Byron 'Family' Filled with Family Ties
January 15, 2020
By Tim Robinson
Special for Second Half
BYRON — Every team refers to itself as a family in athletics.
But the Byron girls basketball team takes that concept to a new level.
There are two sets of sisters, a set of cousins, and three of the four coaches on the team coach their own daughters.
But, assistant coach Brandy Forgie said, there’s more than that.
“The family aspect doesn’t just come from being blood-related,” she said. “We’re all from Byron, born and raised, all but one of us as coaches, too. We kept our families in Byron, raised our kids here. All of our friends here, we have their kids. We started the basketball when they were little. They played together and grew up together.”
Sarah Marvin, who has averaged a double-double the last two seasons, agrees.
“I think it helps because we all know each other,” she said. “We know what agitates some people and what agitates others. Every day we come ready to work, and because we’re so close, we rely on each other to push each other and keep each other accountable to keep working hard.”
So far, so good.
The Eagles sit atop the Mid-Michigan Activities Conference standings and 8-0 overall with a team that has lofty aspirations.
Coach Theresa Marvin, whose fraternal twin daughters are Becky and Sarah, points out that there’s still a long season ahead.
“It’s just keeping it going through the winter,” she said. “You have to get through illnesses and exams in the middle of the winter and just being tired. It’s a long season. For us, the focus is winning the MMAC outright. We tied for the championship the last two years we were in the (Genesee Area Conference), and we tied for the MMAC title last year. We haven’t won an outright league title in a long time.”
Sarah, who plays guard offensively but also defends the post, played four sports last year as a sophomore. She was a two-way lineman on the JV football team, competed in last year’s inaugural Michigan Wrestling Association girls state tournament (at 215 pounds) and took home two MHSAA Finals championships in track & field, breaking school records set by her older sister Jessica and her mother, who competed in the throwing events at the University of Michigan.
Sarah didn’t play football this past fall, and wrestling might be a non-starter this winter.
“We’re focused on what the basketball team can do this year,” Theresa Marvin said as Sarah nodded in agreement. “We don’t want to take away from that.”
The Marvin twins have been playing together since the third grade and enjoy having each other as teammates — and as sounding boards.
“It’s always nice to have someone, even if we do sometimes get at each other like sisters do,” Sarah Marvin said. “But we can take practice home and talk about things that worked or didn’t work on the court. It’s really good to have her there and people you like to be around at practice.”
The other set of sisters on the team, junior Makayla and freshman Makenna Clement, are in an opposite situation. This is the first high school season they have been teammates.
“It’s pretty fun,” Makayla said. “I honestly forget she’s my sister when we’re on the court. We’re one big family. Everyone’s a sister to me.”
To a point.
“Sometimes I give her little pep talks,” Makayla said. “I do get after her sometimes. I’ll say, ‘Shoot the ball!’ I say that to my other teammates, but I don’t get as personal as I do with her.”
“It’s all good,” Makenna said, laughing, “She’s definitely a good resource. She’ll help me on different post moves and tips on better passing. All that.”
During a recent win over Montrose, Sarah Marvin looked to the bench and barked, “MOM!” to get Theresa’s attention, which came as a shock to Theresa Marvin when she was asked about it after the game.
“Did she? That’s not normal,” she said. “Sarah always says ‘Coach.’ She must have said that to get my attention.”
The other family connections are assistant coach Jim Passig and junior Olivia Passig, and cousins Haley (a senior) and junior Allison Hooley.
Brandy Forgie said that, after years of being a travel head coach, she had to adjust to both coaching her daughter Raegan, a senior, and being an assistant.
“In the beginning, it was hard for me to be there and watch someone coach my daughter,” she said. “But it got a lot easier. Coach Marvin is a fantastic coach and she knows how to deal with Raegan now.
Sort of a good cop/bad cop situation?
“Oh, I’m the good cop,” Brandy said as Raegan snickered.
Overall, Raegan added, it’s been a good experience.
“Not a lot of people get to experience (playing for a parent),” she said. “It can be hard sometimes because there are two different relationships (mother/daughter, coach/player) meshing together. But I really enjoy having her there.”
Theresa Marvin, in her sixth year as girls basketball coach, has coached with Passing and Forgie in the Byron youth program for more than a decade.
Marvin coached her oldest daughter, Jessica, during Jessica’s high school career, and coached Sarah from her freshman year on and Becky also as a sophomore.
“You have to be a coach first, absolutely,” she said. “You have to have guidelines, and we’re really good at it. For example, my girls don’t know anything the team doesn’t know beforehand. I think it puts too much pressure on my girls to be a middleman, and that’s not fair to them.”
After the game, Marvin said, basketball is left at the gym, at least in her case.
“When we get into the car, we won’t even talk about the game,” she said. “Other parents get the opportunity as parents to talk to their kids about the game. I don’t do that. My husband (Tim) will. He’ll play the parent role, but I don’t.”
That doesn’t mean she doesn’t enjoy watching her daughters play.
“I do enjoy that,” she said. “Sometimes, I wish I could be a parent in the stands and just watch them play, because it’s totally different. But my focus on the bench is (on) decisions I need to make for the team. When they’re out there, it’s not, ‘Oh, those are my daughters.’ I’m in basketball coach mode.”
In many ways, the Byron team’s fast start has been years in the making.
“Jim and Brandy and I spent many years and many weekends when these girls were between the fourth and eighth grades taking them around the state in tournaments,” Theresa Marvin said. “Some played on travel teams, but we kept these units together. It’s automatic for them. It’s about chemistry and the way they work together. As a varsity coach, it’s a dream to have a group of girls who grew up playing together and who all get along.”
There’s a long way to go in the 2019-20 season, but the Eagles hope their family ties, both literal and metaphorical, can lift them to new heights when the postseason begins.
PHOTOS: (Top) Theresa Marvin is in her sixth season coaching the Byron varsity, but has coached most of her players including her twin daughters since they were in the third grade. (Middle) The Eagles defend the lane during a 61-43 win over Goodrich on Dec. 6. (Below) This season's Byron girls basketball team. (Top and below photos courtesy of the Byron girls basketball program; middle photo by Terry Lyons.)
Breslin Bound: 2023-24 Girls Report Week 10
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 12, 2024
As we begin the final three weeks of this regular season, we’re keeping an eye on all of the usual signs of this point in the season – league title clinchers, conference tournament winners, and ratings climbers playing to earn a top-two seed when District brackets are released Feb. 25.
But this week’s “Breslin Bound” definitely has another theme woven throughout – revenge, with plenty taking place over the last few weeks and a few more opportunities we’ll be watching for especially this week but also as we surge into the postseason.
“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. West Bloomfield 61, Detroit Edison 42 The best rivalry in Michigan girls basketball the last few years continued with the reigning Division 1 runner-up Lakers (15-1) making it three straight over Division 2 contender Edison (13-2).
2. Frankenmuth 51, Hemlock 31 The Eagles (14-2) played their third game this season against a team that also reached Breslin Center last year, and ran their winning streak to 11 with this one over the reigning Division 3 champion Huskies (13-3).
3. Negaunee 65, Ishpeming 56 The Miners (17-1) moved into a first-place tie with the Hematites (15-1) in the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference East by avenging a 57-53 loss to Ishpeming from Jan. 12.
4. Detroit Edison 46, Detroit Renaissance 38 Edison bounced right back from the West Bloomfield loss to hand another Division 1 contender Renaissance (15-1) its only defeat this season.
5. South Lyon East 47, South Lyon 41 The Cougars (12-4) stand alone atop the Lakes Valley Conference after completing a regular-season sweep of the rival Lions (15-2).
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
Holland West Ottawa (12-4) The Panthers’ four losses this season have come to opponents that are a combined 60-8, and they won Ottawa-Kent Conference Red rematches with East Kentwood (53-50) and Grand Haven (54-45) over the last 10 days with a trip to Rockford coming up Feb. 20. East Kentwood and Grand Haven both have 14 wins, and West Ottawa also has defeated Byron Center (13-4), Zeeland West (11-5) and Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills (11-5) among notables. Grand Haven and Zeeland West will be among those joining the Panthers at the District at Zeeland East as they also look to bounce back from last year’s first-game exit against Grandville.
Midland Dow (12-2) The Chargers have strung together 10 straight wins over the last two months, a streak that started with a 47-40 victory over reigning Division 3 champ Hemlock and also has included solid wins over Mount Pleasant and Flushing (both 11-6). Dow and Grand Blanc are the only teams without a loss in Saginaw Valley League play, and they meet Feb. 27 after originally being scheduled to play Jan. 23. Dow fell to the Bobcats during last season’s 17-8 run, but the Chargers already have avenged losses to Hemlock and Howell – and Tuesday will attempt to do the same at Flint Carman-Ainsworth.
DIVISION 2
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (17-0) The Eaglets have quickly ascended from their first season as a program in 2020-21 and have already doubled their win total from last winter’s 8-13 finish. They clinched the Catholic High School League AA championship outright with a 44-31 win over second-place Jackson Lumen Christi on Friday, and they haven’t played a single-digit game since Dec. 22. They’ll have a bye to start the league tournament later this week as they prepare for a District that will include CHSL Intersectional #1 champ Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood.
Tecumseh (12-3) A nine-game winning streak began Dec. 30 and has Tecumseh atop the Southeastern Conference White standings heading into arguably its biggest game of the season. Tecumseh travels to Chelsea for a make-up from Jan. 12, and its 60-57 win in the teams’ first meeting Jan. 30 broke a 17-game losing streak against the Bulldogs. That remains Chelsea’s only league loss, and Tecumseh is undefeated in SEC White play, with its only setbacks to Temperance Bedford (13-1), Detroit Country Day (12-5) and Grass Lake (13-4) during the first three weeks of the season.
DIVISION 3
Morley Stanwood (13-2) Last season, as the Central State Activities Association moved to one 11-team league instead of splitting into two divisions, Morley Stanwood finished lower than second in its standings for the first time since 2016-17 (coming in third). But the team is only a half-game out of the lead this winter, with the single matchup against first-place Grant set for Feb. 23. A 38-34 loss to Big Rapids two weeks ago put Morley Stanwood in position to chase, but its only other defeat was to Lake City (15-2) – and wins over Fremont (13-3) and Kent City and Brethren (both 12-4) have been attention grabbers.
Saugatuck (14-1) The Trailblazers are fresh off avenging their lone loss of the season, defeating Martin 47-36 to also move past the Clippers into first place alone in the SAC Central. No other opponent has come within single digits of catching Saugatuck, including South Haven (12-3), Gobles (11-4) twice, Bridgman (10-4) and Lawton (10-6). Two more 10-win teams – North Muskegon and Muskegon Western Michigan Christian – will provide more prep as the Trailblazers look to build as well on last year’s District title.
DIVISION 4
Lake Linden-Hubbell (16-1) The Lakes are in second place in the overall Copper Mountain Conference standings, and only because that lone defeat came to Baraga – last season’s Division 4 runner-up. One more win will give Lake Linden-Hubbell as many as it finished with a year ago, which itself was a jump from eight victories in 2021-22 and three in 2020-21. The Lakes also defeated Baraga (14-3) by three points in December and have wins over Houghton (13-5), Ewen-Trout Creek (12-3) and Ironwood (11-6) – with a chance to meet Baraga one more time in a Regional Final.
Mendon (14-2) The Hornets are another very good second-place team, with a chance to move up, as they trail leader Colon by a game in the Southern Central Athletic Association West after falling to the Magi 54-31 on Jan. 18. Mendon also lost to Colon during last year’s District, after finishing second in the Southwest 10 Conference South before joining the SCAA this season. But the Hornets will host the Magi for the second meeting this season, Feb. 29, and already have swept third-place Climax-Scotts (10-4). The only other defeat came to Division 1 Sturgis.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – Lansing Catholic (12-3) at Portland (14-1) – The Cougars’ 62-34 win when these rivals met Jan. 9 has them a game ahead in the Capital Area Activities Conference White standings.
Friday – East Kentwood (14-2) at Rockford (17-1) – Statewide eyes will be watching this one after East Kentwood broke Rockford’s 33-game winning streak 60-54 on Jan. 19, and first place in the O-K Red also will be on the line.
Friday – Lake Fenton (14-4) at Goodrich (17-0) – The Martians own a one-game lead in the Flint Metro League Stars over Lake Fenton heading into this conference finale, thanks to a 44-36 win Jan. 19 that was Goodrich’s second-closest victory this season.
Saturday – Detroit Catholic High School League Tournament at Detroit Mercy – The Semifinals on Tuesday have Farmington Hills Mercy (8-8) facing Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard (18-0) and Toledo Central Catholic facing Toledo Notre Dame for the opportunity to play in this 5 p.m. finale.
Sunday – Detroit Public School League Tournament at Wayne State – Quarterfinals are Monday and Semifinals are Thursday leading into this 1 p.m. championship game.
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PHOTOS (Top) Houghton's Jacey Sleeman drives between Marquette's Lexi Curran and Lexi L'Huillier (3) during Marquette's 48-41 win Feb. 5. (Middle) Mount Pleasant puts up a shot on the way to its 46-42 win over Saginaw Heritage last week. (Top photo by Cara Kamps; middle photo by High School Sports Scene.)