Carney-Nadeau Starts Strong, Building Toward Big Finish
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
March 5, 2021
CARNEY — This basketball season has been well worth the wait for the Carney-Nadeau girls as they’re off to an 11-0 start.
The Wolves continued to roll Tuesday night in a 67-22 win at Crystal Falls Forest Park.
C-N is led by 6-foot-3 junior center Tessa Wagner, who averages 22 points and 17 rebounds a game.
She collected 22 points, 15 boards and four blocked shots in Tuesday's contest, three days after scoring a career-high 27 points in a 64-24 victory over Munising.
"The fact that we're 11-0 is special," said coach Ken Linder. "Our ability to shut other teams down is also special.
“This is as good a team (as) I've been around. … It's hard to believe we're already more than halfway done."
Tuesday's triumph also enabled the Wolves to improve to 8-0 in the Skyline Central Conference.
"This is really awesome," senior point guard Haley Ernest said after Monday's 61-42 victory over Felch North Dickinson. "We're super happy with our season. We're a well-balanced team. When one is having an off night, another is ready to step up. It's hard to go an entire season without having an off night, especially with games packed in."
Due to the condensed season, the Wolves are playing or practicing 6-7 days a week.
"When we don't have a Saturday game, we take that day off," said Ernest. "Otherwise, we're playing or practicing every day. Sunday is game film day. After we're done with that, we have a shoot-around which is part of the easiest practice all week."
The Wolves, like other teams, had to endure numerous delays due to COVID-19.
"We're just happy to be playing,” Wagner said. “I actually love wearing the mask. I also have a little mouthpiece to keep from sucking it in."
Wagner says Coach Linder often reminds them to stay focused. The Wolves have been especially impressive defensively, as C-N is giving up only 28.6 points per game.
"He tells us not to look at the scoreboard and play the game," she added. "Our defense has definitely been a key, and I think we have good ball movement. We're definitely a fast team."
Sophomore forward Shae Linder also noted a variety of reasons why the Wolves are successful.
"We work together," she said. "We're like a machine out there. Our defensive intensity is a key, and our guards have good court awareness. Tessa is an amazing player. We know she's going to play hard overtime and she works for every rebound. A lot of people focus on her.
"Nobody is selfish on our team. We don't care who's putting up the points, just as long as somebody is putting them up. Our opponents have nothing to lose, and we have everything to lose. We're going to give it our all overtime. I think Haley is our (floor) leader. She brings our defense together and runs our offense."
Shae Linder said the Wolves decided to stay committed despite the extensions.
"We were looking forward to our first game," she added. "We agreed we were going to work hard every day (during the extensions). We love the game. All we could do was keep getting better and hope for the best. We were real excited when we found out we could start playing. We felt we had a pretty good chance to start 11-0.
The Wolves resume at home against Stephenson on Saturday.
John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
PHOTO: Carney-Nadeau's Tessa Wagner, here last season against Rock Mid Peninsula, is averaging 22 points and 17 rebounds per game. (Photo courtesy of the Escanaba Daily Press.)
Davis Sinks Memory-Maker This Time as West Bloomfield Downs Rockford in OT
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
March 22, 2024
EAST LANSING – West Bloomfield wanted badly to avenge last year’s loss to Rockford in the Division 1 Final.
The Lakers did so in dramatic fashion Friday.
Indya Davis banked in a 3-pointer at the regulation buzzer to force overtime, and West Bloomfield converted timely free throws during the extra session for a thrilling 55-47 win over the Rams in the second Division 1 Semifinal at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center.
“It took us 365 days and an extra quarter to get that back,” Lakers coach Darren McAllister said. “Since last year we felt like we left something in East Lansing and it was about Rockford because they beat us, but the big thing is it's not about Rockford. It’s about getting what we left in East Lansing and Rockford, which is a great coached team, was the next step.”
West Bloomfield (26-1) trailed the entire second half before Davis’ heroics.
“Before I took the shot, I told Summer (Davis, her twin sister) that I wanted the shot,” Davis said. “Give me the ball. As soon as that ball came off my hand, I knew it was good.
“That’s the type of shot you see in movies. You don’t think it's really going to go in, but we believed in it and practiced it. When it went in, it was our day.”
Summer Davis led the Lakers with 22 points and made 13 of 16 from the free throw line. She made 10 of 11 in overtime, accounting for all of West Bloomfield’s points during those additional minutes.
Indya Davis finished with 17 points and seven rebounds, the game-tying 3-pointer one of two she made from beyond the arc.
“I believe in her, so I wasn't about to question giving her the ball and it went in,” Summer Davis said. “It was a big surprise, but it wasn't because we came to win.”
McAllister wasn’t surprised to see that shot go in.
“That's Indya all day long, and we practice that,” he said. “I wasn't shocked by it because I knew at the end of the day they weren't ready to go home and schedule a banquet. They wanted to keep playing."
West Bloomfield will face Grand Blanc in Saturday’s Division 1 Final at 12:15 p.m.
The shot stunned the Rams (26-2), who appeared to be on their way to an opportunity to finish a repeat title run.
“I thought we were in a great position up three there in the closing moments,” Rockford coach Brad Wilson said. “We defended it pretty well, but hats off to them. They made a heck of a shot.
“It was tough when we saw that one go through. However, I think we really preached that (positive mentality) all season and we were ready to take on overtime and try and get the win.”
It was the third straight meeting at the Breslin between the two teams. West Bloomfield defeated Rockford in a Division 1 Semifinal in 2022 before the Rams’ victory last year – when Rockford took the final lead on a 3-pointer with 40 seconds to play.
“Losing to Rockford by four last year was unacceptable,” said Indya Davis, who finished with 17 points and seven rebounds. “We came back with a new fire this year, and we wanted to win. The rivalry between us and them is huge, and today we got the outcome.”
West Bloomfield led 15-10 in the first quarter, but the Rams responded and outscored the Lakers 19-5 in the second to take a 29-20 lead into halftime. A 7-0 run sparked the comeback, punctuated by Kate Higgins’ 3-pointer.
Despite the halftime deficit, the Lakers cranked up the defensive pressure and clawed back, getting to within six (39-33) after three quarters.
The Rams shot only 35 percent (15-43) from the field, including 4 of 19 from behind the 3-point arc. They were led by Anna’s Wypych’s 20 points. Jordan Mateer added 12 points, while Higgins, a sophomore, recorded 11 points and 13 rebounds.
PHOTOS (Top) West Bloomfield’s Destiny Washington (1) brings the ball up the court during Friday’s Division 1 Semifinal at Breslin Center. (Middle) Indya Davis (24) pulls up for a shot with Rockford’s Kate Higgins defender. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)