Mourning Those Who Contributed Much

If Reese Broderick falls short of the main goal this season, he may never forgive himself.

Rest assured he‘ll likely go easier on his Traverse City Christian basketball teammates.

Broderick is the Sabres’ senior sharpshooter with defensive prowess. The most career 3-pointers in MHSAA history and the school’s scoring record could be his when the dust settles on this season.

But neither feat is at the top of his season goal list.

Broderick has his eyes set on helping his team win the school’s first boys basketball District championship. That outcome might also include a postseason win over the school’s biggest rival, Lake Leelanau St. Mary.

The Eagles ended Broderick’s freshman and sophomore seasons. They also ended his older brother Brock’s career in 2022 as the Brodericks were playing varsity together as a freshman and senior, respectively.

The older Broderick finished that season as the school’s all-time scoring leader, setting the bar at 1,528 career points.  

The younger Broderick entered the 2025 calendar year with 284 career 3-point shots made is about to top the 1,300 career scoring mark. He connected on four 3-pointers in the first game of 2025 in a loss to Onekama. He had six the next time out in a win over Leland and finished this week with three more in a win at Bear Lake.

He is now at 297 career 3-pointers made, ranking him fifth in MHSAA history. Matt Kitchen, who starred for Mayville and Unionville-Sebewaing, owns the career mark of 340. 

But hosting a District trophy is of far greater importance to Broderick. The Sabres are 9-2 on the season and collecting wins is their focus.

“I am already on the list, so that’s not too high of a priority and it’s an honor to be on the list,” said Broderick, who joined the 1,000-point club a year ago. “As a school, we haven’t won a District yet, so that’s definitely the big goal and after that just keep going."

Points from Broderick, a second-team all-state selection the past two seasons, are not counted on as much this winter.

“His points are probably 12 points per game — it could be 25, but we’re not worried about (that),” said Sabres coach Rene LaFreniere. “We’re got four guys that any one of them could be all-state selections if we made the push — with Reece being one of them — but at the end of the day, they want to win the District trophy. That’s their focus.’

LaFreniere, now in his fourth year at the school with an enrollment barely topping 100, has seen the Sabres rotate scoring leaders all season. Senior guard Austin Miller – who gets points in transition and is considered the team’s top defender – junior power forward Garret Schultz, and sophomore Asher Coates, a newcomer who can score but focuses on distributing the ball, have all had a few double-digit nights already this season.

Schultz led the Sabres in scoring in their win over Bear Lake with 18 points. Coates kicked in 17.

The team’s stingy defense though has been a bigger contributor to the Sabres’ success, noted LaFreniere. They held Bear Lake to just 32 points this week.

“We’re holding teams to 38-42 points per game,” LaFreniere said. “Right now defensively is what they’re more focused on.”

And while the Sabres play tough defense, Broderick draws the opponent’s best defender every time. It’s not really anything new though.

And while the Sabres are not focused on Broderick getting the career mark, they’ll take every 3-pointer he can muster. The offense relies on screen actions and inbound passes to get the 3-point opportunities.

“I get the ball, but it’s tough,” said Broderick, who missed two games due to illness this season. “I’ll take whatever I can get at the end of season.”

Broderick is rarely hesitant to take the shot whenever it presents itself on the court. He always takes a look at how the team is set for rebounding before making the shot decision.

“The thought is I want to shoot it every time,” he said with a little laugh. “Honestly, it’s just flow — whatever I am feeling.”

Mistakes and shortfalls are tolerated a lot more for teammates than by Broderick himself. “I am pretty easy going — hard on myself though,” he said. “But easy on others, I think.”

LaFreniere loves the intensity his quiet leader plays with at both ends of the court.

“He doesn’t say much,” LaFreniere said. “He’s definitely hard on himself, but most people don’t realize that Reece is one our better defenders on the floor. He likes to play defense. He understands the little nuances of the game.” 

The Sabres have 11 games left during regular season. They’d love to ride some hot shooting and strong defense deep into the postseason. Suttons Bay will host the District, which also features Leland, Buckley and Frankfort in addition to St. Mary.

Traverse City Christian will try to take one game at a time, but is looking ahead to a rematch with the rival Eagles. Christian will host them Feb. 7, a part of their unwritten agreement to play each other twice during the regular season. In addition to each school gaining a quality local opponent, the need is greater as neither school currently competes in a league.

St. Mary won 36-27 in front of a large audience in December, as the Sabres shot as they often do in their rival’s gym.

“They got us up there at their place because historically we never shoot well in their gym, and I don’t know why,” LaFreniere said. “But the good side is they don’t shoot well in our gym either. We can’t wait to see.”

A full gymnasium is expected when the Eagles venture south to Traverse City.

“I think it’s a good rivalry – it’s healthy and it’s respectful, and we kind of feed off of it — it’s fun,” LaFreniere said. “When we go to their place it’s a packed house, and when they come to our place it’s a packed house.”

Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Traverse City Christian’s Reese Broderick is approaching the MHSAA record for career 3-pointers. (Middle) Broderick looks for an open dribbling lane this winter against Manton. (Below) Broderick gets up a shot last season against Bear Lake. (Top photo courtesy of Traverse City Christian High School. Action photos by TC Rick Sports Photography.)