Thompson Erases Doubt, Makes History
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 14, 2017
When Jacara Thompson tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee this past summer, she thought she was done playing basketball.
The fact it was the second torn ACL of her high school career, along with the timing of the injury, had the Swartz Creek superstar doubting her future.
“I thought I wasn’t going to play basketball anymore,” Thompson said. “This is my second knee blowout and I need to be done – that was my first thought. I was going to miss my whole senior year, and that was really hard.”
Thompson proved her initial thoughts wrong, however, and is back on the court making history. Recently, she broke a school record that had stood since 1979, setting the all-time mark for scoring at Swartz Creek. She had scored 1,179 career points through Feb. 10, now well ahead of the former mark of 1,087.
“I don’t even know how to explain it,” Thompson said of setting the record. “Nobody in my family has ever broken a big record like that or anything. It really didn’t hit me until people started telling me congratulations.”
Those congratulations would have been well deserved for any player hitting that mark. For those who have watched Thompson overcome two major knee surgeries and break the record despite missing 17 games, the moment was even more special.
“I was extremely proud,” Swartz Creek girls basketball coach Adrian Trzebiatowski said. “As a player, you have a tremendous amount of respect for anyone that achieves that goal. As a coach, to see a young woman grow up, to blossom, to develop into a very good basketball player and an amazing person, it is an extreme sense of pride and admiration for what she’s gone through.”
It was in Trzebiatowski’s second season at Swartz Creek that Thompson entered high school, and the slashing guard was making an impact on the varsity team as a freshman. But her debut lasted only six games as Thompson’s first torn ACL, in her right knee, came early in her career.
She came back with a strong sophomore campaign, and as a junior joined the state’s elite, averaging 25 points per game and totaling 501. She was named Class A all-state second-team by The Associated Press.
“Early in her career she was a slasher – she could take a bump or two or three and still get to the basket,” Trzebiatowski said. “Last year we really committed to lifting weights, and she could finish with contact. She was able to get herself to the line and finish layups. I wish there was a stat column for how many and-ones she has. She was a strong player who could really plow and weave her way to the basket.”
Thompson also was developing a stronger mid-range game and working on her outside shot to keep defenders even more off-balance. Before she could showcase her advancing skills and build on the momentum of her junior season, she suffered her second ACL tear.
While an initial doubt she could return again was in her own mind, it was something her coach never saw.
“She knew how to rehab, and knew what she had to do to get back,” Trzebiatowski said. “As far as mental toughness, Jacara overcoming this is probably one of the toughest athletes I’ll ever coach.”
As Thompson worked her way back again, she said it was her Swartz Creek teammates who helped her get to the right place mentally.
“I finally got over it when I started to practice with my team,” Thompson said. “I couldn’t scrimmage with them, but they made me feel even better, that you’re going to be even stronger when you come back.”
Trzebiatowski said the team had to learn to play without Thompson over the summer, but despite that, Thompson’s impact on the young Dragons squad remained strong.
“Everybody looked at her as a leader, but I don’t think she’s always felt that way until this year,” Trzebiatowski said. “When we actually voted for team captains, the team decided before we even voted that Jacara would unanimously receive the vote for team captain. That’s never happened to me.”
Thompson missed the first two games of the season, but has come back strong. She’s averaging 17 points per game and has now added a more dangerous 3-point shot to her repertoire, something she said already has caused opposing defenders to take notice.
“I kind of always knew I had to get better at it,” she said. “Shooting wasn’t really my big thing. I always loved driving and getting to the basket and to the free throw line, but I knew I had to add an outside game. I feel like (defenders) look for me to go the basket every time, but now that I have an outside shot, they’re going to have to check me. They’ve caught on. They call me a shooter now.”
She said she feels like her old self now, although it took a while to get there.
“I’d say probably about 90 percent of it is mental, really,” Thompson said. “Because you have to think about what move am I going to do? Am I going to tear my ACL again? You think about every move you do when you’ve been through two ACL surgeries.”
Thompson is undecided on her basketball future, but said she wants to play at the college level. Her injuries have helped her to focus on her off-court future, however. No matter where basketball takes her, Thompson wants to study to become a physical therapist.
“I had always thought about going overseas and even trying to make it to the WNBA,” she said. “I don’t think I want that anymore. I want to do something to help people with ACL injuries.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Swartz Creek's Jacara Thompson prepares to shoot a free throw. (Middle) Thompson, back this season after multiple knee surgeries during her career, looks to get past a defender. (Photos courtesy of the Swartz Creek girls basketball program.)
Breslin Bound: 2022-23 Girls Report Week 9
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 30, 2023
We are down to the final four weeks of this MHSAA girls basketball season. And while the schedule is full of an increasing number of must-see games across the state, all of them fit into some serious crunching of numbers going on behind the scenes at our East Lansing office.
Seeding the top two teams in every District requires thousands of data points – and a season-long process of collecting them all. We’re sitting at 694 member girls varsity teams this winter, and we’ve nearly completed a process of checking their schedules one by one – about a 23-hour task by itself to make sure all scheduled games are showing, league standings are set up correctly, etc.
Additionally, daily we’re sorting through disputed scores, changes to schedules because of weather or teams that have discontinued their seasons, and other adjustments. But we’re always striving for perfection – for just scores alone, we’ve been able to collect more than 98 percent from an estimated 4,500 games that have been played so far this winter. We’ll be working to track down the rest before District pairings are announced Jan. 19. And then we’ll finish the same process for boys schedules and results.
“Breslin Bound” is powered by MI Student Aid and based on results and schedules posted for each school at MHSAA.com.
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard 33, Farmington Hills Mercy 26 The Irish (12-3) broke reigning Detroit Catholic League Central champion Mercy’s 12-game league winning streak, handing Mercy its first defeat of the season and also avenging a 46-33 loss to the Marlins (13-1) only three weeks earlier.
2. Saline 41, Temperance Bedford 22 The Hornets (13-2) not only became the last undefeated team in Southeastern Conference Red play, but earned it by handing Bedford (13-1) its first defeat overall.
3. Traverse City St. Francis 54, Harbor Springs 31 The Gladiators (11-1) avenged their lone loss and in the process joined Elk Rapids in a tie atop the Lake Michigan Conference standings, with Harbor Springs (12-2) half a game back.
4. Byron Center 48, East Grand Rapids 35 The Ottawa-Kent Conference White is one of the top leagues in the state, and Byron Center (12-3) sits atop the standings after defeating third-place EGR (11-4) and then fourth-place Lowell during a big week.
5. Detroit Renaissance 50, Detroit Cass Tech 46 The undefeated Phoenix (14-0) moved into first place alone in the Detroit Public School League Blue, with one more league game to play, as Cass (6-6) fell a game back.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
Byron Center (12-3) As noted above, Byron Center had a massive week heading into Tuesday’s rematch with O-K White second-place Grand Rapids Christian. The Bulldogs won the first meeting with the Eagles 54-34 on Dec. 15, hence their one-game lead atop the league standings. That victory also started a 10-game winning streak after Byron Center took early losses from O-K Red contenders East Kentwood, Rockford and Hudsonville. Total, the Bulldogs have won 41 straight league games in the O-K White and before that Green, going back five seasons.
Grosse Pointe North (12-2) The Norsemen can clinch a share of the Macomb Area Conference Red championship against Port Huron on Tuesday, which would run their league title streak to three seasons. North’s only losses this winter were to still-undefeated Lake Fenton and Red second-place Utica Eisenhower, the latter by a point in their second meeting Jan. 19. Seven of GPN’s 12 wins have come against teams that would be .500 or better if not for losing (once, or twice) to North.
DIVISION 2
Grand Rapids West Catholic (14-0) The reigning Division 2 runner-up has won 35 of its last 36 games and avenged last season’s lone regular-season loss, defeating Rockford this time 61-54 to win the Cornerstone University Holiday Tournament Gold championship. West Catholic’s 71-32 win over former league co-leader Hamilton last week put the Falcons in first alone in the O-K Blue, and only Division 1 contenders Hudsonville and East Grand Rapids have joined Rockford in coming within single digits of catching them.
Wixom St. Catherine (12-1) The Stars have clinched a share of the Catholic League AA championship, after sharing it with Royal Oak Shrine Catholic last season. St. Catherine defeated Shrine 54-35 on Jan. 13 and will face the Knights again Friday to close the league schedule. The only loss this winter came to Detroit Country Day on Dec. 6, and only 11-win Flint Powers Catholic has come within single digits since that lone defeat.
DIVISION 3
Hancock (11-1) In a loaded Western Peninsula Athletic Conference, Hancock could emerge as the best starting tonight with the second of two meetings against Calumet (10-2), and with two against Houghton (12-1) coming up as well. The 45-39 win over Calumet on Dec. 13 was among Hancock’s best victories, and the lone loss came Jan. 13 to still-undefeated Escanaba, 50-49. The Bulldogs tied for second in the West-PAC West last season before losing their District opener to Ishpeming, but they’ve defeated Ishpeming 42-27 this winter and face the Hematites again Wednesday.
Traverse City St. Francis (11-1) Coming off avenging that lone loss to Harbor Springs (see above), St. Francis would seem to have the upper hand in the Lake Michigan Conference even with Elk Rapids also having just one league loss – they meet again Feb. 9, and St. Francis won the first matchup 43-26 on Jan. 13. The Gladiators are seeking their first league title since 2017-18 and annually are in the hunt; they’ve also had their last three seasons ended with playoff losses to Maple City Glen Lake, which they see Wednesday for the first time this winter.
DIVISION 4
Cedarville/DeTour (11-2) The Islanders lead the Eastern Upper Peninsula Athletic Conference and haven’t lost for more than a month, their defeats coming to still-unbeaten Mackinaw City and then Oscoda three days later in early December. It’s an impressive turnaround from last season’s 8-12 finish, and has included six victories against teams .500 or better and five against opponents with at least eight wins. A Feb. 14 home game against St. Ignace will provide another big opportunity.
Indian River Inland Lakes (10-4) An 0-2 start to this season is becoming a memory, especially after Inland Lakes avenged the second of those defeats – by 17 to Johannesburg-Lewiston – with a 55-51 win last week. The only other losses came to Mackinaw City at the Comets’ Christmas Tournament, and to Ski Valley Conference leader Gaylord St. Mary two weeks ago. The Bulldogs rebounded from their tough start in December with wins over Bellaire and Cheboygan that avenged 2021-22 losses.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – DeWitt (12-1) at Holt (12-2) – The co-leaders in the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue face off for the first of two meetings this season after the teams split a year ago.
Wednesday – Maple City Glen Lake (11-2) at Traverse City St. Francis (11-1) – In addition to those three playoff wins over St. Francis the last three seasons, Glen Lake is looking to extend a five-game regular-season winning streak against the Gladiators.
Thursday – Buchanan (12-1) at Niles Brandywine (10-1) – Buchanan is atop the Lakeland Conference standings and Brandywine is second because of the Bucks’ 49-45 overtime win when they met the first time Dec. 15.
Friday – Detroit Edison (10-2) at Farmington Hills Mercy (13-1) – Edison’s only defeats this season were to Illinois teams in early December, and only West Bloomfield last winter has handed the Pioneers an in-state loss over the last five seasons.
Friday – Escanaba (13-0) at Houghton (12-1) – The Eskymos will take their perfect record to the Keweenaw Peninsula in what could possibly be a preview of a Division 2 District Final as well.
MHSAA.com's weekly “Breslin Bound” previews and reviews are powered by MI Student Aid, a part of the Office of Postsecondary Financial Planning located within the Michigan Department of Treasury. MI Student Aid encourages students to pursue postsecondary education by providing access to student financial resources and information. MI Student Aid administers the state’s 529 college savings programs (MET/MESP), as well as scholarship and grant programs that help make college Accessible, Affordable and Attainable for you. Connect with MI Student Aid at www.michigan.gov/mistudentaid and find more information on Facebook and Twitter @mistudentaid.
PHOTOS (Top) Marquette's Siena Lingle (21) attempts to block a shot by Calumet's Laina Kariniemi (14) during the Copper Kings' 50-44 win Jan. 23. (Middle) Haslett's Maddie Fant (5) and Abigail Brooks (24) defend during the Vikings' 52-32 win over Brighton on Saturday. (Top photo by Cara Kamps. Middle photo by High School Sports Scene.)