Miller's Stunning 'Victory' Earns Father Gabriel Richard Chance at History

By Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com

March 22, 2024

EAST LANSING – The name given to the final play in Friday’s Division 2 Semifinal was fitting.

It was called “Victory” – and Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard ran it to perfection to stun Grand Rapids West Catholic.

Junior Charlotte Miller buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Irish a thrilling 35-33 win at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center.

“We put it in last year; the play is called ‘Victory,’” Father Gabriel Richard coach Tim Cain said. “We practice it a lot, and we ran that same play last year against Renaissance when they were undefeated and she hit that shot too to send it into overtime.

Miller, 13, pulls up for the clinching 3-pointer.“We have confidence in it, we have confidence in everything we do at practice and it worked out.”

With the Irish trailing 33-32 with 5.9 seconds left, Miller raced down the floor and received the pass from teammate Veronica Fredericks.

She made one move to the right, stepped to her left and launched the uncontested shot.

“I felt confident that I could make it,” Miller said. “I made it last year and I trusted my teammates that they would make the right pass, and I trusted all the work that we've put in for months and I believed in myself and I knew I could make it.”

Father Gabriel Richard trailed by four points with 10 seconds left when Vanessa Rodriguez was fouled attempting a 3-point shot.

She made all three free throws to cut the deficit to one point.

“We’ve been there before,” Cain said. “And their heads never go down. There is a no-quit mentality.”

The Irish will meet Detroit Edison in Saturday’s Division 2 championship game at 6:15 p.m. It’s an opportunity to both win a Final for the first time since 1993, when FGR won Class D, and finish the season undefeated.

“We put a lot of work in during the offseason, and we've been preparing for this moment,” said Rodriguez, who led the Irish with 13 points and added four assists.

Miller makes a move across the arc earlier in the game.“That was one of our goals as a team, and it's actually an unbelievable thought to even be in this position.”

The Irish (28-0) held West Catholic to its lowest scoring output of the season.

“We take a lot of pride in our defense, and when we’re cold, as long as we defend we have a chance,” Cain said. 

During a tightly-contested first half that saw neither team lead by more than five points, Father Gabriel Richard edged ahead 11-10 to finish the first quarter and West Catholic had the advantage in the second, 10-9, to forge a 20-20 tie at the half. 

West Catholic (26-2), which advanced to the Breslin for the third straight season, only had one made field goal over the last five minutes of the game and missed five consecutive free throws during the last 38 seconds.

“That was a tough one, obviously, because we felt like we had control of the game,” Falcons coach Jill VanderEnde said. “Obviously, we were trying to execute down the stretch like we have done 26 other times this season, and things just didn’t fall into place the way we had hoped.

“Kudos to number 13’s incredible shot at the end, and we will probably relive that last two minutes in our heads for a little while. But I know these seniors, and the girls gave it everything they had tonight and should be really proud that they got us to this point in the season. It was not easy getting back to the Breslin.”

Junior Elisha Dykstra scored a team-high nine points for West Catholic, while senior Reese Polega had five points, seven rebounds and three steals.

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Teammates topple Charlotte Miller after her game-winning shot for Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard on Friday at Breslin Center. (Middle) Miller, 13, pulls up for the clinching 3-pointer. (Below) Miller makes a move across the arc earlier in the game. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)

Yale's Dykstra Wasting No Time Showing Superior Multi-Sport Potential

By Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com

March 28, 2024

Sadie Dykstra’s already long list of accomplishments from less than two years of high school – three all-state medals, multiple all-conference awards and a league MVP to name a few – may seem shocking.

Bay & ThumbAnd to most, it justifiably is. 

But it’s come as little surprise for those in Yale who saw her grow up and do, well, anything.

“I’ve always known that she’s kind of special,” said Yale boys track coach and Dykstra family friend Brian Bearss. “She was that kid that, when other kids would be playing and learning how to ride their bikes, here comes Sadie and she’s yelling, ‘Look at this,’ and standing on the seat riding the bike. She’s always been exceptional as far as being an athlete.”

Dykstra is entering her sophomore track & field season at Yale and has already established herself as one of the best female athletes in the state. Want to argue against that? Check out this résumé:

Volleyball: Two years varsity, second-team all-Blue Water Area Conference as a sophomore.

Basketball: Two-time first-team all-BWAC selection, BWAC all-defense and BWAC MVP as a sophomore, BCAM all-state honorable mention as a freshman, sophomore all-state honors still pending.

Track: Unbeaten in the BWAC as a freshman with four league titles (long jump, 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles and 1,600 meter relay), three all-state finishes at 2023 Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals (fourth in long jump, fifth in 100 hurdles, sixth in 300 hurdles).

Again, just a sophomore.

“I can’t believe that I get to coach her,” Yale girls track coach Ashley Garofalo said. “She has a drive and a mindset that I can’t teach somebody. Nobody can teach you to have this. She gives every single thing that she has in every single sport. I think it does help when you’re so good at it. It makes you want to do it more.”

Dykstra brings the ball upcourt against Armada. Basketball gets Dykstra’s most attention and it’s the one she’d most like to play at the next level. The 5-foot-11 guard is getting interest already from Division I college programs. 

But it wouldn’t be right to say her heart is with one sport or another.

“I enjoy all my sports,” Dykstra said. “I like all my teams. I have a different team for each one, and I get along with all those girls. I think each one, it flows into the next one, and helps strengthen things for my other sports. Volleyball helps my legs for basketball. In basketball, I’m getting in shape for track.”

You don’t have to look far to find where Dykstra gained her love for athletics. Her parents, Kerry and Brad, both played basketball at Calvin College. Kerry graduated as Calvin’s all-time leading scorer in 1999 and is still sixth on the all-time list. She also served as Yale volleyball coach for 10 years, just recently stepping down.

Brad was a two-sport athlete at Calvin, playing baseball as well. He also played baseball at Grand Valley State. He coached basketball at Yale from 2006-10.

“We’re a very sporty family,” Sadie Dykstra said.

So, when it came time to enter high school, there was never a thought of specializing.

“I came in with the mindset of, I’m going to play three sports each season and enjoy them, too,” Dykstra said. “I don’t want to be in them and have them be the most awful things in the universe. I came in with the mindset of enjoying all three sports.”

Dykstra stands at the net during volleyball season.While basketball is her current collegiate goal, she did say that competing in basketball and track & field would be something she would consider if given the opportunity. Bearss said Dykstra has Division I potential in track & field, adding that heptathlon could best suit her.

But there are still two more years to figure that out. The next thing for Dykstra to enjoy is track, the sport in which she had the most early success. And while outdoor meets are still a couple weeks away, she’s already locked in.

“She’s just a natural leader, and I think that’s why she’s so disciplined,” Garofalo said. “(Tuesday), I was going over a workout with somebody else, and she just started her warm-ups on her own. She’s not afraid to lead 60 other kids, even though there are juniors and seniors.”

Dykstra has big goals for this spring, mostly based around performance marks. She’s eyeing the Yale school long jump record of 18 feet, 1¾ inches, which is less than an inch longer than her personal best of 18-1. She’d like to move that record closer to 19 feet.

Her 100 hurdle PR (personal record) sits at 15.59 seconds, and she’d like to knock that into the low 15s or even high 14s. For the 300 hurdles, where her PR is 47 seconds, she’d like to get down to 45.

“I have big goals, and I think I can get to them,” she said. “But that’s something for the end of the season to play out and see how that goes.”

Anybody who’s watched her wouldn’t doubt that Dykstra can reach those goals. And that list, along with those accomplishments, continues to grow.

“Last year we went to Ortonville Brandon, and we had really nice weather that day and the competition was really good – a lot of schools there,” Bearss said. “Even with all of those great athletes, you could just kind of see, people are pointing and looking, ‘There’s that girl from Yale.’ They’re taking notice. Every once in a while, you get kids that turn heads like that.”

Paul CostanzoPaul 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) Yale’s Sadie Dykstra launches into a long jump last spring. (Middle) Dykstra brings the ball upcourt against Armada. (Below) Dykstra stands at the net during volleyball season. (Photos courtesy of the Dykstra family.)