Marching On, Marshall Laces Up with Otsego

April 1, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The Marshall girls basketball team brought one of the largest, loudest and most supportive groups of fans to the Breslin Center during last month's two weekends of MHSAA Basketball Finals.

But as the Redhawks faithful cheered their local team to its first Class B title, Marshall had another community rooting for the best as well.

Otsego shared the court with Marshall the week before for a Regional Final, won by the Redhawks 57-37. And Marshall’s team and coaches shared in a recent fight by the Otsego athletic family, which is supporting parent Val Davis, who is suffering from a fatal brain disorder, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Davis has been known as one of her school's most passionate supporters through the careers of four children who have played on Bulldogs teams.

After the Regional Final, Otsego basketball player Liz Barwegen wrote the following to MHSAA Executive Director Jack Roberts:

“We have dedicated our season to one of our parents that has a brain disease. She is not doing very well. Doctors have told her she doesn’t have long. Our team began wearing bright neon green shoelaces because they were her favorite, and she likes seeing the bright color. The Marshall coach heard about this and so their team wore the bright green shoelaces also.

"That was not the only thing that the Marshall coach did that showed great sportsmanship. When there were about two minutes left in the game and Marshall had put their subs in, our coach also subbed in. However, Marshall had the ball and the time started ticking down. So the Marshall coach called a timeout just so we could get our subs in the game. I am not sure if their coach knew if the sub was Hailey (the girl with the sick mom), but Hailey was able to play the final minutes of the game for the last time in front of her mom.”

Hailey Davis was a senior this season. Barwegen, who so poignantly authored the letter, is only a sophomore.  

This season’s Girls Basketball Tournament was storied to say the least, with all four champions first-time winners after two played in MHSAA championship games also for the first time. Marshall had arguably the most exhilarating final week, downing No. 4 Grand Rapids Catholic Central by 11 in a Quarterfinal, then No. 2 Bay City John Glenn on Nikki Tucker’s two free throws with 1.4 seconds to play in the Semifinal. The No. 7 Redhawks completed their first title run with a 51-42 victory over No. 3 Grand Rapids South Christian, led by coach Sal Konkle, who played on the Marshall team that finished runner-up in 1981 in the program's first trip to an MHSAA Final.

“I hated losing that game,” Barwegen wrote after her team's loss that kicked off the Redhawks' championship week, “but surely hope Marshall can go on and win the rest of the way.”

Click to read a piece from the Kalamazoo Gazette that tells more of Val Davis’ story and fight.

PHOTO: Marshall and Otsego players line up together, showing off neon green shoelaces both teams wore in honor of Otsego mother and fan Val Davis during their Class B Regional Final. (Photo by Gary Shook.)

West Bloomfield Makes Good on Preseason Goal with 1st Finals Win

By Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com

March 19, 2022

EAST LANSING – Apparently Sydney Hendrix holds a grudge.

The West Bloomfield junior has held onto the hurt from her team’s Regional Semifinal loss to Hartland in 2020, and on Saturday, she let it all out on the court.

Hendrix had 12 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Lakers to a 51-42 victory over the Eagles in the Division 1 Girls Basketball Final at the Breslin Center. 

“We lost to Hartland my freshman year, and I think I was crying for like three days straight,” Hendrix said. “I wanted it so bad, but we couldn’t pull out the win. I’ve been wanting my get-back for a minute now. I’m just so glad we got it.”

West Bloomfield/Hartland basketballThe title win was the first in program history for the Lakers, who last played in a Final in 1989. This year’s team set the goal of winning it all at the first practice, and after losing its opening game against Dexter, won 25 straight to accomplish that.

“I remember November 12, everybody coming together and saying they wanted the state championship,” West Bloomfield coach Darrin McAllister said. “So I knew at that time, our coaching staff, we had to do everything in our power to get us to this point. We bought into the ‘I believe’ mindset. We worked our tails off, and we got here to the Breslin and we did what we had to do.”

West Bloomfield never trailed in the game, and held Hartland at arm’s length throughout most of it. 

Indya Davis led the Lakers (25-1) with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Summer Davis and Myonna Hooper each scored nine points for the Lakers.

“This game was very personal,” said Hooper, who was also on that 2020 team. “We took it upon ourselves to make sure everybody was in the position they needed to be, everybody was playing their role, everybody was executing, everybody was picking each other’s heads up when somebody was down. From Day 1, we’ve been talking about this, and we never let up.”

Amanda Roach scored 21 points for Hartland to lead all scorers. Emerson Sargeant had six points and nine rebounds for the Eagles (25-2).

Roach had half of Hartland’s field-goal makes in the game, as the Eagles struggled to make shots, finishing 16 of 64 from the field.

West Bloomfield/Hartland basketball“I think West Bloomfield had a lot to do with that, but on the other hand, we did have some good looks,” Hartland coach Don Palmer said. “Shots that we normally make, they didn’t go today. Sometimes, that just kind of feeds.”

West Bloomfield led by as many as 14 points in the second half. Roach tried to pull the Eagles back into the game, and nearly did in the fourth quarter. She hit a long 3-pointer to bring her team to within seven with four minutes to play and put some belief in the Hartland fans. 

The Eagles wouldn’t get any closer, though, until she hit another long 3 with 25 seconds to play that brought her team within six of the lead. But West Bloomfield was able to close the game out at the free throw line. 

“I personally thought we still had a chance with 30 seconds left,” Roach said. “We fight back every single game. I’m just proud of everybody.”

Each Hartland push was met with a response from the Lakers, and often it was the result of an offensive rebound, or two. Hendrix had seven on her own.

“She’s a beast,” Palmer said. “She is strong, she can finish, she’s got a little bit of a mid-range jumpshot. A lot of times when you have teams with ‘superstars’ those other kids get lost in the coverage, but I certainly picked (Hendrix) up on tape.”

Hartland also came into Saturday in search of its first Finals title after advancing beyond the Quarterfinal for the first time.

“Obviously, it feels great to be up here and play with all these girls that I started with,” Hartland senior Leah Lappin said. “Obviously, disappointing because we didn’t play our best. But it was good to play with these girls.”

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) West Bloomfield’s Indya Davis (24) turns toward the lane Saturday as Hartland’s Lauren Sollon (25) walls off the baseline. (Middle) The Lakers’ Myonna Hooper (4) prepares to make her move toward the hoop. (Below) Sydney Hendrix (5) pulls up for a shot over Sollon’s reach. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)