For Salenbiens, 'Silly Game' = Family Fun
March 9, 2018
By Doug Donnelly
Special for Second Half
When the Adrian Lenawee Christian girls basketball team beat Portland St. Patrick to win a Class D Regional Semifinal this week, first-year Cougars head coach Jamie Salenbien didn’t need to look far to find someone to hug.
His wife, Debbie, was sitting a few feet away at the scorer’s table.
Next on the to-do list was find and hug his daughter, Dani, an LCS sophomore who dribbled away the final seconds for the Cougars after scoring a game-high 21 points. Last, but not least, there was another daughter, freshman phenom Bree, who had just scored 19 points and had several key baskets during Lenawee Christian’s second-half rally. His sons, Tyler and Jaxon, were nearby, too, and ready for a quick high-five.
For the Salenbien family, basketball is a passion. Whether it’s in the family’s backyard in Lenawee County or on a basketball court somewhere in southeast Michigan, the “silly game” as Coach Salenbien calls it not only has meant a lot to his family, but to the Lenawee Christian family, too.
“Our community is very much behind us,” Jamie Salenbien said. “It’s a great wave of support. We’re enjoying every minute of it.”
The Cougars won the school’s first Regional title since 2010 on Thursday, beating Plymouth Christian, and will play Athens (21-4) on Tuesday in the Quarterfinal at Richland Gull Lake. LCS is 23-1 and on a 16-game win streak. It’s only loss this season was to Class A Monroe. That loss was by one point, 41-40.
Jamie Salenbien is a Hudson native who played college basketball at Siena Heights University in Adrian. He once scored 50 points in a game in high school but doesn’t like to talk about any individual honors or accolades he has received. He and Debbie have been married 18 years. They met at a friend’s wedding – and that friend was at the Regional game this week in Morrice. Debbie played basketball at Allen Park Inter-City Baptist and in college, too.
The family always has loved a little competition.
“When our kids were little, we played a lot of games,” Coach Salenbien said. “Of course, we played a lot of basketball, too. And, I coached them when they were young. And, when I coached at Onsted, they were always around. The girls spent a lot of time around the game, and they fell in love with it. I love it, Debbie loves it, so it’s just a good match.”
Dani said the family talks basketball quite a bit – even at dinner. But, she said, she’s fine with it.
“It’s a part of our family,” Dani said. “It always has been. It’s interesting some of the time. But, its part of who we are.”
Dani, 16, burst onto the prep basketball scene in Lenawee County last season, showing remarkable poise for her age and quickly becoming the team’s go-to player even though they had an all-stater in Kiera Nieto. Bree, 14, joined the varsity this season and finished the regular season as Lenawee County’s top scorer. At 6-foot-2, she runs the floor like a point guard and posts up like a center. She’s the point person on the LCS full-court press, making it difficult for anyone to throw it over her head.
Entering the Regional, Bree Salenbien had averages of 21.1 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.5 steals, 3.2 blocks and 3.0 assists per game.
“She can score inside and out,” her father said. “She’s a tough matchup for anyone. We try and utilize her best we can in that fashion.”
Dani’s numbers are just as impressive. She averages 13.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 4.0 steals a game.
Both girls take after their parents – humble, full of smiles and deflecting of the attention.
“I love my teammates to death, and we do it all together,” Dani said. “That makes it all better. We have a term called ‘84-50’ (which are the dimensions, in feet, of a basketball court). We keep everything on the floor. We don’t think of anything outside of the gym or the court. We’re all about each other. I can’t do anything without my teammates.”
Bree said she and her sister have a special relationship on the court.
“I usually know where she is,” she said. “We have a connection. She’s a great ball handler. I know I need to get the ball to her. She’s a great player. My dad is a great coach. My mom is amazing. My brothers are great fans. We just love it.”
Debbie Salenbien works at LCS and serves as the scorekeeper for the team. Just before the tipoff of Thursday’s Regional championship game, after the starting lineups were introduced, both girls walked over to their mom, gave her a fist bump and handed her their warm-up shirts.
“We talk a lot about basketball,” Debbie said. “Basketball is always on television. We go to some University of Michigan games. We just love basketball.”
When the season ends, Jamie said he will have time to reflect on just how special this season has been for not only the Lenawee Christian community but his own family.
And, it looks like there are plenty of more good times to come. The Cougars start a freshman, three sophomores and a junior.
“They put a tremendous amount of time into this silly game,” he said of his daughters and their teammates. “We preach fundamentals – how to pass, catch, dribble, shoot. The whole experience has been awesome. I have to let it soak in more, but I know it’s awesome.”
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 Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Lenawee Christian freshman Bree Salenbien brings the ball upcourt; she led Lenawee County in scoring average this season at 21 ppg. (Middle) Basketball is a passion for the Salenbien family, including head coach Jamie, his wife Debbie (at the scorers table) and sophomore Dani Salenbien, here during Thursday’s Regional Final win over Plymouth Christian. (Photos by Mike Dickie.)
Genesee's Zinn Setting School, Family Records While Climbing MHSAA All-Time Lists
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
January 7, 2026
Averie Zinn had a front-row seat as her sister Ryleigh re-wrote the Genesee girls basketball record book.
As a middle school student, and then freshman teammate whose parents are the Genesee coaches, Averie saw exactly what it took for Ryleigh to get there.
She also had a pretty good idea of what would be required to overtake her.
“I remember when I was little I was like, ‘Yep, I’m breaking all her records,’” Averie said. “My mom’s sister, she held all of those before. But I just remember when Ryleigh was getting those records, I was like, ‘Well, I’m going to break them.’”
Averie Zinn has broken those records and then some, splashing her name across the MHSAA record book with most of her senior season still to go.
She’s scored a school-record 1,892 points during her career, and with a per-game average this season of 39.8, could surpass 2,000 by the end of next week – making her the 34th girls basketball player in state history to eclipse it.
If that average holds throughout the season, and even if the Wolves play the minimum number of games remaining, Zinn could become just the seventh female in the state to hit 2,500 points.
That, of course, is a projection of where she could be, but she already appears 20 times in the MHSAA record book.
Her 851 points scored a year ago are third highest in a single MHSAA season. Seven of her single-game scoring performances are listed, including five games of 50 or more (she’s added another 53-point performance already this season that is not yet listed).
Her 21 points in a single quarter are tied for third all-time – she’s since hit 22, which will tie her for second.
She made 186 free throws a year ago, 10th-most in a single season, and has three games of 15 or more makes from the free-throw line.
Then there’s the steals: Two seasons in the top 12 all-time with 218 a year ago (third) and 170 as a sophomore (tied for 12th), and five games with 15-plus.
“I just think it’s such a blessing,” Zinn said. “No one really gets that opportunity, it’s such a select few amount of people. I almost don’t even think I’ve processed it. I think it’s really cool, and the fact that it’s happening with my parents coaching me, it’s really cool.”
Zinn, a 5-foot-10 point guard who also takes the opening tip for the Wolves, has scored 199 points through five games this season, going over 30 in four games and over 40 in two of those four.
She’s recorded 48 steals, as well, going for double digits (11, 12, 16) in each of her first three games.
“I mean, she’s 100-percent locked in,” said Genesee coach, and Zinn’s dad, Mike Zinn. “She’s been training hard with strength and conditioning, working on her range – a different range. Normally, she shoots from pretty deep, from nearly halfcourt like it’s nothing. But she’s been wanting to work on her mid-range game a little bit.”
As the Zinns have had their successes, so has the Genesee program. This year’s team is off to a 4-1 start, and last year the Wolves won a District title and advanced to a Regional Final in Division 3 for the second time in program history. The first came during the 2022 postseason.
Both of those seasons resulted in 17 wins, which is a school record.
The District title in 2022 was the program’s first since the mid-1990s, when their mom, Megan was playing.
“Mike and I graduated from Genesee High School, and we were the last ones to win a District title,” Megan Zinn said. “We decided to stay in the community, raise our kids in the community and coach here. It’s bigger than basketball. We believe we could work to put Genesee on the map, and that’s exactly what we’ve done. Last year, going to the Sweet 16 was the furthest we’ve ever gone. We lost both times, but just to say that we could get there while coaching both of our daughters is pretty special.”
When Averie Zinn is done breaking records at Genesee, she will continue her basketball career at Wayne State University.
She committed this past summer to play for the Warriors, a program she’s felt connected to for years. Not only is assistant coach Andy Ayrault a family friend, but Zinn caught the eye of head coach Carrie Lohr while hitting deep 3-pointers as an eighth grader at a team camp.
“I’m really excited,” Zinn said. “I’m getting more and more excited, especially since the new year is here and knowing this is the year that I’m going away and playing there. I know a lot of my teammates already. Wayne State feels like another home to me. That’s what was most important in my decision.”
Genesee won’t be without Zinns, either. While Mike and Megan will continue coaching, there’s also another player coming through, as Averie and Ryleigh's younger sister Maylee Zinn will be a freshman next season.
“I’d say the (age) gap for me and Maylee is like one year too far,” Averie said. “Me and Ryleigh played together, we would go to trainings together. We got super close that year (they were teammates). I always say that to my mom, that I wish I was back a year so I could get that year with Maylee. She’s pretty good.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Genesee’s Averie Zinn (0) gets to the rim during her team’s 71-30 win over Birch Run on Dec. 22. (Middle) Zinn elevates for a shot while defended by a pair of Panthers. (Photos by McInchak Family Photography.)