Flushing Downs Champ to Reach 1st Final

March 17, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

EAST LANSING – Warren Cousino girls basketball coach Mike Lee saw a lot of his 2016 team in watching Flushing move past his current contender during Friday’s first Class A Semifinal at the Breslin Center.

The Patriots had stormed to their first MHSAA championship a year ago seemingly out of nowhere with an awe-inspiring run that remained the talk into this season.

Just as unheralded entering these playoffs, Flushing is one win way from accomplishing a similar feat after getting past Cousino and Miss Basketball finalist Kierra Fletcher 52-36.

The Semifinal was the Raiders’ first since 1976, and Saturday’s noon championship game against East Kentwood will be the program’s first appearance on the season’s final day.

“I felt that at the beginning we knew we were going to have to get respect,” Flushing senior forward Bre Perry said. “After we got out of the District, people were doubting us, but I felt that if we just stuck together, we’d be just fine. Because we know each other well, we play together as a team really well, we always have each other’s backs … (and) I knew if we stuck together, we’d be able to get very far.”

The Raiders really have been together for a while. They’ve played on the same teams since middle school, and Perry and seniors Kamryn Chappell and Lauren Newman are four-year varsity starters. Senior Carson Wilson joined them as a sophomore, and over the last three seasons the team is 66-7 with three league and two District titles plus the Regional championship won last week.

Flushing (23-3) didn’t lose a game during the Flint Metro League season, and its losses were to Class A top-five teams Saginaw Heritage and Midland Dow early and Class B No. 1 Ypsilanti Arbor Prep at the end of the regular season. The Raiders avenged that loss over Dow in the Regional Final and have broken opponents with a balanced offense and stifling defense that has given up 40 points in a game only three times.

“When you’ve never been here you’re certainly never overconfident in your ability to get here,” Flushing coach Larry Ford said of Breslin. “But watching these guys prior to seventh and eighth grade, and in middle school and then when they got into high school, this is the most athletic team I’ve ever coached in my 13 years as head coach at Flushing. Then they’ve got basketball skills to go with it, and they work so well together.”

Ford thought last year’s team was capable of making this run, but Perry – who will play next season at Temple University – tore a knee ligament and was lost for the end of the season.

And besides, 2015-16 belonged to Cousino and Fletcher, who enjoyed a similar under-the-radar status on the way to Breslin – but didn’t surprise anyone this winter.

Cousino entered the postseason ranked No. 2, and Fletcher – who will play at Georgia Tech – averaged 22.7 points, 13 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 5.2 steals and 2.1 blocks per game entering this week. She put up 30 points in Friday’s Semifinal despite being taken to the floor by a painful cramp just more than a minute into the second half.

But by then, Flushing already had set the tone.

The Raiders rode a 9-1 run over the end of the first quarter and start of the second and led by 13 at halftime. They scored one fewer point in the first quarter than Cousino did over the first two – and locked down the Patriots aside from Fletcher’s heroic run.

She scored all but one of Cousino’s 12 field goals. Minus Fletcher, Cousino made only one of 29 shots from the field as Wilson in particular led the suffocating effort. 

Flushing doesn’t have a player averaging more than 12 points per game, but Perry led in this one with 16 points and seven rebounds, with Newman scoring 14 points and junior Shelby Morrow adding 13.

Cousino admittedly knew this year’s run would be tougher, and the Patriots were up to the challenge winning a strong Macomb Area Conference Red before extending their MHSAA Tournament run to 14 straight wins.

“What this group was able to do over two years, from everyone pronouncing our name wrong … to this point, it was about remembering our name. No matter if the team was 1-19 we were facing that night or 20-0, we were going to get everyone’s best effort,” Lee said. “And (our players) knew that.”

“I feel a lot of pride. We didn’t end the season exactly the way we wanted to, but I wouldn’t have written this any other way,” Fletcher added. “Last year what we did was amazing. I think this year it’s even more amazing that we got back because people thought last year was a fluke. We used that as motivation to help us get back to Breslin. … Most people don’t get here once, so getting here twice is even better.”

The only championship banner hanging in Flushing’s gym celebrates the 1977 girls golf title. Every practice Newman noticed it, and figured there should be a basketball team up there as well.

These Raiders have their chance to become the first.

“It would be really special to be able to look back and say we went from seventh grade, to eighth grade, ninth, 10th, 11th, and we’ve been together this long and get to win this all together after all that time,” Perry said. “It would be amazing, after college, when we get back in touch (and say), ‘Remember when we got that ring?’”

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS: (Top) Flushing's Kamryn Chappell works to get past Warren Cousino’s Aubrey Fetzer (5) on Friday. (Middle) Cousino’s Kierra Fletcher looks for an open teammate.

Long Wait Ends as Fowler Returns to Finals

By Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com

April 7, 2021

GRAND RAPIDS – It took a couple years, but the wait was worth it for Fowler's girls basketball team.

The Eagles finally closed the book on a disappointing Quarterfinal loss two years ago to stun unbeaten Carney-Nadeau 61-37 in Wednesday's first Division 4 Semifinal at Van Andel Arena.

Fowler junior guard Mia Riley said her teammates had not forgotten a 57-36 Quarterfinal loss to Adrian Lenawee Christian in 2019, a loss which capped a 17-win season. The players used that memory to pound their way into their first Girls Basketball Final since finishing Class D runner-up in 1999.

"We've been waiting, just itching to get back,"  Riley said. "It was always in the back of our minds, and now it's just a great feeling."

The win snapped a 22-game winning streak for Carney-Nadeau, which had won its previous five tournament games by an average of 19 points per contest. No team had come as close as eight points to beating the Wolves this season.

But Fowler (15-4) never trailed after a layup by Avery Koenigsknecht snapped a 10-10 tie with 1:21 left in the first quarter. Fowler upped the lead to 33-17 at the half and 49-28 at the end of three quarters.

The win sent Fowler (15-4) into Friday's 10 a.m. Final against Bellaire at the Breslin Center.

Eagles coach Nathan Goerge said there was little to complain about after his team forced a whopping  31 turnovers, including 16 in the first half. That defense, which featured five players with at least three steals, was largely responsible for Carney-Nadeau attempting 28 fewer field goals (59-31).

2021 Division 4 Girls Basketball Semifinal - Fowler

"The execution was absolutely awesome. We had some breakdowns, but none that really hurt us," Goerge said. "We're a tough team to beat when we spread the floor and make shots. We always tell the girls when you have a shot, it's going up. We have a lot of good shooters on this team."

Fowler overcame missing its first nine 3-pointers to land three players in double figures while shooting 37 percent (22 of 59) from the floor.

Sisters Emma and Mia Riley head the list of good shooters. Mia, a junior guard, finished with 23 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four steals. Emma, a sophomore guard, added 18 points and eight steals. Emma Halfmann had 11 points.

Carney-Nadeau was led by Tessa Wagner's 21 points and eight rebounds. Taylor Kedsch added 10 points.

"We've handled the press well, but this was something new for us," Kedsch said.

Wolves coach Ken Lindor said the turnovers made it difficult for the team to sustain much consistency on offense.

"We just really struggled with their pressure," Lindor said. "They pushed us out on offense. We were okay shooting the ball (48 percent), but we had too many unforced turnovers that we don't normally make. We just couldn't get in a flow. They had good ball pressure and took away the passing lanes. We didn't move as well as we usually do; there was a lot of standing around.

"We haven't been this far in 20 years, and one of our goals was to get here,” he added. “We met that goal, and that was pretty special."

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS: (Top) Fowler's Mia Riley looks for an opening with Carney-Nadeau's Shae Linder defending. (Middle) Emma Riley brings the ball upcourt with teammate Emma Halfmann at her side . (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)