Seniors Continue Country Day Legacy
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
March 17, 2018
GRAND RAPIDS – Detroit Country Day senior Kaela Webb dribbled out the clock Saturday on a hard-fought Class B title game against Jackson Northwest, and a smile overtook her face.
She looked over at her coach, Frank Orlando, who was about to celebrate his 13th MHSAA title at the school, and her smile grew wider.
She looked at her classmates, Maxine Moore and Destini Lewis, who with her have been at Country Day for three titles, and triumphantly tossed the ball into the air, finishing off the 64-48 victory.
“I just looked over at Max, Destini and Coach O, and I couldn’t do anything but smile,” Webb said. “We just never thought about winning three state championships, but we came in hungry and wanted to continue that. This team was so special because we had to find our own identity. We had to pick up where we left off last year from losing a valuable asset on both sides of the floor, so we knew we had to work even harder than we had the year before.”
The championship was the second straight for the Yellowjackets (23-4), who were making their 17th appearance in the title game, all coming under Orlando, who is the state’s all-time leader in girls basketball coaching victories (785).
Orlando didn’t say whether or not the 13th title would mark his final game at Country Day, but he did say that in the moment, it was just as sweet as the first.
“It’s a blessing -- I just feel like it’s a blessing,” Orlando said. “It’s these kids right here that gave me the blessing. If it has to go down in a certain way, I’ll give it to them.”
The three seniors have no choice but to move on, but they certainly left their mark on a program that was already incredibly rich with tradition.
“I’m so blessed and grateful, and I have to give it up to my teammates and especially Coach O for instilling a tremendous work ethic in all of us,” said Moore, who will play next year at Western Michigan. “In practice every day, this was our common goal, this is where we wanted to be. To have three of these, not a lot of people can say that. Me and Kaela and Destini, we’re so proud of our program, our coaches, everybody.”
Despite the 16-point margin of victory, the Yellowjackets had their hands full throughout with a Jackson Northwest (25-2) team making the program’s first appearance in the Finals. The Yellowjackets never trailed, and the game was tied for only five seconds before Webb opened with a 3-pointer from the corner. But the Mounties never went away.
“That was a dogfight, and I think our effort was anything a coach could ask for out of his players,” Jackson Northwest coach Ryan Carroll said. “I heard the radio announcer out of the corner of my ear say this was a David vs. Goliath matchup here tonight, and I don’t think it was that at all. Coming in, I didn’t think that’s what it was. They just knocked down some big shots, and we really shot ourselves in the foot when we had chances to get back into the game.
“I’m extremely proud of our effort and the way we showed up tonight and represented our school, I think, in the best possible fashion.”
It was a late Country Day run in the third quarter that finally put some distance between the teams, and it came with star guard Jasmine Powell on the bench with four fouls.
The Mounties had cut the lead to five points, but 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions from Lewis and Maddie Novak pushed the lead to 11 heading into the fourth quarter.
“They were huge,” said Webb, who will play collegiately at Providence next season. “When Jasmine got in foul trouble, Coach O was basically telling me to take over, so I knew at that point that I had to go. They were closing in on the lead, they were starting to have another run and I knew that I had to do everything in my power to prevent it. That contributed to getting my teammates involved, because they started to plug in on me, then (Lewis and Novak) knocked down the open 3s when we needed it.”
Powell still led the Yellowjackets in scoring with 19 points despite the foul trouble. Novak added 13 points, while Adrian Folks had 12 points and seven rebounds. Webb filled the stat sheet with 11 points, seven assists and six steals. As a team, Country Day had 15 steals on the night.
“If I’ve got Kaela on my side, that’s all I want,” Orlando said. “She’s a fighter, she’s a coach, she knows the game and she plays it with her heart. If anybody can do it, Kaela can, and I respect that.”
Sydney Shafer led Jackson Northwest with 22 points, including some deep 3-pointers, and eight rebounds. Ella Bontrager added 10 points for the Mounties, who were playing in front of what felt like a home crowd.
“Seeing all the parents there that aren’t just our parents, but that were community members and (parents of) people that we go to school with, it was really awesome to see them here,” Jackson Northwest senior Carsyn Sleight said. “Here supporting not just their kids, but their community.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Country Day players celebrate their Class B championship Saturday night at Van Noord Arena. (Middle) Adrian Folks works to get a shot in the post while walled off by Jackson Northwest defenders.
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.