West Bloomfield Makes Good on Preseason Goal with 1st Finals Win
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
March 19, 2022
EAST LANSING – Apparently Sydney Hendrix holds a grudge.
The West Bloomfield junior has held onto the hurt from her team’s Regional Semifinal loss to Hartland in 2020, and on Saturday, she let it all out on the court.
Hendrix had 12 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Lakers to a 51-42 victory over the Eagles in the Division 1 Girls Basketball Final at the Breslin Center.
“We lost to Hartland my freshman year, and I think I was crying for like three days straight,” Hendrix said. “I wanted it so bad, but we couldn’t pull out the win. I’ve been wanting my get-back for a minute now. I’m just so glad we got it.”
The title win was the first in program history for the Lakers, who last played in a Final in 1989. This year’s team set the goal of winning it all at the first practice, and after losing its opening game against Dexter, won 25 straight to accomplish that.
“I remember November 12, everybody coming together and saying they wanted the state championship,” West Bloomfield coach Darrin McAllister said. “So I knew at that time, our coaching staff, we had to do everything in our power to get us to this point. We bought into the ‘I believe’ mindset. We worked our tails off, and we got here to the Breslin and we did what we had to do.”
West Bloomfield never trailed in the game, and held Hartland at arm’s length throughout most of it.
Indya Davis led the Lakers (25-1) with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Summer Davis and Myonna Hooper each scored nine points for the Lakers.
“This game was very personal,” said Hooper, who was also on that 2020 team. “We took it upon ourselves to make sure everybody was in the position they needed to be, everybody was playing their role, everybody was executing, everybody was picking each other’s heads up when somebody was down. From Day 1, we’ve been talking about this, and we never let up.”
Amanda Roach scored 21 points for Hartland to lead all scorers. Emerson Sargeant had six points and nine rebounds for the Eagles (25-2).
Roach had half of Hartland’s field-goal makes in the game, as the Eagles struggled to make shots, finishing 16 of 64 from the field.
“I think West Bloomfield had a lot to do with that, but on the other hand, we did have some good looks,” Hartland coach Don Palmer said. “Shots that we normally make, they didn’t go today. Sometimes, that just kind of feeds.”
West Bloomfield led by as many as 14 points in the second half. Roach tried to pull the Eagles back into the game, and nearly did in the fourth quarter. She hit a long 3-pointer to bring her team to within seven with four minutes to play and put some belief in the Hartland fans.
The Eagles wouldn’t get any closer, though, until she hit another long 3 with 25 seconds to play that brought her team within six of the lead. But West Bloomfield was able to close the game out at the free throw line.
“I personally thought we still had a chance with 30 seconds left,” Roach said. “We fight back every single game. I’m just proud of everybody.”
Each Hartland push was met with a response from the Lakers, and often it was the result of an offensive rebound, or two. Hendrix had seven on her own.
“She’s a beast,” Palmer said. “She is strong, she can finish, she’s got a little bit of a mid-range jumpshot. A lot of times when you have teams with ‘superstars’ those other kids get lost in the coverage, but I certainly picked (Hendrix) up on tape.”
Hartland also came into Saturday in search of its first Finals title after advancing beyond the Quarterfinal for the first time.
“Obviously, it feels great to be up here and play with all these girls that I started with,” Hartland senior Leah Lappin said. “Obviously, disappointing because we didn’t play our best. But it was good to play with these girls.”
PHOTOS (Top) West Bloomfield’s Indya Davis (24) turns toward the lane Saturday as Hartland’s Lauren Sollon (25) walls off the baseline. (Middle) The Lakers’ Myonna Hooper (4) prepares to make her move toward the hoop. (Below) Sydney Hendrix (5) pulls up for a shot over Sollon’s reach. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Zion Christian Earns 1st District Title, Celebrates Much More During History-Making Run
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
March 21, 2025
BYRON CENTER – An elusive District title was always the main goal for the Zion Christian girls basketball team.
The Mountaineers accomplished that first-time feat this season, and didn’t stop there.
They made even more school history by following with a Regional title and advancing to Tuesday’s Division 4 Quarterfinals for the first time before closing their season at 20-7.
“We had it as a goal to win Districts the last several years, so it was hard to look at the beginning of the season beyond all that,” Zion Christian coach Derek Foltice said. “But I think we knew with this group of girls and the potential we had that we could have a pretty special season if they committed to playing defense and all those little things they progressively have done.”
This postseason provided plenty of firsts for Zion Christian, a tiny school located in Byron Center which plays in the Alliance League.
The Mountaineers knocked off Wyoming Tri-unity Christian to claim the District crown, and then routed St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran, 63-40, for their first Regional win.
“This has been insane,” Zion Christian senior Sam Deutschmann said last week. “If you were to tell me at the beginning of the season that I would be in this moment right now with my team, I wouldn't believe it.
“This has been such a roller coaster year and all of our hard work is just paying off right now.”
In the Regional Final against Climax-Scotts – which finished 19-6 – the Mountaineers’ magical run continued when junior Jayda Steenbergen dropped in a game-tying 3-pointer during the final seconds to send the game to overtime. She then drained another 3-pointer to propel her team to a 38-37 victory.
“Nothing was planned on that play and Audra (Kaptein) made a great pass, and I was wide open,” Steenbergen said. “The thrill of that was great.”
Added Foltice: “We didn’t have any timeouts, and the girls just made a play. Jada made a huge shot, and then in overtime we had to get some big stops on defense. It was hanging on for dear life after that.”
Foltice enjoyed watching the girls celebrate with family and friends after another historic win.
“This is new for us, and the girls are just going out and not overthinking and enjoying the moment,” Foltice said. “It was fun to see the reaction from the girls and the rest of the students.”
After dealing with a bout of sickness in February, the Mountaineers regrouped and entered the MHSAA Tournament on a six-game winning streak.
They opened with Muskegon Catholic Central, which had defeated them earlier in the season, and avenged that loss to move on.
“You just have to take it one game at a time,” Foltice said. “It was such an accomplishment to win our District playing two good teams, and it’s been fun to continue to play.”
Steenbergen said the team was hopeful to finally make it out of Districts this season.
“We’ve always been in a District that we didn’t have a chance (of winning) so it was fun to get into a District that we knew we could win,” she said. “And then we won Regionals, and it provided us with so much confidence and brought our team closer.
“We are so blessed to be in the spot we’re in, and the wins have been so crazy and so close. It’s just been so much fun, and it’s brought our school and community together.”
Despite a 54-26 loss to Concord in Tuesday’s Quarterfinal, the postseason journey allowed Foltice and his team extended time together.
“One of the most exciting things is just the fact that we get to keep on playing and keep on building on what we’ve been working toward,” Foltice said. “It’s been fun to see them click more and more as the season has gone on. I’m thankful that I get to coach them, and it’s a special group of unselfish and hard-working girls. To be able to spend a couple more weeks with them has been icing on the cake for the season.”
While the end was disappointing, the Mountaineers reflected on the success of the program’s first 20-win season.
“It’s been amazing and just a blessing to get as far as we did,” Deutschmann said. “I love these girls, and I love this team. I couldn’t think of a better year.”
Audra Kaptein, a junior guard and the team’s leading scorer, joined Steenbergen and Deutschmann on the all-conference first team. Sophomore Kenley Doezema was the team’s leading rebounder and an all-conference honorable mention pick, while junior Sadie Knott had a solid postseason.
Dean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for five years after serving at the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years along with shorter stints at the Ionia Sentinel and WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Zion Christian celebrates winning its first District title earlier this month. (Middle) Jayda Steenbergen directs her team’s offense. (Below) The Mountaineers take a team photo after claiming the program’s first Regional title. (Photos courtesy of the Zion Christian girls basketball program.)