Lenawee Christian Different, But Not Down
February 28, 2020
By Doug Donnelly
Special for Second Half
In the first practice without Bree Salenbien, the Lenawee Christian girls basketball team didn’t dwell on the fact the best player in the Division 4 tournament the last couple of seasons won’t be on the court for this season’s playoff run.
“Practice was amazing,” third-year Lenawee Christian head coach Jamie Salenbien said. “The girls talked about ways to step up, and they assured each other of their foundation.”
Lenawee Christian has won back-to-back Finals championships, in Class D in 2018 and Division 4 in 2019. During each of those state championship runs, 6-foot-4 Bree Salenbien showcased the incredible talent that has earned her more than 25 scholarship offers from Division I schools across the country – including Michigan and Michigan State.
In a stunning turn of events, however, Salenbien tore her ACL with about 15 seconds remaining in overtime of Lenawee Christian’s final regular-season game earlier this week. That drastically changed the entire MHSAA tournament picture as the 17-3 Cougars – who have played one of the toughest schedules in the state regardless of division – no longer are the overwhelming favorites.
Don’t tell them that, however.
“It definitely is going to be a long hard road,” said Cougars senior Dani Salenbien, Bree’s older sister. “It’s no secret Bree is a huge part of our team, but I have no doubt that our team will adjust and come out strong when we play next.”
The Cougars have gone 15-0 the last two seasons in postseason play, winning the first two girls basketball championships in school history. The Salenbiens have been at the forefront of those title runs. Jamie Salenbien is a Hudson graduate who coached three years at Onsted before stepping down to concentrate on coaching his daughters through their youth teams.
He became head varsity coach at Lenawee Christian when Dani was entering her sophomore year and Bree was about to make her varsity debut. The result was a 26-1 season and Class D Final win over Chassell. Bree was named the Class D Player of the Year and her dad was named Coach of the Year by The Associated Press.
Last season, Dani Salenbien took more of a lead role, especially during the tournament, helping turn the Cougars’ fortunes with an outstanding performance in the championship game win over St. Ignace. Both Salenbiens were all-state choices, and this year it looked like the Cougars were destined to become one of the few three-peat champions in MHSAA history. They have been ranked No. 1 all season. The only team with a higher Michigan Power Rating than LCS is Division 2 Detroit Edison, a team the Cougars lost to as part of a rugged schedule that saw LCS face three teams that have been ranked No. 1 in three separate classes this season.
The game against Edison was played in front of a standing-room only crowd at LCS. Dani Salenbien poured in eight 3-pointers and scored a career-high 31 points, which Edison eventually pulled away and won.
“It definitely was nerve-wracking,” Dani said. “The environment was kind of insane. I had so much fun. It was an opportunity for us to show our love of Christ and play to the best of our ability. Anytime you play a team like that, you have the chance to improve.”
Among the other teams on the LCS schedule this year have been Hartland, who was No. 1 in Division 1 at one point of the season; several state-ranked Division 4 schools such as Fowler and Allen Park Inter-City Baptist; Toledo Christian, ranked No. 2 in Ohio’s Division 4; and Cascades Conference powerhouses Michigan Center and Grass Lake, which was ranked No. 1 in Division 3 for much of the season.
“Playing 20 different teams pushes the girls to prepare and perform each game,” Coach Salenbien said. “By playing some of the best teams in the state, it hopefully prepares the girls for the toughest situations they might face.
“Facing the best requires you to dig deep and play your best.”
The game against Grass Lake on Tuesday was one of those games, two powerhouses battling on every possession. In the waning seconds of the first overtime, the Cougars grabbed a rebound and found Bree on an outlet pass. She took a dribble, then appeared to have tried to dribble the ball behind her back when she went to the floor. By Thursday, the Salenbien family was overwhelmed with text messages, phone calls and e-mails from friends, family and former Cougars players and coaches offering prayers and support for Bree.
On Thursday afternoon the Cougars were back on the practice floor, getting ready for Monday’s Division 4 District game against Ann Arbor Rudolf Steiner.
Coach Salenbien said the girls got in practice, strength training and spent some time reading through some of the messages the team has received over the last couple of days. It’s not business as usual, of course, but don’t expect a letdown once the postseason starts Monday.
“This group is so tough,” Coach Salenbien said. “I just love how fearless they approach challenges.
“One of our themes is ‘Chase the Lion’ which stresses the importance of dreaming big and taking positive risks without fear. The group lives this out.”
Dani, Libby Miller and Caitlin Anderson are four-year starters. Dani – who has signed to play at Hillsdale College next year – has scored more than 1,200 career points, while Miller has made 178 career 3-pointers and Caitlin is nearing 100 career games played. Cara Anderson and Lizzy Scharer both have big game experience as well, having played in an MHSAA Final.
The Cougars plan to approach this Division 4 tournament just as they would with Bree.
“I don’t know if anyone’s roles will change or not,” Dani said. “I’m excited. We’re going to have to play our best, and everyone is going to have to step up. The postseason makes us all that much more serious. We already are serious, but it just intensifies in the postseason.”
The Cougars have played against some of Michigan and Ohio’s best teams this year and are ready for that road to pay off. Lenawee Christian also has something few other teams have – virtually unmatched big game experience.
Like Dani Salenbien said, “It helps when you have been there.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Adrian Lenawee Christian coach Jamie Salenbien talks things over with his team during a game break this season. (Middle) Dani Salenbien pulls up for a jumper. (Photos courtesy of the Lenawee Christian athletic department.)
JoBurg 3-Sport Great Capping Career Filled with All-State Honors, Team Trophies
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
April 5, 2024
It won’t be hard for Jayden Marlatt to remember opening day on the softball field from any of her four years at Johannesburg-Lewiston.
As a freshman, she missed the opener due to needing to quarantine. Her sophomore and junior years started on the road because the Cardinals’ field was under construction.
This season the Cardinals will open up — weather permitting — on their brand-new field, hosting Mio on Monday, April 8. Marlatt is slated to be the starting pitcher again and add to her school record collection.
While Johannesburg-Lewiston is looking forward to playing on the new diamond, Marlatt and her teammates have high hopes of finishing the season almost 200 miles south. They’re looking to get back to Michigan State University – the site of the Division 4 Semifinals and Final.
The Cards have had their sites on that goal since they fell 4-2 to Mendon in last year’s Semifinal at Secchia Stadium. The loss ended a 30-4-1 campaign that saw the Cardinals play every game on the road for a second consecutive year, but come up only one victory short of a first championship game appearance.
The trip to East Lansing also came after the Cards won the program’s first District title since 2008 and advanced to the Semifinals for the first time since 1981.
“It has been a long two seasons on the road,” said eighth-year head coach Kim Marlatt, noting the team utilized a Little League field for practices during the stretch. “They’ve been putting in a lot of work in the offseason, so it is excited to get going.”
The new field isn’t the only new things this spring. The Cardinals will have a junior varsity team for the first time during the Marlatt’s tenure. The JV squad is coached by Ryan Marlatt, who has been serving the program the past eight years as assistant coach. He also has been the head girls basketball coach at JoBurg the past two seasons.
The Marlatt coaches are the proud parents of Jayden, who continues to garner recognition as perhaps the greatest athlete in Johannesburg-Lewiston’s history.
The three-sport star had a huge hand in all that JoBurg accomplished last season leading the team in batting average (.670), home runs (13) and runs batted in (61). As the team’s ace pitcher, she collected 249 strikeouts and compiled a 1.32 ERA.
“Jayden has put in the hard work,” Kim pointed out. “She is a very humble athlete. ‘She doesn’t like to talk about herself. She likes to compete, and she likes to be on the top of her game for her teammates.”
Jayden has been named all-conference and all-state in softball, basketball and volleyball nearly every season over her four years at JoBurg. She’s led her teams to Ski Valley Conference, District and Regional titles along the way.
She’s also been named Player of the Year by multiple publications. And she’s a front runner to be voted the Most Valuable Player of the Ski Valley Conference in softball. Earlier this year, league coaches voted her the MVP for both basketball and volleyball.
“The Ski Valley never used to vote on an MVP,” Ryan Marlatt said. “Hopefully she can add the triple crown and get softball this year.”
Jayden Marlatt, who has played all three sports all four years, acknowledged softball is perhaps her most treasured, and she’ll continue in that sport at Ferris State. Her career total of more than 500 strikeouts, and her 14 home runs last season, are both JoBurg school records. "I like them all but probably softball,” she confirmed when asked to name her favorite sport.
She averaged 12 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists and four steals per game this winter helping the Cards basketball team to a conference runner-up finish. She was key to JoBurg's ability to put a 12-game winning streak together, and she topped the 1,000-point career mark along the way.
Her outstanding senior year on the basketball court and this spring’s possibilities nearly vanished as the volleyball season ended.
She suffered what looked to be a serious lower-leg injury in the final game of the JoBurg volleyball season. “She finished in the emergency room,” Kim Marlatt said.
Diagnosed a high ankle sprain, it was an aggravation to an injury from her junior year in basketball. She wasn’t quite at 100 percent on the basketball court this season until the holiday break. She’s starting the softball season healthy, though.
Before the injury, Jayden led the Cards to their third volleyball conference championship over the last four years. After becoming JoBurg's all-time kills leader during her junior season, and with many of her teammates from her first three seasons graduating, Jayden had to fill a variety of roles while anchoring the offense from her outside hitter spot.
She ended up leading the team in both kills with 421 and digs, with 431, in her final season on the volleyball court. And she is listed among MHSAA’s all-time leaders in kills for a single match and career.
It’s more than Marlatt’s stats that stand out for Kristine Peppin, the school’s volleyball coach the past 15 years.
“It is not about the size of the school or the size of the player, it’s the heart that they have inside,” she proclaimed. “This girl would be a successful player on whatever team she was on.
“Yes we’re a small school, small town,” she continued. “That kind of leadership and heart and drive to be the best is what’s given her that success.”
Marlatt’s work ethic is second to none, Peppin noted. She never saw Jayden give less than a “1,000” percent in practice or games in her career.
“She’s a super hard worker and extremely modest for the kind of skill she possesses and the success she’s had,” Peppin said. “Her teammates think it’s amazing to be on her team.”
Marlatt’s volleyball skills caught the eye of at least one of her conference opponents’ coaches back in junior high. Ron Stremlow was performing one of his many coaching duties for Fife Lake Forest Area when he first saw Jayden on the volleyball court.
“I could tell then this girl was somebody special,” said Stremlow, who became one of the winningest coaches in state volleyball history with the Warriors. “When she got in high school, it just took off.
“She puts the time into it, and she works hard,” Stremlow continued. “Kids like that get what they deserve – they work for it.”
Stremlow, now retired, also acknowledged he’s enjoyed being able to watch the hard-throwing Marlatt on the softball field the last couple of seasons as Forest Area hosted the Cardinals consecutively due to JoBurg’s lack of a home field.
It’s something he’ll have to travel to do this year though, as JoBurg is scheduled to host the Warriors on April 15.
The Cardinals also will host a Regional on their new field June 8. The winners of District play at Rogers City, Harbor Springs, St. Ignace and Gaylord St. Mary will participate.
To play in the Regional, the Cards will have to emerge from the Rogers City District featuring the host Hurons, Atlanta, Hillman, Onaway, and Posen.
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Johannesburg-Lewiston’s Jayden Marlatt drives a pitch during softball season. (2) Cardinals’ 1,000-point scorer Marlatt sets up for a free throw attempt. (3) Also a standout in the fall, Marlatt prepares to connect during volleyball season. (4) Marlatt celebrates a trophy win during last season’s Semifinals softball run with parents (and coaches) Kim and Ryan Marlatt. (Action shots by Dylan Jespersen/Petoskey News-Review; family photo by Breya Domke.)