Did you see that? (9/17-9/23)
September 25, 2012
The crowning of a new MHSAA soccer scoring champion and some statewide showdowns in golf and volleyball headline the best of the week that was Sept. 17-23.
Soccer
Chatfield fills it up: Senior Aaron Chatfield, a forward for Burt Lake Northern Michigan Christian, scored both of his team's goals in a 7-2 loss Friday to Elk Lake, but in doing so set the MHSAA career scoring record. He now has 174 goals, two more than former record holder Soony Saad of Dearborn. (Petoskey News)
Golf
Cougars edge Bulldogs: Two-time reigning MHSAA Division 4 champion Lansing Catholic edged Brighton 327-336 at the East Lansing Invitational on Sept. 17 at Walnut Hills Country Club. There were nine ranked teams in the 17-team field. Brighton is ranked No. 2 in Division 1. Lansing Catholic's Jacqueline Setas shot a 70 to take the individual medalist honor, and two of her teammates tied for second.
Volleyball
Blue streak: Richland Gull Lake downed Portage Central in three sets to win the Portage Central Invitational's gold division and a tournament the featured four teams ranked in Class A plus reigning champion Rockford and reigning Class B champion Fruitport (in A this season). Gull Lake moved up to No. 2 in Class A from No. 4 after the weekend, and Portage Central is No. 6. (Kalamazoo Gazette)
Tennis
Ludington on the move: The Orioles have moved up from No. 8 to No. 6 in the Division 4 rankings after downing formerly-No. 2 Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett and No. 10 Almont at Saturday's Almont Invitational. (Mlive.com)
Cross Country
Flivver flies on: Kingsford's Dan Kulas claimed the individual championship at the Stephenson Invitational on Saturday in 16:58. He's won four straight races. (Iron Mountain Daily News)
Basketball
Pershing coach steps down: Detroit Pershing boys basketball coach A.W. Canada has resigned, but will remain with the program as an assistant. The Doughboys are regularly in contention in Class A, last winning the MHSAA title in 2009 after also making the Final in 2008. (Detroit News)
Story of the Week
Spring Lake setter lifts Lakers: It's been a little more than a year since Emily Blahnik's mother Brenda suffered a horrific fall that left her with a skull fracture, brain trauma and spinal cord injuries. But with her teammates and community in continuous support, Blahnik has remained a big part of Spring Lake's volleyball program. The Grand Haven Tribune has been covering this story throughout, and Nate Thompson provides us with this update. (Grand Haven Tribune)
Lenawee Christian Standout Scores with State's All-Time Best
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
April 27, 2021
Bree Salenbien finished one of the most memorable careers in MHSAA girls basketball history this season as one of the leading scorers of all time – and despite playing two shortened seasons to finish her run at Adrian Lenawee Christian.
Salenbien suffered a knee injury in the regular-season finale in 2019-20, and missed out on three games before COVID-19 ended that season prior to the Regional Final. This winter, with its late start, led to Lenawee Christian playing only 17 games including the postseason.
But appearing in 92 games over four seasons makes her 2,059 career points, including 425 free throws, and 287 blocked shots that much more impressive. The Gonzaga signee is joined in the record book by teammates Libby Miller and (also sister) Dani Salenbien, who made the career 3-pointers list with 185 and 157, respectively, over four varsity seasons before both graduated in 2020. Dani Salenbien plays at Hillsdale College.
The Cougars also made the team record book for a number of accomplishments over the last five seasons, including with 202 3-pointers (sixth-most) in 2019-20 and 175 in 2018-19. The 2018-19 team also made the fifth-most free throws, 308, at a fourth-best percentage of .730, on the way to winning the Division 4 championship.
Click to see the girls basketball record book in full and see below for recent record book additions in boys basketball and volleyball.
Boys Basketball
A pair of Bellevue standouts were added for achievements over either their senior seasons in 2019-20 or careers. Grant Morgan tied for ninth all-time with 12 steals in a game against Colon on Jan. 13, 2020, and he also made the single-season steals list with 105. Teammate Carson Betz was added to the career lists with both 809 rebounds and 256 steals over four varsity seasons.
Morrice made the record book list with a school-record 17 3-pointers March 3, 2020, in a 69-23 win over Akron-Fairgrove. The Orioles attempted 56 shots from beyond the arc and were led by Hunter McGowan with 15 points all on long-range shots.
Greg Esler retired last summer after more than three decades of coaching boys varsity basketball and with a record of 558-235. He led St. Clair Shores Lake Shore from the 1987-88 through 1993-94 seasons, and then Warren De La Salle Collegiate through 2019-20.
Jager Mix quickly made an impact on Onaway’s success in 2019-20. Just a sophomore that season, he made the record book with 321 rebounds.
Tyler Eedy may be best at golf – he’s a freshman at Michigan State – but he’s part of the MHSAA record book in basketball after connecting on 41 straight free throws as an Ogemaw Heights senior. He also made the records list for free-throw percentage, connecting on 92.1 percent (82 of 89) of his attempts in 2019-20. The percentage ranks fourth all-time, and the streak is seventh longest.
Carson Irwin scored 25 points including making all 20 free throws he shot in Dundee’s 61-56 win over Clinton on March 17. The junior made the list for most free throws in a game and tied for third-most consecutive free throws in one contest.
Nearly 60 seasons have passed since Tom Pacynski averaged 38.8 points per game for Bay City St. Mary during the 1963-64 season. But with an assist from the Bay City Times, his average – which ranks fourth-highest for a single season, all-time – was added as well as his 62 points in a game that season against Pinconning St. Michael. Pacynski went on to play at Boston College.
Volleyball
Andelyn Simkins completed her Schoolcraft career in 2019 on career lists with 2,574 kills and 310 aces. The kills rank ninth on that list and include season highs of 760 as a senior and 748 as a junior. She’s playing currently at Western Michigan.
West Bloomfield senior Grace Allread closed her four-season varsity career in the fall on the career assists list with 2,524 over 395 games. She has signed to continue at Liberty.
PHOTO: Adrian Lenawee Christian’s Bree Salenbien pushes the pace against St. Ignace during the 2019 Division 4 Final at Calvin College.