2005 Miss Basketball DeHaan Cherishing Newest Title: 1st-Time Mom

By Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com

July 25, 2022

JENISON – Allyssa DeHaan-Clark remains one of the greatest shot blockers in national high school and college basketball history.

Recently, the former Grandville High School and Michigan State University standout became a  mother for the first time.

DeHaan-Clark, and her husband Aaron, adopted a baby girl last September.

Bradley Noelle Clark was born on Sept. 29, 2021, at 36 weeks.

When the Clarks found out about the impending delivery, they drove straight to the hospital from their vacation in Tennessee to meet her. They took her home a few days later.

“Parenthood is awesome, hard, wonderful and beautiful,” DeHaan-Clark said. “She’s 9½ months old, and she just lost her first tooth and is starting to crawl. She says, ‘Da, Da’ a lot, even though I’m with her most of the time during the day.”

DeHaan-Clark, who turned 34 last month, married in 2012. She and her husband had aspirations to raise a family.

Unfortunately, the road to parenthood was more difficult than they envisioned.

“We tried to get pregnant for six years,” DeHaan-Clark said. “We went through a lot of testing and different fertility procedures, but nothing took. We never had one positive pregnancy test.”

Although disappointed and frustrated, the Clarks pursued another avenue.

“Adoption was always in the back of our mind, and it came to a point where I didn’t know what to do,” DeHaan-Clark said. “One night we prayed to God for clarity and wisdom and just some direction. He answered that prayer the next morning with a text message, and that put us on a fast track to adoption.”

Grandville basketballThe Clarks went through the application process last June. Four months later, Bradley was born. She officially became a Clark in May.

“It was awesome for God to answer that prayer so quickly,” DeHaan-Clark said. “After six years of struggle, she was meant to be in our family. We love her so much and adore her to pieces.

“She’s loved by so many, and we are very thankful that the birth family chose us. After all that pain and suffering, God made something beautiful through that.”

DeHaan-Clark was a four-year towering presence at Grandville. As a junior in 2004, she set the MHSAA record for blocks in a single season with 236 and averaged nearly a triple-double (27 points, 13 rebounds and 9.5 blocks per game).

As a senior, she helped lead the Bulldogs to a 25-2 record and their first Class A Semifinal appearance. She was named the 2005 Miss Basketball Award winner by the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan.

DeHaan-Clark grew six inches during middle school and entered her high school freshman year at 6-foot-6. She was 6-9 as a senior before taking her talents to East Lansing.

“Middle school was tough for everyone, but it was extremely tough for me,” DeHaan-Clark said. “I was entering a new school system, and I had just started playing basketball a year or two before that and had a huge growth spurt. Learning how to be coordinated and play the game took a while.”

DeHaan-Clark was a part of three consecutive Ottawa-Kent Conference Red championship teams. The Bulldogs won District and Regional titles in 2005 before defeating previously-unbeaten Benton Harbor in a Class A Quarterfinal. Grandville’s run ended with an overtime loss to Southfield-Lathrup in the Semifinal at Breslin Center.

“My senior year was the best,” DeHaan-Clark said. “It was so much fun with the championships and all the wins. Playing with the same girls for four years and then finally having a successful team was amazing.”

DeHaan-Clark made the MHSAA’s single-season scoring list as a senior with 710 points, having averaged 26.3 per game that fall. She also finished with 718 career blocks, setting an MHSAA record later broken by Kalamazoo Central’s Asia Robeson (723) in 2014. Still, DeHaan-Clark remains seventh all-time nationally for career blocks, with Robeson sixth on the list.

DeHaan-Clark arrived at Michigan State with high aspirations.

“I had big goals of playing in the Olympics and playing professionally, but obviously those didn’t come to fruition,” she said. “I learned to dream big, so I set big goals from the beginning.”

DeHaan-Clark emerged as a dominating shot blocker for the Spartans, and was Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2006-07 as she set the conference record with 145 blocks.

As a sophomore she re-established the Big Ten record for single-season blocks with 150. She was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year as a senior in 2009-10.

She ended her career as Michigan State’s all-time blocks leader with 503 – with that total also second in Division I history at that time and now third on the NCAA DI list – to go with career averages of 12.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.

“It was a big transition from high school to college, but I wanted to be a contributor,” DeHaan-Clark said. “I had amazing coaches and teammates, and my freshman year turned out better than I thought it would.

“My big goal was to be a key defensive player and break as many records as I could with blocked shots because of my height.”

In 2009, DeHaan-Clark was the catalyst in Michigan State’s run to the Sweet 16. The Spartans upset top-ranked Duke in the second round before losing to Iowa State, 69-68.

But DeHaan-Clark suffered a back injury during the Big Ten Tournament that winter which ultimately ended her hopes of playing beyond college.

“I never recovered from that, so I didn’t enter the WNBA draft,” DeHaan-Clark said. “I ended up having back surgery and finished my remaining classes before graduating.”

DeHaan-Clark returned home and worked in the medical field while also helping lead a sports ministry program at Grand Valley State University.

Grandville basketballShe received an intriguing opportunity to continue playing college sports as part of the Lakers volleyball program.

“I needed to take more graduate classes, and I had one more season of college eligibility other than basketball,” she said. “My skill level wasn’t to the level of basketball, but it was still really fun to play and compete and be a part of a team because those are things I still love doing today.”

DeHaan-Clark changed her focus from medicine to continuing her work in sports ministry, as well as for a non-profit organization.

She also got her real estate license in 2015, and she and her husband began flipping houses on the side.

“It brings me a lot of joy to cast a vision of what a home could look like after a lot of blood, sweat and tears,” she said. “I love that kind of work.”

The projects allowed the Clarks to spend meaningful time together.

“It was a lot of nights and weekends, and we just had to learn things as we went,” DeHaan-Clark said. “The one thing we learned is we cannot do drywall. It’s not our skill set, so in order to save our marriage and our relationship we would hire it out.

“We did a lot of it ourselves, and we like seeing the transformation from old to new. It’s really fun, and hopefully we can do it again.”

The Clarks currently reside in Jenison and have been embraced by their community and friends. They live on a lake, enjoying water sports in their free time. Allyssa was inducted into the Grandville High School Athletic Hall of Fame in March.

As for the future, DeHaan-Clark said nothing is set in stone.

“We take it one day at a time,” she said. “I still have my real estate license, so we’re hoping to renovate and invest. I’m sure in the future there will be more kids added to the Clark clan, but right now we’re very happy and content with just one.”

2021-22 Made in Michigan

July 21: Championship Memories Still Resonate with St. Thomas Star Lillard - Read
July 14:
Portage Central Champ Rolls to Vanderbilt, Writing Next Chapter in Alabama - Read
July 12: Coaching Couple Passing On Knowledge, Providing Opportunities for Frankfort Wrestlers - Read
June 30: Hrynewich's Star Continuing to Rise with Olympic, Pro Sports Arrivals - Read

PHOTOS (Top) At left, Allyssa DeHaan puts up a shot during Grandville’s 2005 Class A Semifinal against Southfield-Lathrup. At right, the Clark family including Allyssa, husband Aaron Clark and daughter Bradley. (Middle) DeHaan looks for an open teammate while playing her high school finale at her future college home, the Breslin Center. (Below) The Clarks enjoy a moment together. (Basketball photos from MHSAA archives; Clark photos courtesy of Allyssa DeHaan-Clark.)

Blissfield Edges Bishop Foley to Earn Long-Awaited Title Game Return

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

March 16, 2023

EAST LANSING – The Blissfield girls basketball program from this point on hopes it’s a lot sooner than 2073 before it returns to a state championship game.

But for the time being, the Royals will enjoy returning after a 50-year absence.

For the first time since finishing as Class C runner-up in 1973, Blissfield will play for a Finals championship after defeating Madison Heights Bishop Foley, 45-41, in a Division 3 Semifinal on Thursday. 

“It was a typical game for us,” Blissfield head coach Ryan Gilbert said. “A gritty win. We gutted it out. I thought we made plays when we had to and played our best when we needed to play our best.” 

The difference in the game was Blissfield’s frontcourt, where seniors Sarah Bettis and Julia White proved too much for Bishop Foley to overcome. 

White finished with 11 points and seven rebounds, while Bettis had eight rebounds to help Blissfield earn a 34-21 advantage on the boards.

The Royals (27-1) had 14 offensive rebounds to just three for Bishop Foley. 

“That was our thought going in,” Gilbert said. “We wanted to get it inside early and try to get them in foul trouble. We finished some, we missed some. But we got a lot of rebounds. We did a great job on the glass.”

The Royals' Avery Collins (4) looks for an open teammate.Junior Avery Collins scored 10 points, and freshman Leigh Wyman had nine to flank White for Blissfield. 

Collins said many community members have been telling her for years that this season was the time for the team to get to East Lansing, given the nucleus of the team and what grades they were going to be in. 

Now, that vision has been fulfilled. Blissfield will face  Hemlock in Saturday's Division 3 Final at 4 p.m.

“I believed in us as soon as it started,” Collins said. “I believed in us.”

Junior Ryan Moorer scored 11 points, senior Abby Pasinos had 10 and senior Alyssa Samartino added nine points for Bishop Foley (21-7), which advanced to the Semifinals for a second-straight year. 

“To make it two years in a row is tough,” Bishop Foley head coach Colleen Szakacs said. “These girls battle day in and day out, especially in this game. We battled back no matter what and made it a down-to-the-wire, exciting game. Unfortunately, there were a couple of plays we could have done better here and there. But hats off to Blissfield and how well they performed.”

Blissfield entered giving up 26.8 points per game, while Bishop Foley had given up 33 points a contest while playing a scheduled filled with Division 1 and Division 2 schools. 

But before the fourth quarter was two minutes old, each team had given up more points than their average. 

Blissfield held a 44-38 lead with 27.9 seconds remaining, but Bishop Foley cut the deficit to 44-41 with 17.2 seconds left on a 3-pointer by Pasinos. 

The Ventures then got the ball back on a turnover, but after a timeout, missed a 3-pointer with under 10 seconds remaining that was rebounded by Wyman. 

Following a foul with 8.1 seconds left, Wyman hit a free throw to give Blissfield a 45-41 lead. 

A last-second 3-point attempt by Bishop Foley missed, essentially ending the game. 

Trailing 30-25 going into the fourth quarter, Bishop Foley cut the Blissfield lead to two points on three occasions during the first four minutes of the period. 

However, Bishop Foley couldn’t get over the hump and tie the game, and Blissfield took a 41-35 lead with 1:47 remaining after a putback by sophomore Peyton Tennant.

Bishop Foley cut its deficit to 41-38 with 1:32 remaining after a 3-point play by Samartino. 

Blissfield had an answer, taking a 43-38 lead with 51.3 seconds remaining on a layup by Wyman and then going up 44-38 with 27.9 seconds to go on a free throw by Collins.

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Blissfield's Abrie Louden (3) gets a hand up on a Madison Heights Bishop Foley shot during Thursday's first Semifinal at Breslin Center. (Middle) The Royals' Avery Collins (4) looks for an open teammate.