Lansing Catholic Starts Rolling Late, Never Stops in Clinching Title Game Trip
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
March 17, 2023
EAST LANSING – It took Lansing Catholic nearly three quarters to get going Saturday, but the Cougars flipped the switch just in time.
They never led until the closing seconds of the third quarter, but a 3-point barrage to open the fourth proved to be the difference in a 62-41 victory over previously-unbeaten Grand Rapids West Catholic in a Division 2 Semifinal at the Breslin Center.
“These kids are fighters,” said 10th-year Lansing Catholic coach Kacee Reid. “They take punches and they take punches and it looks like they’re down and out, but they come back. I never doubted that we were going to make a comeback tonight.”
Lansing Catholic (23-5) opened the final quarter with three consecutive triples from Gabby Halliwill, Anna Richards and Hannah Pricco to quickly turn a one-point deficit into an eight-point lead.
That run was just the start of a 32-10 scoring edge in the fourth quarter – turning that one-point deficit after three quarters into a 21-point victory.
The Cougars, who were in the Semifinals for the first time since 2004 and are seeking their first title since winning Class C in 1995, said playing one of the state’s most difficult regular-season schedules helped them prevail.
“Those tough games really prepared us,” said Lansing Catholic junior Anna Richards, who scored 17 of her game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter. “We’ve been down at halftime quite a few times, so we’ve learned we can come back from that.”
The Cougars, who won the Capital Area Activities Conference White, advance to take on Frankenmuth in the Division 2 title game at 6:15 p.m. Saturday.
West Catholic bolted out to a 15-4 lead early on and 17-6 by the end of the first quarter, but the Falcons struggled offensively for the rest of the night – scoring just three points in the second quarter, 11 in the third and 10 in the fourth.
One of the turning points came when Lansing Catholic switched to a 1-3-1 zone defense, which threw the Falcons out of rhythm.
West Catholic, which finished 26-1 with just three seniors, went through its longest power outage of the entire season at just the wrong time – going nearly 6 minutes without a point to open the fourth quarter.
“Those shots usually fall, and then they stopped falling,” said ninth-year West Catholic coach Jill VanderEnde, whose team is now 90-5 over the last four seasons. “We were unable to stop the bleeding fast enough.”
Senior Cadence Dykstra, who is headed to Division I Toledo next season, finished with a team-high 13 points and four rebounds. Reese Polega and Elisha Dykstra both scored nine points, and Emma Tuttle added six points and six rebounds.
Once the Cougars grabbed the lead early in the fourth quarter, they put the game away with an impressive showing at the free-throw line. Lansing Catholic made 27-of-33 free throws (82 percent), compared to 7-of-14 (50 percent) for West Catholic.
Another key to the win was rebounding, as the Cougars held a 32-22 edge on the boards and allowed very few second chances.
Lansing Catholic has now won 22 in a row, with its last loss coming in the sixth game of the season against Grafton Midview (Ohio). West Catholic hadn’t lost in almost a full calendar year, dating back to last year’s Division 2 title game against Detroit Edison.
The Cougars showed that remarkable composure and focus despite being a junior-led team. Five of the six players that Reid brought to the postgame press conference were juniors, with the only senior being Pricco.
“These girls are pretty composed,” Reid said. “We don’t get rattled too often, and that really showed tonight.”
Leah Richards scored 14 points with a game-high nine rebounds, Halliwill scored nine points and Pricco added five points and eight rebounds.
PHOTOS (Top) Lansing Catholic celebrates its Division 2 Semifinal victory Friday night at Breslin Center. (Middle) The Cougars’ Leah Richards (22) and West Catholic’s Reese Polega (32) contend for the opening tip-off.
GPN's Braker Moving Full Speed Ahead on College Coaching Trail
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
August 11, 2023
Ariel Braker has never forgotten being a part of Grosse Pointe North’s Class A girls basketball championship team in 2008, but a couple of happenings in recent months have made her reflect even more on that title.
The first came in March, when Braker was hired as an assistant coach for the women’s basketball program at the University of
Minnesota. That brought a stark reminder of an oopsie when she was on a recruiting visit to Minnesota after the championship and while she was still in high school. having helped the Norse to the title as a sophomore.
“I left my (state championship) ring in the hotel here in Minnesota,” Braker said. “So I needed a new one.”
The second came in June, when Grosse Pointe North won the Division 2 girls soccer title.
Those Norse were coached by Olivia Dallaire, a teammate of Braker’s on the 2008 girls basketball title team.
“It was an interesting full circle moment of 'Wow, it really was that long ago,'” Braker said. “You have someone on your team now leading the school to a state championship in a different sport. It was pretty cool.”
A 6-foot-1 dynamo who could play every position on the court in 2008, Braker had 15 points, 16 rebounds, and four blocked shots in a 58-46 win over East Lansing in the championship game.
That followed a 23-point, 20-rebound performance in a Semifinal win over North Farmington.
Braker was more than just a standout basketball player for North, however.
She was also a member of the volleyball team and an all-state high jumper for the track & field team, and being a three-sport athlete made her high school experience even better.
“It let me take a break from basketball, use other muscles and take my mind off of it,” Braker said. “The ability to be with different people, make different friends, and do different things was very helpful.”
During her senior year in 2010, Braker finished third in the state's Miss Basketball Award voting.
Braker signed to play college basketball at Notre Dame, where she played for legendary head coach Muffet McGraw.
During her tenure with the Fighting Irish, Braker was a part of three teams that won Atlantic Coast Conference championships and advanced to the 2014 national championship game.
After college, Braker decided she wanted to give coaching a try and landed at Western Texas College, a community college in Snyder, Texas.
It was there that the coaching bug really hit her hard.
“Those kids needed a lot of instruction and teaching,” Braker said. “You have to be willing to be patient and teach the game in different ways so it touches everyone. It was a growing year for me, but I was like, ‘I can do this.’ That gave me confidence.”
From there, Braker has gone on to assistant jobs at Lehigh, Oakland, South Dakota and West Virginia before being hired on to first-year head coach Dawn Plitzuweit’s staff at Minnesota this past March.
Braker said that at all of her coaching stops so far, she’s tried to follow Michigan youth teams on the recruiting trail given her familiarity with the state.
She obviously hopes that familiarity will pay dividends in her new role at Minnesota if she needs to mine for talent in Michigan.
“There are some younger kids who are up-and-coming who could help,” she said. “I’m excited to get back home and be able to recruit them.”
When she does come back to recruit, it’ll likely join the lost championship ring in Minnesota and soccer success this spring as reminders of that magical ride to a basketball title with the Norse 15 years ago.
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PHOTOS (Top) At left, Braker plays in the 2008 Class A championship game, and at right Braker coaches at University of Minnesota. (Below) Braker drives to the basket; she scored 15 points in the 2008 championship game against East Lansing. (Photos courtesy of the Detroit News and University of Minnesota athletics.)