Countdown to Calvin: Girls Regional Preview
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 11, 2019
While rematches and revenge will be the minds of many playing in Girls Basketball Regionals beginning tonight, rewards will be the end result for only 32 teams fortunate enough to advance past Wednesday and into the winter’s final week.
All 128 District champions will play Regional Semifinals this evening, with championship games Wednesday and then a long weekend before Quarterfinals roll us toward the Finals at Calvin College.
Below are three Regionals in each division that especially caught my attention, plus some of the District Finals that popped off the page over the weekend.
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. Haslett 44, Williamston 42 – After finishing second in the Capital Area Activities Conference Red to Williamston with losses of 19 and 13 points, Haslett handed the Hornets their first defeat since Dec. 17 to claim a Division 2 District title.
2. Pontiac Notre Dame Prep 71, Detroit Country Day 59 – The Fighting Irish remain one game below .500 this season, but following up an upset of Wixom St. Catherine with this Division 2 victory over the reigning Class B champion is what they’ll remember most about this season.
3. Kalamazoo Christian 42, Gobles 38 – Not only was Gobles undefeated entering this Division 3 District Final, but it had played just three single-digit games all season.
4. East Kentwood 57, East Grand Rapids 54 – The Ottawa-Kent Conference Red champion Falcons held on in Division 1 to edge the winners of the O-K Gold.
5. Brown City 41, Sandusky 31 – Three teams tied for first in the Greater Thumb Conference East, but only Brown City remains after winning this Division 3 District Final matchup of two of those champs.
Regionals at a Glance
These could be among our most competitive brackets. Host sites are in bold:
DIVISION 1
Caledonia
Coldwater (21-1) vs. East Lansing (20-2), Portage Central (16-4) vs. DeWitt (21-2)
This has been a historic season for Interstate 8 Athletic Conference champion Coldwater, as the Cardinals won their first league title since 1992 and are just a four-point loss to another District champ, Ann Arbor Pioneer, from a perfect record. But if Coldwater is to also win its first Regional title since 1991, it will have to break up the anticipated collision of CAAC Blue co-champs East Lansing and DeWitt. The Trojans – last year’s Class A runners-up – won the first meeting between the rivals, lost the second, and their only other defeat was by two points to Saginaw Heritage in a rematch of last year’s title game. DeWitt’s only other defeat came 24 hours after beating East Lansing, by four points to St. Johns. The Panthers, of course, can’t look ahead – Portage Central won the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference West, although it may become important to note that the Mustangs fell to Coldwater by 38 in their regular-season finale.
Mount Pleasant
Marquette (20-3) vs. Midland Dow (22-1), Saginaw Heritage (20-2) vs. Flint Carman-Ainsworth (18-5)
Saginaw Valley League Red rivals Midland Dow and Saginaw Heritage may get a rematch, after Dow won their lone regular-season meeting by four on Feb. 1 on Heritage’s home floor. That game ended up deciding the league title. But to get another chance at the Chargers, the Hawks first must defeat another league champion – SVL Blue winner Carman-Ainsworth – after also defeating the Cavaliers by seven on Jan. 9. Dow also has another league champ up first: Marquette won the Great Northern Upper Peninsula Conference, with only a two-point loss to Brighton and defeats to one-loss Ishpeming Westwood and Negaunee helping to make for a strong resume.
Southfield Arts & Technology
Grosse Pointe North (19-3) vs. Bloomfield Hills Marian (21-1), Southfield Arts & Technology (20-1) vs. Warren Cousino (15-8)
Three more league champions highlight this bracket. Macomb Area Conference Red winner Grosse Pointe North and Detroit Catholic League Central and A-B champ Marian face off in a rematch from early December, when the Mustangs won by 13. Marian’s only loss this season was the Division 2 favorite Detroit Edison by six points. Southfield A&T doubled up Detroit Public School League Tournament champion Detroit Mumford in their District Final last week and is a two-point loss to Heritage from a perfect run. This bracket really presents an opportunity for the MAC Red to show again why it’s considered one of the toughest leagues in the state after all six teams finished at least 12-9 this winter. North’s only other losses were to Division 2 powers Harper Woods Chandler Park and Detroit Country Day, and third-place Cousino fell by only three to Marian in both teams’ season opener.
DIVISION 2
Adrian
Carlton Airport (21-1) vs. Dearborn Divine Child (13-9), Chelsea (22-1) vs. River Rouge (12-6)
Airport has won 20 straight games since falling to 2018 Class D champ Adrian Lenawee Christian on Dec. 13, and is playing for its first Regional title. But Divine Child is a dangerous opponent with wins in seven of its last nine games and both losses during that string to Marian. Similarly, Chelsea is playing for its first Regional title as well, and with just a two-point loss to Pioneer on Feb. 28 keeping it from perfection so far. But the Bulldogs first face another league champion in River Rouge, which prepped for the Michigan Metro Athletic Conference Blue schedule by taking on a number of the state’s best from Division 1. The Panthers opened this winter 2-5 against that strong competition, but its only loss since Jan. 8 came nonleague to Carman-Ainsworth.
Coloma
Benton Harbor (4-15) vs. Plainwell (15-6), Hamilton (22-0) vs. Edwardsburg (23-0)
Of course the Hamilton/Edwardsburg matchup tonight is one of the state’s biggest regardless of division. Hamilton won its first Regional title in girls basketball last season, and Edwardsburg is hoping to accomplish the same for its program this week. The Ottawa-Kent Conference Green-winning Hawkeyes haven’t had a single-digit game since Jan. 11. While Edwardsburg won the Wolverine Conference South, Plainwell was second in the North and defeated a league champion in Comstock on Friday to move on to this week. Benton Harbor was one of the statewide surprises of the District round. The Tigers didn’t earn their second win this season until Feb. 19, but have now won three of their last five games and clinched the District title with two victories by a combined six points.
Mount Morris
Freeland (20-2) vs. Corunna (20-2), Stanton Central Montcalm (22-0) vs. Frankenmuth (14-7)
Three more league champs help fill this Regional. Freeland from the Tri-Valley Conference Central and Corunna from the Genesee Area Conference Red both are returnees to Regionals, Freeland making it to the Class B Quarterfinals a year ago. The Falcons’ only losses this winter were to Division 1 contenders Dow and Heritage, while Corunna has bounced back from mid-winter defeats to Fowlerville and Division 3 power Flint Hamady. Central Montcalm is coming off its second straight perfect regular season and Central State Activities Association Gold title, and is seeking its first Regional title. Frankenmuth is the lone non-league champ in this bracket, having finished third in the TVC East. But the Eagles have won nine of their last 12.
DIVISION 3
McBain
Houghton Lake (21-0) vs. Hart (12-10), Oscoda (22-0) vs. Lake City (19-2)
The winner of this bracket will be celebrating something not accomplished in a long time – or ever. A pair of undefeated teams might seem destined to meet in the Regional Final – Oscoda, from the North Star League Big Dipper, is seeking its first Regional title and Jack Pine Conference champ Houghton Lake its first since 1992. But Lake City is only a pair of three-point losses to Highland Conference champion Manton from also being perfect, and the Trojans are seeking their first Regional title since 1976. Hart is also seeking its first since 1992 and on a roll after navigating a number of much larger and successful opponents in the West Michigan Conference.
Michigan Center
Springport (18-3) vs. Michigan Center (19-3), Adrian Madison (21-1) vs. Laingsburg (19-4)
Michigan Center is riding high after avenging losses to Manchester on Wednesday and then Cascades Conference champion Grass Lake with a 49-44 overtime win Friday to clinch last week’s District. The Cardinals made the Class B Semifinals a year ago and can continue to put that tournament experience to work against Big 8 Conference champ Springport, although the Spartans have won 17 of their last 18 since starting 0-2. Adrian Madison slipped up against Manchester two weeks ago but otherwise won the Tri-County Conference by four games and has nearly doubled up last season’s 11 wins. Laingsburg provides an interesting wild card to this bracket – the Wolfpack don’t get much attention coming from the same Central Michigan Athletic Conference as Division 3 favorite Pewamo-Westphalia. But aside from two losses to the Pirates, Laingsburg hasn’t fallen since the first week of this season.
Sault Ste. Marie
Iron River West Iron County (19-2) vs. Ishpeming Westwood (22-1), Charlevoix (18-2) vs. Elk Rapids (17-5)
The Western Peninsula Athletic Conference Copper and Iron champs, respectively, face off on the Upper Peninsula side of this bracket. Westwood has been making good on high aspirations all season and is now playing for its first Regional title since 2008. The Patriots’ only loss came to Negaunee, and they then avenged it twice on the way to league and District titles. Westwood beat West Iron by 15 all the back on Dec. 11, and the Wykons haven’t lost since on the way to also winning a league title. They’re seeking their first regional title since 1986. From the other side of the Bridge, Charlevoix is playing for its first Regional title since 2004 after also winning its league and seeing junior Elise Stuck become the program’s all-time leading scorer. Charlevoix beat Elk Rapids twice on the way to winning their Lake Michigan Conference. But the Elks upset Manton on the way to winning last week’s District and would love to add a first Regional title since 1993.
DIVISION 4
Lansing Christian
Hillsdale Academy (14-8) vs. Portland St. Patrick (17-6), Athens (18-4) vs. Adrian Lenawee Christian (21-2)
The reigning Class D champ Cougars, led by sophomore standout Bree Salenbien, are a comfortable favorite this week with losses to only Division 3 powers Grass Lake and Michigan Center this winter. But Athens is surging. The Indians began last week’s District by avenging an opening night loss to Battle Creek Calhoun Christian, and then got past rival Bellevue in their District Final after losing twice to the Broncos during the regular season. On the other side, Hillsdale Academy has flipped last season’s 7-14 finish and won 10 of its last 13 games. And quite quietly, Portland St. Patrick followed up Division 3 District winners P-W and Laingsburg in the CMAC to tie for third in that league under six-time Class D champion coach Al Schrauben.
Mendon
Mendon (17-3) vs. Martin (18-3), Fruitport Calvary Christian (18-5) vs. St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran (18-2)
Calvary Christian is seeking its first Regional title and Martin its first since 1995 in what could be one of the most unpredictable brackets in any division. Martin and Mendon both finished second in their leagues to Division 3 teams, and all six of their combined losses were to Division 3 opponents. Calvary Christian’s losses all were to Division 3 teams as well as the Eagles went undefeated in the Alliance League. Mendon last won a Regional title in 2014, but Michigan Lutheran has the most postseason experience of the quartet making the Quarterfinals in 2017 and the Regional Semifinals a year ago. The Titans enter as Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph White champs and coming off avenging one of their two defeats by beating Three Oaks River Valley in the District Final.
Pellston
St. Ignace (23-0) vs. Hillman (12-11), Newberry (12-10) vs. Mackinaw City (22-1)
The Saints are a Division 4 favorite with wins over Detroit Mumford, Goodrich and Reese augmenting the usual run through league and area opponents. But on the other side of Mackinac Bridge is a hopeful Comets team seeking its first Regional title and with only a Dec. 10 loss to Brimley keeping them from perfection so far. St. Ignace and Mackinaw City wouldn’t meet until Wednesday, though, and their Regional Semifinal opponents have the needed momentum to make tonight challenging. Hillman opened this season with six straight losses and nine in its first 12 games, but the Tigers bounced back to go 9-2 over their last 11 games. Newberry survived a string of seven losses in nine games through January and February to win its last five and get past Brimley by a point in last week’s District Final.
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PHOTO: Marquette's Kaeleigh Talbacka drives to the basket as Traverse City West's Tacey Looze (22) stands her ground. (Photo by Cara Kamps.)
All-time Hoops Winner Leads Another
By
Tim Robinson
Special for MHSAA.com
March 20, 2018
HARTLAND — When asked how many seasons he’s coached basketball, Don Palmer always is up front.
The reactions are variations of shock and awe.
“How many seasons? 104?” a reporter asked after his most recent victory March 8.
“Seventy,” Palmer said.
“Seventy?” said the reporter, not suspecting a number that high.
Told the same number, Hartland senior Graysen Cockerham could only giggle in disbelief.
“That’s crazy,” sophomore Whitney Sollom said, joining in the laughter.
Seventy is quite a number at first blush, considering Palmer is only 67 years old.
But he coached boys and girls at Milford for 29 years and has been a head coach for 41 overall, the last nine at Hartland.
He has won 935 games, 588 with the girls, which has enabled him to become the winningest overall basketball coach in state history. The old record, 922, is believed to have been held by Ed Mehlberg of Auburn Hills Oakland Christian. As it turns out, both Palmer and Mehlberg were inducted into the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame last September.
Palmer has coached countless players and their children as well as against coaches and their sons. On this year’s team he coached Sollom, whose mother, Dianne Hall, played against Milford while at Walled Lake Western; and Kamryn Gerecke, whose mother, Lori Montante, is Milford’s second-leading scorer all-time.
He’s won with and without talent on offense. And on defense, opposing coaches have learned to prepare in advance.
“I learned to do some prep work for those games,” former Brighton coach Jason Piepho said. “We would mix in different defenses in practice throughout the year. You couldn’t prepare for him for just two games a year, because you didn’t know what he would throw at you.”
Piepho learned that first-hand while playing for Howell a quarter-century ago.
“I remember the first time I played against him,” he said, laughing. “I was Howell’s point guard, and they threw a box-and-one against me. It was frustrating. It was the first time I’d seen that defense.”
Coach to the core
His Hartland girls finished 20-6 this winter, advancing to last week’s Class A Quarterfinals before falling to Wayne Memorial.
Palmer started coaching at Milford in 1974, the year he graduated from Michigan State University.
“I coached football a couple of years, freshman football,” he said. “I liked it, but I always wanted to be a head coach, so when the (girls basketball) job became open at Milford, I applied and got it. About a year later, the boys job came open and I applied and got it.”
For the next 29 years, until girls basketball moved to the winter beginning with the 2007-08 season, Palmer coached both sports.
“It became a lifestyle,” he said. “We had girls in the fall and boys in the winter. We would do our boys (offseason) stuff in June and the girls stuff in July, and it just kept going.
“When they switched the seasons, I had to make a choice,” he said. “I chose girls because that’s where I started. It gave me a chance to be a coach at a young age. So that’s where my allegiance was. As I grow older, I could never do two seasons back-to-back.”
Palmer’s Milford teams of both genders were known for defense and an offense that could be described as patient or painfully slow, depending on one’s perspective.
“When we started out with the boys, it was a program that struggled mightily,” he recalled. “We would do whatever we had to do to stay in games, whether that be ball control or setting the tempo.”
“I think the biggest thing that Don has done is that he adapts how he plays the game to his talent,” said Lee Piepho, who coached girls basketball at Howell. “Sometimes you don’t like what he does in terms of his strategy, but his idea is, ‘I’m going to play whatever strategy on the court to help my team win the game. If that’s standing out there and holding the ball, putting my arm under it and go into the quarter tied at zero or leading 2-0, I’m going to do that.’”
Last season, Palmer adjusted to a team than loved to run up and down the floor and was good at it.
“I don’t mind the running game,” he said. “You weren’t holding (that team) back. You were doing a disservice if you did.”
Both Piepho and Palmer are fiery competitors, but Palmer once made Piepho laugh during a game.
“One night we were playing Milford with Sara (Piepho’s daughter, a point guard at Howell),” Lee recalled. “I got a little upset with Sara and I pulled her out of the game and was talking to her and Don hollered over, ‘If you don’t want her, I’ll take her.’
“We had her graduation party and invited Don over, and he brings Sara a pair of Milford practice shorts.”
Palmer, at 6-foot with a shaved head and glasses, is an intimidating presence on the sideline during games. HIs players soon learn to look beyond that persona.
“I think most people, from a distance, see him and think he’s crazy,” Cockerham said. “But as players, we know he cares and wants us to be the best we can be. We appreciate it, because we need a coach to push us, and that’s exactly what he does. He expects nothing but the best for us, and that’s the way he gets it out of us.”
Mike McKay coached under Palmer at Milford for many years. He now is the varsity coach at Grand Blanc.
“He can be intense,” he said. “But off the court he does things he doesn’t want recognition for but does them for the betterment of his players. He takes care of the whole program.”
New challenge, no let up
After 32 seasons coaching at the only place he’d ever worked, Palmer’s contract was not renewed at Milford after the 2008-09 season.
He wasn’t out of coaching for long.
“When I left Milford, the Hartland coach, Brian Ives, had to leave because of work obligations,” Palmer said.
After years of struggling, the Hartland program was on the rise.
“We could beat them at the varsity level, but just barely,” Palmer said of coaching against the Eagles near the end of his Milford tenure. “The lower levels were just getting murdered. So we could see it coming.
“I told my coaches, ‘There’s going to be no excuse for not winning. None,’” Palmer recalled.
The Eagles have thrived under Palmer. In his nine seasons, his teams have won 20 or more games three times and got to the Quarterfinals twice over the last four seasons. He won 62 percent of his games at Milford. In nine seasons at Hartland, the Eagles have won 78 percent of their games.
“There just doesn’t seem to be any let up for a while,” he said, referring to the talent stream at Hartland. Indeed, five sophomores and two freshmen saw extensive time during the postseason for the Eagles this year.
But, he jokes, some old habits die hard.
“Even now, frequently, I’ll still write ‘Milford’ in a scorebook or something like that,” Palmer said. “I’m much, much better now. I’m a Hartland guy and a Livingston County guy, but it took a while. I coached 61 seasons over there. That’ll always be my school, but I do think that getting hired at Hartland was the best thing that happened to me under those circumstances. It’s been fabulous.”
Palmer’s coaching tree is expansive, and his list of admirers much more so.
“When we were winning and making runs in the state tournament, he went to all of our games,” Jason Piepho said. “He was always a coach you could call and talk to about things in your program. He’s an open book, willing to help and mentor. He’s what you want in a high school coach.”
“There are a lot of challenges that come with coaching,” McKay said. “A lot of people don’t like hearing the truth, and it’s hard to tell them. But he’s always honest and up front with his players and staff. He’s a first-class person and coach, and I admire him and try to emulate what he does.”
McKay just finished his second season with the Bobcats, and they beat Hartland in December in a key victory.
“I didn’t like losing, but losing to him took the sting away a little bit because he was so happy and it was a big win for his program,” Palmer said. “So that helped. I’m proud of him, and he’s turning it around and he’ll be fine.”
Told this, McKay replied, “That tells you all you need to know about Don. He’s a class act. It was a great win for our program, but bittersweet for me. I look on him as a second father, and you always want to please your father. I know how badly he wanted to win and compete and how much I do, too.”
Howell girls coach Tim Olszewski had previously coached the Howell boys against Palmer’s Milford teams. In his last regular-season game as Howell coach, Olszewski’s Highlanders beat Milford 97-86.
“He was so mad at me,” Olszewski said, laughing. “He and his players were all red-faced, for different reasons.
“He’s a great coach and I love listening to him talk and pick his brain for things. He’s very well deserving of the record. Hopefully he’ll be around a lot longer.”
March continues
A lot has changed since Palmer’s first season as a varsity coach with the Milford girls back in 1977.
“As we kind of march on in time, you’ve got people playing 60 games in the summer,” Palmer said. “I think if we get in 30 games, that’s plenty. I do think this: More than ever, you’ve got to let kids be kids a little bit. We’re going to that specialization stuff, and I don’t think that’s great.
“People love to go to the next level, but it becomes a job,” he continued. “So this is the time to be a kid. This is the time to enjoy sports. Basketball is always my love, but I enjoyed football. I enjoyed track, and I think kids, well, it’s just how it is. There are outside forces. Everyone says they have a college athlete, and the percentages say they don’t.”
Specialization, he adds, not only cuts into individual opportunities to learn, but also hurts teams that could use those athletes.
“Unless you have a gigantic high school, all of your athletes have got to play a couple of sports, or you don’t survive,” he said.
As he gets older, Palmer sees the end of his career approaching, although he’s not there yet.
“I just go year-by-year,” he said. “Part of the compromise my wife and I made for me to continue (coaching) is that we’re going to travel a little bit more. She likes that, and so we’ve got some plans. After the season is over, we’re going to take a trip to Dallas. I’m a Kennedy assassination buff, and she just wants to see Dallas.”
Asked if he will be back next year, he nods his head.
“Right now, that’s the feeling, I guess,” he said. “If everything works out, I would like to at least finish with Whitney. That’s a gift, to coach a kid like that. But eventually you have to make a decision. Right now, my energy is up, but when the season is over, I go into a meltdown for a month where I don’t do much. Just don’t have the energy. It takes more and more out of you every day.
“But it’s still fun when you’re in the heat of battle. It’s still fun.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Hartland girls basketball coach Don Palmer stands for the national anthem before a game at Howell last month. (Middle) Palmer, also during the game against the Highlanders. (Below) Palmer talks with his team during a timeout. (Photos by Tim Robinson.)