thursday, the Raiders will join Sen. Ken Horn for an introduction on the Senate floor in Lansing. On Friday, the girls will be recognized during a ceremony at the school, hopefully with that banner to unveil. And of course, they’ll be part of Flushing’s annual Summer Festival parade June 7.
“I’ve been with the program 20 years – the first seven as an assistant – and when I first started, back when girls basketball was in the fall and we played in the old Big Nine Conference, we always had probably some of the bigger fan support than a lot of the other schools in the conference,” Flushing coach Larry Ford said. “Girls basketball has really been embraced by the community. When we switched seasons (to winter), it dropped off a little … but I still feel we have one of the better followings in the area. What the community did behind the run this year, it was second to none.”
And the same was true for a team not necessarily expected to be standing with the trophy on the season’s final day, despite a group that played for that moment going back to middle school.
After playing together at Flushing's junior high, now-seniors Lauren Newman, Breanna Perry and Kamryn Chappell joined the varsity starting lineup as freshmen, and senior guard Carson Wilson was added the following winter as a sophomore. They were four of six seniors from a class that dominated in middle school and over the last four seasons led the varsity to a combined 81-16 record – including a school record 24 wins both this winter (finishing 24-3) and in 2014-15 (24-1).
Still, the Raiders entered this postseason unranked by The Associated Press after losing two of their their first three games of the season but winning 17 of their final 18. Flushing’s only defeats came to Saginaw Heritage and Midland Dow during that opening run and eventual Class B runner-up Ypsilanti Arbor Prep during the final week of the regular season.
Flushing more than proved its merit during the playoffs. The Raiders opened by avenging last season’s District Final loss to St. Johns, and went on to eliminate 18-win Flint Carman-Ainsworth, 17-win Lapeer, 21-win Dow and 19-win Macomb Dakota. They knocked out reigning champion Warren Cousino (24-3) in the Semifinal 52-36 before downing East Kentwood (26-2) in the championship game, 49-38. All but the Dow win were by double figures.
“When they were eighth graders, we started talking to them about state championships,” Ford said. “I was over there for one of their games, and talked to them, or maybe at practice the next day, and I asked them if they knew what a state championship is. When they’re in eighth grade, that look at you like what is that?
“But we started making it a point (freshman year) what we wanted to do. I thought as juniors and seniors they might have a decent chance to make a run like this. These last two years they really were committed to it.”
The Raiders also can boast some all-around successes. Perry and sophomore Thailyia Christensen are multi-sport athletes also competing in track & field, while Wilson and Chappell play soccer during the spring and Newman played softball as well earlier in her high school career. Newman and Wilson carry 4.0 grade-point averages, while Chappell is at 3.5. Perry, a 6-foot forward, will continue her academic and basketball careers next season at Temple University.
But for now, she and her teammates have a busy week ahead and a lot more to celebrate from their history-making winter.
“They are humble beyond belief, and it’s really nice to see,” Ford said. “They’re very appreciative of the accolades they’re getting, the number of cards and emails they’ve gotten from fans and supporters. They’re really enjoying it."
Past Teams of the Month, 2016-17
February: Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central girls skiing - Report
January: Powers North Central boys basketball - Report
December: Dundee boys basketball - Report
November: Rockford girls swimming & diving - Report
October: Rochester girls golf - Report
September: Breckenridge football - Report
PHOTO: Flushing's girls basketball team poses with its championship trophy after winning the Class A title last month.