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Breslin Bound: Girls Report Week 2
December 11, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
We're only two weeks into this girls basketball season. But there are plenty of teams that already can take pride in strong starts that either are continuing on last season's success or showing a nice turnaround after a rough run.
Some of those are highlighted in this week's report. Remember, what's below isn't any sort of statewide ranking – merely a top-10 list of notables from last week.
Records and results are through Sunday and based on those found at MHSAA.com. Click on Score Center to follow scores throughout the week and enter those of the games you attend.
1. Concord (3-0) – Most of the key pieces to last season’s Class C Semifinalist team are back, and they earned a pair of close wins. Concord edged Michigan Center 36-32 – after also beating Michigan Center in overtime in the District opener last season – and then got past Homer 37-35.
2. L’Anse (4-0) – The Purple Hornets are again off to a nice start – with a bonus. According to the Houghton Daily Mining Gazette, L’Anse’s 60-56 win over Houghton gave Houghton its first loss to a team from the state’s four northernmost counties since Nov. 2, 1999. Click to read more from the Daily Mining Gazette.
3. Westland John Glenn (2-0) – The Rockets got off to a strong start with a 66-34 win over Grosse Pointe North and then a 63-56 victory over Dearborn Divine Child. Divine Child is coming off a trip to the Class B Semifinals.
4. Grand Rapids South Christian (3-0) – Two of the Sailors four losses last season came to Grand Rapids Catholic Central. They haven’t played GRCC yet, but did edge Grand Rapids Christian 50-46 just three days after the Eagles beat GRCC by six.
5. Marshall (3-1) – This returning Class B Quarterfinalist added a strong week to a solid start. First, Marshall topped Richland Gull Lake 48-44 – Gull Lake won its Class A District last year – and then the Redhawks finished the week with a 46-33 win over Battle Creek Central.
6. Pontiac (2-0) – The Phoenix were a .500 team last season, but are off to a quick start thanks to two close wins. Pontiac beat Waterford Mott 49-45 and then Harper Woods Chandler Park 57-55.
7. Manchester (4-0) – The Flying Dutchmen have beaten every opponent by at least 10 points this season, including Onsted 59-40 and Napoleon 64-34 last week. Napoleon entered 3-0.
8. Bloomfield Hills Marian (2-0) – Marian is off to a solid start after beating annual Class A power Canton 44-30. Marian opened by beating Grosse Pointe North two weeks ago.
9. Athens (3-0) – The reigning Class D runner-up is off to a fast start again. Athens opened last week by beating Climax-Scotts 55-44, then survived a close one against Reading, 37-31.
10. Saginaw Heritage (2-2) – The Hawks bounced back from two losses during the first week to even their record by beating Arthur Hill 54-35 and Bay City Western 51-14. Heritage lost to Arthur Hill by 17 in their game last season.
PHOTO: Howell junior Meredith Wood works to get around a defender as the Highlanders pushed toward their first win of the season, 60-48 over Carrollton on Thursday. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
![Buchanan’s Faith Carson (54) gets a hand up on defense against St. Joseph.](/sites/default/files/2023-02/230223_Buchanan%20_2H.jpg)
Carson Making Up For Lost Time, Making Buchanan Contender as Districts Begin
By
Wes Morgan
Special for MHSAA.com
February 23, 2023
There’s really nothing about Faith Carson’s high school basketball career that went according to script.
Yet, it has developed into quite a compelling story with one last chapter to be penned.
When asked if she felt four years ago that she would have ended up as arguably the top college prospect in the state of Michigan despite missing more than 30 games due to a pandemic-shortened sophomore season and a junior campaign mostly wiped out by an ankle injury, the Buchanan High School phenom and Ohio State University signee said all of that would have been laughable.
However, there were plenty of times, particularly last winter when the 6-foot-4 center was relegated to a walking boot and a chair on the sideline, when it was difficult simply to remain upbeat.
“I was talking to my mom the other day and said I never really realized how much I loved basketball until I couldn’t play,” said Carson, who did return in time last season to help the Bucks win a second consecutive Division 3 District championship before falling to Schoolcraft in the Regional Finals. “Going to practice every day and watching them play, it was a struggle.
“At first it was really hard. I do have a lot of individual goals for myself, but you just have to support your teammates and put a smile on your face. You never want to show up and be the person that is negative.”
Before school and after volleyball practice throughout the fall, Carson put in around three hours a day working on her shot in preparation for this season.
With the MHSAA Tournament set to commence, the Bucks benefitted greatly by Carson’s strong return to the tune of a 19-1 record, a Lakeland Conference title and No. 3 ranking in the latest Associated Press Division 3 poll. The Bucks opened the year with a five-point loss to still-undefeated Vicksburg and have mostly dominated ever since.
Carson is averaging 19.3 points, 11.4 rebounds and 6.2 blocks per game as Buchanan gears up for a District Semifinal on Wednesday against the winner of the Bridgman/Cassopolis opener Monday.
“She spent her spring and summer playing with her travel team and playing with us at the high school level trying to work herself back into shape,” Buchanan coach Gabe Miller said. “She really ramped it up in August and in the fall while simultaneously working her butt off on the volleyball court.”
Carson was named Lakeland Conference MVP after the Bucks’ volleyball squad went undefeated in league play en route to a District crown.
“She was getting up at 5 a.m. and lifting weights at the local fitness center and then coming in and shooting baskets with me from 6:30-7:15 about four or five days a week,” Miller said. “It wore me out, but I welcomed it. It was good to see. And she’d come in on Sundays, too. She was really adamant about making up for lost time the best she could.”
This year’s Buchanan group is primed for a postseason run as Carson combines with some savvy players who helped keep the wheels on last year in her absence, including junior point guard LaBria Austin, versatile senior forward Hannah Tompkins, junior defensive specialist Hannah Herman and sophomore forward (and sister) Alyssa Carson just to name a few.
Clearly, though, the Bucks are a decidedly more ferocious group with Faith Carson back in the lineup.
“The things that get overlooked, unless you coach basketball, you might not see right off the bat is she always had really good hands and feet, even when she was younger,” Miller explained. “She spent a lot of time, especially this last year, working on her diet and researching things, being in the weight room and adding to her physicality and conditioning.
“I think she’s got good court vision as far as seeing plays, seeing cutters, which helps her game out with double- and triple-teams. She wants to play basketball, so she spends a lot of time on it. Losing as much time as she lost last year — a full season — could have been a hindrance. But she definitely made up for it this year. When you take her love for the game with her God-given talents, her size, feet and hands, the work ethic she has put in, and the fact that she wants to work to meet her goals when she goes to college, that’s kind of got us to the player we have today.”
And now, after all the hours working on her shooting, that includes being a threat from range.
“In a game — I can’t remember which one — I had the ball at the 3-point line and their coach was yelling, ‘shooter!’” Carson recalled. “My whole family started to laugh because I’ve never really been called a shooter. It felt great.
“I’m going to do everything I can to help us go really far in the postseason. This is one of my favorite teams I’ve ever been a part of. I’m just really excited because I know what we’re capable of.”
Wes Morgan has reported for the Kalamazoo Gazette, ESPN and ESPNChicago.com, 247Sports and Blue & Gold Illustrated over the last 12 years and is the publisher of JoeInsider.com. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Buchanan’s Faith Carson (54) gets a hand up on defense against St. Joseph. (Middle) Carson elevates for a shot against Schoolcraft. (Photos courtesy of the Buchanan girls basketball program.)