MLS Carries Dream Run to Final Game
March 16, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Thursday’s first Class D Semifinal would have produced a dream-come-true scenario whichever team emerged victorious.
Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary coach Brian Blaine just didn’t see that being his team when this tournament began.
A District title was the goal. Then the Regional happened. Then the Quarterfinal. And now the Cardinals have no choice but to adhere to the cliche of taking one game at a time – there’s only one left.
MLS earned its first MHSAA championship game berth with a 64-59 win over Engadine, which also was attempting to make the Finals for the first time.
“To be honest, I didn’t expect to make it this far,” Cardinals coach Brian Blaine said, answering the press conference question many an unanticipated contender is asked.
“Yes, because we wanted it,” senior center Rylee Pankow countered. “He’s always telling us you’ve got to push yourself. So (he’s) a little bit of a hypocrite there.”
All kidding aside, it’s been an incredible run – and it’s not over yet. MLS will face either Pittsford or Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart in Saturday’s 10 a.m. championship game.
The unranked Cardinals have rattled off nine straight wins to get to 18-9 overall, emerging as the fifth-place team from a Tri-Valley Conference West that produced three Regional finalists and two teams that made Tuesday’s Quarterfinals.
And yes, the math is correct – MLS was .500 when it began this run Feb. 21.
“At the beginning of the season, we started focusing on fundamentals. We knew our conference was pretty tough … and the girls just battled and battled,” Blaine said. “We kept coming together as the season progressed, and now we’ve won (nine) in a row – and I’m just really proud of these girls.”
Engadine, an honorable mention in the rankings, enjoyed a similar run. The Eagles had last made the Semifinals in 2005 and emerged this time from an Eastern Upper Peninsula Athletic Conference that had three teams get votes in the final regular-season state poll. They were shooting to reach the Regional Final – and then they beat league rival Pickford to move on to this week, where they upset No. 8 Crystal Falls Forest Park in the Quarterfinal.
“We are really happy to get this opportunity to play in here. These opportunities don’t come very often, and I think we should cherish them,” Engadine coach Roger French said. “It seems like it’s been two months ago getting to the Regionals, and our goal was to be in the Regional Final game and go from there. And we had a lot of special moments during the season as well.”
The Eagles tried to create a few more late Thursday. The teams were tied at halftime. MLS then led for the final 15 minutes and by as many as 12, although Engadine got as close as four when senior Olivia Vaughn drilled a 3-pointer with 26 seconds to play. A final 3-pointer to pull the score closer missed the mark.
Both teams made five 3-pointers, but the Cardinals made theirs on only eight tries – while connecting on 48 percent of their field goal attempts overall compared to 37 percent for the Eagles.
Pankow led MLS with 18 points, and sophomore forward Meghan Blaine added 14 including two of those 3-pointers. Junior forward Reese VanLue added another nine points and 12 rebounds.
Vaughn, who went over 1,000 career points during the District, dropped 30 in her final high school game. Junior forward Aubrey Simmons – already the school’s all-time leading rebounder – added 12 points and 11 boards.
“As a senior, obviously you want your last year to be the best. I had high hopes for this team, and after the District, it was ‘All right, maybe we can do something from here,’” Vaughn said. “To make it to Breslin senior year with this team, I can’t even describe it. It’s a great way to end my season, and I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end my career.”
The Girls Basketball Finals are presented by Sparrow Health System.
PHOTOS: (Top) Michigan Lutheran Seminary’s Rylee Pankow puts up a shot over an Engadine defender Thursday. (Middle) Engadine’s Olivia Vaughn defends the Cardinals' Meghan Blaine.
Lenawee Christian Earns Saturday Return
March 21, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
GRAND RAPIDS – When Division 1 Ann Arbor Pioneer made a last-second 3-pointer to force Adrian Lenawee Christian to overtime a little more than a month ago – and the Cougars still prevailed – junior Elizabeth Miller knew her team was on the way to another special finish this winter.
Only a season removed from the team’s first MHSAA girls basketball championship, there no doubt were recognizable signs.
“We really just played with heart in overtime and ended up winning, and that was a really big win for us,” Miller said. “That kinda motivated us to work really hard the rest of the season. I think that’s what pushed us to get here today.”
After winning Class D led by an all-state freshman and without a senior in the starting lineup, it may have seemed inevitable Lenawee Christian would return to Calvin College and the final day of this season.
The Cougars took the last step Thursday with a 57-36 Division 4 Semifinal win over Fowler, setting up Saturday’s 10 a.m. championship matchup with undefeated St. Ignace.
By looks of their scores this playoff run, Lenawee Christian (25-2) barely has been challenged – Thursday’s win was the sixth straight by at least 15 points since opening the tournament with an eight-point victory over Pittsford.
But it’s hardly been that easy, as the Cougars again prepped for this postseason with a slate of games against larger opponents, losing only to Division 3 top-10 teams Grass Lake and Michigan Center.
“We know we have to work hard. We know what it takes … just do it as a team to get here,” Lenawee Christian junior Dani Salenbien said. “We know what it takes, and we know it’s not going to be easy.”
Thursday’s start certainly helped.
A year ago, the Cougars needed overtime to get past Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart by two points in their Semifinal. This time, Lenawee Christian built a double-digit lead in just under five minutes, and kept it in double digits for good beginning with a Miller 3-pointer nine seconds into the second quarter.
Salenbien, an all-state second-teamer a year ago, led with 25 points and eight rebounds. Her sophomore sister Bree – the Class D Player of the Year by The Associated Press last season – added 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Both made at least half their shots from the floor, and Dani missed making the MHSAA record book by two free throws, connecting on 13 of 16 attempts from the line.
“I just think the target on our back has been extremely big, and the expectations have been really high,” Cougars coach (and Bree and Dani’s father) Jamie Salenbien said. “But a credit to these kids for being as young as they are, being able to handle that night in, day in and out. It’s been amazing to see. Their faith and the support from the community has been amazing, and they’ve been able to handle that.”
Expectations were not as high this season for Fowler – but the Eagles put an impressive finishing touch on an inspiring comeback story with their first Semifinal appearance since 1999.
They play in the Central Michigan Athletic Conference – home of Division 3 top-ranked Pewamo-Westphalia and six-time Class D champ Portland St. Patrick among a host of contenders – and two years ago were down to just a varsity team.
Fowler’s lone team went 5-16 in 2016-17, improved to 10-12 a year ago and put together a solid run over the last three weeks to finish this season 17-8.
“When Coach (Nathan Goerge) broke the news that we were only going to have one team my sophomore year, it was kinda hard for me to take,” Eagles senior forward Alyssa Vandegriff said. “But ultimately I think it was a good decision because it helped everyone who was on that one team come together, and we got to know each other. The people who were on that team with us are on our team today. If we weren’t on the same team together my sophomore year, I don’t think we’d be as close as we were or play as well together.”
Junior guard Kalani Koenigsknecht and freshman guard Mia Riley both scored a team-high 10 points for Fowler. Sophomore Sarah Veale had eight points, five rebounds and three assists.
PHOTOS: (Top) Lenawee Christian’s Dani Salenbien directs the offense while Fowler’s Kalani Koenigsknecht defends. (Middle) The Eagles’ Josie Koenigsknecht defends against Salenbien.