Mourning Those Who Contributed Much

Mackinaw City gave all of its girls basketball opponents the “friends & family” treatment this season.

And it certainly wasn’t a discount. 

But the Comets did sport a discounted roster with just seven players, made up of three sisters and four close friends. And the roster could have been even smaller.

As the Mackinaw City volleyball season ended and the basketball opener was a few weeks away, Jake Huffman – the Comets volleyball and girls basketball coach – was facing the possibility of coaching this basketball season with just five girls on his roster.

Perhaps worse yet, Huffman was visualizing a roster with no seniors and one eighth grader. Kerry-Ann Ming, the Northern Lakes Conference volleyball Player of the Year, was not planning to play her senior season, instead intending to focus on her volleyball game during the offseason. She had been on the Comets’ basketball team the three previous seasons.

Ming’s friend and fellow senior Liz Kruczynski had never played on the Comets’ basketball team. And, in fact, she hadn’t been on any basketball team since she was a second grader.

But that all changed one November day when Ming and Kruczynski were shooting baskets during lunch break in the school’s gymnasium.

“And a lot of our friends were trying to convince both of us to do it, and word got to Mr. Huffman that we were indeed playing basketball and he came walking in and said, ‘Kerry, Liz! You're playing?’ and it was just like, let's go, we’re going to have a sweat season,” recalled Kruczynski. “Coach said, ‘It'll be great,’ and he was jumping up and down.”

And great it was.  The Comets went 15-7 and earned a postseason win over Mackinac Island.  

“I am so thrilled that both of these ladies played because they did provide some nice solid senior leadership for us, and they were really huge contributors for our team in what they gave to the team and how they worked with their teammates,” said Huffman. “Early in the year, we dropped some of those 50/50 games and towards the end of the season, we were starting to win those. The girls played hard and grew a ton as a team.”

Kruczynski, a forward, and Ming, the team’s center, were keys to that success. Kruczynski averaged better than two rebounds a game while playing great defense and significant minutes.

The pair also helped the Comets battle foul trouble and finish all 22 contests. Mackinaw City did end a few games with fewer than five eligible players due to fouling out or illness.

“Liz is a really good athlete, and for somebody who's never played basketball, she's got a pretty nice shot,” Huffman pointed out. “I'm so glad that she decided to play this year. She was a huge asset.”

Kruczynski chose to play basketball for her friends Ming, Rian Esper and Kenzlie Currie. She also did it for the chance to play a season with her sisters Emily, a freshman, and Ella, an eighth grader.

“There was only seven of us, and I think that a lot of people don't understand how much of like a family it really was with all the girls,” Kruczynski noted. “We're all extremely close, and the bonds go outside of the sport.”

Last summer, thinking of the possibility of playing basketball for the Comets, she put in a lot of work learning the game.

“I knew it would be my last high school sport together with Kerry, and it's one more sport with my friends and my sisters so I just did it,” Kruczynski said. “I took a lot of positive criticism and help from my siblings that have played for years and my friends as well. My siblings were a big part of the reason I enjoyed basketball so much.”

The Comets seniors leaders credit Currie’s passion, Esper’s hard-working mindset and Poppy Wallace’s dedication for a good portion of Mackinaw City’s success on the hardcourt.

But Ming can’t avoid getting the biggest share of the credit.

“Kerry was a very busy young lady this winter between school and basketball and volleyball,” Huffman acknowledged. “She managed to juggle it all.”

Ming led the team with more than 10 rebounds and three steals per game. She also added two blocks and nearly two assists per contest. She finished her career as the school’s second-leading shot blocker and third on the all-time rebounding list. She also set the school single-season rebounding record at 304 as a junior.

“I knew I was going to miss it and regret in the end if I didn’t play (this season),” Ming admitted. “My parents and God were there to support my decision, and my parents cheered me on every game.”

Ming will continue playing volleyball after graduation. She’s signed a letter of intent to play middle hitter for Kirtland Community College.

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) At left, Mackinaw City’s Kerry-Ann Ming pushes the ball upcourt, and at right, teammate Liz Kruczynski considers her options on offense. (Middle) Comets coach Jake Huffman talks things over with his team. (Ming photo by Billy Mac Photos. Kruczynski photo by Heather Huffman. Team huddle photo courtesy of the Cheboygan Daily Tribune.)