Breslin Bound: Girls Report Week 6
January 14, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
This week will see the midpoint of this 2019-20 girls basketball season, a logical time to take a look at who has done what with half the schedule played for many teams.
But there’s little time to pause with a number of potential league-shaping games coming up over the next five days. Some are noted below in our “Can’t-Miss Contests,” while another 5-6 surely will guide which teams we feature in next week’s report.
“Breslin Bound” is powered by MI Student Aid and based on results and schedules posted for each school at MHSAA.com. Send corrections or missing scores to [email protected].
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Detroit Edison 65, East Lansing 48 – These two could again end up at Finals weekend in March in Divisions 2 and 1, respectively, and reigning D2 champ Edison pulled away in this one to hand the Trojans their lone defeat.
2. Farmington Hills Mercy 46, Bloomfield Hills Marian 34 – The Marlins handed rival Marian its first Detroit Catholic League Central loss since 2017-18, taking a slight lead in the league standings with the rematch Jan. 28.
3. Manton 58, Maple City Glen Lake 54 – The Rangers moved to 8-0 and also got a look at another top Division 3 team they may see again at tournament time.
4. Frankenmuth 58, Essexville Garber 22 – Frankenmuth reached 900 wins as a program, going back to 1973, and with another win Friday the Eagles moved to 901-179 all-time midway through their 47th season.
5. Saline 40, Dexter 18 – These two may both end up Southeastern Conference champions in separate divisions, and Dexter’s was the first loss between them this winter.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
Macomb Dakota (8-0) The Macomb Area Conference Red annually is considered one of the most competitive leagues statewide. Dakota has a slight hold on first place thanks to playing one more league game than Grosse Pointe South so far and also after a 52-45 win over contender Utica Eisenhower on Friday. Dakota plays Grosse Pointe South for the first time this Friday.
West Bloomfield (7-2) The Lakers were Oakland Activities Association White champions last season, and after changing divisions have taken the higher-regarded OAA Red by storm. West Bloomfield last week handed first league losses this season to reigning Red champion Southfield Arts & Technology and third-place Clarkston, and can finish the first half of the league schedule undefeated with a win this Friday over reigning Red runner-up Royal Oak.
DIVISION 2
Frankenmuth (7-1) The Eagles, coming off a third-place finish in the Tri-Valley Conference East last season, are first in the new-look league this winter and coming off a milestone win (see above). They’ve dealt the only loss this winter to one of the second-place teams, Standish-Sterling, and take on the other second-place team Freeland on Friday. Frankenmuth’s lone loss was 59-52 to Division 1 power DeWitt.
Marine City (8-1) After finishing third in the Macomb Area Conference Gold last season, as St. Clair won the league title, Marine City is making a move as it leads the league coming off Friday’s 54-28 win over the Saints. The Mariners could equal last season’s 13 wins by the end of this month – and their lone loss was to MAC Blue leader Macomb L’Anse Creuse North a month ago.
DIVISION 3
Centreville (8-0) The Bulldogs have won 45 straight regular-season games and three straight league titles, and have opened up a one-game lead on Decatur and Bloomingdale this winter in the Southwest 10 Conference. Centreville defeated Bloomingdale 44-33 last week and sees Decatur for the first of two meetings Tuesday. That 11-point win over the Cardinals was the closest any of the first six league opponents has come to catching the Bulldogs.
Schoolcraft (5-1) These Eagles opened with a loss to now one-loss Edwardsburg, but haven’t fallen since and handed first league defeats last week to both Kalamazoo Hackett and Kalamazoo Christian. Schoolcraft has won 25 straight Southwestern Athletic Conference Valley games going back to 2016-17 and including four total so far this winter.
DIVISION 4
Ewen-Trout Creek (7-1) The Panthers have won seven straight since falling 49-47 to Calumet in their season opener. Along the way they’ve handed the lone loss to Baraga and last Thursday beat L’Anse 61-53 to take over first place alone in the Copper Mountain Conference Porcupine Mountain division. E-TC is aiming for a fourth-straight league title and also won its District last season.
Pittsford (9-0) First-year coach Aaron Davis has Pittsford looking like it has much of the last decade, with a run of double-digit wins and sitting first in the Southern Central Athletic Association East. Only Reading, in the Wildcats’ first game back from a two-week break, has come closer than 12 points – with Pittsford holding on for a 43-40 nonleague win. The Wildcats have won six straight league titles.
Can't-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – Saline (8-0) at Temperance Bedford (7-0) – The Southeastern Conference Red opener features two undefeated teams.
Wednesday – St. Ignace (5-1) at Pickford (9-0) – Avenging last season’s 84-41 District loss to reigning Division 4 runner-up St. Ignace would be another giant step for surging Pickford.
Friday – Manton (9-0) at Lake City (7-1) – They are tied for first in the Highland Conference; last season Manton won the league but Lake City made the Division 3 Semifinals.
Friday – Eaton Rapids (7-1) at Portland (7-1) – These two are tied for first in the Capital Area Activities Conference White as they near the midpoint of the league schedule.
Saturday – Detroit Edison (8-0) at Adrian Lenawee Christian (7-1) – The reigning Division 4 champion hosts the reigning title winner from Division 2, and Edison’s Gabrielle Elliott vs. Lenawee Christian’s Bree Salenbien should be one of the best individual matchups statewide this season.
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PHOTO: Frankenmuth defeated Saginaw Swan Valley on Friday for win No. 901 in program history. (Photo by Terry Lyons.)
Blissfield's Miller Set for Senior Success After 3 Junior-Year Finals Trips
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
August 15, 2023
BLISSFIELD – Last fall, June Miller raced for an MHSAA cross country title at Michigan International Speedway. During the winter she played in the Division 3 Basketball Final at the Breslin Center. In the spring, she competed at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 track & field championships in Kent City.
As she embarks on her senior year at Blissfield Community Schools in southeast Michigan, Miller isn’t concerned about an encore.
“I don’t worry about topping my junior season,” she said. “I don’t feel the need to. I’ll fight for it to the best of my ability, but if I don’t make it that’s okay. There were a lot of factors that went into last year, and I can’t control all of them this year.
“I’ll leave my best out there and know that I gave it my all, and in the end that’s the true accomplishment. If it takes me that far or further, then great. If not, that’s okay.”
Miller’s remarkable run to MHSAA Finals in three sports remains even more impressive when considering she had eight goals and five assists playing defense for the Royals soccer team.
“Shows up to work, busts her tail every practice, every game,” said Blissfield girls basketball coach Ryan Gilbert. “Never have to worry about June Miller.”
Miller is as steady an athlete as they come, never getting too high or too low in pressure situations. In basketball, Gilbert said Miller never met a shot she didn’t like. Miller started all 29 games last season, leading the team in 3-pointers.
Gilbert said Miller is even-keeled.
“It takes a while to get into the ‘June Miller circle,’ but I’m almost in,” he said. “This is her senior year; this is my year. She’s very funny when you get to know her and has a brilliant mind.
“She wants to win over everything,” Gilbert said.
Miller wasn’t the fastest runner on the cross country team last fall – that spot would belong to her younger sister, Hope. June has no problem with that.
“I love running with my sister,” she said. “She’s an amazing and incredibly kind person. Her dedication to running inspires me and keeps me fighting for it. We train together sometimes and she’s the one that pushes me, and I love that.
“I always knew she’d be faster than me someday, and I couldn’t be prouder of how fast she’s become and how much she’s achieved. (People might) think I’d hold some resentment for her beating me while I’m older, but she’s lived in my shadow for years and I’m so glad she’s been able to find her place that she can dominate.”
Blissfield is eyeing a big season in cross country after winning a Regional and just missing the top 10 at the Final a year ago. The Miller sisters are a big reason for the giddiness.
“I’m ready to leave it all out there,” Miller said. “It’s my senior season, and I want to go out strong. I think the end goal for all of us is to really push it this season and improve with each race so by the time we hit Regionals we’re in the best shape physically and mentally so we can leave it all on the course to get to states again.”
Because of her work schedule this summer, Miller missed some of the team workouts but was able to get the details from her sister and went out on her own time and trained to build up her mileage in preparation for the season.
“I think the experience from last year will give us something to fight for,” she said. “It allows us to look at the season with our end goal being the state meet. It gives us a passion and something to fight for.”
Blissfield cross country coach Ryan Bills called Miller a strong competitor.
“She is fun kid,” he said. “You never know which June you’re going to get – funny, chatty June or serious, no-nonsense June. Either way she always gives it her all during competition, which is why she has seen so much success the past year.”
The four-sport athlete spent the first couple of weeks of summer refreshing her body before kicking it into high gear.
She did take some time to reflect on all the places she got to play and compete last year and is grateful to be part of a team that helped her reach those places.
“It was a unique experience,” she said. “When I’m playing basketball or running track and cross country, I’m not focused on where I am physically – instead I’m in my head focused on what I need to do.
“Once you get to someplace, you stop thinking about getting there and you move on to the next step of being there and doing what you need to there.”
Miller is one of the top students in her class. She’s currently trying to decide whether she wants to pursue playing soccer in college. She wants to major in business and minor in sustainability, eventually getting a master’s degree in architecture.
“I want to be a sustainable design architect,” she said, “who can better the world through the art of architecture.”
Miller’s future looks bright, as does the outlook for this athletic year. In all three sports for which she reached the Finals last year, the Royals have enough returning talent to make lengthy runs again.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Miller said, about four days before the first cross country event of the season. “I want to make it to all those state tournaments again, but I want to do it with my teammates because they’re the ones that make it memorable and something to remember forever.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Blissfield’s June Miller (750) races during a cross country meet last fall. (Middle) Miller pulls up for a jumper during last season’s basketball postseason run. (Cross country photo by Deloris Clark-Osborne; basketball photo by Gary Sullivan.)