Breslin Bound: Girls District Preview
February 29, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The girls basketball season starts over for every MHSAA team today as 128 Districts tip off all over the state.
Below is a look at four teams from each class that look good to be in the hunt when the final 16 converge on East Lansing in three weeks. Follow all of the scores and brackets in real time at MHSAA.com, and click for a glance at every team with three or fewer losses heading into the postseason.
Class A
Detroit Martin Luther King (17-1) – The Crusaders are annually in this conversation and defeated reigning champion Bloomfield Hills Marian last week to add a little more to the momentum. The only loss was in December to Detroit Renaissance, and King came back to beat Renaissance 68-66 in the Detroit Public School League Tournament championship game. King made the Class A Semifinals last season before falling the Marian.
Flushing (18-2) – It’s been a strong follow-up to last season’s 24-1 finish. After opening this season with losses to Saginaw Heritage and Midland Dow, Flushing hasn’t experienced defeat again – but has celebrated some significant victories including over Renaissance, Flint Carman-Ainsworth (15-5) and Class C Flint Hamady (18-1).
Saginaw Heritage (19-1) – The Hawks looked like strong favorites before losing sophomore forward Jaela Richardson to a season-ending knee injury two weeks ago, and then taking their only loss to Midland Dow right after. But Heritage has bounced back with four straight wins including over Carman-Ainsworth last week and still has plenty of talent and the experience of beating Flushing, Country Day, Dow (17-3) and making last season’s run to the Class A Semifinals.
Southfield Lathrup (17-3) – A loss or two more than the other favorites doesn’t mean much, considering the defeats came to Bay City John Glenn, Grand Rapids Catholic Central and Detroit Country Day, all mentioned among Class B favorites below. The Chargers have 10 wins against teams with at least 13 victories, and finished 21-2 last season losing to Marian during the Regional.
Class B
Bay City John Glenn (19-1) – Aside from a three-point loss to Ypsilanti Arbor Prep on Feb. 6, John Glenn has been unstoppable with only two more games in single digits (wins over Southfield Lathrup and Class C Saginaw Nouvel). Most of the Bobcats' toughest games came nonleague at the beginning of the year, but they finished up last week with Class A Saginaw Arthur Hill and a 13-point win over Nouvel (after beating the Panthers by only four Dec. 16).
Detroit Country Day (18-1) – The Yellowjackets have beaten their usual slate of strong teams including Arbor Prep, Haslett, Detroit Renaissance, Midland Dow and Marysville. The only loss was to Saginaw Heritage on Dec. 29, and the reigning Class B champions bounced back for a perfect 2016 so far.
Grand Rapids Catholic Central (17-2) – The Cougars closed the regular season by avenging an earlier loss to Grand Rapids South Christian, earning a shared Ottawa-Kent Conference Gold championship with the Sailors. GRCC also fell to Class A Grand Rapids Christian, but has 10 wins over Class A schools, including 69-62 over Southfield-Lathrup on Dec. 12.
Marshall (19-1) – One more win would give Marshall its second straight and third in four seasons with at least 20 victories, and the slate was anything but easy. After falling to Williamston (17-3) in their opener, the Redhawks rattled off 11 wins against teams with 10 or more victories, including Otsego (17-3), Battle Creek Harper Creek (15-5) twice and Class A Jackson Northwest (18-2) also twice to win a strong Interstate 8 Athletic Conference.
Class C
Calumet (20-0) – The reigning Class C champion has done two better, at least during the regular season, finishing undefeated by sweeping Class B Houghton – which beat Calumet twice a year ago. Total, the Copper Kings have 12 wins against teams with at least 10 victories, and only Houghton and Hancock (16-4) have come within single digits of catching them. Calumet starts District play tonight against Hancock on Hancock’s home floor.
Gobles (20-0) – The Tigers haven’t lost a regular-season game since Feb. 21, 2013, and made the Class C Semifinals in 2014 thanks in part to a strong group of now-seniors looking to return next month in their final try. Among the most impressive wins this fall were a sweep of Saugatuck (16-4) and a 10-point win over Class B Otsego.
Napoleon (20-0) – The Pirates took another step after last season’s 13-win and District title season by running through a Cascades Conference that had three more teams win at least 12 games. Napoleon hasn’t had a single-digit game since beating Manchester in overtime Dec. 15, and also picked up a nice win last week over Class B Brooklyn Columbia Central (17-3).
Ypsilanti Arbor Prep (18-2) – Arbor Prep gets the slight edge on Traverse City St. Francis as the only team not undefeated to be mentioned here because of a slightly tougher schedule (although the Gladiators’ was quite strong as well). Arbor Prep’s only losses were to Class A Ann Arbor Huron (15-4) and Country Day (18-1). And the Gators have six wins over Class A teams including Marian, plus beat Bay City John Glenn 50-47 on Feb. 6.
Class D
Bark River-Harris (19-1) – The Broncos have followed up last season’s 18-2 regular-season finish by going one win better, and now hope to build on that District title from a year ago. The only loss came to Munising – the team that eliminated Bark River-Harris in last season’s Regional Semifinal – and only two weeks ago. But the Broncos do have seven wins over teams with at least 11 victories, including beating Stephenson (18-2) in their only meeting and Crystal Falls Forest Park (16-4) twice.
Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart (18-1) – The Irish are seeking their second Class D championship in three seasons and have one of the top post players regardless of class in Averi Gamble. Sacred Heart plays Big Rapids Crossroads Academy (18-1) on Wednesday, but beat Crossroads 54-24 on Jan. 4 and owns impressive wins over Class C Beaverton, Morley Stanwood and Carson City-Crystal with the only loss to Saginaw Nouvel.
Newberry (19-1) – The Indians already are six wins better than last season, when they went out of the tournament in their first District game. Newberry also is on one of the strongest surges in the state thanks in large part to a 54-50 win over Class C contender St. Ignace on Feb. 18 that gave the Indians the Straits Area Conference title to go with an outright championship in the Eastern Upper Peninsula Conference. Newberry also swept Class B Sault Ste. Marie (15-5).
Pittsford (20-0) – After suffering its only loss last season, and in overtime, to St. Ignace in the Class D Final, Pittsford is the likely favorite after another dominating run. While the Wildcats played mostly Class D teams over a 16-game league schedule in the Southern Central Athletic Association, they also posted solid wins over Class A Belleville and Class C Manchester – and had only one game in single digits, a 71-62 win over Class C Grass Lake on Dec. 8.
PHOTO: Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart’s Averi Gamble, here attempting a free throw, will lead one of the top teams in Class D into the tournament for the final time. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Edison Becomes Champion Again to Close 2021-22 Girls Hoops Season
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
March 19, 2022
EAST LANSING – Detroit Edison girls basketball is back on top.
After having their past two seasons ended without a postseason loss, the Pioneers took back their throne Saturday night with a 73-55 Division 2 Final win against Grand Rapids West Catholic at the Breslin Center.
“Winning a state championship, it means everything to me,” Edison senior Ruby Whitehorn said. “Not getting it the last couple years really has been our motivation to get it this year. All our previous teammates, that’s why it’s so important to me, because they didn’t get the chance to do it.”
The title was the fourth for the Edison program, which won three straight from 2017-19 – the first two coming in Class C and the third in Division 2.
The tournament was canceled midway through in 2020 because of COVID-19, and Edison was forced to pull out of the 2021 tournament, also because of COVID-19. Both of those seasons, Edison was at least among the title favorites.
When given the opportunity to finish it on the court again, the Pioneers took full advantage.
Whitehorn, this season’s Miss Basketball Award winner and a Clemson signee, led the way, scoring 28 points and grabbing nine rebounds. DePaul signee Madisen Wardell added 17 points and 10 rebounds.
The only two seniors on the Edison roster came up biggest at the end of the third quarter and into the fourth, when the Pioneers turned a tight game into a comfortable victory.
“I would say it was our defense and talking on defense that always brings us back in the game,” Wardell said. “We weren’t down by much, but I know if we talk on defense, it’ll bring us back.”
The defense was led by Dakota Alston, who switched onto West Catholic star Abbey Kimball in the second half. Kimball, a Michigan State signee, scored 26 points in the game, but just seven during the second half, thanks in large part to the move to switch the bigger Alston onto her.
“I just made sure I didn’t let her have the ball,” said Alston, who added 10 points. “Coach (Monique) Brown said the best way to stop a good scorer is to make sure she doesn’t get the ball.”
Kimball noticed the change, and gave credit to Edison (19-3) for making things more difficult for her over the final 16 minutes.
“The first half, obviously I hit shots, got open and my teammates found me,” Kimball said. “In the second half they started to do more face guarding throughout the whole court. That was different. Kudos to them, they had really great defense and it’s tough to score on them regardless.”
The game was back and forth into the third quarter, and West Catholic (25-2) had a 36-35 lead about midway through it.
But with Whitehorn picking up her third foul and getting a quick breather, the Pioneers not only held on, but grabbed a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, thanks to some free throws and a putback by Wardell.
“That was a competitive game,” West Catholic coach Jill VanderEnde said. “I thought we did a really nice job with our gameplan, really attacking Detroit Edison, and showing them that we wanted to come and we wanted to show them our best game. I thought we started out the game very physical and aggressive. Throughout the game we had that effort and tried to stay positive, which was really (a proud moment) for me.”
When Whitehorn came back, she took over, with several tough drives to the basket, eventually putting her team up 11 points in the fourth.
“We tried to contain her in a couple different ways with a couple different strategic defenses,” VanderEnde said. “And she’s just so athletic, she just maneuvered all around what we were trying to do strategically.”
Whitehorn is the fourth straight Miss Basketball to come from Edison, following Damiya Hageman, Gabrielle Elliott and Rickea Jackson. What she displayed Saturday was what Edison coach Monique Brown called a combination of all her predecessors, as she also added four assists and three steals to the stat sheet.
“I think Ruby, the last four years, she was able to, first of all, learn from each and every one of those players,” Brown said. “She has something that each one of those players were good at – she has a piece of all of those. She can pass the ball, she can score the ball, she plays good defense, she’s a good slasher. Gabrielle was a good slasher, Rickea Jackson could score, Damiya Hageman can pass the ball. She’s blended all of those three young ladies, and she can do a lot of different things on the court to help us be who we are.”
Devin Hageman had eight points and eight assists for Edison. Cadence Dykstra had nine points for West Catholic, and Emma Tuttle grabbed nine rebounds.
PHOTOS (Top) Detroit Edison celebrates Saturday’s final championship after clinching in Division 2. (Middle) Edison’s Ruby Whitehorn beats a pair of defenders to the basket for a layup. (Below) Dakota Alston (4) launches a pass over West Catholic’s Abbey Kimball. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)