Oscoda Teams Rise From Past to Perfection
February 8, 2019
By Chris Dobrowolski
Special for Second Half
OSCODA — The tide has turned in Oscoda.
After struggling year after year in boys and girls basketball, the Owls are enjoying quite a turnaround on the hardcourt this winter as both teams enter the final month of the regular season undefeated — just one of two schools in the state to be collectively unbeaten in boys and girls hoops.
The boys team boasts a record of 15-0 and is 9-0 in the North Star League Big Dipper division, while the girls squad has cruised to a 12-0 mark, including going 5-0 in league play.
It hasn’t always been that way, however.
“There’s a lot of years where we really struggled,” said Oscoda varsity boys basketball coach Seth Alda, a 2003 graduate of the school who is in his seventh year at the helm. “It wasn’t that long ago. There were a lot of years where we not only struggled but a lot of teams beat us by quite a bit.”
The boys team has reached a stretch where it has failed to win a league championship in 27 years or District title in 18 straight seasons, while the girls program became infamous for having lost 89 consecutive games at one point.
“We went almost four and a half years without winning a game,” said Oscoda varsity girls basketball coach Mark Toppi, who took over the girls program four years ago. “They had only had a couple wins in the past three years before I took the job.”
The Owls had been caught in a rut for most of the last few decades, partly due to a precipitous decline in the school’s enrollment after Wurtsmith Air Force Base was decommissioned in 1993. As families left the area, Oscoda became a shell of itself. At one time Class B playing within the North East Michigan Conference, the school was unable to remain competitive with its league rivals as its student population was slashed in half. It eventually made sense to leave the NEMC, and Oscoda toiled as an independent before finding a landing spot in the Huron Shores Conference, which eventually morphed into a reconfigured North Star League in 2014.
Things began to trend in the Owls’ favor last season as a group of talented and ambitious athletes started making their mark. It’s a core of players who have gotten better by working hard, dedicating themselves, including honing their games and picking up additional competition on local travel teams.
“We kind of saw it coming,” said Alda. “Last year we were 14-8, which was our first winning season in 15 years. We returned a lot of players off that team. Last year we were young, and this year we’re still young. We have a lot coming back next year too.”
The Owls’ main core consists of juniors Brayden Mallak, Gabe Kellstrom, Devin Thomas and Chance Kruse, as well as sophomores Owen Franklin and Gavin Lueck.
“We’re guard-oriented,” said Alda. “We like to get up and down the court. We press. We shoot a lot of threes. Typically, we go four out and one in — four guards and one post player. We like to push the tempo. We like to increase possessions. We’ve got three kids (Mallak, Kellstrom and Franklin) who are shooting over 35 percent — a couple of them over 40 — from the 3-point line.”
The girls team managed to come up with 13 wins a year ago despite not having a senior on the roster. That was part of the ascent from three victories in Toppi’s first season, to seven wins two years ago. The 13-9 record in 2017-18 earned Toppi the Associated Press’ Class C Coach of the Year Award.
With all that returning experience from the best girls team Oscoda had seen in years, the Owls were primed for an even better season.
“I could tell we were going to have a good year, just because of all the work they put in over the summer,” said Toppi. “We had a lot of success (last summer). We play up all the time whenever we go to team camps. We always try to play Class B or Class A schools. We take a lot of beatings in the summer. This year was the first year that we were winning against some of those schools. That was a nice sign. I try to tell them, ‘If we’re losing by 15 to a Class A school, that’s not bad.’ This year we were beating some of them.”
The Oscoda girls team has a bit more experience than the boys, with senior Katelyn Etherton in her fourth year as a starting guard. She reached the 1,000-point mark in her career earlier this year. Junior post player Lauren Langley is another key veteran who teams with Etherton, and each average close to 17 points per game. Sophomore Macy Kellstrom leads the team in steals and assists as the point guard, and classmate Izzy Hulverson is averaging a double-double in points and rebounds.
The problem the girls team has discovered is it isn’t getting pushed by the teams on its schedule. The Owls are winning by an average of 34 points per game. A 41-25 win over Tawas was the closest to date. Toppi hopes not having a close game during the regular season won’t hurt the Owls when they get to the postseason. For now, he’s just focused on getting the Owls ready for a tournament run.
“I’m just trying to get them to play hard and practice hard,” he said. “I don’t want them to look at the schedule. We’re still trying to get competition in practice and get better every day.”
The boys games have been a little less one-sided, particularly two clashes against league rival Mio. Oscoda beat the Thunderbolts both times, but one was a seven-point win in a back-and-forth game a week ago and the other was a 35-33 nail-biter earlier this season that wasn’t decided until Mallak drove the length of the court and scored on a buzzer beater.
The buzz has caught up to the Owls as the wins have continued to pile up for both teams.
“Around the school I feel like everybody’s wearing Oscoda across their chest a lot more proudly than what it was a while ago,” said Franklin. “Wherever you go, people know who you are now.
“Every practice Mr. Alda talks to us about how we could be the first in so many years to do this (or that). Early in the year we were 8-0 and he was like, ‘You’ve got a chance to go 9-0. That hasn’t happened in 30 years. He talks to us a lot about making history.”
The struggles the school endured in basketball are not forgotten, but both teams are doing their part to make better memories on the court. The girls already snapped a 48-game losing streak to nearby rival Tawas, and the boys swept the Braves for the first time in 20 years. The boys team is also close to ending that elusive conference championship drought, and both teams have their eyes on earning some District tournament hardware.
“I keep talking about how exciting it is when you get to tournament time, if you can make a run,” said Alda, who was a freshman on Oscoda’s last basketball Regional champion in 2000. “This is just a really cool thing to be a part of.”
Chris Dobrowolski has covered northern Lower Peninsula sports since 1999 at the Ogemaw County Herald, Alpena News, Traverse City Record-Eagle and currently as sports editor at the Antrim Kalkaska Review since 2016. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Lauren Langley, left, and Brayden Mallak have been key to Oscoda’s perfect starts; Mallak here hits the game-winning shot against Mio. (Middle) Katelyn Etherton beats everyone to the basket during a win over Lincoln Alcona. (Below) The Owls celebrate that Mio victory Dec. 13. (Photos courtesy of the Oscoda girls and boys basketball programs.)
McQueen Home Ruling Basketball Court
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
January 2, 2020
Since she first stepped onto the hardwood more than a decade ago, Aaliyah McQueen has felt at home on the basketball court.
The sport has helped get her through the toughest time in her life, develop some of her greatest friendships, and opened the door to a bright future.
So, while the Flint Carman-Ainsworth senior juggles the excitement of starting her college career at University of Illinois this coming fall, and the nerves that come along with leaving her geographic home – the presence of basketball helps keep her calm.
“I think it didn’t hit me until a couple days after my signing, that this will be the last time coming to my high school, having practice with my teammates and seeing familiar faces every day,” McQueen said. “I won’t really be home with my family – I'll be a long way from home – and basically I’ll be on my own. But that’s why Illinois was the perfect fit for me. Not only (Illini assistant coach and Flint native Tianna Kirkland), but just the people around there. The weather is colder, too, so it’s kind of similar. But I feel like I’m going to be OK as long as I’m playing basketball. It keeps me mentally sane.”
It was basketball that helped McQueen deal with tragedy at a young age. After the death of her father in 2007, McQueen’s mother signed her up for basketball to help her focus on something positive.
“When my father died, there wasn’t really anything for me to do,” McQueen said. “It’s a pretty dangerous city around where I’m from, and my mom didn’t want me to follow in any bad footsteps because I was grieving. I was already talented a little bit. I was kind of better than some of the kids and I was like, ‘Maybe this might be something.’”
It clearly was, and by middle school, McQueen made the jump to AAU, playing for multiple teams and traveling the country to put her skills on display against strong competition and in front of myriad college coaches. She said her first contact with a college coach came during sixth grade.
“At the time I was younger, so I was like, ‘Wow,’” McQueen said. “I was in shock. I was really happy. It was like, ‘Maybe I am good.’ I never really was like cocky or anything about myself, but I had never really thought I was that good. Once you see the results, that tells you you’re doing something right, and at that time I thought that I needed to keep doing what I’m doing.”
McQueen’s high school career actually started at Goodrich, where she transferred to in eighth grade. She came back to Flint after her freshman year, however, as it felt more like home.
“Me coming to Carman, I think, might have been a good thing for me in opening up a lot more and becoming more talkative and outspoken,” she said. “I didn’t really talk much at Goodrich. I was more of ‘only speak when spoken to.’ Just being around the people I grew up with, that kind of opened me up as a person.”
Finding the right home was important when selecting a college, so when McQueen chose Illinois over 20 other offers, Kirkland was a major reason why. The former Ferris State two-sport star has been at Illinois for eight years, but her connections to the state of Michigan run deep. Not only is she a Flint native, but she also coached at Eastern Michigan and the University of Michigan before making the move to Illinois.
“She’s from here, and she knows how it is here,” said McQueen, who added that talking with Kirkland is like getting a Flint history lesson. “I really like that, and we connected right away.”
While McQueen plays guard at times for the Cavs, she’s used all over the court in coach Lance Belill’s system – which both player and coach agree will make her a better collegiate player.
“She’s going to be a physical guard for them, just because she’s been guarding bigger players at the high school level,” Belill said. “She’s going to be a guard who can score, rebound, but most importantly get the other girls open looks.”
While Belill said McQueen’s versatility is her greatest strength at the high school level, it’s her court vision and passing that he said would shine in college.
“I think that’s even going to be magnified at the next level,” he said. “A lot of times, she sees things that the other girls don’t.”
Before she heads to Illinois, McQueen still has some work to do at home, as she and her Carman-Ainsworth teammates have the makings of a special season ahead of them.
The Cavaliers are 6-0 and ranked No. 4 in Division 1 in the Michigan Power Ratings index. They have six seniors, including two entering their fourth years with the program – Chenelle King and Jessiana Aaron. Through their first six games, the Cavs have had four players lead the team in scoring, including McQueen with 21 in their most recent win Dec. 27 against her former school.
Carman-Ainsworth’s last two seasons both ended in the Regional round at the hands of eventual Class A/Division 1 Finals champion Saginaw Heritage. There’s a feeling within the program that this year could end differently – but either way, McQueen plans to enjoy her final year at home.
“There are a lot of us that pretty much grew up together, the seniors,” McQueen said. “We’re all talented, and we’re all good basketball players. We’re all really focused for states, but we have to come together and stay united as one, and just have fun our senior year.”
Paul 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) Flint Carman-Ainsworth’s Aaliyah McQueen, left, works to gather a loose ball this season during a win over Flint Kearsley. (Middle) McQueen brings the ball upcourt. (Top photo by Terry Lyons; middle photo courtesy of Aaliyah McQueen.)