Frankenmuth Drives League Streak to 97
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
December 13, 2016
Tom Keller is willing to talk about the streak if you ask him.
He’s starting to get used to it.
“It’s funny; it seems like a lot of people are bringing it up lately,” said the Frankenmuth girls basketball coach, who has led his team to 97 straight Tri-Valley Conference East wins. “We actually talked about it in practice the other day for one of the few times.
"(The streak) happens on a day-to-day basis. In our program, we don’t really set a lot of goals; we’re much more concerned about the process. If we do things the right way day after day, those wins and those streaks kind of take care of themselves.”
Frankenmuth hasn’t lost a conference game since Feb. 10, 2009 -- a 37-31 setback against Birch Run. Since then, eight senior classes have graduated, and dozens of players have gone through their entire varsity careers without a conference loss.
While it’s not something Frankenmuth players dwell on, it’s also not something they take for granted.
“You don’t just show up and put on your uniform and get the streak,” senior Hannah Karwat said. “We do have to work hard to get the winning streak we have. We work hard in practice.”
Karwat is one of very few Frankenmuth players on this year’s team with varsity experience. She’s a third-year player and first-year starter. Her classmate Lindsey Mertz started several games as a junior and is in her fourth year with the team, but Frankenmuth graduated five of its top six players from a year ago.
The Eagles have done well so far, starting the season 3-1, including earning a 36-34 win this past week against TVC East rival Essexville-Garber to stretch the streak to 97. Their next league games are Wednesday at Bridgeport and home Friday against Millington.
“It’s always an interesting way to start the season when you have kids who are brand new to varsity,” Keller said. “Also, we have those kids that are returning in completely different roles than what they played in the past. We have two seniors who have played, and they’re going from being role players to go-to girls on this year’s team.
“It’s fun. I think it makes for great competition. When you have so many openings for a new team, it’s fun and great competition because everybody is vying for those roles. It does seem to draw out the best competitors.”
Mertz has settled in as a forward, although she has experience as a post player and a guard from her first three seasons and can go back to either if the Eagles need it. Karwat’s role has expanded following the graduation of a pair of 6-foot-plus post players. She’s 5-4½, but appears unfazed by the height disadvantage she faces each night.
Mertz and Karwat are two of five seniors on the team. Among the others is Sara Aldrich, who spent her junior season toward the end of the bench but has worked her way into a starting role, something Keller said he loves to see. Kayla Kueffner and Emily Janson, the Eagles’ other two seniors, are injured and have yet to play this season.
What those seniors may lack in experience, they make up for with leadership.
“Something that our program has valued is leadership,” Mertz said. “We have been doing leadership lunches once a week where we meet and talk about leadership and how serving the other girls on the team and dedicating time would help everyone grow on the team.”
Frankenmuth is matching that leadership with an aggressive style of play, making up for a lack of size.
“We’re making efforts to really attack the paint,” Keller said. “We still get touches inside, but we do it through penetration. In years where we’ve had two 6 footers, we were a high-post, low-post kind of team and we took advantage of that. This year, we’re very guard-oriented.”
Changing his team’s style based on personnel has helped Keller find success in each of his previous 10 seasons as Frankenmuth’s girls coach. The Eagles have won a conference title in each of those seasons, and added five Class B District titles, including at the end of the last two seasons.
Keller said he was fortunate to inherit a great program, one that won the Class B title in 1992 and Class C in 1996 and also owns four MHSAA Finals runner-up finishes.
It’s a tradition, Mertz and Karwat said, that has girls in the community’s youth program pining to put on a Frankenmuth jersey one day. They also grow up knowing what it takes to get that honor.
“When I was younger, a lot of the girls in my grade loved basketball,” Mertz said. “But a lot of girls have quit because they know what’s expected and they know they can’t match that effort. Sometimes we’ll frighten some girls out of the program, but that makes the team we have one of the toughest group of girls because you have to be tough to be a part of it.
“Usually the girls that come out are the ones that are in it for the long haul, and willing to do the dirty work and put in the effort.”
Keller said he wasn’t quite sure what would equal a successful season for this year’s team. Getting better and more consistent each day is his main focus, and he’s optimistic that will happen.
As for the streak, Keller and the Eagles would love for it to survive. If it doesn’t, however, they’ll simply work to start the next one.
“It’s going to come to an end eventually, whether it’s this week or later this season or next season,” Keller said. “When it happens, we’ll just come back the next day and get ready for the next game.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Frankenmuth's Brooklin Karwat drives to the basket against Essexville-Garber last week. (Middle) Eagles coach Tom Keller speaks with Kaylee Kujat during the tightly-contested matchup. (Below) Frankenmuth players celebrate after defeating the Dukes 56-54. (Photos by Chip DeGrace/Eagle Eye Photography.)
Breslin Bound: 2022-23 Girls Report Week 9
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 30, 2023
We are down to the final four weeks of this MHSAA girls basketball season. And while the schedule is full of an increasing number of must-see games across the state, all of them fit into some serious crunching of numbers going on behind the scenes at our East Lansing office.
Seeding the top two teams in every District requires thousands of data points – and a season-long process of collecting them all. We’re sitting at 694 member girls varsity teams this winter, and we’ve nearly completed a process of checking their schedules one by one – about a 23-hour task by itself to make sure all scheduled games are showing, league standings are set up correctly, etc.
Additionally, daily we’re sorting through disputed scores, changes to schedules because of weather or teams that have discontinued their seasons, and other adjustments. But we’re always striving for perfection – for just scores alone, we’ve been able to collect more than 98 percent from an estimated 4,500 games that have been played so far this winter. We’ll be working to track down the rest before District pairings are announced Jan. 19. And then we’ll finish the same process for boys schedules and results.
“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. Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard 33, Farmington Hills Mercy 26 The Irish (12-3) broke reigning Detroit Catholic League Central champion Mercy’s 12-game league winning streak, handing Mercy its first defeat of the season and also avenging a 46-33 loss to the Marlins (13-1) only three weeks earlier.
2. Saline 41, Temperance Bedford 22 The Hornets (13-2) not only became the last undefeated team in Southeastern Conference Red play, but earned it by handing Bedford (13-1) its first defeat overall.
3. Traverse City St. Francis 54, Harbor Springs 31 The Gladiators (11-1) avenged their lone loss and in the process joined Elk Rapids in a tie atop the Lake Michigan Conference standings, with Harbor Springs (12-2) half a game back.
4. Byron Center 48, East Grand Rapids 35 The Ottawa-Kent Conference White is one of the top leagues in the state, and Byron Center (12-3) sits atop the standings after defeating third-place EGR (11-4) and then fourth-place Lowell during a big week.
5. Detroit Renaissance 50, Detroit Cass Tech 46 The undefeated Phoenix (14-0) moved into first place alone in the Detroit Public School League Blue, with one more league game to play, as Cass (6-6) fell a game back.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
Byron Center (12-3) As noted above, Byron Center had a massive week heading into Tuesday’s rematch with O-K White second-place Grand Rapids Christian. The Bulldogs won the first meeting with the Eagles 54-34 on Dec. 15, hence their one-game lead atop the league standings. That victory also started a 10-game winning streak after Byron Center took early losses from O-K Red contenders East Kentwood, Rockford and Hudsonville. Total, the Bulldogs have won 41 straight league games in the O-K White and before that Green, going back five seasons.
Grosse Pointe North (12-2) The Norsemen can clinch a share of the Macomb Area Conference Red championship against Port Huron on Tuesday, which would run their league title streak to three seasons. North’s only losses this winter were to still-undefeated Lake Fenton and Red second-place Utica Eisenhower, the latter by a point in their second meeting Jan. 19. Seven of GPN’s 12 wins have come against teams that would be .500 or better if not for losing (once, or twice) to North.
DIVISION 2
Grand Rapids West Catholic (14-0) The reigning Division 2 runner-up has won 35 of its last 36 games and avenged last season’s lone regular-season loss, defeating Rockford this time 61-54 to win the Cornerstone University Holiday Tournament Gold championship. West Catholic’s 71-32 win over former league co-leader Hamilton last week put the Falcons in first alone in the O-K Blue, and only Division 1 contenders Hudsonville and East Grand Rapids have joined Rockford in coming within single digits of catching them.
Wixom St. Catherine (12-1) The Stars have clinched a share of the Catholic League AA championship, after sharing it with Royal Oak Shrine Catholic last season. St. Catherine defeated Shrine 54-35 on Jan. 13 and will face the Knights again Friday to close the league schedule. The only loss this winter came to Detroit Country Day on Dec. 6, and only 11-win Flint Powers Catholic has come within single digits since that lone defeat.
DIVISION 3
Hancock (11-1) In a loaded Western Peninsula Athletic Conference, Hancock could emerge as the best starting tonight with the second of two meetings against Calumet (10-2), and with two against Houghton (12-1) coming up as well. The 45-39 win over Calumet on Dec. 13 was among Hancock’s best victories, and the lone loss came Jan. 13 to still-undefeated Escanaba, 50-49. The Bulldogs tied for second in the West-PAC West last season before losing their District opener to Ishpeming, but they’ve defeated Ishpeming 42-27 this winter and face the Hematites again Wednesday.
Traverse City St. Francis (11-1) Coming off avenging that lone loss to Harbor Springs (see above), St. Francis would seem to have the upper hand in the Lake Michigan Conference even with Elk Rapids also having just one league loss – they meet again Feb. 9, and St. Francis won the first matchup 43-26 on Jan. 13. The Gladiators are seeking their first league title since 2017-18 and annually are in the hunt; they’ve also had their last three seasons ended with playoff losses to Maple City Glen Lake, which they see Wednesday for the first time this winter.
DIVISION 4
Cedarville/DeTour (11-2) The Islanders lead the Eastern Upper Peninsula Athletic Conference and haven’t lost for more than a month, their defeats coming to still-unbeaten Mackinaw City and then Oscoda three days later in early December. It’s an impressive turnaround from last season’s 8-12 finish, and has included six victories against teams .500 or better and five against opponents with at least eight wins. A Feb. 14 home game against St. Ignace will provide another big opportunity.
Indian River Inland Lakes (10-4) An 0-2 start to this season is becoming a memory, especially after Inland Lakes avenged the second of those defeats – by 17 to Johannesburg-Lewiston – with a 55-51 win last week. The only other losses came to Mackinaw City at the Comets’ Christmas Tournament, and to Ski Valley Conference leader Gaylord St. Mary two weeks ago. The Bulldogs rebounded from their tough start in December with wins over Bellaire and Cheboygan that avenged 2021-22 losses.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – DeWitt (12-1) at Holt (12-2) – The co-leaders in the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue face off for the first of two meetings this season after the teams split a year ago.
Wednesday – Maple City Glen Lake (11-2) at Traverse City St. Francis (11-1) – In addition to those three playoff wins over St. Francis the last three seasons, Glen Lake is looking to extend a five-game regular-season winning streak against the Gladiators.
Thursday – Buchanan (12-1) at Niles Brandywine (10-1) – Buchanan is atop the Lakeland Conference standings and Brandywine is second because of the Bucks’ 49-45 overtime win when they met the first time Dec. 15.
Friday – Detroit Edison (10-2) at Farmington Hills Mercy (13-1) – Edison’s only defeats this season were to Illinois teams in early December, and only West Bloomfield last winter has handed the Pioneers an in-state loss over the last five seasons.
Friday – Escanaba (13-0) at Houghton (12-1) – The Eskymos will take their perfect record to the Keweenaw Peninsula in what could possibly be a preview of a Division 2 District Final as well.
MHSAA.com'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.
PHOTOS (Top) Marquette's Siena Lingle (21) attempts to block a shot by Calumet's Laina Kariniemi (14) during the Copper Kings' 50-44 win Jan. 23. (Middle) Haslett's Maddie Fant (5) and Abigail Brooks (24) defend during the Vikings' 52-32 win over Brighton on Saturday. (Top photo by Cara Kamps. Middle photo by High School Sports Scene.)