Breslin Bound: 2021-22 Girls Report Week 11
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 14, 2022
We’re another step closer to starting the MHSAA Tournament in girls basketball, and we don’t have many steps left as the regular season draws to a close.
The formula for determining which teams will be placed on which lines was released today. This week’s games will be the last before the top two seeds in every District are determined and those brackets filled in Sunday.
“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. Hudsonville 72, Rockford 62 The Eagles (14-2) finished a regular-season sweep of the Rams (14-2) to gain a two-game advantage in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Red with four league games to play.
2. Frankenmuth 65, Saginaw Swan Valley 37 The Eagles (10-0) ran their league winning streak to 25 and pulled two victories from clinching a repeat in the Tri-Valley Conference 8 as Swan Valley (14-3) fell back into a tie for second.
3. Williamston 37, Haslett 33 The Hornets (12-6) can this week claim a share of the Capital Area Activities Conference Red title after avenging a Jan. 6 loss to the second-place Vikings (11-4), who also have only one loss in the league but more games left to play.
4. Hartland 48, Howell 36 The Eagles (15-1) avenged their only loss of the season to create a tie atop the Kensington Lakes Activities Association West with the Highlanders (12-4).
5. Sparta 57, Belding 33 The Spartans (13-2) pulled ahead by half a game to lead the the O-K Silver, but second-place Belding (13-2) will hope to make up ground in tonight’s rematch.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
Division 1
Dexter (14-2) The Dreadnaughts will finish with at least a share of the Southeastern Conference Red title and likely more with a three-game lead and three league games to play. They moved to the Red after finishing second in the SEC White last season and sharing that league’s championship in 2019-20. After opening with a loss at Salem, Dexter has been nearly unstoppable with its only other defeat to Division 2 contender Redford Westfield Prep (16-1), 66-59 on Jan. 20. The Dreadnaughts have downed Temperance Bedford (11-4) twice and Saline (13-3) once, and see the latter and old rival Chelsea (14-2) during the final week of the regular season.
East Lansing (11-4) The Trojans clinched a share of their seventh-straight CAAC Blue championship, and that doesn’t include what could’ve been during last season’s 16-1 run to the Division 1 Quarterfinals when league standings weren’t kept because of the abbreviated schedule. There are a few more defeats this winter, but they came against Division 2 powers Detroit Edison (7-2) and Portland (15-1) and also-Division 1 contenders Parma Western (15-1) and Haslett (11-4). The Trojans have handed pairs of losses to DeWitt (11-3) and Holt (11-4) with wins over Williamston (12-6) and Muskegon (10-5) also helping push them into the No. 3 spot in Division 1 MPR.
Division 2
Clawson (14-2) A win tonight over Warren Woods-Tower will lock up a share of the Macomb Area Conference Silver title after Clawson won it outright the last two seasons. The Trojans showed how much difference a few weeks can make, falling to league co-leader St. Clair Shores South Lake (15-3) by 22 on Jan. 21 but winning the rematch 53-51 last Tuesday. The team’s only other loss was to Division 3 contender Madison Heights Bishop Foley (12-1), and Clawson has a pair of victories of Madison Heights Lamphere (11-5) and close one over a league champ in New Haven (11-4).
Sault Ste. Marie (13-4) The Blue Devils are likely to finish second to rival St. Ignace in the Straits Area Conference, but other intriguing possibilities are ahead for a team that’s tested against the best of the Upper Peninsula with some solid downstate games in the memory bank as well. Sault Ste. Marie split the season series with the Saints (14-2) and is 6-0 against Big North Conference opponents with a win over league leader Petoskey (10-6) and two apiece against second-place Alpena (10-7) and Gaylord (10-6). The Blue Devils also have defeated Great Northern Conference leader Marquette, with other losses to Division 1 DeWitt (11-3) and Muskegon Mona Shores (14-2).
Division 3
St. Ignace (14-2) The Saints are 11-0 during calendar year 2022, avenging an early 22-point loss to Sault Ste. Marie with a 47-36 win Feb. 4 to move into first alone in the Straits Area Conference after finishing league runner-up last winter. Always one to schedule tough, St. Ignace’s only other defeat came to Division 1 Port Huron (11-6), and the Saints are up to No. 3 in Division 3 MPR thanks in part to wins over Mackinaw City (16-1), Pickford (12-2) twice, Engadine (10-5) and Gaylord. Only Pickford and Gaylord have come within single digits since the new year began.
Schoolcraft (14-1) After falling to Division 4 contender Plymouth Christian Academy in the season opener, Schoolcraft is unbeaten and rarely challenged. A five-point win over Vicksburg (10-6) on Dec. 7 is the last time the Eagles have played a single-digit game, and that’s included pairs of matchups with Kalamazoo Christian (13-4) and Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep (11-6). They defeated both last week on the way to clinching the Southwestern Athletic Conference Valley title outright and moving into No. 5 in Division 3 MPR. A Jan. 25 win over Buchanan (14-3) also is a booster for a team that finished second in its league a year ago but surged all the way to the Quarterfinals.
Division 4
Fowler (13-2) This winter has worked out almost as well as the reigning Division 4 champion could have wanted, save for its games against one opponent – Portland St. Patrick, which has won both regular-season meetings to all but lock up the Central Michigan Athletic Conference title. But the Eagles should get another opportunity against the Shamrocks in the District, and they have plenty to boast with wins over Saginaw Nouvel (12-3), Plymouth Christian (14-3) and Stockbridge (12-5) and a nice test this week against reigning Division 2 champion Portland (15-1). They also have all-state sisters Mia and Emma Riley still leading the way after scoring 34 of the team’s 54 points in last season’s Final.
Saginaw Nouvel (12-3) A 1-3 start against some tough competition no doubt vaulted Nouvel into its 11-game winning streak that has the Panthers a half-game ahead of the field in the TVC 10 and No. 8 in Division 4 MPR. Nouvel avenged its lone league loss, in December in overtime to Standish-Sterling (13-3), with a 55-33 victory Feb. 1. The Panthers also have wins over Hemlock (12-3), Saginaw Valley Lutheran (10-6), and Midland Bullock Creek (10-6) twice. Nouvel had finished second to Standish in the TVC 10 a year ago before reaching the Division 4 Quarterfinals.
Can't-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – Midland Dow (15-1) at Flushing (15-2) – This is a rematch of a 2021 Division 1 Regional Final, won by Dow by 10 as the Chargers eventually reached the Semifinals at Breslin Center.
Thursday – Hart (14-2) at Montague (13-3) – Hart won the first meeting 37-36 on Jan. 11 and can clinch a share of the West Michigan Conference title, but a Montague victory would set up the likely possibility of a shared championship.
Thursday – McBain (15-2) at Lake City (16-1) – As long as both win their Tuesday games, this will be a winner-take-all for the Highland Conference championship and with Lake City having won the first meeting 44-42 on Jan. 18.
Thursday – Harbor Springs (16-1) at Elk Rapids (14-2) – Elk Rapids has a half-game lead on Harbor Springs in the Lake Michigan Conference, but also must go through third-place Traverse City St. Francis on Tuesday.
Thursday – Detroit Edison (7-2) at Ypsilanti Arbor Prep (13-1) – This was previously scheduled for last week but would be one of the biggest games statewide no matter when it would be played.
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PHOTO Frankenmuth’s Clare Conzelmann (10) moves the ball around the arc during last week’s win over Saginaw Swan Valley. (Photo by Terry Lyons.)
Jenna Maki Show Opens Ishpeming's Breslin Run to Rave Reviews
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 21, 2024
EAST LANSING — It was the Jenna Maki Show in the first Division 4 Semifinal at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center on Thursday.
The Ishpeming senior put on quite a display, scoring a game-high 30 points for the Hematites in a 75-40 defeat of Fowler.
For most of the game Maki was keeping scoring pace with the Eagles by herself. She had 22 points at halftime to Fowler’s 19, and 29 points at the end of three quarters to Fowler’s 27.
The 5-foot-10 guard sat for most of the fourth quarter, finishing 11 of 22 from the field and 7 of 11 from the free-throw line.
“Obviously watching film and breaking down what they do as a defense and their whole game, we all did that together as a team,” Maki said. “I just tried to play as hard as a I could to break through.”
Maki eclipsed 1,000 career points earlier in the year, and with her last point Thursday became the school’s all-time leading scorer. Ishpeming head coach Ryan Reichel credited her with making a major transformation before the season started – one that has helped Ishpeming advance to a championship game for the first time.
“She changed as a player,” Reichel said. “She went from a me player to a we player over this past summer. We’re not in this position without her change as an athlete.
“She started on varsity all four years, and we’ve often had to look to her to do everything. She went from wanting to score 1,000 points to wanting to play in the Breslin Center.”
Fowler has been to the Semifinals five straight seasons and has played several great players at Breslin Center. But head coach Nathan Goerge admitted Maki stood out.
“(Maki) is a special player, and we knew it from watching film,” Goerge said. “We had a difficult time containing her. Our help defense struggled a little bit. When you go up against someone like that, it’s usually a recipe for disaster.”
In addition, Ishpeming’s full-court pressure defense wreaked havoc all game on Fowler, forcing the Eagles into 34 turnovers.
“When you only get one day (between Quarterfinals and Semifinals), it’s really hard to mimic the chaos we provide,” Reichel said.
Sophomore Jenessa Eagle flanked Maki by scoring 14 points for Ishpeming (27-1) which will try and complete its dream season in the championship game at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Ishpeming hadn’t won a Regional title since 1974 before this run, and Reichel said his team has tried to pay tribute to that 1974 team in several ways.
Reichel said those players weren’t awarded a trophy from administrators back in 1974, so members of that team helped accept the trophy when this year’s squad won its Regional last week.
“They were able to get pictures with this team and kind of relive that journey that they deserved 50 years ago,” Reichel said. “They deserved that more than anybody. Now, they are living through our kids. They are ingrained on this team and are a part of this with us.”
Despite Fowler playing its fifth-straight Semifinal and Ishpeming appearing in its first since 1974, Ishpeming certainly didn’t show signs of jitters from the opening tip, jumping out to a 16-4 lead midway through the first quarter.
Ishpeming eventually held a 23-6 lead when the quarter was over, making 10 of its 20 shots from the field and forcing 11 Fowler turnovers over the first eight minutes.
The Hematites continued to grow the lead during the second quarter, taking a 42-17 lead with 51 seconds remaining until halftime.
PHOTOS (Top) Ishpeming’s Jenna Maki (1) puts up a shot over the outstretched arm of Fowler’s Sage Myers. (Middle) Mya Hemmer (14) finishes a break for the Hematites. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)