Comstock 'Stampedes' to Elusive Title

By Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com

February 21, 2017

COMSTOCK — It took almost a quarter century, but the Comstock girls finally put their mark on the basketball banner hanging in their gym.

They have to share the Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Red title with Buchanan, but that is OK with them.

“It’s been (24 years) since Comstock girls won conference,” junior Ahkyla Blakely said. “I’m very excited. We’ll get our year up on the banner.”

With a junior and three sophomores among the starting five, one might have thought the team was in a rebuilding season.

But when it comes to experience, there is nothing young about this team.

The Colts have a 17-2 overall record, 9-1 in the conference.

The team may be young, but the girls grew up playing together in the youth program called “The Stampede” that started when the current sophomores were in fourth grade and with coaches that included Justin Ansel, the girls varsity coach for the last five years.

“Our junior class started when they were in fifth grade, so they grew up together with their class,” Ansel said. “Last year, the combination of the two classes, we had a whole year of playing together.”

This year, that experience is paying rewards.

Sophomore Daisy Ansel leads the Colts, averaging 15.2 points per game, followed by junior Blakely at 12.4 and sophomore Caylin Lopez at nine.

Ansel and Lopez also started last year as freshmen.

Abby House, who was pulled up from the junior varsity team midway through last season, is the other sophomore starter along with Blakely and senior Miranda Cannon.

Friends & Family

Having her dad as a coach can be both good and bad, Daisy Ansel said.

“It’s challenging at times, but it makes me better because he pushes me harder as an individual player,” she said.

“At home we talk about basketball all the time. It’s probably brought us together more as a family.”

Her brother, Seth, is a junior on the boys varsity basketball team.

Justin Ansel said the day his daughter does not feel comfortable with him as her coach is the day he will step down – as tough as that would be.

“We do have a relationship that at the end of every season I tell her if you don’t want me to coach any more, I’ll gladly step away and be a parent in the stands and support you in that respect,” he said.

“Each year, she’s always wanted me to be her coach. That feels good.”

He added that it is not just her he would miss coaching.

“You develop a relationship since fourth grade with these girls, and it’s not just your daughter,” he said. “I feel like I have a bunch of daughters out there.”

Senior Arreona Blakely said the turning point in the season was defeating Buchanan, 54-33, on Feb. 3.

The Colts lost to the Bucks 37-33 the month before.

“(Our win) was probably our best game, communication and defense-wise,” Blakely said.

She has no problem with her younger sister starting while she waits for the nod.

“I’m used to it,” the senior said. “It’s more I know my position, which is to be a leader and a communicator versus being the one out there scoring points. She’s more the athletic one versus me.

“I’m not really that athletic like her, but I’m good to support her. When she’s going through a rough time, I’m the only one who really knows how to pick her back up, spirit-wise, and get her going.”

Ahkyla Blakely said two things have helped the team improve from its 13 wins last year.

“It’s conditioning and practice,” she said. “Our coach makes us run these Sweet 16s every practice, and we’ve got to try to beat a time. He pushes us.

“We’ve been waiting for (last year’s) freshmen to come up, and now they’re sophomores and we’ve all been together for a long time. It feels like family.”

Daisy Ansel said the girls have a connection.

“We know who our shooters are, who we’re trying to get open,” she said. “We know all the plays. We have over 10 plays we can run against any team, and we all know them.

“When we’re out there together, we all just click like in middle school, and outside of basketball we get along.”

Ansel is a captain along with the Blakely sisters.

“Normally, sophomores aren’t captains, but going through travel ball has taught me so much, like the communication part of basketball,” Ansel said.

“I used to think you had to work the hardest and had to win everything, but now you’ve got to pump up everybody on your team to have the strongest practice. I work on giving more energy and communication in practice because it plays a bigger part than you think on the basketball court.”

House is a five-sport athlete, playing volleyball and golf in the fall, basketball and bowling in the winter and softball in the spring.

“It’s pretty tough between homework and all the practices and games, but I try to make it work,” she said. “Coaches work with me a lot.”

She said it is an advantage to have been coached by Justin Ansel on the Stampede team.

“He’s been our coach since we were little, so we know what he wants us to do,” she said. “He challenges us more because he knows what we can do.”

This season, “We’re generating a lot more offense. We’re all playing together as one team instead of as individuals, and our defense has tremendously improved since last year.”

Sophomore Madelyn Caswell is the tallest on the team at 5-foot-9, but “with my lankiness, my coach says I’m about 5-11,” she said, laughing.

Playing her first year on varsity, “The competitiveness is a lot more intense,” she said. “We have big goals and working to get there is a lot more competitive, and we’re a lot more driven than we were on jayvee.”

More to achieve

Comstock will host an MHSAA Class B District next week where it could face perennial power and reigning Class B champion Marshall in the second game.

“We play Parchment in the first round and if we win that, Marshall in the finals,” Justin Ansel said. “Marshall is very tough. We’re going to have to be fundamentally strong on both ends of the floor.

“Last year we got to Marshall in the first game. Four out of my five years (coaching Comstock), Marshall has ended my season.”

But the team entered this winter with high aspirations, and already has made good on making history.

“It’s something we talked about, but it wasn’t something we imagined doing,” Caswell said. “Throughout the season we realized we could make (winning conference) more of a reality.”

Marissa Vandyk is the other senior on the team. Juniors are Kierra Lovelace and Kaylee Gilley.

Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.

PHOTOS: (Top) Comstock sophomore Caylin Lopez guards a Parchment ball handler this season. (Middle top) Comstock coach Justin Ansel and sophomore Daisy Ansel. (Middle below) Comstock junior Ahkyla Blakely and senior Arreona Blakely. (Below) Sophomore Madelyn Caswell (40) works to defend a shot. (Action photos courtesy of the Comstock girls basketball program; head shots by Pam Shebest.)

Breslin Bound: 2021-22 Girls Report Week 12

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

February 21, 2022

District brackets are posted, almost every league championship is decided, and we’re closing in on the start of the girls basketball postseason in Michigan.

MI Student Aid

Tourney time begins a week from today, and this will be our final “Breslin Bound” of this format for the 2021-22 girls season as next week we’ll preview the most intriguing District brackets from across the state.

“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. Bloomfield Hills Marian 45, Farmington Hills Mercy 44 (OT) The Mustangs (12-6) would go on four days later to defeat Dearborn Divine Child 44-36 to win the Detroit Catholic League Bishop championship, but edging Central champion Mercy (14-3) on the way caused the first big stir.

2. West Bloomfield 65, Detroit Edison 62 The Lakers (15-1) furthered their status as a Division 1 favorite by handing Division 2 No. 1 Edison (8-4) its first in-state loss since 2017-18.

3. Detroit Edison 60, Ypsilanti Arbor Prep 52 The Pioneers did, however, quickly bounce back from that loss to hand Division 3 No. 1 Arbor Prep (15-2) just its second defeat.

4. Portland 53, Lansing Catholic 41 The Raiders’ only loss this season was 55-52 to Lansing Catholic on Jan. 14, and Portland (17-1) put itself in line to share the Capital Area Activities Conference White title with the Cougars (16-1) by avenging it.

5. Elk Rapids 56, Harbor Springs 49 The Elks (16-2) avenged their only Lake Michigan Conference defeat, 49-48 on Jan. 21, to clinch the league title and send Harbor Springs (17-2) into second.

Watch List

With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:

Division 1

Byron Center (15-2) The Bulldogs have clinched their third-straight Ottawa-Kent Conference White championship with two league games to play and only two single-digit margins over the first 12. Byron Center finished a regular-season sweep of Grand Rapids Christian (13-5) with a 53-44 victory last week and also nearly doubled up O-K Gold co-leader Grand Rapids South Christian (15-3) earlier this season. The Bulldogs sit No. 11 in Division 1 MPR, with the losses to No. 1 Hudsonville (16-2) and No. 8 Rockford (16-2) in December.  

Parma Western (17-1) The Panthers have clinched a share of the Interstate 8 Athletic Conference title – their third straight – heading into Tuesday’s matchup with second-place Marshall. Western’s only defeat came to Edison on Jan. 25, 60-47, and the Panthers are the only other team to defeat Arbor Prep. And that was just one of an impressive slate of wins, including others over East Lansing (13-4), Brooklyn Columbia Central (12-4), Grass Lake (13-4), Marshall (13-5) and Jackson Northwest (13-5) twice. Western reached the Semifinals last season in Division 2.

Division 2

Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard (13-6) In a Catholic League Central featuring three top-15 Division 1 teams, Gabriel Richard’s run may not have gotten as much notice. But minus losses to Mercy, Marian and Divine Child, the Irish would be 13-1 – and they handed Divine Child (15-3) a 41-32 defeat Feb. 8 after delivering a 45-36 loss to Marian a week before. The team’s only other defeat came to Lansing Catholic, and it handed Madison Heights Bishop Foley (14-1) its lone loss. This is the third season Father Gabriel Richard has reached 13 wins, and it advanced to the Division 2 Quarterfinals last season.

Imlay City (16-3) The Spartans can finish a perfect run through the Blue Water Area Conference for the second season in a row Tuesday at Almont, and they’ve clinched a third-straight outright championship. The league includes three more teams 11-7 or better, and Imlay City swept all three to go with solid victories over Deckerville (13-4) and Warren Cousino (13-5). The losses also no doubt provided some valuable prep as the team looks to build on last year’s Quarterfinal run – the Spartans fell to Arbor Prep, Macomb L’Anse Creuse North (19-1) and Lake Fenton (15-2).

Division 3

Madison Heights Bishop Foley (14-1) A Detroit Catholic League Cardinal championship won Saturday added to the achievements this winter for the Ventures, who also claimed the Catholic League Intersectional #1 title and have won 12 games by double digits. As they seek to build on last year’s Quarterfinal run, Bishop Foley should take confidence from the Cardinal title-deciding win over Wixom St. Catherine (14-3) and a big early victory over Clawson (17-2), among others. The lone loss came by six to Father Gabriel Richard (see above).

Watervliet (16-1) The Panthers finished a perfect run through the Southwestern Athletic Conference Lakeshore last week, with their closest win in any game this season by 13 points and their only loss to Kalamazoo Christian (15-4) by three on Feb. 1. Pairs of wins came over Gobles (11-7) and Saugatuck (12-6). Watervliet moved up to No. 7 in Division 3 MPR and gets another strong test Thursday at No. 6 Schoolcraft (17-1) in a SAC crossover of league champions.

Division 4

Allen Park Inter-City Baptist (11-7) Even with seven losses, Inter-City Baptist sits No. 11 in Division 4 MPR because of a schedule with 10 games against teams with double-digit wins. The Chargers defeated Auburn Hills Oakland Christian (13-4), Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest (11-7) and Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett (10-4) among others, tying with Oakland Christian for second in the Michigan Independent Athletic Conference Blue behind only Division 4 top-ranked Plymouth Christian Academy.

Pittsford (14-3) The Wildcats have won 12 straight since beginning the season 2-3, as they’ve also bounced back from going 6-7 a year ago. They’ve clinched a share of the Southern Central Athletic Association East title with three league games left this week. Pittsford has defeated Colon (14-4), swept Hillsdale Academy (11-5) and also downed Waldron (10-7), with one of those early losses coming at Athens (16-1).

Can't-Miss Contests

Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:  

Monday – Detroit Mumford (8-6) vs. Detroit Renaissance (13-5) at Oakland University – Renaissance won their Detroit Public School League Blue matchup 67-56 on Jan. 24, but they’re meeting again in the league tournament final.

Tuesday – Bloomingdale (17-1) at Hartford (16-2) – Two games remain on the Southwest 10 Conference schedule for both as they sit tied atop the standings and with Hartford having won the first meeting 37-31 on Jan. 11.

Tuesday – Chelsea (16-2) at Tecumseh (18-1) – Chelsea has a one-game lead on Tecumseh with one to play on the Southeastern Conference East schedule, and having given Tecumseh its only loss 64-40 on Feb. 1.

Tuesday – Midland Dow (17-1) at Flint Carman-Ainsworth (15-3) – The winner clinches a share of the Saginaw Valley League title with one more game to play for both. 

Thursday – KLAA championship game at West finalist – Hartland (17-1) or Howell (14-4) could host Wayne Memorial (17-1) or Belleville (13-5), dependent on tonight’s semifinals.

Second Half’s weekly “Breslin Bound” previews and reviews are powered by MI Student Aid, a part of the Office of Postsecondary Financial Planning located within the Michigan Department of Treasury. MI Student Aid encourages students to pursue postsecondary education by providing access to student financial resources and information. MI Student Aid administers the state’s 529 college savings programs (MET/MESP), as well as scholarship and grant programs that help make college Accessible, Affordable and Attainable for you. Connect with MI Student Aid at www.michigan.gov/mistudentaid and find more information on Facebook and Twitter @mistudentaid.

PHOTO Wayne Memorial, here against Dearborn last week, will play for the overall Kensington Lakes Activities Association championship after clinching the East title. (Photo by Douglas Bargerstock.)