Gladstone Senior Standout Sharp from Start This Season
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
December 29, 2021
GLADSTONE — They say practice makes perfect.
Gladstone’s Claire van Ginhoven is very close to that from the free throw line, where she’s cashed in on 40-of-42 shots through her first six games this season.
The senior guard had sank her first 28 before missing her last one in a 53-42 victory over Kingsford on Dec. 14.
“I definitely work on that a lot and improved a lot from last year, although I’m more of a 3-point shooter,” said van Ginhoven, who has qualified for the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan free throw competition at this winter’s MHSAA Finals. The top 10 free throw shooters in the state are invited to be part of the field.
She also was connecting on more than 40 percent of her 3-point attempts through the team’s first five games.
“I’m able to drive more to the hoop this season. Running our offense is giving me and my teammates more opportunities to score,” she said. “We run a weave, and I think our rotation works well.”
Coach Andy Cretens is impressed with van Ginhoven’s play this season. She opened with 38 points against Gwinn and is averaging 19.8 ppg.
“Claire has ability to score from anywhere on the floor,” he said. “She changes the dynamics of our offense and forces opposing teams to change their game plan. Last year was the first time Claire was asked to be a leader. That was a great learning experience for her, but she became a stronger player by having to handle adversity.
“Claire is a late bloomer. She’s nowhere near her peak yet. She has a lot more development to go.”
The 5-foot-9 standout played at Bark River-Harris as a freshman before transferring to Gladstone as a sophomore.
She plans to continue her basketball career at Finlandia University in Hancock next winter. Cretens believes college ball will be a good experience for van Ginhoven.
“That helps keep players motivated because they have something to look forward to after high school,” he said.
“I think Claire raises the level of competition for us and motivates the other girls to put more time into their game. She’s a good role model for our younger girls.”
John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
PHOTOS (Top) Gladstone’s Claire van Ginhoven gets to the basket last season against Ishpeming. (Middle) Van Ginhoven puts up a shot against Kingsford last winter. (Photos courtesy of the Escanaba Daily Press.)
Breslin Bound: 2023-24 Girls Report Week 2
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 18, 2023
As holiday breaks bring some rest from school and work, Michigan girls basketball teams are smashing the pedal to the floor right into the new year.
In addition to 26 multi-day tournaments and one-day showcases, many contenders have lined up matchups with other championship hopefuls. Among those: Rockford, Frankenmuth and Goodrich all reached last season’s Semifinals or Finals and are playing two games over the next three weeks against opponents that also finished last season at the Breslin Center.
Picking just five matchups to highlight until our next report Jan. 8 was pretty much futile. But we’ve selected a few noted below, along with our regular reports on teams that caught our attention over the last week.
“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. West Bloomfield 67, Salem 27 In a rematch of a Division 1 Semifinal from last season, West Bloomfield opened in a big way as part of the Kensington Lakes Activities Association/Oakland Activities Association Challenge.
2. Grass Lake 50, Tecumseh 40 The Division 3 Warriors (4-1) avenged last season’s 78-49 loss to Division 2 Tecumseh (2-2).
3. Detroit Edison 62, Detroit Country Day 53 These two Division 2 contenders met at the Best of Michigan Holiday Classic, with Edison moving to 2-0 by handing Country Day (4-1) its only defeat.
4. Sault Ste. Marie 50, St. Ignace 34 This Straits Area Conference matchup is arguably the best in the Upper Peninsula, and the reigning league champion Blue Devils (3-1) ran their winning streak over the Saints (3-1) to three.
5. Williamston 45, Haslett 43 Last season’s Capital Area Activities Conference Red runner-up Hornets (2-2) earned an early edge on reigning champion Haslett (2-3), which has three defeats by a combined nine points after going 22-2 last winter.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills (4-0) Kenowa Hills jumped from 10-12 in 2021-22 to 16-9 last season, and is continuing to build. A 50-48 win over Kent City on Dec. 8 was an immediate attention grabber, and that had followed a 15-point win over Grandville Calvin Christian after the Knights had fallen to Calvin by 12 last winter.
Macomb Dakota (4-0) The Cougars have won all of their games by double digits, with their last two victories also the lone losses this season for Utica Ford and Dearborn. Dakota lost to Ford by 18 and six points last season on the way to finishing 14-11 overall.
DIVISION 2
Alma (4-0) The Panthers broke a string of three sub-.500 seasons in going 13-10 last winter and gave a hint of what they could do with a late two-point win over Saginaw Swan Valley after losing to the Vikings by 30 a month earlier. This season’s start has included a 10-point win over Swan Valley, and last week Alma handed the only losses so far to Gaylord and Bay City John Glenn.
Livonia Clarenceville (4-0) The Trojans have won a combined 29 games over the last two seasons, finishing third two years ago and tying for second last winter in the Michigan Independent Athletic Conference Red. After three double-digit wins to start this season’s campaign, Clarenceville may have earned its most notable in downing Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood 39-37 on Friday – the Cranes’ lone loss.
DIVISION 3
Elk Rapids (4-0) The Elks entered this winter a combined 55-9 over the last three seasons including 21-4 a season ago. Opening with wins over a pair of Big North Conference opponents, Petoskey and Alpena, was solid, but perhaps bested last week with a 49-39 win over reigning Division 4 champion Maple City Glen Lake and 32-22 victory over Traverse City St. Francis – which also won 21 games last season and finished one ahead of Elk Rapids to take the Lake Michigan Conference title.
Ovid-Elsie (5-0) The Marauders ran their Mid-Michigan Activities Conference winning streak to 34 games with Friday’s 53-46 victory over New Lothrop, having claimed the last two league titles and also topping 20 wins overall the last two winters. Ovid-Elsie’s wins over the Hornets and Otisville LakeVille Memorial this season remain those teams’ only defeats.
DIVISION 4
Alcona (4-0) The Tigers bounced back from a 2-3 start last season to finish 15-7 and share the North Star League Big Dipper title with Oscoda and Rogers City, and they’ve already avenged two of those early losses with wins the last two weeks over Hillman and Posen. Alcona also handed Tawas its only defeat so far, 44-33 on Friday.
Ishpeming (3-0) Thursday’s 54-28 win over Calumet was Ishpeming’s first over the Copper Kings since December 2018 and came after the Hematites extended their winning streak over rival Westwood to four going back two seasons. Both are indicative of the team’s improvement from 5-10 to 12-9 to 16-7 last season.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Thursday – Frankenmuth (3-0) at Rockford (3-0) – The reigning Division 2 runner-up Eagles will follow up a Tuesday rematch with Goodrich from last season’s Semifinals by hitting the road to face the reigning Division 1 champion.
Friday – Grass Lake (4-1) at Saline (4-0) – Saline finished 21-4 last season, and one of those losses was 48-38 to the Warriors.
Friday – Lansing Catholic (2-1) at Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard (4-0) – FGR has some notable wins already this winter, and downing the reigning Division 2 champion Cougars would be the Irish’s best achievement yet.
Dec. 27 – Grand Rapids West Catholic (2-0) vs. Rockford (3-0) at Cornerstone University – West Catholic’s 61-54 win over Rockford at last season’s Cornerstone Holiday Tournament was the Rams’ lone defeat of the season.
Dec. 29 – Hemlock (4-0) vs. Goodrich (4-0) at Romulus – This matchup of last season’s Division 3 champion Huskies and the Division 2 semifinalist Martians is the headliner from the Michigan Hardwood Classic.
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PHOTOS (Top) St. Louis' 4-1 start has included last week's 48-30 win over Lakeview. (Middle) Davison opens last week with a 36-28 win over North Branch. (Top photo by High School Sports Scene; middle photo by Terry Lyons.)