Saints Finish Perfect Run with 4th Title
March 16, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Saturday’s Class D Final at the Breslin Center lined up to finish with another celebration for Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes, and one that would be etched into MHSAA history as the Lakers aspired for a fourth-straight title.
But St. Ignace also has been a regular in East Lansing the last four seasons. And the Saints had a little bit of history to contend with as well.
St. Ignace, owners of three MHSAA titles, had never finished a season perfect – until Saturday, when the Saints outlasted the Lakers for a 59-44 win to finish this winter 27-0.
“I kinda had a little worry there because we’ve never been a state championship team with an undefeated season,” St. Ignace senior Sarah Cullip said. “We’ve always had that pain of a loss, and we didn’t want that to happen again. We had a lot of inspiration from outside ourselves, and even within ourselves, I think.”
St. Ignace entered the postseason ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press’ Class D poll, while Our Lady (21-5) was No. 9. This was the Saints’ fourth straight trip to East Lansing; they made the Class C Semifinals a year ago, beat Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett for the title in 2011 and lost to Flint Hamady in overtime in the 2010 Final.
In fact, St. Ignace was the only team in East Lansing this weekend that could match Breslin experience with the Lakers. Cullip played in her seventh tournament game at MSU, while senior Morgan LaVake and juniors Kelley Wright and Emily Hinsman all played in their fifth Saturday.
Coach Dorene Ingalls has coached all four champions during her 14 seasons running the program.
“Any time you win, it’s like the first time,” she said. “It’s a new group, with different reasons, different themes. It’s just like the first time. It’s been a journey. We’ve all grown together. I’m just thankful.”
Waterford Our Lady finished 21-5 and 88-19 over the last four seasons. Seniors Lexie Robak and Ava Doetsch started for all four of those teams, and in all four Breslin championship game appearances.
For much of Saturday’s game and especially the start, it looked like they and their teammates would join Flint Northern’s 1978-81 teams as the only ones to win four straight MHSAA girls hoops titles.
The Lakers opened in a fullcourt press that forced four straight turnovers to start the game. Robak hit two 3-pointers and senior Jessica Parry completed a three-point play as Our Lady jumped to a 9-5 lead a little more than five minutes in.
But St. Ignace soon figured out the press – and responded with a similar strategy that eventually would lead to the Lakers’ undoing.
A few plays in particular got Ingalls thrusting a fist in the air. The first came on the last shot of the first quarter. The Saints broke the press, and Wright found Cullip crossing to the basket behind the defense for an easy lay-in. St. Ignace ended the first quarter up 15-12.
The next came 3:35 into the third quarter. Hinsman broke through the defense, scored, was fouled and finished the three-point play while Ingalls gave an approving nod from the bench. Those points pulled the Saints within one of the lead, and Hinsman’s bucket a minute later gave them their first lead since the first minute of the second quarter.
“They’re good at what they do. They’re here for the fourth time for a reason,” Ingalls said of Our Lady’s defense. “We were trying to get Emily to come to the middle and execute strong. When we tried to get up the right side and pass it up the right, it didn’t turn out well for us.
“The kids were able to keep their composure, keep at it.”
And turn the tide. Riding a matchup zone with halfcourt pressure, St. Ignace made it 38-38 with a quarter to play and then opened the fourth on a 9-0 run. The Lakers never recovered.
For the game, St. Ignace had only 11 turnovers to Our Lady’s 27, and scored 30 points off those turnovers to Our Lady’s 11 after takeaways.
“Looking at my players, they didn’t necessarily look open. That was the pressure they were putting on me,” said Doetsch, who mostly ran the point. “I didn’t have to pass, but nobody looked open. So it made it difficult to get the offense going.”
Hinsman finished with 20 points for St. Ignace, with Cullip adding 16 and grabbing nine rebounds and Wright scoring 10 and dishing five assists.
Lexie Robak led the Lakers with 25 points, including six 3-pointers – which tied her for second-most in an MHSAA girls basketball championship game. Parry added 10 points and six rebounds.
She also played in all four championship games, and the rest of the team’s six seniors – Brianna Topolewski, Marina Anderson and Haley Howell – all made their second title game appearances Saturday.
“My shot was going in, so I was kinda happy throughout the game. We had a good four years,” Robak said. “I just wanted to come out and have fun, and that’s what I did. It was a good last game with these cats.”
“That’s what it comes down to,” Our Lady coach Steve Robak agreed. “Of course, we all wanted to win. We left our hearts out there in the fourth quarter, gave it everything we had. At some point there are some tears, and you’re upset. But I feel a lot like Lexie; while it’s sad we didn’t win, and I wish we’d done some things differently, I’m just so proud of this group.
“To get here four times in a row, and win three, I don’t know how you could feel too much sadness for too long.”
PHOTOS: (Top) St. Ignace players celebrate during the final seconds of their Class D championship game win over Waterford Our Lady. (Middle) St. Ignace's Sarah Cullip (left) attempts to drive around the Lakers' Ava Doetsch. (Top photo by HighSchoolSportsScene.com; middle photo by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Heroes Rise to Earn P-W's Legendary Win
March 23, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
GRAND RAPIDS – The seconds couldn’t tick off the clock fast enough Saturday for a Pewamo-Westphalia girls basketball team on the verge of its first championship for the third season in a row.
Side by side on the bench, each with four fouls, sat juniors Ellie Droste and Hannah Spitzley – who together scored more than half of the Pirates’ points this winter.
On the floor, senior Rachel Huhn faced the start of the fourth quarter charged with holding things together as the only other player with significant experience from P-W’s last two tournament runs.
“Seeing those two in foul trouble, I knew especially being a senior leader, I knew my focus was just to keep everyone positive, keep everyone together,” Huhn said. “Just keep us in one unit, and stay calm.”
She also knew she was now the team’s top offensive option – but surely she didn’t anticipate knocking down the most important shot in her program’s history.
Huhn’s fourth-quarter 3-pointer with 5:31 to play was P-W’s only field only over the final 11 minutes and 13 seconds Saturday, and only points during a 9 minute, 28-second stretch that saw the Pirates lead over Flint Hamady go from 11 to one with 1:45 to play. It also ended the reason the Pirates never lost the lead as they clinched the Division 3 championship with a 40-33 victory at Van Noord Arena.
Huhn also connected on all four of her free-throw attempts over the final 32 seconds as P-W completed a run that began with a trip to the Class C Final two years ago, followed by an appearance in the Semifinals last season.
“It just feels amazing to go out this way, because everyone on this team – all 16 girls – have worked so hard for this,” Huhn said, “In the offseason we’ve done so much improving our own skills, and I just feel like we work so well together. To come close sophomore and junior year and put the cherry on top my senior year, it’s just a great feeling.”
This P-W team was the 11th to reach the season’s final week, and followed Class C runners-up also in 1983 and 1984. The Pirates finished 27-1, their only defeat to Division 2 power Detroit Edison, which had beaten P-W in the last two playoff trips.
The Pirates led all but 56 seconds Saturday. But after pushing the lead to double digits during both the second and third quarters, it took just about everything the Pirates could offer to withstand a Hamady team with a significant size advantage and a defensive press that played a big part in P-W’s 22 turnovers – with half coming during the Hawks’ 13-3 second-half run to draw within one.
“We knew they had some speed, but we didn’t quite know how quick they were,” Hamady coach Keith Smith said. “Now that I look back at it, I probably should have brought the pressure a little earlier. But we did respect (Droste’s) play … but I think we got her a little rattled. And we were also trying to get her out of there when she got four fouls.”
As significant as navigating the pressure, the Pirates outrebounded Hamady 32-19 despite having only one player 6-foot and one more taller than 5-8. They did so with that 6-footer, Spitzley, playing 19 seconds over the last 8:49 before fouling out and six players grabbing between 4-7 rebounds apiece.
P-W had practiced playing with Spitzley or Droste fouled out – but Pirates coach Steve Eklund never anticipated that scenario becoming real-life in this game.
His players couldn’t have responded better.
Huhn’s 3-pointer was followed by Spitzley’s re-entry and then departure, and then Droste came back into the game at 3:43 to play. The teams took turns missing shots before junior guard Xeryia Tartt’s free throw pulled Hamady to within 32-31 with 1:45 to play.
The Hawks (21-6) grabbed the rebound off Tartt’s miss on the second free-throw attempt, but Droste stole the ball and was fouled trying to finish a break. She made a free throw to push the lead to two, and the Pirates followed with another stop when junior guard Emily Nurenberg ended up with the ball after Hamady lost its dribble attempting to tie the score. Droste ended up with possession, was fouled, and this time made both free throws to make the lead 35-31 with 42.5 seconds to play. The Pirates then limited the Hawks to one missed shot on three straight possessions, with Huhn twice grabbing rebounds during that shutdown stretch. They also made 8 of 10 free throws over the final 1:14.
“It wasn’t pretty, but we out-pointed them. We took care of the basketball at times, we made our free throws, and defensively we got stops,” Eklund said. “With 40 seconds left we were happy. We had the lead, we were at the free throw line, and I said, ‘Girls, I think we need three or four more stops.’ And I think we got three stops in the last 40 seconds.
“We drill every day, get a stop and score. Today was get a stop and free throws.”
Droste finished with 18 points, including 12 on free throws. Huhn had 10 points and six rebounds, and Spitzley had eight points. Junior guard Kiera Thelen scored two points but led the rebounding effort with seven.
“I just knew my teammates, the entire time, they had my back,” Droste said. “Me and Hannah both got into foul trouble, which really, it’s hard because you’re so used to being out there in tight situations. But we have such confidence in our teammates – we trust them so much that we know no matter what we can come out with the win.”
Tartt had 15 points and five of her team’s 14 steals to lead Hamady, which was playing in its first Final since finishing Class C runner-up in 2015.
PHOTOS: (Top) Pewamo-Westphalia players, including senior Rachel Huhn (far right), celebrate the team’s first MHSAA Finals title Saturday at Van Noord Arena. (Middle) The Pirates’ Ellie Droste tries to keep possession while a pair of Hamady players apply the pressure.