Martians Claim Class B Over Rival Powers
March 16, 2013
By Bill Khan
Special to Second Half
EAST LANSING — To coach Jason Gray’s left sat Taylor Gleason, still in her Goodrich basketball uniform, but already representing the past for the Martians’ program just moments after her final high school game.
To his right in the postgame press conference sat sophomore Tania Davis, a living, breathing reminder that Goodrich’s future could be every bit as great as the immediate past.
Davis scored a game-high 20 points, as Goodrich became only the fourth school to win back-to-back MHSAA Class B Finals championships with a 51-34 victory over local rival Flint Powers Catholic on Saturday night at the Breslin Center.
Gleason, the Miss Basketball runner-up who has signed with the University of Illinois, capped a spectacular four-year career with 14 points, six steals and five assists. Goodrich never advanced beyond the Quarterfinals until Gleason came along. The Martians lost in double overtime in the Semifinals two years ago before joining traditional heavyweights Powers, Detroit Country Day and Dearborn Divine Child as the only schools with consecutive Class B titles.
Asked what to expect from Goodrich in the coming years, Davis didn’t hesitate to offer this prediction: “More championships, of course.”
Why not?
Davis emerged as a team leader ahead of schedule when Penn State recruit KeKe Sevillian missed the entire season with an injury. Davis, who started as a freshman, averaged 17.6 points as the number two scorer behind Gleason’s 21.6 average.
“I think I’ve grown up a lot,” Davis said. “I learned from KeKe and Taylor. When (Sevillian) went down, I knew I had to step up tremendously and be a leader and take her position on the team, and
also do my part.”
In Gleason and Davis, Gray said Goodrich had the best backcourt tandemin the state.
Their chemistry was evident on one play in particular. Gleason stole the ball and led a full-court break, dishing a behind-the-back pass to Davis, who caught the ball in stride and made the easy basket with
4:46 left in the second quarter.
“I love playing with Taylor,” Davis said. “I’ve played with her basically my entire life. I know everything she’s going to do. She knows everything I’m going to do. The behind-the-back passes, she knows when they’re coming and I know when they’re coming. It’s awesome.”
Goodrich had a strong program before Gleason arrived, but went to a higher level under her watch. The Martians were 101-7 during her career, making three trips to the Breslin Center. Perhaps just as
important as the MHSAA championships in the psyche of long-suffering Goodrich fans, the Martians beat Powers in the postseason all four years.
The Chargers had been a perennial roadblock for Goodrich, beating the Martians in all eight of the rivals’ tournament meetings over a 12-season span from 1997-2009. Goodrich eliminated Powers in the
Districts the last three seasons before new District boundaries separated the Flint-area schools until the Finals.
“I’ve been very fortunate to play with a team as talented as I have these last four years,” Gleason said. “I couldn’t imagine playing with anybody else. The experiences I’ve had with this team and this program
have been unforgettable.”
As for playing Powers in the MHSAA Finals instead of the Districts, Gleason said: “It was really cool, knowing that Powers has been here multiple times before. My aunt (all-stater Aimee Pearson) carried that
on. It was really cool for my family.”
Powers has four MHSAA Finals championships on its resume, but this was a surprise postseason run for the unranked Chargers after a 3-5 start. Powers (21-7) beat two state-ranked teams along the way in Freeland and Detroit Country Day, but No. 3 Goodrich (25-3) took control immediately, building an insurmountable lead.
Goodrich led 15-2 after one quarter and 28-6 at halftime, as Powers shot 3 for 31 (9.7 percent) from the field. The Chargers didn’t get closer than 14 points in the second half.
“The first quarter kind of defined the tone of the game,” Powers coach Thom Staudacher said. “Once we got down that big, it was difficult for us to dig out. Going into halftime, at Powers it’s not really a guideline; it’s a rule that we’re never going to give up.”
Powers’ quest for its first MHSAA title since 2001 will continue next year with a squad that should return virtually intact. The Chargers lose only two seniors, starters Darbie Barkman and Kim Berry.
“This year was definitely one to remember,” said junior guard Ally Haran, who had nine points and five steals. “No one expected us to even make it this far. We were expected to lose in Districts. We kept pushing and pushing, knowing we could make it. We made it this far. It’s going to stay in the back of our mind that we lost this game tonight, but that’s going to push us to keep playing well and to be ready for next year.”
Junior Michela Coury grabbed 19 rebounds for Powers, while junior Sarah Ruhstorfer had nine points.
While Goodrich and Powers have a huge local rivalry, only two of the 12 postseason meetings between the teams have been decided by fewer than 15 points. The most memorable edition of the rivalry came in the
2002 Regional championship game at Imlay City, when power forward Erin Carney hit the only 3-pointer of her four-year career to beat the buzzer in Powers’ 42-41 victory.
“These last four years we’ve defeated Powers, but there’s a lot of heartbreak in a lot of Goodrich girls basketball alumni in the 10, 12 years prior to this,” Gray said. “Tania made a point that this one was for those alumni who scratched and clawed. Sometimes they challenged them, sometimes they got beat down good. It makes me happy they’re thinking big picture.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Goodrich's Taylor Gleason works to drive past Flint Powers' Darbie Barkman (1) during Saturday's Class B Final. (Middle) Powers' Hannah VanAlst goes up for a shot over a Goodrich defender. (Top photo by Hockey Weekly Action Photos; middle photo by HighSchoolSportsScene.com).
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.”
The 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.
“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.”
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.)