Youngest Liedel Providing Prolific Finish to Family's High-Scoring Legacy
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
February 9, 2022
ERIE – An end of an era is coming in southeast Michigan.
Only two miles from Lake Erie, a barn with a basketball court inside has helped develop some of the best 3-point shooters in state history. The youngest of 10 in a basketball-crazed family, Elizabeth Liedel, better known locally as Lizzie, is winding down her senior season and putting up big numbers – just like many of her siblings did.
“When I was younger, I kind of liked softball better,” Lizzie said. “When I got a little older, basketball definitely became my favorite. I think my brothers and sisters had something to do with that.”
So did the barn, which her father Brad built years ago for his power washing business. It wasn’t long after that the barn became home to a half basketball court with regulation backboards and, of course, a 3-point line.
“I try and get out there every day or every other day and work on my shooting,” Lizzie said. “I’ve put up a lot of shots in the barn.”
Lizzie is a senior for Erie Mason, a Division 3 team that is 12-3 and undefeated in the Tri-County Conference. The Eagles can clinch their second-straight TCC title with a win Thursday at home against Morenci. If they are able to capture another league title, you can bet Lizzie will play a key role. A four-year varsity player, she is averaging 28.1 points per game this season.
The family connection to basketball begins with Brad Liedel, who went to Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central, where he participated in multiple sports, including wrestling. He was in high school when he coached his first team.
“That was baseball,” he said. “I didn’t coach my first basketball team until after I graduated from high school.”
Brad and Beth Liedel have 10 kids, and all of their names are inspired by their faith – Matthew, Ben, Theresa, Maria, Michael, Sarah, Greg, Mary, Joseph and Elizabeth.
Brad has coached for years, from area high schools to travel ball in the summers.
“The kids will come to the barn, and we’ll play basketball and I put together some teams and we go out and play,” he said. “I love teaching the game and helping kids get better at the game. I just love basketball.”
Brad was a junior varsity basketball coach at SMCC when his oldest son, Matt, won the Monroe County Region Player of the Year honor. Two years later, in 2005-06, Ben Liedel set a state record by making 116 3-pointers, a record that has since been broken.
The basketball legend continued to grow. Sarah played at Erie Mason, as did Greg, who wound up with more than 900 career points.
The youngest three siblings – Mary, Joe and Lizzie – have been the biggest scorers. Mary made 56 3-pointers during her senior year of 2017-18 and finished her four seasons on varsity with 1,784 points. Joe topped 2,200 career points and made 334 career 3-pointers, second in the state record book for career triples, while helping Erie Mason reach the MHSAA Semifinals for the first time in school history before graduating in 2020. Both are continuing their basketball careers at the college level now.
Joe, who started his college career at University of Detroit-Mercy, is sidelined this semester with an injury, which has enabled him to be home and watch Lizzie mature as a player.
“She’s quite a player,” he said. “She’s fun to watch.”
Lizzie was an immediate starter for the Eagles as a freshman. Four years later, she has 1,354 career points and is having an outstanding senior season.
She had a high of 47 points against Blissfield, which happened to be the same night she passed 1,000.
Blissfield coach Ryan Gilbert said Liedel is not someone you want to see get hot from the outside. You also don’t want to send her to the free throw line.
“She has the ability to take over a game,” Gilbert said. “I felt like we contested 90 percent of her shots, and she still got to 47.”
Liedel is not just a scorer, although she has made more than 170 career 3-pointers.
“She draws double and triple teams quite often and she has great vision to keep her teammates involved,” Gilbert said. “What separates her from the rest is her ability to move without the ball, especially right after she gives it up. Something a lot of great players struggle with is moving without the ball; she does not, and it makes her tough to defend.”
Lizzie said the Blissfield game was a special one.
“My teammates were finding me, and I was really feeling good,” she said. “I think I made my first five 3-pointers. I felt like I couldn’t miss. Everything was going right.”
She finished four points behind her sister Mary’s single-game Erie Mason scoring record of 51.
Liedel was invited last summer to participate in the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan Reaching Higher showcase.
“It was very different playing against all of these girls you don’t know,” she said. “It was a unique experience.”
Liedel is one of five seniors for the Eagles. They have won 53 games over her four varsity seasons, including a 13-0 record last year before being eliminated from the Division 3 tournament by eventual champion Ypsilanti Arbor Prep. This year’s losses have been to two Division 1 schools – Monroe and Howell – and SMCC.
“I’m happy with how we are playing,” she said. “We really wanted to win the league again, and we have a good shot at it. I love this team. They are helping me do a lot better this year.”
Her offseason work, including playing in the barn, is paying off. She has multiple college scholarship offers, including from Davenport, Indiana-Kokomo and Schoolcraft. Indiana Tech, an NAIA powerhouse, is interested, as is Lake Superior State.
She credits her dad and coaches for helping her game develop. She also gives a nod to her brothers and sisters.
“We are so close,” she said. “I love that. We talk all the time. When I come home after games, they’ll tell me how I did or what I need to do to get better.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Erie Mason’s Lizzie Liedel makes a move toward the basket against Carleton Airport. (Middle) Liedel shows off the family barn where she’s sharpened her shot. (Top photo by Tom Hawley; middle photo courtesy of Brad Liedel.)
Breslin Bound: 2024-25 Girls Report Week 12
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 24, 2025
The calendar has played out well this girls basketball season, as last week saw several league championship deciders and this one will see a few more as teams also prep for the start of District play.
Brackets for that first round of the MHSAA Tournament were announced Sunday, with all teams seeded based on Michigan Power Ratings (MPR). We'll dive into those soon. But for now, there are still plenty of stories to tell as teams finish up the regular season.
“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 63, Detroit Renaissance 39 The Fighting Irish (20-1) have not played a single-digit game since suffering their lone loss in December to Belleville by a point, and this Operation Friendship win over the Phoenix (18-2) might be their most impressive of a 13-game winning streak.
2. Belleville 54, Detroit Edison 40 The Tigers are hoping to finish next month as Division 1 champions and continued their impressive surge into the postseason by downing the reigning Division 2 champ Pioneers (13-5).
3. Utica Ford 60, Utica Eisenhower 45 The Macomb Area Conference Red finished with these two sharing the title as Ford (19-1) avenged its 64-49 loss to Eisenhower (19-2) from Jan. 28.
4. Armada 56, Yale 45 With one league game left for both, these two could share the Blue Water Area Conference title after Armada (16-2) avenged its 69-62 loss to Yale (18-2) from Jan. 28.
5. Dexter 51, Temperance Bedford 41 The Dreadnaughts (15-6) pulled even with Bedford (18-2) in the Southeastern Conference Red with one league game left for both, avenging a 51-42 loss in their first meeting.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
Farmington Hills Mercy (15-4) The Marlins have bounced back from a rare down (relatively speaking) season. Mercy finished 12-12 a year ago but rebounded to share the Catholic High School League Central West championship. The Marlins defeated Detroit Mumford 56-40 in an Operation Friendship game last week and can count wins over Howell (16-5) and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (16-3) – the second in a rematch after losing the first meeting – among their most impressive. Mercy finishes the regular season with a few more tests against Detroit Edison (13-5) and Detroit University Prep (15-3).
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern (19-2) The Huskies have improved from eight to 11 to 16 and now 19 victories over the last four seasons, respectively, and this time also clinched the Ottawa-Kent Conference White championship outright thanks to Friday’s 51-38 win over runner-up Grand Rapids Catholic Central (14-6). The Cougars had handed FHN its only league loss; Grand Haven (17-3) is the only other team to down the Huskies this winter. Northern meanwhile has wins over Muskegon Mona Shores (15-6), Hudsonville (14-6) and Portland (17-3) as well.
DIVISION 2
Grand Rapids South Christian (19-2) The Sailors have won 11 straight games and with Friday’s 53-42 win over Wayland (13-7) guaranteed a shared O-K Gold title with Grand Rapids West Catholic. South Christian lost its first meeting with West Catholic (18-2) by 13 and won the rematch Feb. 7 by seven; the Sailors also trended the right away with Wayland after winning that first meeting by just two points. South Christian also has defeated Holland Christian (17-3) and Grand Rapids Catholic Central, with the other loss to Hudsonville. Holland Christian and Wayland are part of the same District at Hopkins.
Sault Ste. Marie (14-5) With the dissolution of the Straits Area Conference after last season, two-time reigning champion Sault Ste. Marie has played as an independent this winter and capitalized by loading the schedule with several strong opponents. The Blue Devils have lost to Chelsea (16-3), St. Ignace (19-1), Freeland (17-3), Traverse City Central (13-5) and DeWitt (19-1) – but those losses no doubt have helped prep them for the postseason, along with wins over Harbor Springs (18-2) and Petoskey (11-8) among others. After falling to eventual Division 2 semifinalist Negaunee in District play last year, the Sault will head into an otherwise downstate bracket next week.
DIVISION 3
Kalamazoo Christian (16-4) While the Comets saw their league winning streak end at 27 games this season, they’ve run their Southwestern Athletic Conference Valley title streak to three. That one league loss came to rival Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep (18-3) in the second game of a split. Christian’s only other loses were to Paw Paw (16-4), Edison and Saugatuck (19-1) – and the Comets have swept first-round District opponent Lawton (14-5) and are coming off a win over Muskegon Western Michigan Christian (10-5) with Grandville Calvin Christian (16-4) up next. They could see Hacket one more time in the District Final.
McBain (14-4) The Ramblers are tied for second in the Highland Conference and one game behind Evart with one league game to play. Gaining a share of the league title is possible, but even without it McBain’s improvement has been notable after finishing 12-11 overall and tied for fourth in the league a year ago. The Ramblers did split with Evart (19-2), winning the first game and losing the second, and also split with Manton (16-4) and Beal City (12-10) in league play. Evart will host next week’s District, and a third matchup between the two could play out in the championship decider.
DIVISION 4
Frankfort (13-5) After opening this season with three losses, Frankfort is 13-2 and has clinched a share of the Northwest Conference championship despite losing to third-place Onekama (16-4) on Friday. Tuesday’s game against second-place Leland (16-4) will determine if the Panthers claim the title outright. Success wasn’t unexpected after Frankfort made the Division 4 Semifinals last season and brought back key pieces from that team. But the Panthers certainly have impressed, avenging a one-point opening loss to Buckley (14-6) with a 13-point win and also losing only to the Portagers, Roscommon, Evart and St. Ignace.
Indian River Inland Lakes (17-3) The Ski Valley Conference is one of the only undecided leagues left, and as noted below reigning champion Inland Lakes can secure at least a share of it with a win over Gaylord St. Mary tonight. The Bulldogs lost their first meeting with the Snowbirds 51-47 in overtime, and their only other losses were by two to Harbor Springs (18-2) and by one to Pickford (11-9). A sweep of East Jordan (16-5) finished off last week has kept Inland Lakes in the title hunt, and the Bulldogs are favorites next week at Rogers City as they look to claim a third-straight District title.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – Gaylord St. Mary (17-2) at Indian River Inland Lakes (17-3) – The winner will take over first place alone in the Ski Valley Conference – with St. Mary either clinching the league title outright, or Inland Lakes claiming a share with a Thursday game to play against Johannesburg-Lewiston.
Thursday – Gladstone (19-1) at Negaunee (19-0) – Arguably the top two teams in the Upper Peninsula will cap the regular season with a rematch after Negaunee won their first meeting 45-28 on Jan. 28.
Thursday – Belleville (20-1) at Northville (14-7) – The champions of the Kensington Lakes Activities Association East and West, respectively, will meet for the overall league title.
Thursday – Sandusky (19-1) at Cass City (18-1) – These are the champions from the Big Thumb Conference Black and White, respectively, and they could meet a second time in two weeks in a Division 3 Regional Semifinal.
Thursday – Haslett (18-2) at Parma Western (19-1) – These two league champions – Western from the Interstate 8 Athletic Conference and Haslett from the Capital Area Activities Conference Red – also might be meeting for a preview with a possible Division 2 Regional Semifinal rematch possible.
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PHOTOS (Top) Marquette's Alexis Curran defends Negaunee's Aubrey Johnson as she drives toward the basket during the Miners' 48-22 win Feb. 14. (Middle) Williamston's Jaiden Griffith (3) works to get upcourt during an early-season game at Okemos. (Marquette/Negaunee photo by Cara Kamps. Williamston/Okemos photo by John Johnson.)