Rising Centreville Focused on Next Step
By
Wes Morgan
Special for MHSAA.com
December 7, 2017
Perhaps the most obvious sign that the Centreville girls varsity basketball program had made a complete turnaround was the fact that it won a handful of games last winter that it shouldn’t have.
The Bulldogs also won a boatload of games decisively. After starting the year with a loss to Constantine, head coach Jill Peterson’s program rattled off 19 consecutive victories and won a Berrien-Cassopolis-St. Joseph Blue championship on its way to a 19-2 final record.
Under Peterson’s guidance, the Bulldogs went from a 4-15 squad her first season in 2013-14 to last year’s unprecedented run that included a No. 3 state ranking in The Associated Press Class C poll. In between were 13-10 (2014-15) and 14-7 (2015-16) seasons.
“We played Athens and we were down four with four seconds [left] and hit a couple free throws, stole the inbound and tied it, went into overtime and won,” Peterson recalled. “That shows a lot in terms of your resiliency as a team and just experience.”
Still, the program’s first District championship eluded it once again with a loss to Schoolcraft in the Final. It was the fourth straight year the Eagles ended Centreville’s season. This might have been the year the Bulldogs got revenge, but the District draws have been shuffled a bit, and the two schools will compete in different Districts in 2018.
Centreville returns eight players this season with varsity experience, and they “get along better than any team I’ve coached,” Peterson explained. After a short stint in the BCS, the Bulldogs are now members of the first-year Southwest 10 Conference.
The senior class consists of senior guard/forward Carly Todd, who averaged 4.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 2.6 steals per contest last year, Kayla Gest, a guard who registered 5.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and was a 28-percent 3-point shooter as a junior, guard Carlee Odom, who posted 6.7 points and 3.2 rebounds per outing, Brittany Morris, who averaged 3.1 points and 4.9 rebounds, and Morgan Walton, who is in her first year on the varsity team.
After making the all-BCS team as a freshman, sophomore forward Joanna Larsen is back and looking to retain the momentum from her rookie campaign that resulted in 7.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. Fellow all-conference selection Samara Schlabach, who was also named an all-state honorable mention following her sophomore season last year, produced 9.3 points and six rebounds per game.
Those players, combined with juniors MaKenzi Troyer (guard), Abby Nighswonger (guard) Whitney Morris (guard) and Molly Kirby (forward), and sophomores Olivia Deeds (guard) and Kenleigh West-Wing (guard), have made Centreville’s practices just as competitive as their games so far.
Centreville is 1-1, dropping an overtime battle on the road against a talented Bronson squad.
“They push each other more than any team I’ve coached,” Peterson said. “That really speaks volumes for the progress we’ve made over the last four years — not just what the coaching staff is doing but what the players have put in and what they’re bringing to the table.”
The Bulldogs are set up this year inside and on the perimeter. Schlabach is a matchup nightmare in the paint on top of boasting a reliable jumper, and Larsen is equally tough to stop down low. The two come together defensively to all but shut down the lane and limit opponents’ second opportunities by clearing the boards.
Todd has accepted every challenge thrown at her over the years, including a post assignment as an undersized underclassman. Now she’s a big threat with the ball in her hands as a slashing guard with a good outside shot. Odom also has an eye and the ability to carve through defenses as the team’s floor leader. She’s another scoring concern for opponents, but her most important role will be feeding the post.
As a senior, Todd now realizes she has an even bigger responsibility to help mold the team’s attitude on a daily basis.
“What I’ve noticed is when it’s one of those days when I don’t really feel like talking, it’s like, ‘Come on, Carly, you’ve got to put on that mask like you’re in a good mood,’” she said. “If the leaders are in a bad mood, everybody else could be in a bad mood. I just have to be conscious of it.”
What might be the most crucial aspect of this team is the players’ complete disregard for winning streaks and rankings.
“Honestly, it didn’t even hit me that we were winning that many games or that we were ranked in the state,” Odom said. “I didn’t think about it much and still worked hard. But it was cool winning all those games.”
Wes Morgan has reported for the Kalamazoo Gazette, ESPN and ESPNChicago.com, 247Sports and Blue & Gold Illustrated over the last 12 years and is the publisher of JoeInsider.com. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
Centreville team photo courtesy of JoeInsider.com.
Pittsford Caps Finals Return as Champ
March 19, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Laura Smith's emotions whirled like a tornado Saturday afternoon.
After her team came so close a year ago to winning its first MHSAA championship, the Pittsford senior was ecstatic.
But realizing immediately that her four-year varsity career was done after an incredible 91-8 run, she was sad as well.
What a way to finish. The Wildcats, who ended their first MHSAA Finals trip with an overtime loss a year ago, all but wrapped up their first championship during the third quarter of a 48-30 Class D victory over Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart at the Breslin Center.
“Just coming here last year, I was so nervous. Then we lost, and it was devastating,” Smith said. “This year, when we won, I didn’t know how to feel. I was so happy, and then I started crying because it was my last game. I don’t want to leave these girls; they’re my best friends, and we play so well together on the court. But I’ll come back next year and watch them win again.”
Pittsford closed this winter 27-0, to go with finishes of 16-6, 22-1 and 26-1, respectively, over the last three seasons.
And “tornado” was the operative word of the day, the result of the Wildcats’ most meaningful lesson learned during last season’s championship game loss to St. Ignace.
Pittsford led that game 34-21 at halftime and by eight with a quarter to play before the Saints came back to tie it by the end of regulation and win 64-60 with the extra period.
Hence “tornado,” Pittsford’s appropriately named halfcourt pressure defense that led to many of Sacred Heart’s 29 turnovers – off which the Wildcats scored 37 of their 48 points.
“We kept our intensity up the entire game, pressuring the entire game,” Pittsford junior guard Jaycie Burger said. “Last year … we came out and our defense just fell apart. The whole game (today), at halftime, we told each other we have to play defense, we’re still playing defense, and that’s what helped us out.
“We really wanted to win this game a lot, and every time we scored a basket, got a turnover, we were just that much closer to winning the game.”
That began to become apparent during Pittsford’s 9-0 run to end the first half that included six Sacred Heart turnovers and put the Wildcats up 22-13.
The run continued with the first seven points of the third quarter, coming off three more turnovers.
“Their pressure really caused us to move a little faster than we wanted to,” Sacred Heart coach Damon Brown said. “They made it difficult for us to get into our offense, and when you can’t get into your offense it’s difficult to be effective. I thought we did a good job in the first half of managing that, but then they had that run right there at halftime. I think that got us on our heels, and we were scrambling a bit to try to adjust from there.”
The Irish (24-2) had been held to 30 or fewer points three more times this season, but had won all three of those games.
“We can still work on it,” Pittsford coach Chris Hodos joked. “No, our defense is outstanding. You saw it in our Semifinal game. Our Quarterfinal game, I think we had 24 steals. I asked them to work harder (earlier this winter). We went to some different drills halfway through the season. They did what I asked them – a pretty easy team to coach.”
Like Waterford Our Lady on Thursday, Sacred Heart also couldn’t contain Pittsford junior forward Maddie Clark. She made 10 of 15 shots for 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to go with her 24 points and 16 rebounds in the Semifinal.
She and senior Madison Ayers also combined to stifle Irish senior center Averi Gamble, who got off only five shots and finished with eight points – half her average. Freshman guard Scout Nelson was the team’s leading scorer with nine.
Gamble and senior guard Megan English also started on the team that won the Class D championship in 2014. This season they were joined in the starting lineup by three underclassmen and mentored a team that should return the other five players who saw the floor Saturday.
“It doesn’t always have to be about winning. Just being with these girls is a blessing in itself,” Gamble said.
“The way these girls competed all 32 minutes, that was just amazing,” English added. “I wouldn’t want to play with any other team and finish with any other team.”
Ayers, who like Smith played on the varsity as a freshman and sophomore, took off last season but returned this winter after being persuaded by her past and now current teammates and also by how much desire they showed during last season’s run. Ayers finished with eight points and Burger had 11, three assists and four steals.
All but Smith and Ayers should be back next season, when the Wildcats will attempt to add to the current juniors’ career record of 75-2.
“From (when we were) little, we’ve always wanted to win,” Clark said. “Seventy-five and two, that’s pretty amazing. We want to keep it going; (we've) got one more year.
“When we were little we played junior pro together, and our junior pro record growing up was like 100-10, so we don’t really know how to lose,” Burger added. “I mean, we don’t like to lose. … It’s been a great, great opportunity that we’ve had. To go through three years with only two losses is a really special thing, and I’m just thankful we get to do it together.”
The Girls Basketball Finals are presented by Sparrow Health System.
PHOTOS: (Top) Pittsford players including Laura Smith (14) and Madison Ayers (15) celebrate their first MHSAA girls basketball championship. (Middle) Sacred Heart’s Sophie Ruggles works to get to the basket as Pittsford’s Maddie Clark defends.