Turner Leaving Her Mark at Port Huron with Leadership, Scoring Record
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
March 6, 2026
Putting her name atop the single-season scoring list at Port Huron High was a proud moment for Mariah Turner.
But it took a note from her father to realize the magnitude of breaking a record that had stood for 29 years.
“I didn’t really think about that, but my dad texted me before he went to sleep one night, and he was saying how proud he was of me, and how great it is to do something like that that had lasted over so many years,” Turner said. “That kind of made me think more of it, that it is more important.”
Turner finished the regular season with 442 points, averaging just over 20 points per game. Her total passed Kesha Bradford, who scored 429 points during the 1997 season before going to play at Valparaiso and Purdue-Fort Wayne.
A 3-point shot in the regular-season finale against Croswell-Lexington, a 63-39 win for the Red Hawks, gave Turner the record.
“As soon as I shot the 3, Coach called a timeout and we celebrated as a team,” Turner said. “It felt really great and relieving. It made me realize how much work I put in, both in-season and the offseason, to make history.”
During her senior season, Turner has led Port Huron to a 14-9 record and a spot in the Division 1 District Finals. The Red Hawks will play New Baltimore Anchor Bay tonight at Macomb Dakota.
As this season progressed, breaking a 30-year-old record wasn’t on her mind.
“It was later into the season, my coach (Jermaine Drake), he must have had his eye on it,” she said. “Because he was telling me, ‘You need 70 more points to beat the school record,’ or whatever. But I couldn’t let it affect me. I had to let it come to me and play my normal game.”
Turner’s normal game is being a do-everything guard for the Red Hawks. Not only did she set the school record for points this season, but also had a record 82 steals during the regular season. She had an eight-steal game, as well, which is tied for best in school history.
“She’s our best defender, our best scorer, third in assists, first in steals, first in 3s, top three in rebounds – she kind of just does everything for us,” Drake said. “She has a motor and never gets tired. She’s kind of like the whole engine of the team.”
Drake, who is in his first year as varsity coach, moved Turner off the ball to the wing this season – as she had shared point guard duties before – opening up the Port Huron offense.
But much of the Red Hawks’ offense is created through its defense, and the transition game is where Turner really shines.
“We press a lot, and she plays the passing lanes and kind of double teams if she’s able to,” Drake said. “Even off defensive rebounds, she’ll read it and leak out and get up the court. I try to implement us getting out as quick as possible to not let the defense set up.”
Turner’s combination of speed and smarts fits perfectly into what Drake wants to do. She’s one of the Red Hawks’ top performers on the track, an all-Macomb Area Conference performer in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles.
She’s also a 4.0 student and four-year varsity player.
“She leads by example every single time she’s on the court,” Drake said. “I don’t think she’s lost a sprint in conditioning this year. She hasn’t missed a practice. She’s like the perfect player you can ask for as a coach – no attitude, doesn’t complain.”
Turner plans to continue playing after high school. Basketball will likely be the deciding factor for the school she attends, as she wants to be a flight attendant, which will require training after she’s done with college.
“I like to travel a lot,” she said. “I went on a plane in like eighth grade for the first time, and I was watching the flight attendant the whole time. They help people, and they get to travel.”
Before she takes off, there’s still business to finish during what's been a rewarding season for Turner and the Red Hawks.
“We had some ups and downs and we had to figure each other out as a team, because we had a lot of people from JV come up this year, and we’re younger,” she said. “It was hard to adjust, but we just had to work on it and take practice seriously to bond more and learn how each player plays.”
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) Port Huron’s Mariah Turner (10) goes to the basket against Utica this season. (Middle) Turner warms up prior to a game. (Photos by Ryan Dowd/Blue Leprechaun Photography.)
Rockford Turns Breslin Orange On Way to Earning Championship Day Debut
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
March 17, 2023
EAST LANSING – Even on St. Patrick’s Day, seemingly the entire town of Rockford managed to turn the normally green Breslin Center into a sea of orange for Friday’s second Division 1 Semifinal at Breslin Center.
Both coaches admitted that the raucous Rockford crowd – almost all wearing orange T-shirts with a Rams logo on the front and filling about half of the lower bowl – had a huge impact on the game, particularly the start, as the Rams bolted to a 24-7 lead after the first quarter.
“How about those Rockford fans?” said sixth-year Rams coach Brad Wilson, before he even introduced his players at the postgame press conference. “When you look out there and see a sea of orange, it’s unbelievable.”
Buoyed by that crowd and equally unbelievable shooting, Rockford blitzed Detroit Renaissance, 65-42, to advance to the Division 1 championship game for the first time in school history.
Rockford, 27-1 and winners of the Ottawa-Kent Conference Red, will face reigning champion West Bloomfield in Saturday’s 12:15 p.m. title game.
The game will be a rematch of last year’s epic Semifinal, where West Bloomfield prevailed, 66-63, before knocking off Hartland the next day for the title.
The Rams would love to get off to the type of start they had on Friday.
Rockford made 11-of-13 field goals (84.6 percent) in the first quarter, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range, getting the huge crowd involved early.
“We didn’t come out scared at all,” said Rockford junior sharpshooter Grace Lyons, noting it was helpful that her team played at the Breslin last year. “We came out ready to play from the get-go, and now we want to finish this thing.”
Lyons led all scorers with 23 points, making 3-of-6 from 3-point range, while senior Michigan Tech commit Alyssa Wypych scored 13 points with a game-high seven rebounds and her sophomore sister, Anna Wypych, added 12 points.
The Rams cooled off slightly in the second quarter, but still finished the half 15-of-21 from the floor (71.4 percent), and led 39-26.
Renaissance (23-2), which was seeking its first title since capturing the Class B championship in 2005, came out of halftime fired up and used an 8-0 run to trim the lead to just five points.
“We went back to our identity in the third quarter,” said Renaissance junior guard Christian Sanders, who led her team with 17 points. “Had we done that sooner, it may have been a different story.”
The key point of the game occurred right after the Phoenix made their run, and Wilson called a timeout to calm his team down.
Rockford responded with a 9-0 run of its own – using a pair of two-point baskets by Lyons, a bucket by Anna Wypych and a key 3-pointer off the bench from senior Madee Whitford – to push the lead back to 14 points.
The Phoenix, a young team with only three seniors, were never able to threaten the rest of the game.
“You have to give Rockford credit,” said first-year Renaissance coach Dashaun Wood. “They had a big fan base, and I think they fed off of that. We finally got back to who we normally are there in the third quarter, but sometimes when you dig a hole that deep, you burn all your energy just coming back.”
Amyah Espanol, one of two senior starters for the Phoenix, scored 13 points and junior Makayla Johnson added nine.
Rockford finished the game with 54 percent shooting (compared to 29.5 percent for Renaissance) and held a decisive 33-20 rebounding edge.
The Rams will make the one-hour drive home, which is just north of Grand Rapids, and Wilson said he and his assistant coaches will likely stay up all night preparing for West Bloomfield.
“No sleep ’til Breslin, that’s a real thing,” Wilson said with a grin. “We just need to stick to our brand of basketball. West Bloomfield is very good, but we’re really good, too, and I think we’re going to come out and show that we belong to be there.”
PHOTOS (Top) Rockford’s Sienna Wolfe (33) brings the ball upcourt during Friday’s Semifinal win over Renaissance. (Middle) Anna Wypych (2) makes a move toward the basket around a pick from teammate Grace Lyons.