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.)

Countdown to Calvin: Girls Report Week 12

February 26, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The beginning of the MHSAA Girls Basketball Tournament is still a week away.

But taking a glance at some of the games played last week and other big-time matchups coming up over the next three days, we’ve clearly entered playoff mode.

Countdown to Calvin is powered by MI Student Aid and based on results and schedules posted for each school at MHSAA.com. To offer corrections or fill in scores we’re missing, email me at [email protected].

Week in Review

The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results: 

1. DeWitt 58, East Lansing 46 – The Panthers started last week with this Monday showdown, handing the last unbeaten team in Division 1 East Lansing its only loss and setting the teams up to share the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue title (although DeWitt then lost the next day for just the second time, to nonleague St. Johns.)

2. Maple City Glen Lake 38, Kingsley 36 – The Lakers avenged an eight-point loss Jan. 17 to move into a first place tie with the Stags in the Northwest Conference with one game left for both.

3. Midland Dow 48, Flint Carman-Ainsworth 41 – Dow, champion of the Saginaw Valley Red, reaffirmed its position as a Division 1 favorite by downing Blue title winner Carman-Ainsworth in a league crossover.

4. Ypsilanti Arbor Prep 48, Harper Woods Chandler Park 46 – Division 2 Chandler Park has fared well against many of the state’s best, making this a major victory for Division 3 contender Arbor Prep. These teams will meet again Thursday.

5. Sandusky 36, Brown City 34 – The Redskins avenged a five-point overtime loss to Brown City from Jan. 22 to create a three-team shared title in the Greater Thumb Conference East with these two and Harbor Beach.

Watch List

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

DIVISION 1

• East Grand Rapids (17-2) – The Pioneers have won 14 straight and ran away with the Ottawa-Kent Conference Gold title, finishing four wins better than the rest of the league. The title was the team’s first since 2011-12, and East Grand Rapids will try to build on it with a repeat District championship next week. Those two defeats both came in December to Coldwater, a league champion, and 14-win Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern.

• Saginaw Heritage (16-2) – The reigning Class A champion has navigated one of the toughest schedules in the state, with the two losses by a combined eight points to rival Midland Dow and Division 2 favorite Detroit Edison – and the latter with Miss Basketball candidate Moira Joiner injured. The Hawks didn’t win their league thanks to the Dow loss, but shouldn’t be sneaking up on anyone with wins this winter against Southfield Arts & Technology, Hartland, Flint Carman-Ainsworth, Harper Woods Chandler Park and Detroit Country Day.

DIVISION 2

• Detroit University Prep (16-1) – The Panthers swept the Michigan Metro Athletic Conference Black and didn’t suffer their first defeat until last week, falling to Division 1 Bloomfield Hills. There have been a few forfeit wins, but all of University Prep’s victories on the court have been by double digits – a substantial improvement from last season’s 9-10 finish.

• Otsego (16-2) – The Bulldogs have locked up their fourth straight league title, finishing a perfect run through the Wolverine Conference North on Friday to set up Thursday’s league crossover against unbeaten South champion Edwardsburg. Otsego fell to Marshall and then the Eddies back-to-back in their last game of December and first of January, respectively, but haven’t been defeated since with especially impressive wins over Comstock, Three Rivers and Plainwell twice.

DIVISION 3 

• Kent City (16-2) – The Eagles are riding an 11-game winning streak and finished a perfect run through the Central State Activities Association Silver. They’ve won 35 straight league games and five consecutive league championships. Expectations for next month should be high for a few more reasons as well – among them, experience from last year’s Quarterfinal run and the fact the two losses this winter both came in December and by a combined six points to eventual league champs Detroit Martin Luther King and Comstock.

• Pewamo-Westphalia (16-1) – The Pirates have clinched a share of the Central Michigan Athletic Conference title and should complete a second straight perfect run through the league this week. All of that no doubt has been prep with an eye on returning to Calvin after finishing Class C runners-up in 2017 and making the Semifinals a year ago. The lone loss this winter came to Edison, and wins over Dow (by 20), Country Day (by 28) and another league champion New Lothrop (by 30) stack up well with the work of any team in this division.

DIVISION 4 

• Mendon (14-2) – While it’s unlikely Mendon will catch unbeaten Centreville this week for a share of the Southwest 10 Conference title, the Hornets can boast they gave the Division 3 contender its second closest game falling by just four Feb. 8. It’s been an even more impressive winter considering Mendon finished 8-13 only a year ago.

• St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran (14-2) – Despite a one-point loss to second-place Three Oaks River Valley two weeks ago, Michigan Lutheran can lock up the outright Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference White title Thursday, their fifth straight league championship. The Titans also are looking to build on two straight District titles.

Can't-Miss Contests

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

Tuesday – Saginaw Heritage (16-2) at East Lansing (18-1) – What better way to roll into the postseason than with a rematch of last year’s Class A title game.

Tuesday – Wayne Memorial (16-2) at Brighton (18-1) – Wayne reached the Kensington Lakes Activities Association overall championship game by defeating Hartland, which shared the West title with the Bulldogs.

Tuesday – Kent City (16-2) at Stanton Central Montcalm (18-0) – The Hornets are attempting to finish a second straight perfect regular season, and additionally finish this week with 13-win White Cloud.

Thursday – Royal Oak (18-1) at Southfield Arts & Technology (16-1) – The Warriors are first in the Oakland Activities Association Red thanks to a 60-47 win over Royal Oak in their first meeting Feb. 5.

Thursday – Fenton (16-2) at DeWitt (17-2) – The Tigers emerged as champions of a Flint Metro League with three teams 15-5 or better, and DeWitt will provide another sizable test heading into the postseason.

Second Half’s weekly “Countdown to Calvin” reports are powered by MI Student Aid, a part of the Student Financial Services Bureau 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, including various student financial assistance programs to help make college more affordable for Michigan students. MI Student Aid administers the state’s 529 savings programs (MET/MESP) and eight additional aid programs within its Student Scholarships and Grants division. Click for more information and connect with MI Student Aid on Facebook and Twitter @mistudentaid.

PHOTO: DeWitt's Madison Petersen works to get around an Okemos defender during a victory earlier this season. (Photo by TCP Photography.)