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.
Glen Lake 'Slams the Door' on 1st Finals Championship Since 1978
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
March 18, 2023
EAST LANSING – The motto this postseason for the Maple City Glen Lake girls basketball team was “Slam the door.”
But at halftime of Saturday’s MHSAA Division 4 Final against Baraga, the Lakers still had to find their own way through it.
Thanks to suffocating second-half defense and the inside-outside combination of seniors Ruby Hogan and Maddie Bradford, Glen Lake ran through and slammed the door on a 60-43 win, claiming its first Finals title since 1978.
“We knew we had to come out in the second half like we had in the past few games and just take it to them and be focused,” Hogan said. “Work on our offense, work on our defense and don’t foul them. Then things would come our way. Our motto for the postseason has been ‘Slam the door’ and we definitely have been a second-half team this postseason. Today we proved that again.”
Hogan had 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Lakers, who were making their first Finals appearance since 1979.
“It’s amazing,” said Glen Lake senior guard Gemma Lerchen, who had six assists. “It’s unbelievable to finally be able to get it done. It’s been forever that we’ve worked for this. Through the summer, through the whole year. It just feels so good to get it done.”
Glen Lake coach Jason Bradford, who is in his 15th season at the helm, was well aware of the program’s history and the Finals drought.
His teams have had plenty of success, winning more than 280 games and stepping up their postseason success in recent years, winning Regional titles in five of the past seven seasons.
And when he woke up to hear those traveling from Glen Lake would have to brave a snowstorm to get to the Breslin Center, he became even more confident this could be the year.
“Like I said on Thursday, it seems like the stars were all lining up,” he said. “It’s been 45 years, and 45 years ago, there was a snowstorm (on the day of the Final). My wife called just after 6 (a.m.) and said they were a bit behind with the snowstorm. I looked out the window and I was like, ‘That’s a good sign.’ But it’s unbelievable. We knew we were capable of doing it.”
Maddie Bradford, Jason’s daughter, led all scorers with 28 points. She also had eight rebounds. Eleanor Valkner added 11 rebounds.
Sixteen of those points, and 17 of Hogan’s, came in the second half as the Lakers turned the tide in a game during which they trailed by five at halftime.
“I just focused on, if I’m not open and not able to hit those shots, I trust my team,” Hogan said. “That’s what I need to do and that’s what all of us need to do, is trust each other. If I’m not open and I’m not hitting my shots, then Maddie can and Jessie (Pugh) can and Olivia (Mikowski) can. I know that I’ll have my time when I’m needing to make shots. But in the first half, it just wasn’t my time. It was my time to play defense and my time to pass the ball.”
The first half was the time for Baraga star guard Corina Jahfetson to hit shots, as she scored 14 of her 20 points in the opening 16 minutes, including four 3-pointers. Glen Lake held her to six points and 2 of 15 shooting, including 1 of 12 from 3, in the second half.
“It was not really the attention factor, I was just not feeling it in that second half,” Jahfetson said. “I kept trying to push it through and do what I had to do.”
As a team, Baraga struggled from the field in the second half as Glen Lake’s defense improved. The Vikings (23-6) were 4 of 22 from the field in the second half, and went scoreless for more than 5 minutes at one point in the third quarter.
“We came out better than we usually do in the first half,” Baraga coach Tyler Larson said. “We’re used to playing from behind in a lot of games. I thought we had a great start, things were falling in our favor. We came out in the second half, they made some good adjustments, credit to them. Some of the size factor played in there. I think we needed to do a better job boxing out, and transition points that we didn’t want to let up. That’s a good ballclub right there that we just played, and our girls fought to the end. Just really proud of what they’ve done this game and all season long.”
Makenna Hendrickson had 14 points for Baraga, while Jahfetson added seven rebounds to her 20 points in Baraga’s first Finals appearance.
“It means so much to be here sitting with these girls and coach Ty,” Jahfetson said. “I’m happy that we’re state runner-up. It would have been amazing to be No. 1, but not everything works out that way.”
PHOTOS (Top) Maple City Glen Lake celebrates its Division 4 championship Saturday as coach Jason Bradford presents the trophy to his team. (Middle) The Lakers’ Maddie Bradford (10) works to get up a shot while defended by Jaycee Larson. (Below) Ruby Hogan (20) gets to the basket.