Performance: Edison's Rickea Jackson
March 27, 2019
Rickea Jackson
Detroit Edison senior - Basketball
One of the most celebrated basketball careers in MHSAA history came to a close Saturday, as Jackson in her final high school game led Edison to a 77-58 win over Freeland at Van Noord Arena that clinched the Division 2 championship. The 6-foot-3 guard had 28 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals in earning the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.”
Jackson, who also had 26 points and eight rebounds in Friday’s Semifinal win over Haslett, previously had keyed the Pioneers’ runs to back-to-back Division 3 titles in 2017 and 2018. Edison became just the sixth school to win at least three straight MHSAA girls basketball championships. The Pioneers finished 27-1 this winter and went a combined 71-7 over the last three. Jackson leaves a massive legacy, with an interesting side note that she also was continuing a family hoops legacy – her mother Caryn (Shinn) Jackson starred for Detroit Murray-Wright during the early 1990s and played at University of Kansas.
Earlier in the week, Rickea Jackson was selected as the 38th Miss Basketball Award winner by the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan. She finished this season averaging 22.4 points, eight rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.9 steals and a blocked shot per game and averaged at least 21 points and eight rebounds per game all four seasons of high school. Jackson will play as one of 24 selections for the McDonald’s All-American Game and has signed to continue her career at Mississippi State University, which entered the NCAA Tournament ranked No. 4 nationally and has advanced to this weekend’s Sweet 16. She also excels academically, carrying a GPA above 3.0 into this school year according to her USA Basketball bio.
Coach Monique Brown said: “Just the competitiveness that she has – just pushing in practice, always getting everyone going – that’s the biggest attribute that she really gives us as far as preparing for games. She’s always pushing and pushing, talking and creating practice wars in practice. That makes games look a little easy for us because we’ve been working so hard in practice.”
Performance Point: “I believe my teammates and I have left a huge legacy,” Jackson said of the three-title run. “They’re letting me go off to college with three championships, and I can’t do nothing but thank them for that. It's bittersweet. I'm going to definitely, definitely miss high school, but time goes fast and now I'm going off to college."
Every day against the best: “It started in practice with the major DI (college) prospects we have on our team, it just makes it easier when we go against these other (teams). We’re going against DI prospects every day in practice, and they’re pushing me and not letting up on me, so it definitely takes pressure off me in the game, because I do it in practice every day, so in a game it’s no different.”
All special, in different ways: “The first (championship) was definitely the one that was crazy for us, with all the doubters that we had, but we just fought through adversity and no one thought we could do it. So I would have to say our first championship was the one that really hit me. But this championship means a lot, too, because there was an even bigger target on our back and everyone knows who we are, everybody can see our games on the internet. This is probably one of the hardest ones.”
The next chapter: “My high school career is officially over, which is crazy to say. But I just can’t wait to get down there, show them what I can do and play on a big court.”
- Paul Costanzo, Second Half correspondent
Every week during the 2018-19 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard recognizes a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Past 2018-19 honorees
March 21: Noah Wiswary, Hudsonville Unity Christian basketball - Read
March 14: Cam Peel, Spring Lake swimming - Read
March 7: Jordan Hamdan, Hudson wrestling - Read
February 28: Kevon Davenport, Detroit Catholic Central wrestling - Read
February 21: Reagan Olli, Gaylord skiing - Read
February 14: Jake Stevenson, Traverse City Bay Reps hockey - Read
February 7: Molly Davis, Midland Dow basketball - Read
January 31: Chris DeRocher, Alpena basketball - Read
January 24: Imari Blond, Flint Kearsley bowling - Read
January 17: William Dunn, Quincy basketball - Read
November 29: Dequan Finn, Detroit Martin Luther King football - Read
November 22: Paige Briggs, Lake Orion volleyball - Read
November 15: Hunter Nowak, Morrice football - Read
November 8: Jon Dougherty, Detroit Country Day soccer - Read
November 1: Jordan Stump, Camden-Frontier volleyball - Read
October 25: Danielle Staskowski, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep golf - Read
October 18: Adam Bruce, Gladstone cross country - Read
October 11: Ericka VanderLende, Rockford cross country - Read
October 4: Kobe Clark, Schoolcraft football - Read
September 27: Jonathan Kliewer, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern soccer - Read
September 20: Kiera Lasky, Bronson volleyball - Read
September 13: Judy Rector, Hanover-Horton cross country - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Edison's Rickea Jackson brings the ball upcourt during Saturday's Division 2 Final against Freeland. (Middle) Jackson launches a shot from the baseline.
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, 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.
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.