Nouvel Sets Stage for Photo Finish

March 14, 2013

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

EAST LANSING – A photo at the Hengesbach home shows Saginaw Nouvel coach Kris and her then-seventh grade daughter Taylor hugging after the Panthers’ first MHSAA girls basketball championship, in 2007.

They’re hoping to take the same picture Saturday, but this time with mom and daughter celebrating as champions together.

Nouvel earned that opportunity Thursday with a 44-32 Semifinal win over Houghton at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center. The Panthers will play in their fourth championship game under Hengesbach and for their first title since also repeating in 2008.

“Sometimes we drive separately to practice,” Taylor Hengesbach joked about being coached by her mom. “But no, I wouldn’t ask for anything else. It’s the best experience you can have.”

“Like Taylor said, it’s surreal,” Kris Hengesbach added. “I pinch myself every day that we get to share this journey together that we’ve always talked about. It’s pretty cool.”

At that, and in typical mother-daughter fashion, Taylor told her wet-eyed mom to stop before she too broke into tears.

No doubt, Kris Hengesbach could recognize she had this kind of team on the way. The No. 4 Panthers will face No. 3 Manchester at 4 p.m. Saturday for the championship.

And Taylor's had a good idea what it would take as well.

“I remember that (2007) team being so energetic and confident,” she said. “The school was so supportive, and we couldn't have done it without those aspects. The team chemistry and the student section, and everyone being involved.”

Nouvel student cheerers traveled en masse Thursday to see the Panthers jump to an 11-0 lead over the first five minutes. Houghton played Nouvel nearly even the rest of the way, but could get only within seven of the lead.

The No. 7 Gremlins (23-3) nearly pulled closer, just missing stealing the inbounds pass after junior Elisa Jurmu’s basket with 1:34 to play made the score 40-32. Instead, Houghton didn't score again.

Junior center Rachel McInerney had 16 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks to lead the Panthers (25-2), and Hengesbach added 13 points.

Jurmu and senior guard Alexa Johnson led Houghton with 11 points each, but the Gremlins as a whole had a tough time getting established against the 6-2 McInerney in the post. Houghton was outrebounded 44-31 and shot only 20 percent from the floor while often being forced to attack from outside.

“It goes back to shooting. We missed shots we've hit throughout the season. Maybe they blocked a couple, maybe they got into our minds a little bit,” Houghton coach Julie Filpus said.

“The part that frustrated us is we feel good about our inside-outside attack. But their length affected our inside attack, and we had to rely on our perimeter (shooting). When shots don’t fall, we’re going to be in trouble.”

Nouvel has now beaten three top-10 teams during the tournament, in addition to Class B No. 1 Freeland and reigning Class D champion Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes during the regular season.

“With my experience as a coach and going through all of this, to me the key is you've got to have team leadership, and we have it. Talent obviously, and chemistry,” Kris Hengesbach said. “You can’t rely on one person every single night. We've got threats on the floor at every position, and everyone steps up every single game.

“I told them to just soak it up. It’s a special time, and they’re a special team.”

Click for the full box score. 

PHOTOS: (Top) Saginaw Nouvel's Taylor Hengesbach (44) drives around a Houghton defender during Thursday's Class C Semifinal. (Middle) Houghton's Alexa Johnson (13) looks for an open teammate. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)

Lansing Catholic Starts Rolling Late, Never Stops in Clinching Title Game Trip

By Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com

March 17, 2023

EAST LANSING – It took Lansing Catholic nearly three quarters to get going Saturday, but the Cougars flipped the switch just in time.

They never led until the closing seconds of the third quarter, but a 3-point barrage to open the fourth proved to be the difference in a 62-41 victory over previously-unbeaten Grand Rapids West Catholic in a Division 2 Semifinal at the Breslin Center.

“These kids are fighters,” said 10th-year Lansing Catholic coach Kacee Reid. “They take punches and they take punches and it looks like they’re down and out, but they come back. I never doubted that we were going to make a comeback tonight.”

Lansing Catholic (23-5) opened the final quarter with three consecutive triples from Gabby Halliwill, Anna Richards and Hannah Pricco to quickly turn a one-point deficit into an eight-point lead.

That run was just the start of a 32-10 scoring edge in the fourth quarter – turning that one-point deficit after three quarters into a 21-point victory.

The Cougars, who were in the Semifinals for the first time since 2004 and are seeking their first title since winning Class C in 1995, said playing one of the state’s most difficult regular-season schedules helped them prevail.

“Those tough games really prepared us,” said Lansing Catholic junior Anna Richards, who scored 17 of her game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter. “We’ve been down at halftime quite a few times, so we’ve learned we can come back from that.”

The Cougars’ Leah Richards (22) and West Catholic’s Reese Polega (32) contend for the opening tip-off.The Cougars, who won the Capital Area Activities Conference White, advance to take on Frankenmuth in the Division 2 title game at 6:15 p.m. Saturday.

West Catholic bolted out to a 15-4 lead early on and 17-6 by the end of the first quarter, but the Falcons struggled offensively for the rest of the night – scoring just three points in the second quarter, 11 in the third and 10 in the fourth.

One of the turning points came when Lansing Catholic switched to a 1-3-1 zone defense, which threw the Falcons out of rhythm.

West Catholic, which finished 26-1 with just three seniors, went through its longest power outage of the entire season at just the wrong time – going nearly 6 minutes without a point to open the fourth quarter.

“Those shots usually fall, and then they stopped falling,” said ninth-year West Catholic coach Jill VanderEnde, whose team is now 90-5 over the last four seasons. “We were unable to stop the bleeding fast enough.”

Senior Cadence Dykstra, who is headed to Division I Toledo next season, finished with a team-high 13 points and four rebounds. Reese Polega and Elisha Dykstra both scored nine points, and Emma Tuttle added six points and six rebounds.

Once the Cougars grabbed the lead early in the fourth quarter, they put the game away with an impressive showing at the free-throw line. Lansing Catholic made 27-of-33 free throws (82 percent), compared to 7-of-14 (50 percent) for West Catholic.

Another key to the win was rebounding, as the Cougars held a 32-22 edge on the boards and allowed very few second chances.

Lansing Catholic has now won 22 in a row, with its last loss coming in the sixth game of the season against Grafton Midview (Ohio). West Catholic hadn’t lost in almost a full calendar year, dating back to last year’s Division 2 title game against Detroit Edison.

The Cougars showed that remarkable composure and focus despite being a junior-led team. Five of the six players that Reid brought to the postgame press conference were juniors, with the only senior being Pricco.

“These girls are pretty composed,” Reid said. “We don’t get rattled too often, and that really showed tonight.”

Leah Richards scored 14 points with a game-high nine rebounds, Halliwill scored nine points and Pricco added five points and eight rebounds.

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Lansing Catholic celebrates its Division 2 Semifinal victory Friday night at Breslin Center. (Middle) The Cougars’ Leah Richards (22) and West Catholic’s Reese Polega (32) contend for the opening tip-off.