Senior-Freshman Combo has Hackett Catholic Prep Surging Toward Postseason
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
February 18, 2025
KALAMAZOO – Senior captain Addie Smucker is a stats stuffer who rarely leaves the floor.
Freshman Lucy Young already set a school record, scored a triple-double and received her first Division I college offer.
The veteran and the rookie phenom are instrumental in Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep’s amazing basketball season.
“This team has done more than we expected them to do,” coach Erin Gallagher said. “Our expectations were set with (our previous) teams.
“With Lucy coming in this year, you don’t count on your freshman leading scoring, averaging 23 points a game and (scoring) a school-record 41 against Kalamazoo Christian.”
After four games in six days, the Irish take an 18-2 mark and school record 16-game winning streak into the final weeks of the regular season, hoping to carry their success into MHSAA District play next month.
Smucker is the most consistent on the team, averaging 8.7 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals a game. She and Natalie Burhans are the only seniors on the team.
“Addie’s steals and assists turn to points for other girls,” Gallagher said.
Smucker averages 28 minutes a game, and it is not unusual to see her on the court all 32 minutes.
“If she didn’t get in foul trouble, she’d probably have more 32-minute games,” Gallagher added, smiling. “Over half her games, she’s played all 32 minutes in four years.”
At 6-foot-2, Young is the tallest player on the team, and if she continues scoring her average, could hit the 500-point mark by the end of the season and reach the magical 1,000-point career milestone during her sophomore year.
“Lucy’s biggest adjustment has been defense,” Gallagher said. “As a scorer, she comes in as a senior but as a defender she comes in a little bit like a freshman because (she hasn’t) played the fast pace like (varsity).”
Young said she had no idea she would start her high school hoops career on varsity.
“I was so nervous,” she said. “My first game (Smucker) asked if I was ready, and I told her I was so nervous.
“It was honestly nerve-wracking, but I know I can lean on my teammates and they can help me through the game. It’s been a really fun season.”
Young did not realize she set a school record with her 41 points against Kalamazoo Christian, a game that Smucker iced with a free throw during the final seconds.
The 56-55 win was the first for the Irish over K-Christian in four years (nine games).
“When they post me up, it’s a little easier to score,” Young said. “I do like to block shots, very carefully, of course.
“I always know where (Addie) is on the court and if I’m stuck in the post, I can pass it back to her. She has a great shot. Whenever she steals the ball, I know I can just run down the court and she can pass it to me, so I feel we complement each other well.”
Young’s triple-double came in a 55-31 win over Maple City Glen Lake when she recorded 26 points, 12 rebounds and 10 steals.
Young said her strengths include “driving to the basket and posting up, using my height as an advantage to score. Maybe a little bit of passing, too. I can sometimes find some people in the corner and they can shoot it.”
Putting up such impressive numbers, Young has attracted the attention of several college coaches and got her first scholarship offer from Division I Western Michigan.
“ I was so proud, so happy,” she said. “That’s something I was working for because I really want to play in college.
“That’s my dream. It just felt like all the stars aligned. It was so cool. I was so happy.”
Young played volleyball in the fall and said that helped her get in shape for basketball.
“Volleyball can be fast-paced, but you don’t really move a lot,” she said. “I stay up at the net most of the time, so I only move side to side.
“Basketball is also fast-paced, but you’re sprinting, changing direction.”
Although Smucker is making her mark on the basketball team, soccer is her first love. She earned third-team all-state honors her sophomore year and first team last year.
“I’d say basketball is harder to get ready for because it’s more quick-paced,” Smucker said. “In soccer, you’re still running but it’s for a longer distance.”
She said she brings a common strength to her two sports.
“I feel like I’m a good passer,” she said. “In basketball, I’m always looking for Lucy and the same with soccer.
“That’s one thing I translate from both, looking for my teammates, the good pass.”
The team’s success also led to a milestone for Gallagher.
Hackett’s victory over Schoolcraft on Jan. 31 was the coach’s 100th varsity win, all at Hackett.
“I didn’t know even where I was at until two years ago when we made the (Division 4) Quarterfinals and had to turn in our stats to the MHSAA. I was 70-something,” he said. “Last year we won 16 and (during this season) coach Jared Butler asked where I was at and it was 97, so then I was keeping track from there. I didn’t want to miss that.”
While Young is getting much of the attention, Gallagher points out that everyone on the team is contributing.
“We don’t win those last few games without Addie putting in 10 points, (junior) Leah Smith putting in 10 points a game, (junior) Marissa Toweson’s hitting some big shots for us, timely shots.
“(Junior) Erin Cook has probably sacrificed more than anyone this year. As a freshman, we brought her up halfway through the season because we needed a post player and she just played defense and scored when she was able. Her defense and her rebounding have been incredible for us.
“Everybody has played very well all year. (Junior) Bethany Carpenter can score two points a game and have the biggest impact on the game. She is on the other team’s best player every single game.”
Young is not the only tall player in the lineup. Junior Lily Arechiga is 6 feet, Cook 5-11, and Smucker and Carpenter each 5-10.
“They’re all really good teammates,” Gallagher said. “I think this is the best group I’ve had. They all get along, which makes it easier to coach.”
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS (Top) From left, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep's Addie Smucker, coach Erin Gallagher and Lucy Young chat during a recent practice. (2) Smucker (2) takes on a pair of defenders during the Irish’s Feb. 7 win over Lawton. (3) Young (34) gets to the basket against Lawton. (4) Gallagher is celebrated on-court after his 100th win. (Top photo by Pam Shebest. Action photos by Chris Ogrin. Gallagher celebration photo by Rachel Ogrin.)
Carson Making Up For Lost Time, Making Buchanan Contender as Districts Begin
By
Wes Morgan
Special for MHSAA.com
February 23, 2023
There’s really nothing about Faith Carson’s high school basketball career that went according to script.
Yet, it has developed into quite a compelling story with one last chapter to be penned.
When asked if she felt four years ago that she would have ended up as arguably the top college prospect in the state of Michigan despite missing more than 30 games due to a pandemic-shortened sophomore season and a junior campaign mostly wiped out by an ankle injury, the Buchanan High School phenom and Ohio State University signee said all of that would have been laughable.
However, there were plenty of times, particularly last winter when the 6-foot-4 center was relegated to a walking boot and a chair on the sideline, when it was difficult simply to remain upbeat.
“I was talking to my mom the other day and said I never really realized how much I loved basketball until I couldn’t play,” said Carson, who did return in time last season to help the Bucks win a second consecutive Division 3 District championship before falling to Schoolcraft in the Regional Finals. “Going to practice every day and watching them play, it was a struggle.
“At first it was really hard. I do have a lot of individual goals for myself, but you just have to support your teammates and put a smile on your face. You never want to show up and be the person that is negative.”
Before school and after volleyball practice throughout the fall, Carson put in around three hours a day working on her shot in preparation for this season.
With the MHSAA Tournament set to commence, the Bucks benefitted greatly by Carson’s strong return to the tune of a 19-1 record, a Lakeland Conference title and No. 3 ranking in the latest Associated Press Division 3 poll. The Bucks opened the year with a five-point loss to still-undefeated Vicksburg and have mostly dominated ever since.
Carson is averaging 19.3 points, 11.4 rebounds and 6.2 blocks per game as Buchanan gears up for a District Semifinal on Wednesday against the winner of the Bridgman/Cassopolis opener Monday.
“She spent her spring and summer playing with her travel team and playing with us at the high school level trying to work herself back into shape,” Buchanan coach Gabe Miller said. “She really ramped it up in August and in the fall while simultaneously working her butt off on the volleyball court.”
Carson was named Lakeland Conference MVP after the Bucks’ volleyball squad went undefeated in league play en route to a District crown.
“She was getting up at 5 a.m. and lifting weights at the local fitness center and then coming in and shooting baskets with me from 6:30-7:15 about four or five days a week,” Miller said. “It wore me out, but I welcomed it. It was good to see. And she’d come in on Sundays, too. She was really adamant about making up for lost time the best she could.”
This year’s Buchanan group is primed for a postseason run as Carson combines with some savvy players who helped keep the wheels on last year in her absence, including junior point guard LaBria Austin, versatile senior forward Hannah Tompkins, junior defensive specialist Hannah Herman and sophomore forward (and sister) Alyssa Carson just to name a few.
Clearly, though, the Bucks are a decidedly more ferocious group with Faith Carson back in the lineup.
“The things that get overlooked, unless you coach basketball, you might not see right off the bat is she always had really good hands and feet, even when she was younger,” Miller explained. “She spent a lot of time, especially this last year, working on her diet and researching things, being in the weight room and adding to her physicality and conditioning.
“I think she’s got good court vision as far as seeing plays, seeing cutters, which helps her game out with double- and triple-teams. She wants to play basketball, so she spends a lot of time on it. Losing as much time as she lost last year — a full season — could have been a hindrance. But she definitely made up for it this year. When you take her love for the game with her God-given talents, her size, feet and hands, the work ethic she has put in, and the fact that she wants to work to meet her goals when she goes to college, that’s kind of got us to the player we have today.”
And now, after all the hours working on her shooting, that includes being a threat from range.
“In a game — I can’t remember which one — I had the ball at the 3-point line and their coach was yelling, ‘shooter!’” Carson recalled. “My whole family started to laugh because I’ve never really been called a shooter. It felt great.
“I’m going to do everything I can to help us go really far in the postseason. This is one of my favorite teams I’ve ever been a part of. I’m just really excited because I know what we’re capable of.”
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.
PHOTOS (Top) Buchanan’s Faith Carson (54) gets a hand up on defense against St. Joseph. (Middle) Carson elevates for a shot against Schoolcraft. (Photos courtesy of the Buchanan girls basketball program.)