St Francis Stands Tall in Run to 1st Final
March 17, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Regardless of the winner, a team from Thursday’s first Class C Semifinal was going to finish this weekend playing in an MHSAA championship game for the first time.
And Traverse City St. Francis – especially 6-foot-4 junior Juliana Phillips – was able to reach a little higher for that opportunity during the opener at the Breslin Center.
The Gladiators will play on the season’s final day for the first time thanks to a 53-40 win over Niles Brandywine, which was making its first Semifinal appearance since 2010 and also was seeking its first title game berth.
Phillips stood six inches taller than anyone on Brandywine’s roster, and it showed in her 17 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots – as did her athleticism, which helped her to four steals and allowed her to alter a number of other shots she didn’t reach.
“Both of our teams were struggling a little bit from the outside, so we just played into our strengths,” Phillips said. “They didn’t have a lot of height on their team, so we tried to play a little high-low and in-and-out, and it just started going for us.”
A lot has gone well this season for the No. 3 Gladiators (26-1), who have won 24 straight and will next face top-ranked Ypsilanti Arbor Prep at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Phillips has been St. Francis’ second-leading scorer at 12 points per game, but took on more of the offense Thursday as leading scorer Annie Lyman played through an illness and only a week after spraining both ankles, one each in successive games.
Despite struggles shooting from outside, Lyman still finished with seven points and six rebounds. Phillips scored her first points two minutes into the game and put up nine during the first half as the Gladiators took a 22-18 lead into the break. She made 7 of 12 attempts for the game.
Phillips’ impact was equally significant on the defensive end. Brandywine made only 32 percent of its shots during the first half and 26 percent for the game – partly because the Bobcats didn’t convert as usual on 3-point shots, but also because Phillips made for an obstacle if they tried to get to the basket.
“She’s obviously a tremendous shot-blocker, and after you get a couple (blocks) that does get into your mind,” St. Francis coach Keith Haske said. “I’m guessing they haven’t seen a 6-4 girl that’s athletic like she is, all year, so it’s tough. And she does such a great job of blocking without fouling; that’s just a great gift that she has.
Brandywine this season made 212 3-pointers – third-most in one season in MHSAA history. But they connected on only 3 of 21 tries in the Semifinal, and even three or four more makes could’ve shifted the game dramatically.
Senior forward Makenna Hartline did make eight of her 17 shots from the floor to lead Brandywine (24-3) with 17 points, and she also grabbed eight rebounds. Senior guard Emily Erwin added 11 points.
“We knew we’d have to shoot the 3 today. When (they) have a 6-4 and 6-1 post player with that kind of size, and with our size, you have to be able to knock them down from the perimeter,” Brandywine coach Josh Hood said. “I think the effort was there. We had more offensive rebounds, more shot attempts; we did a lot of little things we had to do to win the game. (But) we need to shoot the basketball better. We were right there going into the fourth; it just didn’t work out.”
Sophomore Sarah Chouinard added 13 points and seven rebounds for St. Francis, and 6-1 senior center Lauren McDonnell had 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Gladiators led by six heading into the final period before breaking away on a final 16-9 run.
Haske has won 643 games and brought seven teams to Breslin over 32 seasons as a coach, and his Charlevoix girls finished Class C runner-up in 2004 and were one of five teams he’s taken to an MHSAA championship game.
Already the St. Francis boys coach, Haske added the girls varsity this winter and had a feeling early on he might be with them for a long run.
“This kinda fits our year. We won a state championship in cross country, the boys were semifinalists in football, and if you look at our sports right now we’ve got great athletes,” Haske said. “I told the kids at the first assembly this year that this was the year of St. Francis, just because of the collection of people we have. And I think this just goes to that. For whatever reason, this seems to be our year.
“We put a banner up in the gym if you make it to a state final game, so they were excited about that. They’ll live up on our ceiling of our gym forever, which is pretty cool.”
Brandywine will graduate a memorable seven-player senior class that has been part of a 91-7 run over the last four seasons.
“That says enough, 91 wins. Pretty special,” Hood said. “We’ve been (here) seven years, and I think we’re at 162 wins. So we have a lot of girls coming, but yeah, we lose a lot.
“When you look at our program, we’ve got a lot of kids that take pride in what we do. And we’ll be back.”
The Girls Basketball Finals are presented by Sparrow Health System.
PHOTOS: (Top) St. Francis’ Juliana Phillips celebrates Thursday’s Class C Semifinal win. (Middle) Brandywine's Emily Erwin shoots a free throw; she finished with 11 points.
D3 Preview: Welcome Back, Contenders
March 20, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Three of this weekend’s Division 3 semifinalists have become regulars checking in for the final rounds of the season.
The fourth semifinalist hasn’t made it this far in more than 40 years – not since it became one of the MHSAA’s first girls basketball champions, pre-dating the other three teams’ successes.
We’ve become quite familiar with Flint Hamady, Ypsilanti Arbor Prep and Pewamo-Westphalia especially this last decade. Lake City, meanwhile, hasn’t played this late in the season since 1976 – when it won Class D in the fourth season of MHSAA-sponsored girls hoops.
Division 3 Semifinals – Thursday
Lake City (22-2) vs. Flint Hamady (20-5), Noon
Ypsilanti Arbor Prep (19-6) vs. Pewamo-Westphalia (25-1), 2 p.m.
Division 3 Final – Saturday, 4 p.m.
Tickets cost $10 per pair of Semifinals and $10 per two-game Finals session (Divisions 3 and 2). All Semifinals will be streamed live on MHSAA.tv and viewable on a pay-per-view basis. All four Finals will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Detroit and streamed live on FoxSportsDetroit.com and the FOX Sports app. Free radio broadcasts of all weekend games will be available on MHSAANetwork.com.
Below is a glance at all four semifinalists. Click on the name of the school to see that team’s full schedule and results from this season. (Statistics are through teams' Regional Finals.)
FLINT HAMADY
Record/rank: 20-5, No. 10
League finish: Second in Genesee Area Conference Red
Coach: Keith Smith, 16th season (345-50)
Championship history: Three Class C titles (most recent 2010), two runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 40-35 over No. 2 Hemlock in the Regional Final, 45-36 over New Lothrop in Regional Semifinal, 50-42 over Division 2 honorable mention Corunna, 44-39 over Detroit Cass Tech.
Players to watch: Treshondra Williams, 6-1 sr. F (11.2 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 3.2 spg); Aryana Naylor, 6-2 jr. C (12.6 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 2.2 bpg).
Outlook: After a season away, Hamady is back at the Semifinals for the fourth time this decade and after playing a regular-season schedule filled with larger opponents. All five losses came to Division 1 or 2 teams, and Hamady avenged its defeat against Corunna. Williams and Naylor give the Hawks an impressive frontcourt, while 5-9 junior Xeryia Tartt (15.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 3.8 apg, 2.8 spg) leads in scoring and senior guard Jordan McKeller (5.6 apg) is the top distributor.
LAKE CITY
Record/rank: 22-2, unranked
League finish: Second in Highland Conference
Coach: Bill Tisron, fifth season (83-30)
Championship history: Class D champion 1976.
Best wins: 50-46 over Ishpeming Westwood in Quarterfinal, 49-35 over Oscoda in Regional Semifinal, 57-42 over Morley Stanwood.
Players to watch: Rylie Bisballe, 6-2 jr. F (16.8 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 2.7 bpg); Makayla Ardis, 5-5 sr. G (12.6 ppg, 3.7 apg, 3.7 spg).
Outlook: Lake City is back at the Semifinals for the first time since its championship season, having fallen only to league rival Manton (twice) this winter. The Trojans have won at least 12 games all five seasons under Tisron and two District titles, and the Regional title was also the program’s first since that last long run four decades ago. Ardis earned an all-state honorable mention last season, and she and Bisballe get additional scoring help in part from sophomore guard Olivia Bellows (10.2 ppg) – who with Ardis had combined for 50 3-pointers entering the week.
PEWAMO-WESTPHALIA
Record/rank: 24-1, No. 1
League finish: First in Central Michigan Athletic Conference
Coach: Steve Eklund, 10th season (205-36)
Championship history: Class C runner-up 2017, 1984 & 1983.
Best wins: 43-19 over No. 4 Niles Brandywine in Quarterfinal, 35-33 over No. 8 Kent City in Regional Semifinal, 69-41 over Detroit Country Day, 45-25 over Division 1 No. 4 Midland Dow, 56-26 over New Lothrop.
Players to watch: Hannah Spitzley, 6-0 jr. F (13.9 ppg, 38 3-pointers); Ellie Droste, 5-8 jr. G (13.9 ppg, 39 3-pointers).
Outlook: The Pirates were runners-up in Class C in 2017 and made the Semifinals in 2018, and arguably have been the favorite in Division 3 all year with only a loss to Division 2 power Detroit Edison. Spitzley and Droste both earned all-state honorable mentions a year ago – Droste hits an outstanding 61 percent of her shots from the floor, including 47 percent from 3-point range. Senior guard Rachel Huhn is another perimeter ace – she had 38 3-pointers heading into the week while making 41 percent from beyond the arc.
YPSILANTI ARBOR PREP
Record/rank: 19-6, unranked
League finish: Does not play in a league.
Coach: Scott Stine, second season (40-12)
Championship history: Class C champion 2016, two runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 59-31 over honorable mention Adrian Madison in Quarterfinal, 59-55 over No. 5 Maple City Glen Lake, 54-40 over Division 2 No. 10 Muskegon Oakridge, 48-46 over Division 2 No. 9 Harper Woods Chandler Park, 61-46 over Dearborn Heights Crestwood.
Players to watch: Mya Petticord, 5-8 fr. G (19.3 ppg, 47 3-pointers, 3.3 apg); Mahri Petree, 5-11 sr. F (13 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 3.0 apg).
Outlook: Arbor Prep has made the Semifinals five straight seasons and finished champion or runner-up the last three (in Class B in 2017). The Gators have won 10 of their last 11 games, the only defeat in overtime to Chandler Park. Petticord was highly touted entering high school and has made good on those expectations. Petree, who earned all-state honorable mention last season, also provides plenty of boost, and 6-foot senior forward Kashyra Jackson is averaging 8.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game coming off the bench.
PHOTO: Lake City’s Olivia Bellows make a move toward the basket during her team’s Tuesday Quarterfinal win over Ishpeming Westwood. (Photo courtesy of Cadillac News.)