Edison Closes Dominant Run as Champ Again
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
March 23, 2019
GRAND RAPIDS – The Detroit Edison girls basketball team has been leaving people in awe all season.
On Saturday night, the Pioneers' own coach was a bit star struck after they defeated Freeland 77-58 to claim the Division 2 championship.
“This is a phenomenal group that I have,” Edison coach Monique Brown said. “I don’t even know where to start with this group and what we’ve accomplished together as one unit. Today up and down with our defense, they had so many 3s on us, but we just kept fighting and fighting and pushing and communicating. I’m just so happy to be up here with these young ladies and to say I’m their coach.”
The title is the third straight for Edison, with the previous two coming in Class C. Edison is the sixth school in MHSAA history to win three straight girls basketball titles, and the Pioneers’ run was a dominant one. Through its first seven postseason games, their average margin of victory was 48.7 points, with their closest game prior to the Final coming in a 27-point win against Haslett in the Semifinal.
With that type of run, it could have been easy for the Pioneers to lose focus, but they never did.
“The way we were able to stay focused was our practice and each other,” Edison junior forward Gabrielle Elliott said. “We were always on each other’s back in practice. We were blowing people out, so we had to stay focused. Our biggest competition was ourselves, and we were going so hard in practice. That’s what people didn’t see as to why we were beating people by 50.”
Unfortunately for the rest of the state, Edison’s powerhouse may not be going anywhere. While graduating senior Rickea Jackson, this year’s Miss Basketball Award winner, is certainly going to hurt, she’s the only senior on the Pioneers’ roster.
“Many, many years with more state championships,” Jackson said when asked what’s to come. “It doesn’t just run on me, it was a team effort. There are other great teammates and great shooters, scorers, rebounders that are still here, so I think it can go a long time.”
Jackson was the star again Saturday night, scoring a game-high 28 points and adding five rebounds in her final game. Next year, she’ll be playing at Mississippi State.
“Amazing,” Freeland coach Tom Zolinski said. “She really is. We would make a little run then she’d come back and hit a quick shot, a mid-range shot or even a three. She’s tough.”
During the Division 3 game, which directly preceded the Division 2 Final, Jackson was awarded the Miss Basketball trophy. It could have made an already large target on her back even bigger, but she said that she used it as motivation.
“It made me feel like I had to win this championship even more,” Jackson said. “Why not finish your season with Miss Basketball and a third state championship? If we didn’t get it, I would have been very hurt. It made me more confident. Getting that award definitely made me way more confident just knowing that I could go out there and play my game. There was nothing more I could do to go out there and prove to nobody. I could play my game.”
Edison did struggle from the perimeter in the first half, hitting just 1 of 10 attempts from 3-point range. But the Pioneers made up for that with 12 second-chance points and 11 points off turnovers to lead 37-24 at the half.
Freeland didn’t back down from the state’s top-ranked team, and every time it looked like Edison was about to blow the top off the game, the Falcons found points either from the field or the free-throw line to remain within shouting distance.
While they weren’t great from the field, shooting just 6 of 23, they were perfect on their 10 first-half free-throw attempts.
In the second half, those perimeter shots started falling for the Pioneers as they hit their first four attempts from beyond the arc, three coming from sophomore guard Damiya Hagemann.
“We were rushing a little bit offensively and settling for the 3-point shot,” Brown said. “In the first half we were 1 for 10, and when I’m looking at these numbers, we were 7 for 19 (for the game), so we went 6 for 9 in the second half, which is pretty good. That says a lot about who we are and how we listen and pay attention, and how we go out there and work together as a unit.”
While the lead grew to 19 heading into the fourth quarter, Freeland hit its own shots to again keep the game from getting completely away.
The Falcons were able to cut into the lead a bit in the final quarter, but never got closer than 14 points over the final eight minutes.
Elliott scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds for Edison, while Hagemann had 13 points and nine assists.
Alyssa Argyle led Freeland with 18 points and five rebounds, while Kadyn Blanchard had 16 points, four rebounds and four assists, and Autumn Kloha had 11 points and five assists.
“They made history in Freeland,” Zolinski said. “Tonight, they gave it their all. It was a tough task tonight, and a lot of credit goes to them. But what a group of girls right here. In four years, they won 94 games and lost 11. Never lost a conference game, and I’m definitely going to miss them. They’ve set it up for the future.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Edison players raise their Division 2 championship trophy Saturday night at Van Noord Arena. (Middle) Rickea Jackson gets an open look in the lane.
Breslin Bound: 2021-22 Girls District Preview
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 28, 2022
As February ends and March begins this week, so does the most “Breslin Bound” portion of our girls basketball season.
District tournaments tip off all over the state tonight. Check out “Tracking the Tournament” on MHSAA.com for every matchup from all of them, and see below for some of last week’s most eye-catching scores and three Districts in each division that could make the biggest impacts this week on the overall postseason pictures.
“Breslin Bound” is powered by MI Student Aid.
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Bloomfield Hills Marian 53, Detroit Renaissance 34 The Mustangs (14-6) continued their late-season surge with a win over the Phoenix (14-6) in the Operation Friendship matchup of Detroit Catholic League and Public School League champions.
2. Midland Dow 56, Flint Carman-Ainsworth 45 The Chargers (19-1) clinched a share of what turned into the outright Saginaw Valley League title, with this the only SVL defeat for Carman-Ainsworth (16-4).
3. Hartland 63, Howell 48 The Eagles (19-1) won the third meeting this winter with the Highlanders (15-5) to take a 2-1 season lead and clinch the overall Kensington Lakes Activities Association Tournament championship.
4. Bloomingdale 30, Hartford 29 The Cardinals (19-1) clinched a share of the eventually outright Southwest 10 Conference title by avenging an earlier six-point loss to Hartford (17-3).
5. Detroit Edison 67, Farmington Hills Mercy 44 The Pioneers (12-3) rolled into the Division 2 postseason with three wins over strong Division 1 teams, this against Mercy (16-4) the first of the final week’s run.
Districts at a Glance
These could be among our most competitive brackets. Host sites are in bold:
DIVISION 1
Dexter
1. Dexter (18-2), 2. South Lyon East (18-2), Brighton (13-7), South Lyon (9-10), Ann Arbor Skyline (4-14).
The Dreadnaughts bring an 11-game winning streak and undefeated run through the Southeastern Conference Red into this week, with 15 of their wins by double digits. Dexter is No. 7 overall in Division 1 MPR, and South Lyon East slotted No. 18 after a perfect run through the Lakes Valley Conference and 12 straight victories – with no win of their 18 total by fewer than 13 points. Brighton finished fourth in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association West dominated by Hartland and Howell (see below), a combined four losses to those two and also four of their defeats total by only five points or fewer.
Howell
1. Hartland (19-1), 2. Howell (15-5), Linden (15-5), Fenton (10-10), Holly (0-18).
Hartland finished No. 4 overall in Division 1 MPR, and Howell at No. 10. They split the KLAA West title, and Hartland won the regular-season series 2-1, capped with a 63-48 win in last week’s KLAA overall championship game (also noted above). The Highlanders’ 37-31 win in their first meeting Jan. 11 was the Eagles’ only loss of this season. All of that said, Linden will try to break into the conversation coming out of finishing second in the Flint Metro League Stripes and with four of its five losses to teams that finished 16-4 or better.
West Bloomfield
1. West Bloomfield (18-1), 2. Bloomfield Hills Marian (14-6), North Farmington (11-8), Birmingham Seaholm (14-4), Birmingham Groves (9-10), Bloomfield Hills (3-16).
West Bloomfield reaffirmed itself as a Division 1 championship favorite two weeks ago in handing Detroit Edison its first in-state loss in four years. The Lakers slotted No. 6 in the final Division 1 MPR with their only defeat in their season opener to Dexter. But Marian’s profile has risen significantly over the last two weeks as the Mustangs have come from finishing fourth in a strong Detroit Catholic League Central to defeating the first and second-place teams in claiming the Bishop Tournament championship and then downing Renaissance (see above) to cap the regular season. Birmingham Seaholm also is a league champion, from the Oakland Activities Association Blue, and Groves defeated Seaholm in December.
DIVISION 2
Adrian
1. Chelsea (17-3), 2. Tecumseh (18-2), Onsted (14-6), Milan (6-12), Hillsdale (3-17), Adrian (2-16).
Chelsea was undefeated in winning the SEC White, with Tecumseh’s only losses to the Bulldogs – 64-40 and 69-48. Chelsea did close with a 52-36 loss to Dexter last week, but that defeat ended a 12-game winning streak that had included wins over Battle Creek Lakeview (18-1) and Grass Lake (14-5). As noted, Tecumseh otherwise was undefeated this regular season – including with a 67-34 win over Onsted on Jan. 6. Onsted tied for second in the Lenawee County Athletic Association, and all of its defeats this winter were to teams that finished 14-6 or better.
Essexville Garber
1. Saginaw Swan Valley (16-4), 2. Freeland (15-5), Midland Bullock Creek (13-7), Essexville Garber (13-7), Bay City John Glenn (5-15), Saginaw Arthur Hill (4-13), Carrollton (2-18).
Swan Valley and Freeland tied for second in the Tri-Valley Conference 8, splitting their regular-season meetings with Freeland winning 45-25 in last week’s rematch. Garber finished fourth in the TVC-8 with a combined six of its losses to those two and league champion Frankenmuth. Bullock Creek also has a chance to shake things up a bit; in addition to finishing fourth in the TVC-10, the Lancers fell by only four in overtime to Freeland in last season’s District (which the Falcons went on to win by also defeating Swan Valley and John Glenn).
Ionia
1. Portland (19-1), 2. Lansing Catholic (17-2), Ionia (11-8), Hastings (12-8), Lake Odessa Lakewood (5-14), Lansing Eastern (3-15).
The Raiders are the reigning Division 2 champions, and their only loss came to Lansing Catholic 55-52 on Jan. 14 – which Portland avenged Feb. 18, 53-41. Portland finished No. 3 in the final Division 2 MPR and the Cougars No. 7, as both loaded their regular-season schedules. Portland also had wins over 2021 Division 4 champion Fowler and Division 1 Renaissance, East Lansing and Haslett, plus Chelsea; and Lansing Catholic also owns a win over Haslett plus others against Swan Valley, Detroit Cass Tech and Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard. Ionia was fourth behind those co-champs of the Capital Area Activities Conference White, and Hastings finished fourth in another strong league, the Interstate 8 Athletic Conference.
DIVISION 3
Calumet
1. Calumet (17-2), 2. Hancock (16-4), Ishpeming Westwood (13-6) Ishpeming (10-8), Gwinn (1-18).
Calumet sits No. 3 and Hancock No. 9 in final Division 3 MPR, the Copper Kings having swept the Bulldogs in winning the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference West title. One of Hancock’s other two losses came to Westwood, which shared the West-PAC East championship with Negaunee but must open Wednesday against Calumet. Ishpeming is an interesting potential stopper with eight wins over its last 10 games including a 42-37 victory over Westwood in their second meeting of the season Feb. 5.
Montrose
1. Reese (16-4), 2. New Lothrop (15-5), Montrose (9-11), Flint Beecher (13-5), Vassar (6-14), Burton Madison Academy (4-9).
The Rockets have won nine of their last 10, and three of their defeats were to teams highlighted among the larger-school divisions in this report (Dexter, Swan Valley and Freeland). They won a solid Greater Thumb Conference West and are looking to add to a Division 3 volleyball championship won in the fall. New Lothrop finished second only to Division 2 Ovid-Elsie (19-1) in the Mid-Michigan Activities Conference, and the Hornets have won eight of their last 10 with three of their defeats to teams that won league titles. Beecher was runner-up in the Genesee Area Conference Red.
Traverse City St. Francis
1. Maple City Glen Lake (20-0), 2. Elk Rapids (18-2), Traverse City St. Francis (14-6), Benzie Central (10-10), Grand Traverse Academy (11-5), Mancelona (6-13).
The Lakers finished their second-straight perfect regular season and are looking to build on last year’s Quarterfinal fun. The Northwest Conference champions have wins over Elk Rapids, St. Francis and Benzie Central, although those over the Elks and Gladiators were in December. Elk Rapids was first and St. Francis third in the Lake Michigan Conference, with the Elks on an 11-game winning streak since its only other defeat, to Harbor Springs (18-2). Grand Traverse Academy has won nine of its last 10 and opens with Benzie Central.
DIVISION 4
Athens
1. Athens (19-1), 2. Colon (16-4), Mendon (17-3), Burr Oak (8-10), Tekonsha (2-17).
Athens is No. 5 in Division 4 MPR and didn’t lose again after falling to No. 4 Adrian Lenawee Christian in its season opener. That 19-game winning streak included a pair over Colon on the way to winning the Southern Central Athletic Association West. The Magi’s other defeats came to Pittsford (17-3) and Division 3 Schoolcraft (19-1) as it finished second in the SCAA West. Mendon will be representing the best from the Southwest 10 Conference after finishing third in that league with losses only to champion Bloomingdale (19-1) and runner-up Hartford (17-3).
Lansing Christian
1. Portland St. Patrick (20-0), 2. Fowler (17-3), Lansing Christian (11-9), Morrice (11-5), Fulton (1-18), Webberville (3-16).
The winner of this District will be a favorite to win it all. Fowler is the reigning Division 4 champion and No. 3 in Division 4 MPR, and Portland St. Patrick is No. 2 and defeated the Eagles 53-49 and 58-51 in overtime during the regular season. St. Pat’s also has wins over Lansing Christian and Morrice, and Fowler defeated top-ranked Plymouth Christian Academy 43-35 on Jan. 10. The Eagles only other loss was to Division 2 reigning champion Portland.
Mackinaw City
1. Pickford (16-2), 2. Mackinaw City (17-3), Cedarville (8-11).
Yes, there are only three teams in this District, but some exciting possibilities from whichever emerges from it. Pickford won the Eastern Upper Peninsula Athletic Conference with a perfect league record and its only losses to Division 3 St. Ignace (18-2). Two of Mackinaw City’s losses also were to the Saints, as the Comets were perfect in Northern Lakes Conference play with the only other defeat to Indian River Inland Lakes (12-8). Cedarville will be looking to avenge a Jan. 17 loss to Mackinaw City, and all of the Islanders’ defeats were to teams with winning records – including five with records of 16-2 or better.
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PHOTO Reese, here against Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker, is among contenders facing a strong District field this week. (Photo by Terry Lyons.)