1,000-Point Pair Pacing Another John Glenn Contender
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
March 3, 2021
Abi Tarrant knew how close Carly McCrum was to 1,000 career points and wanted to make sure her Bay City John Glenn teammate’s accomplishment was celebrated.
On Feb. 17, when McCrum achieved the milestone in a victory against Alma, the John Glenn fans in attendance cheered the moment while waving homemade signs, which they had been carrying thanks in large part to an effort spearheaded by Tarrant.
“Last year, I broke the (school career) rebound record, and all of the student section, everybody made posters, and it was a huge moment for me,” Tarrant said. “I knew she was getting her 1,000 points that week, so I wanted her to have the same type of environment. Even though the student section wasn’t there, she could still have that kind of energy from the crowd when she hit it.”
It was only after the celebration for McCrum subsided that Tarrant realized just how close she was to the same milestone: 16 points.
“I knew exactly where she was because I had been planning the poster thing,” Tarrant said. “(One thousand points) kind of snuck up on me. I didn’t know I was that close to her. But in the game it happened, I knew.”
Tarrant achieved her own milestone the next time out, a John Glenn victory on Feb. 19 against Birch Run, giving the Bobcats a pair of 1,000-point scorers in the same class.
McCrum now sits at 1,053 career points and Tarrant has 1,046 as they have led the Bobcats to a 7-1 start to the season and a top-five ranking in The Associated Press Division 2 poll. Their lone loss came in double overtime against Frankenmuth, another top-five team.
“I just thought it was a really cool experience,” McCrum said. “We’ve both been on varsity since our freshmen year, and we’ve played with each other on the same travel team, so it was very cool that we hit it in the same week. We both feel like this team is really special, and our goal is to win a state championship.”
Tarrant and McCrum became the seventh and eighth players in school history to hit the 1,000-point mark. It’s the second time John Glenn has had classmates reach the milestone, joining 2016 graduates Jenai LaPorte (1,547 points) and Cassidy Boensch (1,403). Boensch did play her first two seasons at Au Gres-Sims.
“I’ve been really spoiled,” John Glenn coach Cory Snider said. “Three of those 1,000-point scorers (LaPorte, Boensch and 2017 graduate Kalle Martinez) were all on the same team. The five kids I’ve had (reach 1,000 points) have all been on the same teams, so that’s a really unique situation. You don’t hear of that a whole lot. They make me look way smarter than I am.”
McCrum and Tarrant are both four-year varsity players for Snider, and for McCrum, it was clear early on that she would become another of the school’s great scorers. She was the team’s leading scorer during her freshman (14 points per game) and sophomore (14.2) seasons.
“Carly has been the steady, calm influence on our team for four years,” Snider said. “It’s pretty incredible to be able to come in as a freshman and give us (14.2) points per game when she was (the focus) on everybody’s scouting report her freshman year.”
McCrum said it was a role she was comfortable with, as she had taken it on through middle school as a travel player.
“It wasn’t something really new for me,” said McCrum, a 5-foot-10 guard who has signed with Ferris State. “Probably my freshman year, I did feel some pressure and it got in my head, but it’s gotten a lot better, and I’ve gotten more comfortable with that.”
While she’s thrived in that role, and has established herself as a strong outside shooter, McCrum would rather be the one setting up teammates.
“She has such a high basketball IQ,” Snider said. “She’s more of a true playmaker than a natural scorer. She has a super high basketball IQ and loves to find the open player. She enjoys making an assist as much as she enjoys scoring a basket.”
While McCrum was filling up the scoresheet early on, Tarrant had to find a different way to make an impact for the Bobcats. Despite her size – she's 5-7 now – that wound up being rebounding.
“Freshman year, I was just kind of in the right place at the right time, and I think that’s a lot of it,” said Tarrant, who is committed to Hope College. “A lot of those are rebounds that the posts don’t want to get, like running out of bounds. I would sneak up behind people to get them – I just always find myself somewhere near it. My dad told me that if you’re not going to score, then you have to do something. I guess I just picked that.”
Tarrant has done that better than anyone in school history, racking up 732 career rebounds.
“She just played with such a high motor, and she had such a desire to be really good,” Snider said. “Her growth as a player has been incredible from her freshman year to now as a senior. It’s more growth than I’ve seen from any other player. It’s unbelievable.”
Tarrant’s scoring picked up in a big way a year ago, as she averaged 19.4 points per game, setting a junior-year record for points at John Glenn.
“I think we molded more as a team,” Tarrant said. “We started playing a lot better together. At first, I think it was hard. Freshman year, Carly was the best player through and through, then sophomore year I stepped up my game a little bit. Junior year, we figured out how our games complement each other. This year, we’re playing amazing together.”
With a strong supporting cast surrounding them, McCrum and Tarrant hope to take John Glenn back to the heights it reached not long ago. The Bobcats were a Class B semifinalist in 2016 but have had their season ended by Freeland every year since, including in the District Final the past three seasons.
But they feel this could be the year they add some team trophies to the individual successes they’ve been able to rack up.
“It would mean a lot,” McCrum said. “Abi and I have been on the same team since freshman year. Some of the girls, we have been together since sophomore year. We’ve all been together for a long time. First of all, we want to win Districts. We’ve lost three years in a row to Freeland. I think it would be so awesome. We’ve all been together for so long, and we’ve always talked about going so far.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Bay City John Glenn’s Abi Tarrant, left, and Carly McCrum make strong moves to the hoop against Alma this season. (Middle) Tarrant focuses for a free throw. (Below) McCrum maintains possession against Freeland. (Photos by Jodi Stopyak.)
Breslin Bound: 2023-24 Girls Report Week 9
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 5, 2024
No fewer than 12 girls basketball league championships could be decided on the spot or eventually by what takes place on courts across the state this week.
With just under a month remaining this regular season, title time has begun. And even then, arguably the two most intriguing matchups over the next seven days from a statewide standpioint have nothing to do with league titles – but do involve one MHSAA Finals contender playing in both.
“Breslin Bound” is powered by MI Student Aid and based on results and schedules posted for each school at MHSAA.com.
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Macomb Dakota 53, Grosse Pointe North 43 The Cougars (14-2) set themselves up to clinch the Macomb Area Conference Red title, which they’ve now won outright, and avenged their only league loss of the season after previously falling 50-41 to the Norsemen (11-3).
2. Tecumseh 60, Chelsea 57 Tecumseh (10-3) broke a 17-game losing streak against the Bulldogs (11-4) to take over first place alone in the Southeastern Conference White.
3. Belleville 61, Wayne Memorial 50 The Tigers (13-1) stand alone atop the Kensington Lakes Activities Association East after sending Wayne (10-4) into second place.
4. Byron Center 49, East Grand Rapids 42 Byron Center (11-4) emerged from a jam at the top of the Ottawa-Kent Conference White standings to move a game ahead of East Grand Rapids (9-6) and Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern.
5. Portland St. Patrick 45, Fowler 30 The Shamrocks (12-2) have a one-game lead on Fowler (11-3) and Dansville and avenged a Dec. 14 69-63 loss to the rival Eagles, who made the Division 4 Semifinals last season.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
Belleville (13-1) As noted above, Belleville is in first in the KLAA East thanks to its win last week over Wayne and also after finishing second in the league to Wayne the last three seasons. The Tigers are undefeated in Michigan this winter, with their only loss to Mason (Ohio) on Mason’s homecourt last month. Belleville led into the Wayne win with a 64-44 victory over Detroit Country Day the week before, and has solid victories over Dearborn (10-7) and Romulus (11-3) as well – with a Feb. 23 matchup with Detroit Edison (11-1) one to keep an eye on.
Grand Haven (14-2) The Ottawa-Kent Conference Red has gotten plenty of type this season with Rockford and East Kentwood at the top. But Grand Haven leads another set of contenders (with Holland West Ottawa and Hudsonville) that likely would win several leagues across the state. The Buccaneers have lost only to Rockford and East Kentwood, and have the rematch with Rockford on Tuesday and East Kentwood in the regular-season finale Feb. 23. Victories over West Ottawa (10-4), Spring Lake (11-3) and Traverse City Central (10-3) arguably have been the most notable – but Grand Haven has to be careful Friday with West Ottawa, which is coming off a win over East Kentwood.
DIVISION 2
Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard (16-0) The Irish have won all of their games by at least 12 points this season and can finish a perfect run through the Catholic High School League Central on Tuesday against Farmington Hills Mercy – which FGR defeated by 20 last week. The Irish boasted one of the most impressive starts to 2023-24 with wins over Midland Dow (11-2), Ypsilanti Arbor Prep (12-2), Grand Rapids Catholic Central (10-5) and Lansing Catholic (10-3), with the three over Mercy, Arbor Prep and Lansing Catholic avenging losses from last year’s 19-4 campaign.
Freeland (13-2) The Falcons may be one obstacle away from a major run over the next two months. They are a combined 33-8 over the last two seasons, but their last five losses have come to Frankenmuth (11-2) – including both defeats this winter. Freeland did avenge two losses from last season, to Bay City Western and Chelsea, and can avenge another Feb. 12 at Sanford Meridian. The Falcons also have wins over Alma (11-3) and Essexville Garber (11-5), and would see Frankenmuth a third time in a Regional Semifinal.
DIVISION 3
Harbor Springs (12-2) After finishing 18-5 and third in the Lake Michigan Conference last season, Harbor Springs is tied for first in the LMC with last week’s 48-41 win over co-leader Elk Rapids – which also had ended the Rams’ 2022-23 season. Harbor Springs is enjoying an eight-game winning streak since falling to Elk Rapids in their first meeting this winter, 61-51 on Jan. 9, and the Rams’ only other loss came in mid-December to St. Ignace, 60-54. They’ve avenged their other two losses from last season, to Traverse City St. Francis and Boyne City, and have a nice challenge on the way in reigning Division 4 champion Maple City Glen Lake (11-4) on Feb. 27.
Hemlock (12-2) The reigning Division 3 champion took losses to Division 1 Midland Dow (11-2) and Division 2 Goodrich (15-0) to finish off December, but that’s it during an otherwise strong run that’s also included handing St. Charles (12-1) its only defeat and downing St. Louis (12-3), Garber (11-5) and Standish-Sterling (11-4). The Huskies have clinched a share of the Tri-Valley Conference Blue title and can finish an outright championship run next week. They will get further prep for the postseason against Division 2 Frankenmuth (11-2) on Saturday and Freeland (13-2) on Feb. 27.
DIVISION 4
Baraga (12-3) A 49-37 win over Lake Linden-Hubbell last week left Baraga as the only team without a loss in the overall Copper Mountain Conference standings and also avenged a 48-45 loss to LL-H from Dec. 8. The 2023 Division 4 runner-up’s only other defeats this winter were to Division 2 Negaunee on Dec. 29 and Division 3 Calumet, by just four points, on Jan. 9. They’ve won their six games since falling to the Copper Kings and can make major noise over the next month starting with a matchup at Ewen-Trout Creek (11-2) tonight and then a trip to Ishpeming (14-0) next week.
Maple City Glen Lake (11-4) The reigning Division 4 champion has pushed its lead in the Northwest Conference to two games as it plays for a sixth-straight league title. A pair of wins over Frankfort (10-4) and others over Kingsley (11-5) and Brethren (10-3) stick out, but the losses are impressive too – coming to Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep (11-4), Elk Rapids (13-2), Mason County Central (11-3) and Lake Leelanau St. Mary (11-1). The Kingsley rematch is Wednesday, and Harbor Springs (12-2) comes to Glen Lake on Feb. 27 – with St. Mary part of the same District bracket at Leland next month.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – Detroit Edison (11-1) at West Bloomfield (13-1) – West Bloomfield is the only team to defeat Detroit Edison during the regular season both of the last two, and both teams are coming off Saturday losses to out-of-state opponents but remain unbeaten in Michigan.
Thursday – Detroit Renaissance (14-0) at Detroit Edison (11-1) – Edison is lined up to have one of the most challenging weeks of any team in the state this season, but has prepared for it against top competition all winter.
Friday – Negaunee (15-1) at Ishpeming (14-0) – A 57-53 win by Ishpeming in the first meeting remains Negaunee’s lone defeat as these teams top the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference East.
Friday – Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (15-0) at Jackson Lumen Christi (14-2) – St. Mary’s has a one-game lead on Lumen Christi in the CHSL AA thanks to a 46-18 win in their first meeting.
Friday – Saugatuck (11-1) at Martin (10-2) – The winner will have a one-game lead in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Central with two league games to play. Saugatuck won the first meeting 32-27.
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PHOTOS (Top) Clare defenders surround a Shepherd player heading toward the basket during last week's 46-21 win over the Bluejays. (Middle) Bath applies defensive pressure during its 61-58 win over Springport. (Top photo by High School Sports Scene; middle photo by Click by Christine McCallister.)