Breslin Bound: Girls Quarterfinal Preview
March 16, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Five teams in Tuesday's Quarterfinals have reached the final week of the MHSAA girls basketball season for the first time.
But the celebrations are just getting started.
See below for a glance at all 16 Quarterfinal games to determine which teams advance to this weekend's final rounds at Michigan State University's Breslin Center. All quarters tip off at 7 p.m. unless noted.
Class A
DeWitt (23-1) vs. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central (17-8) at Charlotte
Four seniors starters have guided DeWitt to its first Quarterfinal since 2009 in Class B. Despite having no player taller than 5-foot-10, the Panthers are the tough matchup because of their versatility and balance led by senior guard Claudia Reid (10.3 points, 6.5 assists per game) and senior forward Abby Nakfoor (12 ppg, five rebounds per game). Forest Hills Central has won its first Regional title in its first season under former East Grand Rapids star Kelvin Grady. Senior center Sophia Sanfilipo will stand the tallest in this game at 5-11 and averages 13.1 points and nine rebounds per game.
Hartland (18-6) vs. Saginaw Heritage (21-3) at Flint Carman-Ainsworth
Hartland rebounded from three losses over its final five regular-season games to win its first Regional championship as well. Sophomore forward Lexey Tobel (12.1 ppg) leads five players averaging at least five points per game. Heritage will play in its second Quarterfinal in three seasons to make its first Semifinal since 2002, when it won Class A. The Hawks might be even more balanced than Hartland – six players average at least six points per game, but not score 10.
Bloomfield Hills Marian (23-1) vs. Waterford Kettering (23-1) at St. Clair Shores Lake Shore
The reigning Class A champion, Marian hasn’t lost to an in-state opponent since last season’s Detroit Catholic League Final; its only loss this season was the Chicago Whitney Young by four Jan 17. The Mustangs beat four teams still alive this week. Kettering has won two Regional titles in four seasons and at least 20 games three of the four, and probably couldn’t imagine a more impressive way to break through to the Semifinals for the first time since 2000. Senior forward Lauren Tewes leads five players scoring at least eight points per game, with 10.6 ppg.
Romulus (18-5) vs. Detroit Martin Luther King (23-1) at Dearborn Fordson
The Romulus girls have caught up to the powerhouse boys program with Regional titles the last two seasons, and they did so this time despite falling in three or their final four regular-season games. The team has eight seniors, and guard Jayla Nichols leads at 12.1 ppg. It may be tough to believe, but King hasn’t made the Semifinals since its last title run in 2006. The Crusaders are always in the mix and lost this season only to Marian, by a point, in the regular-season finale. Guard Janae Williams leads a strong group that includes six seniors.
Class B
Benton Harbor (19-5) vs. Flat Rock (21-3) at Eaton Rapids
The Tigers have improved their win total every season of five under coach Lisa Harvey-Gondrezick and are led by her daughters, Miss Basketball finalist and Michigan State University recruit Kalabrya (17.9 points, 8.1 assists per game) and junior forward Kysre (27.5 points, 10.6 rebounds per game). Flat Rock also has a parent/daughters combination with coach Marc Villemure, 6-foot-1 senior guard Paige (14.6 points, 3.8 blocks per game) and 6-1 junior forward Morgan (13.3 points, 6.5 rebounds per game). They helped the team to its first Regional title.
Haslett (20-5) vs. Grand Rapids Catholic Central (23-2) at Wayland
The Vikings have pointed toward this season after most of the same group made it to the Class A Regional Finals last season. Four Haslett girls score in double digits led by senior forward Makenna Ott, who missed nine games through the middle of the season with an injury but brings 13.2 points per game to the lineup – Haslett lost only once with her this winter. GRCC has been surging with 13 straight wins since falling to rival Wayland, which Haslett beat in the Regional Final (and GRCC beat in their second meeting by 22 points). The Cougars have won District titles all three of coach Trevor Hinshaw’s seasons and are returning to the final week for the first time since 2012.
Goodrich (24-1) vs. Manistee (23-1) at Mount Pleasant
Goodrich just missed the Quarterfinals last season but is back for the fifth time in six and after winning back-to-back Class B titles in 2012 and 2013. Senior Tania Davis (19.1 ppg) and junior Alexis Sevillian (15.6 ppg) make up one of the strongest backcourts in the state; Davis was named Miss Basketball on Monday. Manistee is an incredible 45-2 over the last two seasons and in its first Quarterfinal since 1994. It avenged its lone loss, to Traverse City West, in a rematch Feb. 20.
Dearborn Divine Child (20-5) vs. Detroit Country Day (19-4) at Marysville
Subtract three losses to reigning Class A champion Bloomfield Hills Marian, and Divine Child’s record looks even better – Dearborn Heights Robichaud (17-3) was the only postseason opponent of five to come within 15 points of the Falcons, who are led by senior guard Riley Blair (15.5 ppg). Country Day started this season with 11 straight wins before losing four of its next six – but against some of the best teams in Class A and a Class C favorite. The Yellowjackets came back to beat Haslett during the final week of the regular season and haven’t been challenged during the MHSAA tournament as they pursue their first championship since 2009.
Class C
Tawas (21-4) vs. Calumet (21-2) at Petoskey
Tawas is back in the final week for the first time since 2003 and after finishing only 8-11 a year ago. Senior guard Jenna Szostak leads three players scoring in double figures with 19.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Calumet is making its first trip to the Quarterfinals since 1977 and is two losses by a combined 12 points to Class B Houghton from a perfect record. The Copper Kings have won at least 15 games three straight season.
Niles Brandywine (23-1) vs. Laingsburg (25-0) at Comstock Park
Niles Brandywine will play in its fifth Quarterfinal in six seasons, seeking its first Semifinal berth since 2010. The Bobcats are an incredible 138-9 under coach Josh Hood over those six seasons and lost this winter only to Class A Kalamazoo Central. Junior forward Makenna Hartline is the leading scorer at 14.4 ppg. Laingsburg has made its first Quarterfinal with a balanced approach – only junior guard Lindsey Smith (11.2) averages more than eight points per game. The Wolfpack beat four teams this postseason that had won at least 17 games.
Homer (21-4) vs. Ypsilanti Arbor Prep (21-3) at Michigan Center
Homer finished runner-up in the Big 8 Conference and continued into its first Quarterfinal appearance since 1982 – and despite finishing only 10-11 a year ago. Arbor Prep will play in its second straight Quarterfinal with a chance to win 22 games for the second straight as well despite a schedule loaded with Class A and B teams including three still playing this week. The team has only three seniors, but all three start. Junior guard Nastassja Chambers leads, scoring 15.3 points per game.
Saginaw Nouvel (19-6) vs. Flint Hamady (23-1) at Davison
Nouvel, the reigning Class C champion, has faced plenty of challenging opponents in all four classes this season, although Hamady should be one of the toughest with a combined record of 47-2 over the last two seasons. Junior guard Jalisha Terry has plenty of experience on the winning side in her third season on varsity, while Nouvel junior guard Laurel Jacqmain scores 18.9 points per game and also was the Cougars’ leading scorer in last season’s MHSAA Final.
Class D
St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran (21-1) vs. Pittsford (24-0) at Battle Creek Harper Creek
Michigan Lutheran has won an incredible 19 straight league titles and six District crowns in seven seasons, but added their first Regional title since 2004 last week. The lone loss was early to Frankfort, also a quarterfinalist, and senior guard Hailey Maas leads three scorers averaging double figures at 14.5 ppg. Pittsford has been the lone undefeated Class D team since midseason and will be making its first Quarterfinal appearance – but is a combined 62-7 over the last three seasons. Sophomores Maddie Clark and Jaycie Burger lead with 19.4 and 17.9 points per game, respectively.
Waterford Our Lady (11-12) vs. Kingston (21-3) at Warren Mott, 6 p.m.
Our Lady followed up its run of four straight Class D championship games from 2010-13 with a sub-.500 finish last season, but can get back to even this winter by continuing this surprise run. The Lakers likely are on the rise for the next few seasons, as no starter this winter is a senior, and with freshman Tiffany Senerius and junior Alex Troy (both 10 points per game) their leading scorers. Kingston won its second Regional title ever and first since 2003, and benefits from a balanced starting lineup with four starters scoring 8.8-11.5 points per game, including seniors Jenna Boyl and Cassidy McGuire.
Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart (20-4) vs. Frankfort (23-1) at Traverse City Central
The reigning champion Irish have a similar but more veteran look after graduating only one senior from last season’s team. Sacred Heart this time has six seniors including 2014 tournament heroes Averi Gamble (16 ppg) at center and Riley Terwilliger (9.5 ppg) at guard. Frankfort hopes to take the next step after also reaching the Quarterfinals last season. Junior guard Mackenna Kelly leads with 17.1 points per game, and sophomore Cecelia Schmitt adds 13.5.
St. Ignace (19-5) vs. Crystal Falls Forest Park (21-4) at Negaunee
This is a matchup of 2014 Finals runners-up – Forest Park from Class D and St. Ignace formerly of Class C. The Trojans are back in the final week despite graduating Miss Basketball winner Lexi Gussert last spring; three senior starters and first-year coach Jackie Giuliani have led this team to its fourth straight Quarterfinal. The Saints are seeking their sixth straight trip to the Semifinals and have a pair of standout scorers in junior forward Abbey Ostman (16.6 ppg) and senior guard Margo Brown (13.8 ppg, 51 3-pointers).
PHOTO: Detroit Martin Luther King defeated Grosse Pointe South during last week's Regional. (Photo courtesy of the Detroit Public School League.)
Work Molds Lohr Into WSU Wins Leader
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
August 5, 2020
When Carrie Lohr was spending weekends in her youth chopping wood with her father or helping clear stones from her the fields of her grandfather’s farm, she wasn’t thinking of how it would help her become a standout athlete or coach. She did think about how she’d rather be swimming in a pool like her friends and classmates.
But when the Wayne State women’s basketball coach looks back now on her time in Sandusky, it’s those moments that stick out as shaping her.
“I learned the value of hard work,” Lohr, formerly Hickson, said. “I learned the value of earning an allowance. I look back and I was expected to work, and I didn’t know it any other way. Twenty years ago, when I started coaching, I always understood the value of hard work. I was fortunate I have people who have shown me that. That kind of comes back to me more than a particular sport or a particular game or competition. I find myself looking back on how I learned those things with the things that I did.”
Lohr’s hard work helped her become a standout three-sport athlete at Sandusky, an all-conference college basketball player, and now Wayne State’s all-time winningest women’s basketball coach.
The 1989 Sandusky graduate is entering her 10th season with the Warriors with a career record of 148-111. She led Wayne State to NCAA regional finals in 2013 and 2014, and the regional semifinal in 2015. The 2012-13 season featured Wayne State’s first NCAA Tournament victory and its first regional final appearance.
“She definitely had those good leadership qualities and the love of the game,” said Sandusky girls basketball coach Al DeMott, who coached Lohr in the late 1980s. “And she was a hard worker – nobody is going to out-work her. From Day 1, she wasn’t going to let anyone outwork her or get ahead of her. She’s just a great person, and I couldn’t be prouder.”
Lohr starred as a point guard for DeMott for two seasons, helping Sandusky reach the Class C Quarterfinals in 1987, where it lost to eventual champion Detroit St. Martin dePorres.
“She used to knock in the 3s, too,” DeMott said. “She hit some big 3s for us in some big games. She was a gamer. She had a smart basketball IQ.”
Lohr played collegiately at St. Clair County Community College (SC4) and the University of Michigan-Dearborn. She was named first-team all-conference, all-region and all-state at SC4, and, unsurprisingly, was a captain at both schools.
Coaching wasn’t something Lohr considered during her playing days, though.
“I always thought, ‘I could never do this – I could never be a coach. How would I know what to say?’” she said. “But when the buzzer sounds in your last collegiate game and you’re sitting there in the gym and the locker room and reality hit you that it’s over, that was life-changing. It meant so much more to me than I even realized.”
Lohr started her coaching career in 1994 as the freshman girls basketball coach at Richmond, and she quickly fell in love with the profession. Her journey included stints as the freshman girls coach at Port Huron Northern and assistant jobs at SC4 and Oakland University.
While Lohr had found her passion, she still needed to pay the bills.
“I was living my dream (coaching) and following my dream, but reality was hitting me that I may not be able to continue on this path,” Lohr said. “A friend of mine was in medical sales, so I found myself in medical sales for five years. That afforded me to go back into coaching at SC4 as an assistant again, then I got into head coaching.”
She took over the Skippers program in 2002, and had a 166-106 record in nine seasons at her alma mater. It was her first time running a program, and she also became a mother two weeks before her first game with the birth of her daughter Sarah. Carrie was pregnant with her son Eli throughout her entire third season as coach. Lohr said her husband Eric was incredibly supportive, which was crucial to making it work.
She also had an A-list of former coaches to lean on when she needed advice. DeMott is second in MHSAA history with 753 career wins. Lohr’s former travel coach Fred Shaw is a member of the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame. And Dave Mann, who has won four MHSAA championships, coached her at U-M Dearborn.
“I really attribute me being in coaching to all of my coaches,” she said. “I always maintained a connection with those individuals. I feel like all three have been a great resource for me. Those times when you’re unsure about something – whether it’s an on-court situation or an off-court situation, I always felt I had three people I could call and seek advice from. I think that’s important to be able to have someone to call and say, ‘I don’t know what to do in this situation.’”
Having played for multiple Hall of Fame-caliber coaches – including the late Paul Jackson, who coached her at SC4 – is also a good way to build a coaching style.
“You learn from other coaches, but you just step out and create your own path,” Lohr said. “I learned a little bit of something different from all of them. The common denominator is they’re all very positive people, but they’re all competitive. They coach very differently.”
In the spring of 2011, Lohr was hired at Wayne State, and she has turned the Warriors into perennial GLIAC contenders.
“I was just lucky, I think, knowing what I know now about how many people apply for these jobs,” she said. “I feel really fortunate that the athletic director here at Wayne State saw something in me and believed in me. I’m very grateful.”
Her kids have grown into athletes themselves at St. Clair High School. Sarah, a senior, plays volleyball and basketball. She could add tennis in the spring, as well, but wasn’t able to this past year because of the cancellation of seasons due to the coronavirus. Eli, a junior, plays tennis, basketball and baseball.
“When I’m watching my kids, it’s enjoyable to just sit back and watch,” Lohr said. “The things I see in my kids is that I think they’re good teammates, and I think they work hard, and those things are important to me. To watch them compete is fun, but to see those things that maybe don’t show up in a tweet or make a headline, those things are really important.”
They’re also getting to enjoy the experience of playing multiple sports in high school, something Lohr thinks back on fondly from her days in Sandusky.
“I still remember my volleyball coaches, and I still remember my softball coach,” Lohr said. “I had a great experience in being a three-sport athlete. It was demanding, but it’s really unfortunate that a lot of young people aren’t able to experience that. I think there’s a lot of pressure on young people to specialize. I felt like there was a strong culture in Sandusky with all of their sports. To look back on it, it was really a special time for me.”
Made in Michigan 2020
July 31: Neitzel Finds Way Back to High School Hoops - Read
July 28: Nichols Lends Winning Past to West's Present - Read
July 17: Miss Tennis Serving Now as 'Hero Coach' - Read
July 9: Joplin Always Has Known Value of Home - Read
June 24: Fracassa's Remarkable Records Still Rule - Read
June 16: Muskegon Grad Casts "Magic" in HBO Series - Read
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) Carrie Lohr this winter will enter her 10th season coaching the Wayne State University women’s basketball program. (Middle) Lohr was a standout at Sandusky High during the 1987 and 1988 seasons. (Below) Lohr huddles with her Wayne State players. (Top and below photos courtesy of WSU sports information; Sandusky photo courtesy of Carrie Lohr.)