House's Letters Spell R-E-C-O-R-D
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
December 18, 2018
COMSTOCK — As a freshman, Abby House could not decide whether to play volleyball or golf, so she compromised and did both.
Little did she know that first dual-sport fall season would put her on track to Comstock High School history.
She will graduate in May with a school-record 22 varsity letters — 21 for sports and one for band.
The previous record, set by Robert Bellisle in 1943, was 17. Bellisle was inducted into the Comstock Hall of Fame in 2011.
“I just really like sports and starting freshman year with five, I didn’t really know there was a record for it,” House said.
She has four letters each in bowling, golf, basketball and softball, three in volleyball, two in soccer and one in band.
The school supports dual-sport athletes under specific conditions, athletic director Justin Ansel said.
“Primary and secondary coaches have to agree on the details before it can happen,” he said. “If we don't have their agreement along with the player understanding of expectations, we don't allow it.
“I think it's important to just give the kids opportunity. It works best with picking a team sport as the primary sport and then an individual sport as secondary.”
House’s father, Rich House, said he and his wife have no problem with their daughter playing six sports a school year.
“It wasn’t really ever a plan; it just kinda happened,” he said. “She was always good at it and has always been a good student.
“We always told her as long as she could handle it and keep up – the school work is most important. She always seemed to do a good job at that.”
Schoolwork has not been a problem for House, who carries a 3.88 grade-point average.
This year, she has just one class at Comstock – band – but took psychology, physics and accounting at Kalamazoo Valley Community College. Next semester, she will study sociology, chemistry and medical terminology at KVCC, working toward a degree in nursing.
Although House plays sports for fun, her dad said his daughter is a high-level competitor in all of them.
“She has multiple conference titles, qualified for state twice in golf, once in bowling, all-District catcher two years in a row,” Rich House said.
This year, she was Comstock’s top golfer and is the team’s top female bowler, carrying a 150 average.
Decisions, decisions
As a freshman, House earned varsity letters in golf, basketball, bowling and softball.
She played the same sports the next year, but also was moved up to varsity in volleyball, giving her five letters.
Her junior year, House added soccer, and is continuing to play six sports her senior year.
She chose volleyball because “I played (volleyball) with my teammates since middle school and I’ve enjoyed it when I played in season,” House said.
Golf is a family affair for the House family, including her brother, Mason.
“My parents are big golfers and we’re a big golf family and the coach was really into wanting me to golf, so she talked me into it and I thought it would be fun to try,” Abby House said.
Since she started playing basketball in elementary school; it was a no-brainer to continue in high school. She was called up to varsity after a month during her freshman year.
The bowling coach had an inside track to recruiting her – it’s her dad.
Softball was her only spring sport until her junior year.
“When I was younger, I played softball and soccer, but I chose softball because I liked it more,” House said.
“We had a softball coach who wanted us to concentrate only on softball, so I didn’t play soccer.”
Her junior year, the softball coach left and House decided to add soccer, giving her two sports in each of the three seasons.
Everything falls into place
House is an expert at time management.
“In school, whenever teachers get done with notes and we have homework I try to do it,” she said. “Or with any free time I’ll do it and what’s left, I do after practices.
“Freshman, sophomore year I did a lot on the bus.”
Choosing a favorite sport is not possible.
“Everybody asks me that,” she said. “I can choose one per season, but not one overall.
“Basketball, golf, softball have always been my top.”
House has stepped up this year, helping lead the basketball team to a 3-0 overall record, 2-0 in the Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference Red as a point guard, her fourth position in four years.
As a freshman she was a post player, as a sophomore she shifted to forward, and then to shooting guard last winter.
Last season, she averaged seven points and seven rebounds per game. This year, it’s 18 points, eight rebounds and nearly six assists on average, she said.
“Abby has always been a solid player even since fourth grade when (she and Daisy Ansel) started playing some travel ball together,” said Justin Ansel, who also coaches the girls basketball team.
“I think Abby has always been a very coordinated athlete, and it doesn't surprise me that she does so well in so many different things. She has contributed at a high level in a lot of sports.”
Ansel said he thinks House could be extremely good if she focused on a particular sport, but “I think she just loves competing so much that she would rather play all kinds of sports all the time.”
Ansel said House complements leading scorer Daisy Ansel well.
“Abby's start to this season from an offensive standpoint has been tremendous,” he said. “Both girls are shooting very well from the outside, and both girls are able to attack so defenses can't just key on one of them – which is amazing for Daisy.”
House will not go into sports withdrawal once she graduates.
She hopes to continue to play in college, but just one sport, either basketball or golf, she said.
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Abby House’s varsity letter jacket shows off many of her accomplishments over her first three-plus years of high school. (Middle) Abby House and her father Rich House. (Below) Abby House takes part in some of her sports – with her dad at the bowling center, golfing, and hitting in softball and volleyball. (Action photos courtesy of the House family. Head shots by Pam Shebest.)
Moore Leading Caro's Current Rise, While Helping Build Program's Future
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
December 7, 2022
Adelyn Moore had done enough, even before the start of her senior year, to leave an indelible mark on the Caro girls basketball program.
But Moore isn’t satisfied now with simply winning games and rewriting the Tigers’ record books. She also wants to make sure girls who come through the program in the future have the chance to do the same thing.
“Definitely to build it up,” Moore said of her role in the program. “I know that it kind of sounds cliche, but I really like working with the little kids. This year, I’m coaching a sixth-grade girls travel team. … It’s so much fun.
“The program at Caro had never been a winning program, and I think this is me almost setting an example that it can happen at Caro. I love coaching the kids, and I can see the difference in them and how my class used to be. They want to win. They want to play sports, and play basketball.”
Moore is Caro’s all-time leading scorer, with 1,238 career points following the Tigers’ win Tuesday night against Memphis. She has nearly 750 career rebounds, which coach Jay Riley said is likely a school record, but hasn’t been tracked. If she can average 15 rebounds per game this season, she would certainly become the program’s first player to reach 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.
And that’s not that far-fetched. For her career, Moore has averaged 12.7 rebounds per game, including 14 per game as a sophomore.
She’s a three-time Thumb Player of the Year. She’s also been named first-team all-state in Division 3 by The Associated Press twice.
Most importantly for Moore, she’s been part of winning teams at Caro. Her freshman season, the Tigers were 18-3 and won the Greater Thumb Conference West – their first league title in 35 years. Both of the next two seasons were winning ones for the Tigers, and they’re 3-0 to start her senior year.
“Caro girls basketball had won 10 games twice in 20-some years, and she’s been part of teams that have done that in two of the last three,” Riley said. “The only other one was (the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season). I’m confident we’re going to eclipse that this year, too. When she came in, we had a good senior group, but they all knew how special she was and that she was our best player, so they accepted different roles. She’s been part of one of the winningest stretches of Caro girls basketball in a long time.”
It’s winning that drives Moore the most. She said that she couldn’t fully celebrate breaking the school’s record for points, as it came in a loss against Kingston.
Thankfully, the school was able to bring in Lynette Coon, who had set the previous mark in the early 1980s, for the next game to present Moore with a commemorative basketball. That helped create a celebration, as did a win that night against Bad Axe.
“It felt really good to kind of feel like the hard work had paid off,” Moore said. “Then again, a better accomplishment for me would just be to get the win. It was super cool that (Coon) was there. She didn’t even know she had the record. That’s how not big women’s basketball was here. She only knew she had the record for like a week.”
Moore – a three-sport athlete who was also all-state in the shot put and discus as a junior – is committed to play next season at the University of Chicago. While she raved about the coaching staff, Moore was first attracted to the school because of its high academic standing. Moore is on track to be the valedictorian of Caro’s Class of 2023.
“It’s a very rigorous school, and I think that’s where I can get the best education,” Moore said. “Academics are huge for me. Right when I got there, the coaches were so cool. We really connected, and I fell in love with the program.”
Moore said she figures to play the 3 or 4 at Chicago, which she considers her natural positions. At 5-foot-9, she’s played everywhere for Caro, as Riley uses her to create mismatches whenever possible.
“She’s got the ball in her hands a lot – she’s primarily a guard,” Riley said. “If we get any mismatches, we’ll put her down in the post and let her take advantage. Not only can she shoot, but she has great post moves. She’s a mismatch nightmare for anybody.”
Riley said about half of Caro’s games a year ago featured opponents playing a box-and-1 defense to try and stop Moore. One team even played a triangle-and-2, with a pair of players constantly following her.
She still averaged 23.5 points per game to go along with 13.5 rebounds and 4.9 steals. She eclipsed 30 points in both of the Tigers’ first two games this season.
Moore thinks this year’s team can reach the heights her freshman team did, as many of them have been playing together since her sophomore season.
It’s a final chance for Moore to inspire the younger group of Caro girls basketball players with her play on the court, although she’s already done more than enough. Much like she has off it with her dedication to coaching a youth team, which includes multiple practices per week and Saturday games. She’s also a counselor at the Bayshore Basketball Camp during summer.
“She’s been a huge part of our success in turning this program around,” Riley said. “Which I think has sparked some of the younger girls to be more involved in basketball.”
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) Caro’s Adelyn Moore brings the ball up court last season against Unionville-Sebewaing. (Middle) Moore (3) drives to the basket Friday against Otisville-LakeVille. (Photos by Kaitlin’s Klicks.)