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High 5s: 11/14/12

November 19, 2012

All three of this week's honorees have achieved some sort of first-time stardom this fall, either individually or as a team. And both Carli Snyder and Alex Grace will be back next fall to continue building on these accomplishments. 

Carli Snyder
Macomb Dakota junior
Volleyball

(UPDATED 11/19) Snyder, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter, was an all-stater her first two seasons of high school. But she will be remembered even more for leading Macomb Dakota this fall to its first MHSAA championship in any girls sport. The Cougars defeated Temperance Bedford in three games in Saturday's Class A Final at Kellogg Arena. Snyder unofficially finished this season with 913 kills, good for seventh in the MHSAA record book since the beginning of the rally scoring era in 2004-05. Her 31 kills against Bedford were third-most for a Final during that time. Snyder already has committed to sign with the University of Florida next year. She likely will be among frontrunners for next fall's Miss Volleyball award. 

Title talk: "We wanted this thing so bad. Every girl on this team wanted it so badly. Megan (Manierski) was setting the ball perfectly. She made it very easy to get kills. ... Just talking about this moment, this gym, it makes you just want to play harder than you ever have."

Winning recipe: "We've been a competitive team in practice and in games all year, so I think that helped us at that moment (in three close Finals games) when we just didn't want to lose. We refused to lose. ... We support each other no matter what. And we hustled so hard."

Shake it up: "We have some secret handshakes with other people, but mine are very complex. I don't know how we went about that. Megan and mine is from "Parent Trap," and then Megan Downey and mine, we just made it up at team dinner. We make it a bit more complex than it needs to be, but it's fun. And it's a great thing to calm us down for a game when we've played a bad one before."

Had to be a Gator: "I like warm weather. I love the coaches. I actually called Florida for my recruiting phone call because I was kinda bored one day at home and I was like, 'I got a letter from them.' I fell in love with the coaching staff, and I told my mom that I needed to go on a visit down there. It's incredible, and when I went down there I was even more in love. Even on the phone, I knew this is where I would end up. It's just that feeling. You know when you get that feeling, and it's incredible."

Click to read more.

Alex Grace
Saginaw Swan Valley sophomore
Football

The Vikings' leading rusher is also one of the leading rushers in the state this season heading into Saturday's Division 4 Semifinal against Detroit Country Day. Grace has gained 2,091 yards plus run for 27 touchdowns, and needs only 109 yards and three more scores to make the MHSAA record book in both categories. He ran for 182 yards and three scores in the Vikings' Regional Final win over Croswell-Lexington. Grace took over as Swan Valley's running back this season after the graduation of his brother Johnathan, who rushed for 1,790 yards last season and now plays at Michigan Tech. Both brothers ran on Swan Valley's 400-meter relay that finished runner-up at the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Track and Field Final in the spring. Alex is 6-0 and 185 pounds and runs the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds.

I'd like to run like: "Even my brother. I like to look at myself as close to him. Professionally, (Minnesota Vikings back) Adrian Peterson. He's a tough runner, fast. He's strong."

Underdogs again: "The last game against Croswell, they were the No. 2 team and we were predicted to lose. But we came back and beat them. I use that underdog feeling to work harder each day."

Best brotherly advice: "Work hard, and if there are doubters, don't let them get you down."

Science and math: (My favorite classes are) biology and economics. They just come easy to me. I enjoy it."

Click to read more. 

Flint Beecher football

The Buccaneers, coached by former Michigan State and NFL standout Courtney Hawkins, were one of the final teams selected for the playoffs, at 5-4 after a 3-4 start. But Beecher advanced to this week's Division 7 Semifinal against Detroit Loyola by eliminating reigning champion Saginaw Nouvel, 19-15, in last week's Regional championship game. Beecher, now 8-4, has made the playoffs six straight years. The first of that run came in Hawkins' second as coach and after 12 straight losing seasons. 

Click to read more. 

Previous 2012-13 honorees:

Tecumseh’s Makayla Schlorf (3) gets a quick five from teammate Ashlyn Moorehead during Saturday’s Division 2 championship game.

Tecumseh Caps Winter Season with 'Day We Will Remember Forever'

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

March 22, 2025

EAST LANSING — Before Saturday’s Division 2 championship game against Grand Rapids West Catholic, the Tecumseh girls basketball team had two people for whom it was playing.

One was Bart Bartels, a beloved longtime coach in the community who died during the fall, weeks before practice started. Tecumseh has been honoring his memory all season.

The team also was playing for a fallen teammate. Junior Maddy VanBlack suffered a leg injury during Friday's Semifinal win over Frankenmuth and couldn’t play Saturday, which shortened the bench significantly. 

“It was super hard and super emotional,” Tecumseh head coach Kristy Zajac said. “They fought through, and they battled through with six players tonight.”

West Catholic’s Katelyn Adams (13) works to get to the basket with Schlorf and Alli Zajac (1) defending.Indeed they did, as Tecumseh captured its first Finals championship since 1974 with a 54-44 win over West Catholic. 

Tecumseh finished the season 27-1, in the process making Bartels’ widow (who was in attendance), VanBlack and everyone else in the community it was playing for beyond proud.

“It’s going to be a day we will remember forever,” Zajac said. 

Tecumseh built an early 14-point lead, but ultimately had to hang on for dear life against a hard-charging West Catholic team. 

The Falcons whittled their deficit down all the way to 39-38 going into the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get over the hump and take the lead or tie the game.

Leading 41-40, Tecumseh then took a 45-40 lead with 5:26 remaining after a layup by Addi Zajac. 

She hit another big layup with 1:54 left to make it 49-44, and then Tecumseh got a stop and a rebound. 

Following a couple of West Catholic fouls, senior Ashlyn Moorehead made a free throw to give Tecumseh a 50-44 lead with 1:10 remaining.

Tecumseh got another stop, and then junior Chloe Bullinger sank two free throws with just over 47 seconds remaining to give her team a 52-44 lead. 

After a missed 3-pointer, Alli Zajac hit two free throws with 19 seconds left to seal the win.

Alli Zajac scored 14 points, and senior Makayla Schlorf and Bullinger both had 11 for Tecumseh. Addi Zajac had nine points, 12 rebounds and four assists.

“It’s amazing that we got it done,” said Alli Zajac, who has signed to play for Eastern Michigan. “Ashlyn and I have been working towards this since we were little freshmen starting. It’s amazing at the end of my career I get to accomplish something like this.”

The Falcons’ Anna Ignatoski (3) defends against Tecumseh’s Ashlyn Moorehead.Senior Anna Ignatoski had 12 points, and senior Elisha Dykstra added 10 points and four assists to lead West Catholic (24-4), which was making its fourth-straight final-four appearance. Freshman Kenley Slanger added eight points and 10 rebounds, and sophomore Alexis Asekomeh had nine points and three blocks.

The Falcons also were Division 2 runners-up in 2022. 

“They’ve been here four years in a row, and that’s unheard of,” first-year West Catholic head coach Derek Paiz said. “I know they don’t feel it right now. But their legacy is going to last forever here at West Catholic.”

Not helping West Catholic’s cause was that it couldn’t buy a basket from 3-point range, going 2 of 21 from beyond the arc. 

“They just hit a couple more shots,” Paiz said. “They shot 8 to 10 more free throws than us. They got to the rim a little more than us, and they won the rebound battle (38-33). Credit to them.”

This year’s Tecumseh’s team also will forever be etched in community lore, just like the 1974 championship squad.

“It was sad that this was our last game,” said Moorehead, who also had nine points and a team-high five assists. “But it’s nice to leave a legacy off with a state championship.”

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Tecumseh’s Makayla Schlorf (3) gets a quick five from teammate Ashlyn Moorehead during Saturday’s Division 2 championship game. (Middle) West Catholic’s Katelyn Adams (13) works to get to the basket with Schlorf and Alli Zajac (1) defending. (Below) The Falcons’ Anna Ignatoski (3) defends against Tecumseh’s Ashlyn Moorehead. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)