Senior Pair's Decision to Play Makes for Memorable Mackinaw City Season
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
March 13, 2026
Mackinaw City gave all of its girls basketball opponents the “friends & family” treatment this season.
And it certainly wasn’t a discount.
But the Comets did sport a discounted roster with just seven players, made up of three sisters and four close friends. And the roster could have been even smaller.
As the Mackinaw City volleyball season ended and the basketball opener was a few weeks away, Jake Huffman – the Comets volleyball and girls basketball coach – was facing the possibility of coaching this basketball season with just five girls on his roster.
Perhaps worse yet, Huffman was visualizing a roster with no seniors and one eighth grader. Kerry-Ann Ming, the Northern Lakes Conference volleyball Player of the Year, was not planning to play her senior season, instead intending to focus on her volleyball game during the offseason. She had been on the Comets’ basketball team the three previous seasons.
Ming’s friend and fellow senior Liz Kruczynski had never played on the Comets’ basketball team. And, in fact, she hadn’t been on any basketball team since she was a second grader.
But that all changed one November day when Ming and Kruczynski were shooting baskets during lunch break in the school’s gymnasium.
“And a lot of our friends were trying to convince both of us to do it, and word got to Mr. Huffman that we were indeed playing basketball and he came walking in and said, ‘Kerry, Liz! You're playing?’ and it was just like, let's go, we’re going to have a sweat season,” recalled Kruczynski. “Coach said, ‘It'll be great,’ and he was jumping up and down.”
And great it was. The Comets went 15-7 and earned a postseason win over Mackinac Island.
“I am so thrilled that both of these ladies played because they did provide some nice solid senior leadership for us, and they were really huge contributors for our team in what they gave to the team and how they worked with their teammates,” said Huffman. “Early in the year, we dropped some of those 50/50 games and towards the end of the season, we were starting to win those. The girls played hard and grew a ton as a team.”
Kruczynski, a forward, and Ming, the team’s center, were keys to that success. Kruczynski averaged better than two rebounds a game while playing great defense and significant minutes.
The pair also helped the Comets battle foul trouble and finish all 22 contests. Mackinaw City did end a few games with fewer than five eligible players due to fouling out or illness.
“Liz is a really good athlete, and for somebody who's never played basketball, she's got a pretty nice shot,” Huffman pointed out. “I'm so glad that she decided to play this year. She was a huge asset.”
Kruczynski chose to play basketball for her friends Ming, Rian Esper and Kenzlie Currie. She also did it for the chance to play a season with her sisters Emily, a freshman, and Ella, an eighth grader.
“There was only seven of us, and I think that a lot of people don't understand how much of like a family it really was with all the girls,” Kruczynski noted. “We're all extremely close, and the bonds go outside of the sport.”
Last summer, thinking of the possibility of playing basketball for the Comets, she put in a lot of work learning the game.
“I knew it would be my last high school sport together with Kerry, and it's one more sport with my friends and my sisters so I just did it,” Kruczynski said. “I took a lot of positive criticism and help from my siblings that have played for years and my friends as well. My siblings were a big part of the reason I enjoyed basketball so much.”
The Comets seniors leaders credit Currie’s passion, Esper’s hard-working mindset and Poppy Wallace’s dedication for a good portion of Mackinaw City’s success on the hardcourt.
But Ming can’t avoid getting the biggest share of the credit.
“Kerry was a very busy young lady this winter between school and basketball and volleyball,” Huffman acknowledged. “She managed to juggle it all.”
Ming led the team with more than 10 rebounds and three steals per game. She also added two blocks and nearly two assists per contest. She finished her career as the school’s second-leading shot blocker and third on the all-time rebounding list. She also set the school single-season rebounding record at 304 as a junior.
“I knew I was going to miss it and regret in the end if I didn’t play (this season),” Ming admitted. “My parents and God were there to support my decision, and my parents cheered me on every game.”
Ming will continue playing volleyball after graduation. She’s signed a letter of intent to play middle hitter for Kirtland Community College.
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) At left, Mackinaw City’s Kerry-Ann Ming pushes the ball upcourt, and at right, teammate Liz Kruczynski considers her options on offense. (Middle) Comets coach Jake Huffman talks things over with his team. (Ming photo by Billy Mac Photos. Kruczynski photo by Heather Huffman. Team huddle photo courtesy of the Cheboygan Daily Tribune.)
Eagle Provides Decisive Lift as Ishpeming Lands 1st Finals Championship
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 23, 2024
EAST LANSING — This gave new definition to soaring to new heights on the wings of an eagle.
Through the first 15 minutes of Saturday’s Division 4 championship game against Kingston, Ishpeming sophomore and leading scorer Jenessa Eagle had just two points.
From that point on, nobody on the floor flew higher.
Eagle scored 25 points over the final two quarters plus a minute of the second, finishing with a game-high 27 points to help lead Ishpeming to its first Finals title with a 73-54 win over a Kingston team that also was playing in its first championship game.
“I was really getting into wanting to win,” Eagle said. “I was wanting to do it for my team. I wasn’t really thinking that much. I was just going out and doing what I practiced.”
Ishpeming became the first girls basketball team from the Upper Peninsula to win a Finals championship since Calumet and St. Ignace did so in 2015.
Despite what the final score said, Ishpeming had to navigate some first-half adversity.
Kingston used a 16-2 run late in the first quarter to take a 22-11 lead going into the second. A critical juncture came with 2:34 remaining in the second quarter, when Ishpeming senior Jenna Maki had to leave the game with her third foul.
Kingston held a 26-21 lead at that point, with Maki having scored 16 of the Hematites’ points. But Ishpeming rallied with Maki on the bench, outscoring Kingston 10-4 the rest of the quarter to take a 31-30 lead into halftime.
Eagle and senior Kaitlyn Van Deuren each sank 3-pointers to start the rally, and then Eagle and senior Payton Manninen both added 2-point baskets for the Hematites.
“We have a very trusted bench,” Ishpeming head coach Ryan Reichel said. “Our girls all come in knowing that they have a role where they can compete and do some big things for us. Even when Jenna was out, we knew we had girls who could still put the ball in the basket.”
Ishpeming continued that momentum during the third quarter, forcing six turnovers over the first 1:39 of the frame to build a 39-30 lead. Eagle then caught fire from the outside, draining a couple of deep 3-pointers to give Ishpeming a 47-34 lead with 3:35 to go in the period.
Ishpeming ultimately took a 58-46 lead into the fourth quarter, with Eagle scoring 15 of the team’s 27 points during the third. The Hematites kept up the pressure from there, going on a 10-0 run to take a 73-50 lead with 3:21 remaining and essentially start the celebration.
Maki, the school’s all-time leading scorer, finished a terrific career by adding 24 points to her total and pulling down eight rebounds. She and the rest of Ishpeming’s seniors fulfilled an ambition they have had since they started playing together in kindergarten.
The Hematites won just five games four seasons ago, but skyrocketed quickly and are now on top of the state.
“It really does feel great,” Maki said. “Just like this experience, it feels surreal right now. It’s amazing to see all the fans and all our community who made it down here. It’s a great feeling.”
Senior Abbey Walker had 14 points and 10 rebounds and sophomore Molly Walker scored 14 points for Kingston, which finished a historic season of its own at 27-2.
“This was a great day for Kingston girls basketball,“ Kingston head coach Jay Green said. “There was a huge crowd here supporting us, and we played an outstanding team. The girls gave it all they got. I told their coach after the game that they can make the final four in Division 1, 2, 3 or 4. That team is outstanding. Everybody knows that.”
PHOTOS (Top) Ishpeming players raise their championship trophy Saturday at Breslin Center. (Middle) The Hematites’ Jenessa Eagle gets up a shot with Kingston’s Keria McGarvie (24) and Molly Walker defending. (Below) Jenna Maki (1) launches a 3-point attempt. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)