Tate's Return Sees Cass Tech Return to Elite
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
February 13, 2020
It didn’t take LaTonya Tate long to begin her basketball coaching career. But it took her 20 years to find the right fit.
Tate is in her fifth season as girls varsity basketball coach at Detroit Cass Tech, and the Technicians are experiencing success not seen since Tate was one of the state’s top players for Cass Tech during the mid-to-late 1980s.
As a senior in 1987, Tate led the Technicians to the Class A championship, scoring the go-ahead 3-pointer as Cass Tech came back from 20 points down to defeat reigning champion Saginaw 52-51. Tate that fall also finished runner-up for the Miss Basketball Award, to Salem’s Dena Head.
By returning to her alma mater as coach, Tate has energized the program. Last season Cass Tech won its first District title in 25 years, and this winter the Technicians are 15-1 heading into Friday’s Public School League final against Detroit Renaissance.
For her, it’s been worth the wait.
“This is home, Tate said. “This is a good group of young ladies I have. I’m blessed.
“The first two (seasons) were tough. I was like Cinderella. I was like an outcast. I was the new kid on the block.”
For any new coach, gaining players’ trust is paramount. It takes time. Tate has earned that trust, and the results are taking shape.
A few games this season stick out when assessing the Technicians’ play to this point. A 52-51 victory over one of the top teams in the Chicago Public League, Chicago Phillips, in a December holiday tournament is notable. The following day (Dec. 29) Cass Tech lost to Davison, 53-47, in the same tournament. Davison (8-7), a member of the Saginaw Valley League, recently lost to state power Flint Carman-Ainsworth (13-2) in overtime 52-48.
On Jan. 25, Cass Tech defeated Southfield Arts & Technology, last season’s Division 1 runner-up, 46-40, and five days later defeated its fiercest rival, Detroit Martin Luther King, 68-43, in a tune-up for the PSL playoffs. This past Monday, led by junior Precious Fields’ 29 points and six rebounds, Cass Tech defeated King, 70-38, in a PSL semifinal.
It was King which Cass Tech defeated (64-56) in the District Final last season, and that win did much to rid the program of some unwanted distinction. King had owned the Technicians since Tate’s departure as a player. King not only became the dominant team within Detroit, but the Crusaders, with William Winfield as coach, became a program everyone looked to as a front-runner statewide. From 1990-2016, King won four Class A titles under Winfield and reached the Finals six other times.
“It’s been 25 years since we beat King, and we beat them two of the three times we played them last year,” Tate said. “It was very gratifying. I’ve taken a lot of beatings from that organization. The entire team did their job (in the District Final).”
Tate’s return is half of a feel-good story for this sport at Cass Tech. Tate’s longtime friend and classmate, Steve Hall, took over the boys basketball program in 2015, coinciding with Tate’s hiring. Hall took over a program that was competitive, but he has taken it to another level. Three years ago Hall’s team won the school’s first PSL title since 1998, and his team won the title again last year. This season the Technicians are 15-1 and ranked No. 4 in the latest Associated Press rankings heading into tonight’s PSL semifinal against Detroit Communications and Media Arts.
Tate’s team is riding a 10-game winning streak; Hall’s has won 11 consecutive heading into the PSL semifinal.
Hall also serves as the school’s co-athletic director (with football coach Thomas Wilcher) and, although he was not responsible for the hiring of Tate, did inform school administrators of his high regard for his old friend.
“Indirectly, I did speak on her behalf,” Hall said. “Our careers have mirrored each other’s. We both had successful high school careers, played in college (Tate at Iowa, Hall at Virginia Tech and Washington) and both of us coached in college.
“It was a home run to get LaTonya. I’m excited for her program. She has a junior-laden team. She was a great player and uses that experience when she talks with her players. She cares about the girls and is passionate about the game.”
Tate began her coaching career at Kansas State as a part-time assistant in 1994. The next season she went to Syracuse as a graduate assistant. Tate was a member of the Detroit Mercy women’s basketball staff for two separate stints, from 1995-97 and 2004-07. She was also an assistant women’s basketball coach at the University of Illinois-Chicago (1997-2001).
As a player at Iowa she was captain of the 1991-92 Hawkeyes squad and played on three Big Ten championship teams. Four times Iowa went to the NCAA Tournament with Tate.
Tate is all in with her program and the school. A substitute teacher in physical education since her return, Tate is working toward her teaching certificate and looking forward to the day when she becomes a full-time teacher.
“The last three years have been great,” Tate said. “We have our study table, and that’s where the girls bond. That’s where they get their work done. That’s where they can loosen up away from the court.”
Even when Tate struggled her first two seasons (finishing below .500 both times), Hall was in her corner. Expectations are high at Cass Tech. Often parents and supporters of the program expect positive results to come quickly.
“When people were impatient, I was there to talk about how much she means to the program,” Hall said. “She’s a real humble and modest person. She doesn’t talk about herself. But I (talk about her). Back when we played the girls played in fall, before we did. They set the bar high. We’ve been friends a long time and we’re competitive, but in a good way.”
As Hall noted, Tate’s team is young but does have experience. Shooting guard Kennedy Tidwell is a returning starter and one of two seniors. Kristen Jones is the other senior and sees playing time at the point.
Fields, a 5-10 forward, leads the team in scoring (18 ppg), rebounds (10) and steals (3.5). Tidwell is next in scoring at 14.3 ppg. Fields is a three-year varsity player and returning starter.
The other top players are 6-1 junior center Kianna Johnson, junior point guard Desiree Jackson and sophomore guard Taylor Williams. Williams became a starter with the start of the MHSAA Tournament last season.
“We’re better this year,” Fields said. “We were good last year, but our chemistry wasn’t as good. The maturity has changed. Experience has played a big role. Everyone is bigger and better.
“Personally, my shooting is better. I’ve always been a confident shooter, and I worked hard on my game. And I’m more versatile now. I can score and rebound. And I’ve gained maturity. I didn’t think I had to work hard before. I’ve worked hard this season. Even in practice I still push my (post players) to rebound. I take pride in that. I put it into my head that every rebound will be ours.”
Fields said it means a lot to her and her teammates that Tate is a Cass Tech graduate, has won a state title and demands so much of them. The players are proud of what their coach has accomplished and respect the fact that Tate is tough on them.
“It’s the accountability,” Tate said. “It means a lot for us (Hall and Tate) to be here. We walked these halls. There are standards here. Just having pride in what Cass Tech means, academically and as student-athletes.”
Click here to watch Cass Tech's 1987 championship game win over Saginaw.
Tom Markowski is a correspondent for the State Champs! Sports Network and previously directed its web coverage. He also covered primarily high school sports for the The Detroit News from 1984-2014, focusing on the Detroit area and contributing to statewide coverage of football and basketball. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) The Detroit Cass Tech girls basketball team will bring a 10-game winning streak into Friday's PSL final. (Middle) Precious Fields is the team's leading scorer and rebounder. (Photos courtesy of Precious Fields.)
Russell Twins Set High Bar Standing Tall Together for Mona Shores Sports
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
April 16, 2026
Maddie and Laynie Russell have been such a big part (literally) of Muskegon Mona Shores girls sports over the past four years that it’s difficult to imagine the Sailors without them.
Opposing basketball and volleyball coaches certainly won’t miss them, as figuring out a way to handle the “twin towers” was Job 1 when playing Shores.
Laynie (6-foot-3) and Maddie (slightly shorter at 6-2½) are fraternal twins and four-year varsity players in both volleyball and basketball, having entered the starting lineup four years ago as 14-year-olds. Both made an immediate impact and progressed to become Muskegon All-Area “Dream Team” volleyball players the past two years.
“They looked like grown women, but they weren’t,” said Mona Shores girls basketball coach Mike Phillips, who met with the family to talk about moving both girls up to varsity when they were still just 13 years old.
“It would have been easy for them to crumble under that kind of pressure, but they handled themselves unbelievably well.”
And the twins, who are both near the top of their class academically with weighted GPAs greater than 4.0, are not quite done helping Shores sports.
Currently, Maddie is an attacker in lacrosse and Laynie is playing No. 1 doubles in tennis. Both will graduate in June with 11 varsity letters.
Then they will have a few months to enjoy their summer passions for jet skis and water skis, before heading in different directions.
Laynie has committed to play volleyball at Northern Michigan and is undecided about her field of study. Maddie will play volleyball at Indiana Tech, where she plans to major in pharmacy.
Intense Maddie
Maddie is more emotional and expressive and wears her heart on her sleeve.
She was “super tenacious” way back in youth soccer and in another one of her loves, swimming, where she was a state champion in the breaststroke at age 7.
Then it appeared for some time that softball would be “her thing,” excelling as a power hitter at the plate and with her long stretch playing first base.
“Sports has always been our life, and it’s just natural for us to go from one sport to another,” said Maddie, who didn’t start playing volleyball until middle school.
“I love being a part of different teams because you meet different friends in each one. Plus, I think it has helped me physically and to avoid injuries because I wasn’t just doing the same thing over and over.”
Maddie made her mark in basketball as a dominant inside force, particularly as a defender and rebounder. In volleyball, she was an outside hitter who could move around and was an excellent passer, finishing her career with 681 kills and 166 blocks.
Her favorite memory is winning four straight city volleyball titles and then helping her team break through and win a Division 1 District volleyball championship her junior year, as the team finished 32-10.
She believes her busy high school experience has prepared her for college. In addition to being a three-sport athlete at Shores, she also played travel in three sports (volleyball, basketball and softball), took AP classes, was a member of National Honor Society and worked as a lifeguard and babysitter.
“I don’t know how she did it some of those days,” said dad Mike Russell, shaking his head. “But we were lucky because both girls are very self-motivated. We didn’t have to get on them very much.”
Poker-faced Laynie
Laynie is more even-keeled and keeps her emotions in check, and it’s hard to tell whether she is having a rough game or is going off for 31 points, which she did in an early-season basketball win last season.
Laynie, who was born two minutes after Maddie on Aug. 14, 2008, was bigger at birth (she was 7 pounds, 4 ounces and Maddie was 5 pounds, 7 ounces). Then Maddie shot up and was taller in elementary school, they were about even in middle school, and now Laynie is about a half-inch taller.
Their height came as no surprise as Mike is 6-5 and their mom Jennifer is 6-1.
The tallest member of the Russell family is older brother Donovan, a 2022 Mona Shores graduate who is 6-8 and plays on the Michigan State men’s club volleyball team. “Dono” will graduate in May with a civil engineering degree.
Like her sister, Laynie is happiest when bouncing from sport to sport. She remembers briefly considering not playing a spring sport as a freshman.
“I didn’t do anything for like a week after basketball season and I was so bored,” said Laynie, who is serving her school this year as the National Honor Society chapter president. “That’s when I knew I had to be doing something, so I went out for tennis.”
Basketball was her favorite sport for many years, and she certainly left her mark on the hardwood, finishing as the 12th-leading scorer in school history and setting the school’s single-season rebounding record her junior year. Laynie, who could handle the ball like a guard and made 38 3-pointers during her career, was a two-time Ottawa-Kent Conference Green all-league selection.
It wasn’t until the past couple years that volleyball became her clear focus. Laynie is a dominant hitter and blocker at the net, finishing with 711 kills and 224 blocks.
Her most memorable games both came during her junior year, and both were big wins in front of rowdy crowds at the Sailor Center – a volleyball victory over No. 6-ranked Jenison, which featured a wild 38-36 win in the final set, and then a basketball upset of rival Muskegon.
But she said her most meaningful memory is time spent volunteering at youth volleyball and basketball clinics.
“We always worked a ton of youth camps, and I always loved that,” said Laynie, who is considering becoming a teacher and coach someday. “It’s fun seeing how excited (kids) get when they figure something out. And now some of those girls have grown up and they’re going to be taking our place.”
Separate ways
The “Russell twins” will, in many ways, truly will become Maddie and Laynie for the first time this fall.
Maddie will journey 216 miles south to Indiana Tech, which is in Fort Wayne, and Laynie will venture 417 miles in the opposite direction to Northern Michigan in Marquette.
“It’s going to be hard, for sure, but I’m trying to focus on what a unique opportunity it will be for both of them,” said Jennifer Russell. “For the first time, they will each have their own separate life, and I am excited for that.”
One thing is for certain: mom’s day-in, day-out Google calendar will free up immensely.
Right now, it’s somewhat comical when she calls up her color-coded family calendar on her phone (Maddie is purple, Laynie is pink, Dono is green, etc.) and it looks like a rainbow, with a crazy blend of school activities, school sports, travel sports, family obligations and work.
Dono will graduate from MSU next month, the twins will graduate from Mona Shores in June and then they will head off and begin their college journeys in August.
Mike and Jennifer, both 1988 Shores graduates and high school sweethearts, will be empty nesters, but at least will still have the family’s two dogs, Scout and Coco. The biggest challenge will be finding a way to be in two places at once – with the twins playing volleyball 633 miles apart.
About one mile away from their home at Mona Shores High School, the Sailors girls sports programs will need to replace two standouts who gave everything they had to their school – as individuals, teammates and role models for little girls in the community.
“Maddie and Laynie always put their school and their teammates above themselves,” said Phillips, whose three daughters played with and became friends with the Russell twins. “Their focus was, how can I help my school? In the spring it was, how can I help another one of our teams?
“What I will remember most about them is the great people and teammates that they were. I will be forever grateful to them for that.”
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Senior twins Laynie Russell (left) and Maddie Russell (right) have left their mark on the Muskegon Mona Shores athletic program as standout three-sport athletes. (2) Laynie (left) and Maddie are all smiles for a much earlier photo. (3) Maddie (left) and Laynie (right) are dominant forces at the volleyball net, shown here going up for a double block. (4) Jennifer, Maddie, Laynie and Mike Russell pose for a photo with the Sailors' Division 1 District championship trophy Nov. 7, 2024, at Coopersville. (Top photo courtesy of Billinghurst Photography. Family photos courtesy of Jennifer Russell. Action photo by Eric Sturr.)