Mourning Those Who Contributed Much

The greatest girls basketball season in Carleton Airport’s history hasn’t come without its adversity. When it hit, however, it only made the Jets stronger.

Tonight, Airport (24-2) – which already has set a school record for victories, broke the single-game Monroe County scoring record and won the first Regional championship in school history – will play a Quarterfinal against reigning Division 2 champion Tecumseh.

The journey to get here has been magical, said head coach Darrell Mossburg.

“Something just clicked with this group,” he said. “Their focus has been so much better. They watch film, they pay attention to scouting reports. They’ve learned you have to play every single possession and not worry about a missed shot or turnover. It’s next possession, next possession.”

The Jets have four seniors, all who have played several seasons on the varsity. Olivia Gratz is a 1,000-point scorer, but not the leading scorer on the team. That distinction belongs to junior Sophia Mator, who averages 17 points a game and has made 60 3-pointers on the season.

Senior Peyton Zajac is right behind them in scoring and has been a big contributor in a variety of ways.

“Peyton hasn’t been a great scorer, but there are other things she does that people don’t see on the stat sheet, getting our people in the right spot and playing defense,” Mossburg said.

Senior Jillian Baker has made perhaps the biggest strides since last season.

“Jillian has been playing extremely well. She’s scoring more,” Mossburg said. “Brooklyn Martin (sophomore) has been playing great. They provide the depth that you need this late in the year.”

Seven Jets have scored at least 100 points on the season. Airport averages a whopping 67.6 points per game, and put up a 103-point outburst against Huron League foe Milan in the first game in February. Airport has scored at least 70 points 12 times.

“The defense can’t key on just Sophia,” Mossburg said. “We have a lot of depth.”

Mossburg said this is one of those years that Jets faithful have been talking about for many.

“I know the program all the way down to the fourth grade,” he said. “We knew when this group were seniors, when we could mix in a couple of the other players, we knew they were going to be really, really good.”

In years past, he said, his players didn’t always have the same approach to practice. Now, everyone is on the same page.

“You have to practice like a winner, and every day you have to practice like a winner,” Mossburg said. “They finally grasp that concept. They’ve realized this is it. We have to come to practice every day and act like a winner.”

The team’s basketball IQ is off the charts, he noted.

Sophomore Mya Stahr’s dad and uncle were basketball stars at Flat Rock. Junior Katelyn Roecker is the daughter of a former head coach and basketball official. Freshman Brityn Duffy’s dad was Airport’s football coach and played baseball at Michigan State University.

Jillian Baker is the daughter of Luke Baker, who coached the Jets for much of the season when Mossburg had to step away for health reasons. Baker’s niece, Brenna, is a senior on the team as well.

“A lot of good basketball families,” Mossburg said. “They have the right basketball IQ and have been brought up the right way,”

Baker has been an assistant with Mossburg for five seasons and was the natural choice to step in when necessary.

“Luke has been fabulous,” Mossburg said. “He has been great. He does what’s right for the program. He puts his time in with film and scouting reports. Without him, I don’t know where we’d be.”

Mossburg has been around sports his entire life, graduating from Airport in 1988 and playing football at the University of Toledo including under coach Nick Saban. Mossburg’s dad was a longtime coach in Monroe County who had a fling in professional football.

Mossburg stepped away for the early part of the season but returned to the bench in February in an assistant coach-type of role. Even when he was in the hospital, he and Baker communicated daily. It was agreed that when the postseason began, Mossburg would be back as the head coach.

“I always told the kids that the coaches aren’t between the lines playing,” Mossburg said. “It’s been a smooth transition. No worries at all.”

Mossburg said he’s weathered the storm with his health. The focus now is on playing a Tecumseh team seeking to repeat as champion.

“We have to focus on us and not play to the scoreboard,” he said, “keep our focus on possession by possession, one shot at a time, one rebound at a time.”

Doug Donnelly has served as a news and sports reporter at the Adrian Daily Telegram and the Monroe News for 30 years, including 10 years as city editor in Monroe. He's written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. He is now publisher and editor of The Blissfield Advance, a weekly newspaper. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Carleton Airport’s Delaney Zajac (1) and Olivia Gratz (2) defend the post against Flat Rock. (Middle) Sophia Mator (22) drives toward the lane against New Boston Huron. (Photos courtesy of Monroe News.)