Pittsford Plays to Paint Breslin Blue Again
By
Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
December 10, 2015
By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
PITTSFORD – Pittsford High School girls basketball coach Chris Hodos made a bold prediction prior to the 2013-14 season: He told athletic director Mike Burger that their Wildcats were going to go 20-0.
Pittsford, coming off a 15-5 finish, went on to complete the regular season unbeaten before losing in the Final of the District tournament.
After watching the 2014 MHSAA Class D Final, Hodos made another bold prediction to Burger. He called the athletic director and said, “I’m at the Breslin Center, and I’m telling you right now we can make it.”
Hodos is 2 for 2. Pittsford took a 26-0 record into last season’s championship game and built a 20-point lead on St. Ignace before losing 64-60 in overtime.
Hodos is making no predictions this year. But with the majority of that team back and a sly grin on his face, it is obvious he expects another great season from the Wildcats.
Small-town girls, big-time players
Pittsford is a civil township in Hillsdale County, and the 2000 census listed the population as 1,600. It certainly does not jump off a map when searching for it. The high school has 211 students this year.
Therefore, when someone says he or she is from Pittsford, it could cause confusion. Pittsburgh is a likely misunderstanding.
“I played football at Adrian College, and my buddies would say, ‘I saw your hometown in Detroit,’” Hodos said. “I’d tell them, ‘No, that’s Pittsfield. That’s not it.’ That’s just one of the things I hear.”
Pittsford might be a small dot on the map, but in Class D girls basketball, it is a major player.
The Wildcats have not lost a regular-season game since Jan. 24, 2013, when they fell to Bellevue. Since then, Pittsford has won 50 consecutive regular-season games and is 60-3 overall.
Two all-staters are back from last year: juniors Jaycie Burger and Maddie Clark. Burger is a slick point guard who averaged 19 points per game last year and set the school record with 170 assists (with just 51 turnovers). Clark, an athletic player who can do it all, averaged 20 points last year and recently became the first Pittsford athlete to receive all-state honors in volleyball.
Laura Smith, one of two seniors on the team, also averaged in double figures in scoring last year, and center Madison Ayers returns after missing all of last season. She was on varsity as a freshman and started as a sophomore. The other starter is junior guard Madison Dominique.
As such in a small town, most of the girls have known each other since grade school and played sports together most of their lives, and Jaycie Burger believes that has been an asset.
“What sticks out the most is how well our team chemistry is,” she said. “We all get along really well, and when you have a team that gets along as well as we do – we all work really hard in practice and we never let any one of us take a play off – we all really care about each other, and that transfers into everyone working hard on the court.”
The Wildcats aren’t extremely tall, but their quickness and athleticism overwhelm most of their opponents, and they have won many more games by lopsided scores than nail-biters. Burger makes it sound simple.
“We like to play fast, get up in the passing lanes and play good defense, beat their defense down the floor and get a fast break,” she said.
Winners from the beginning
When the girls were in grade school, observers noticed they were good. But nobody would have predicted the sort of success they would have in high school. Not even Jaycie Burger’s father, Mike, the athletic director.
“We knew they were really good, and we knew they loved the game and loved each other, so we thought they had the opportunity to be really good high school players,” he said, “but we never expected that they would do this stuff.”
It also presented him with a dilemma. Burger, the football coach, could have coached the girls team but opted for the boys, and he encouraged Hodos, his boys basketball assistant, to apply for the girls job.
“I thought it was not in my best interest to coach the girls,” Burger said. “My son plays basketball, too, he plays for me, but Jaycie needs to be where she can do her thing. She doesn’t need her dad looking over her shoulder. Dad can go sit with the rest of the parents and enjoy the game.”
Jaycie Burger, who plans to play basketball at Hillsdale College after graduation, and Clark, who likely will play basketball or volleyball in college, are in the same grade and attended the same church at a young age.
“We’ve known each other for a long time,” Clark said of Burger. “I’ve played with Jaycee my whole life, and Laura recently, too. I think we started playing in the second or third grade.
“We were beating people all along, but as we got older we just started beating them more and more. We hoped that we would be good, and it has paid off. Being able to play together for that long, we know each other’s abilities and our strengths.”
Road to Breslin
There really were not too many scares along the way last season as the Wildcats regularly beat teams by 30 or 40 points. But a visit to Breslin was never a certainty, except maybe to Hodos.
“At the beginning of the year, I did not think about playing at Breslin,” Clark said. “As we got farther in the tournament, I could see that it was definitely possible and we could go far, and we did. At times I felt a little pressure that we could be perfect, but in the end I focused more on the game and brushed it off.”
Hodos, who had made the bold prediction of getting to Breslin a year earlier, said the moment that became a reality was something he will never forget.
“When the buzzer rang at Battle Creek Harper Creek in the quarters, and I knew we were going to the Breslin Center, I just remember looking at the scoreboard,” he said. “It was an amazing feeling.”
When the time came for the Semifinals and Final, the team arrived so early for the game that it beat the Fox Sports Detroit television crew, which had hoped to film the girls getting off the bus.
With a 20-point lead in the third quarter, the Class D title felt so close. But as things often happen, it slipped away. Smith said she spent a lot of time re-watching the game on a DVD purchased by her parents.
“Sometimes I just sit in my room and watch it,” she said. “I look at it, and I usually look at myself and see what I could have done better. But as a team we played great, and I wouldn’t really have changed much.
“Last year was probably for me a dream come true because my whole high school career I’ve always wanted to go to the Breslin Center, and last year we made it.”
Smith also said that breezing through the schedule last year might not have been a good thing for the team when it came to the MHSAA Finals.
“We weren’t used to playing close games and handling the pressure that comes with it,” she said, “so that’s why Coach has scheduled a lot of teams that will give us more competition. If we get in that situation down the road, we’ll know how to handle it.”
For the athletic director/father Burger, the memory of the excitement and little bit of apprehension prior to the championship game is still emotional. He knew St. Ignace would use an intense defense directed at the play of the point guard – his daughter Jaycie.
“It was amazing when she walked on the court,” he said. “To know all the sacrifice and hours and hours and hours of work she put in made it special. But I knew what St. Ignace was going to do, and I knew what she was going to be up against. I knew they were going to double and trap her and run people at her because I know what they do. I knew all that, and then to see her flourish. She played remarkable.
“It was an incredible experience. We didn’t win, but it didn’t matter.”
One thing that helped make it such an incredible experience was the community support received by the Wildcats. As more than one person said, “they turned the Breslin blue.” Blue is the primary color of Pittsford athletics.
“When we got to the Breslin and saw everyone there – everyone wearing blue – we actually did turn the Breslin blue,” Smith said. “It was amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people from Pittsford in one spot before, and it was great.”
But it wasn’t just people from Pittsford. The Wildcats touched much of Hillsdale County.
“It was fun for the community, and it wasn’t just the Pittsford community; it was everybody,” Hodos said. “Hudson, North Adams, Jonesville people, Hillsdale people, it was really amazing everybody who was there and wearing blue for the Semifinals and Finals.”
New season
A year ago, Pittsford was still Pittsburgh, or Pittsfield, or something else to some people. But now Pittsford wears a big target on its back in girls basketball. The players know that they will get the ‘A’ game of their opponent every night.
“And we will bring ours as well,” Clark said.
The schedule has been beefed up, just like Smith indicated. One of the new teams to the schedule was Grass Lake, which Pittsford defeated Tuesday night 71-62 to bump its record to 2-0. Grass Lake was coming off an 87-point performance in its previous game against Concord.
“We’re always looking for good games,” Hodos said. “We picked up Grass Lake, we’re playing Class A Belleville over Christmas break at the Airport Holiday Showcase. They have 1,800 kids in their school. It will be a big stage for the girls. We also will scrimmage Marshall over Christmas break.
“It’s not about winning every game in the regular season; it’s about winning that last one.”
No matter how it turns out, it seems another special season is in store for Pittsford girls basketball and the school of 211 students
“When I look at this team, I see a team that probably will not happen around here again,” Mike Burger said. “They’re the best girls basketball team I’ve seen in this area in my whole life.
“You very rarely get two or three girls of that caliber – it’s usually one really good player. It’s the perfect storm, the perfect time. The kids work really hard. We never thought about getting to the Breslin Center, that was never the goal. It was about playing the game with a passion to play the game and a passion to represent the school and the community.
“Everything just came together. I don’t know how it did, it just did. The parents just let the kids play and let them be kids. It’s the perfect storm. I don’t think I will ever see this again in Pittsford in my lifetime.”
Chip Mundy served as sports editor at the Brooklyn Exponent and Albion Recorder from 1980-86, and then as a reporter and later copy editor at the Jackson Citizen-Patriot from 1986-2011. He also co-authored Michigan Sports Trivia. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Pittsford players huddle in front of their bench and a large cheering section during the 2015 Class D Final at the Breslin Center. (Middle) Jaycie Burger pushes the ball upcourt with two St. Ignace players trailing. (Below) Maddie Clark defends the rim against a Saints shooter.
Title IX at 50: Regina's Laffey Retiring as Definition of Legendary
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
April 5, 2022
At a time many coaches and school administrators seemingly come and go like billboard signs on the highway, there are a few who, over time, become part of the fabric of their school and community.
Diane Laffey is one such person.
Some perspective on how long Laffey has been coaching: President John F. Kennedy was still alive when Laffey was about to enter her second season as a head varsity basketball coach.
How many of you remember that sad day in November of 1963 in Dallas or did you simply read about Kennedy’s death years later? Laffey literally has been involved in high school activities for what amounts to a lifetime for many.
The word 'legend' is often misused when applied to an individual who has achieved greatness over a long period of time. But in Laffey's case, it fits her like a woolen mitten in mid-January.
Laffey, 83, started coaching girls basketball in 1962 at St. Anthony, on Detroit's near eastside. The following spring she began her first season as the head varsity softball coach. When St. Anthony merged with Detroit East Catholic and Detroit St. Elizabeth in 1969 to form one high school, East Catholic, Laffey remained for one season before taking over both programs at Harper Woods Regina, an all-girls school, in 1970. Dave Soules, the boys basketball coach at East Catholic at the time, tried to convince Laffey to stay, but to no avail.
With that move Laffey found a home, a home she would care for for years to come. On June 30, Laffey will officially retire from her position as the school's athletic director and as the head coach of the two varsity sports which have been so much a part of her life for seven decades.
When one coaches for 60 seasons, the number of victories, titles and championships can boggle the mind. Laffey has had more than her share of success winning seven MHSAA Finals softball titles, the latest coming in 2019, and reaching four Final Fours in basketball. And Laffey's teams always competed at the highest level, in the Detroit Catholic League Central, and in the MHSAA tournaments. Due to a decline in enrollment Regina moved from Division 1 to Division 2 in basketball two seasons ago. Laffey opted to remain in Division 1 in softball and will continue to compete at that level this spring.
As enticing as retirement might sound, making that important decision can be difficult. Change can be a challenge, especially to one who has dedicated herself with such passion and for such a long time in a profession where the reward is more often a pat on the back, a kind word or the return of former students who just want to say thanks.
There's a saying that needs repeating. It isn't work if you love what you're doing.
“It was hard,” Laffey said. “It's a very hard decision for me to make.”
It's not a stretch to say Laffey and the Catholic League have almost become synonymous over the years. And this relationship began well before her coaching career. Her father Jack 'Red' Laffey was the basketball and football coach at Detroit St. Charles and Detroit Nativity, where his daughter played basketball and softball before graduating in 1957. Her father died when Laffey was in the eighth grade, but she was around him long enough to know that coaching was in her blood.
“I was in the gym a lot,” Laffey said. “He was down to earth, but he could yell (at his players) when he had to. He cared about the kids. He was tough, but deep down he loved his kids.”
For those who know Diane Laffey, it's as if she was talking about herself when making that statement.
Her teams have been an extension of herself. They’ve worked hard. They’ve played the game with passion but without a bravado one might see in other teams that have achieved similar success.
After high school, Laffey received her undergraduate degree from the University of Detroit and then went to Wayne State University, where she earned her master’s in guidance and counseling. There was no question what she wanted to do with her life. It was just a question of where.
Most of her time was spent as a physical education teacher, but she did teach Spanish at St. Anthony and was a guidance counselor before becoming Regina's athletic director in 1977. Remember, Laffey coached two sports every season for 60 years. And if this wasn't enough, she coached softball at Wayne State from 1978-81 without taking time away from her duties at Regina – although she eventually left Wayne State because she said the time she spent coaching in college took time away from her responsibilities, her players, at Regina.
That doesn't mean her time at Wayne State didn't have it moments. There was one instance where the proper paperwork wasn't filled out in order for Wayne State to compete in a tournament. Faced with the problem of not having her team compete, Laffey met with former MHSAA Communications Director John Johnson, who was the sports information director at Western Michigan at the time, and Johnson came through by contacting a Detroit newspaper and obtained the paperwork needed for Wayne State to compete. Laffey said she was forever in debt to a person she would work with many times in the future.
Laffey has been the recipient of numerous awards – most notably her induction into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame and the National Federation of State High School Associations’ Hall of Fame – yet those honors are not what she'll remember most when her career comes to a close. No, it'll be the same reason why she entered the profession of education – people, most notably her students and assistant coaches.
Her coaching staff this basketball season consisted of Emily Frikken and Kevin Reese. Kerri Kelly, Marisa Mugley, Mike Roeske and Frikken assist her in softball. Frikken and Mugley both played for Laffey.
Frikken played basketball and softball for four seasons before graduating in 2009. Frikken's perspective is quite unique in that she attended Regina the last two years the school was located in Harper Woods and was part of the transition when the school moved to Warren in 2007. A 2013 Albion College graduate, Frikken joined Laffey's staff in 2019 after serving as athletic director, assistant basketball coach and head coach of the field hockey team at Livonia Ladywood.
Frikken played on the 2007 MHSAA Division 1 championship softball team, the program's fourth consecutive title. And in her first season as an assistant, Frikken helped Regina take home its most recent championship.
“That was a great experience,” she said. “(Winning) was so much better as a coach. You have an outside perspective. It was a proud moment. And we won in extra innings (3-2 over Howell). Watching (the players) excitement was amazing.”
For Frikken, the moment that's indelibly stamped in her memory is the one that took place minutes after that victory over Howell.
“Diane and I walked back to our cars,” she said. “And we had parked quite a distance from where most people parked, so we walked a while. It was just the two of us, and she asked me what it was like to be a part of something like that. I'll never forget that.”
Frikken first met Laffey at a summer basketball camp while she was still in middle school. There's a bit of a mystique that surrounds a person who has coached for so long and Frikken, like many others, had to remove that barrier before she became comfortable.
“From her, there's the intimidation aspect,” she said. “There (are) so many things she has done. But knowing her, she's very humble. She doesn't want all the attention she gets. She wants her players to have it.”
As to why Laffey has had so much success, Frikken said it comes down to basics.
“She keeps it simple,” she said. “She tells her players to play like you're capable of playing. She instills confidence. She brings a lot of passion to both sports.”
Laffey finished her basketball coaching career with 668 victories including four Catholic League titles. The victory total places her seventh overall and second among women's coaches in Michigan high school history behind Bloomfield Hills Marian's Mary Cicerone (707), who also retired following this past season.
In softball, Laffey is Michigan's all-time leader with 1,231 victories.
Like Frikken said, even though Laffey is one of the all-time greats in both sports, she prefers to deflect the attention to others.
“I've had some of the best assistants in the world,” Laffey said. “You have to have someone you can talk to, someone to bounce your ideas off of. Many of our coaches are former players. Our head JV softball coach is an alum. Our JV volleyball coach is an alum, and both the varsity and JV lacrosse coaches are alums. They know the school. They know the program. They kind of know what the program is like; what's expected.”
Laffey also gives kudos to the tremendous athletes she's had the opportunity to coach such as pitcher Nikki Nemitz, who later played at Michigan, and basketball players Sarah Judd (Oakland University) and Paula Sanders, the latter a Miss Basketball finalist and later a star player at Michigan State.
It's uncertain at this time who will become the new head coach in the two sports, but it's safe to assume Laffey will offer an opinion or two. Whomever those in school administration choose, the foundation for success has long been established.
Regardless of who it is, Frikken said she's a better coach and a better person having had Laffey as a coach and now having served as an assistant coach on Laffey’s staff.
“It's not about Xs and Os,” she said. “It's about building relationships with the students. It just wasn't the student-athlete who flocked to be around Diane. Even if you didn't play sports, you wanted to be around her. You can't count how many people she's had an impact on. As a coach, you want to make sure (the players) know you care. And make sure you are a role model for them.
“To play for someone like that is one thing. To coach alongside ... I've learned so much. Regina is very lucky to have her.”
It's not over yet. Laffey returns 10 seniors from a team that reached an MHSAA Regional Final a season ago. Regina won three consecutive softball league titles before Farmington Hills Mercy won the Central in 2021.
Whatever takes place this season, whether there's a league title or a long tournament run in store for her team, what matters most to Laffey is the student part of her student-athletes. She said of the five valedictorians in the school, three are members of her softball team including Abby Hornberger – who has been accepted to begin undergraduate studies at Princeton in the fall.
In the end, Laffey has been deeply touched by all of the attention she has received, especially in recent weeks since announcing her upcoming retirement.
“I've received so many emails congratulating me,” she said. “It's humbling. Very humbling.”
Second Half's weekly Title IX Celebration posts are sponsored by Michigan Army National Guard.
Previous Title IX at 50 Spotlights
March 29: Edison's Whitehorn named 2022 Miss Basketball - Read
March 22: Carney-Nadeau Sets Girls Hoops Standard with 78-Win Streak - Read
March 15: Binder Among Voices Telling Our Story on MHSAA Network - Read
March 8: 28 Years, Thousands of Cheers - Read
March 1: Kearsley Rolls On Among Girls Bowling's Early Successes - Read
Feb. 22: Marquette Ties Record for Swim & Dive Finals Success - Read
Feb. 15: Jaeger's 2004 Winter Run Created Lasting Connection - Read
Feb. 8: Marian's Cicerone to Finish Among All-Time Elite - Read
Feb. 1: WISL Award Honors Builders of State's Girls Sports Tradition - Read
Jan. 25: Decades Later, Edwards' Legend Continues to Grow - Read
Jan. 18: Iron Mountain Completes Championship Climb - Read
Jan. 11: Harrold's Achievement Heralds Growth of Girls Wrestling - Read
Dec. 20: Competitive Cheer Gives Michigan Plenty to Cheer About - Read
Dec. 14: Evelyn's Game Had Plenty of Magic - Read
Dec. 7: Council Term Ends, But Leinaar Leaves Lasting Impact - Read
Nov. 30: Basketball Season Ready to Add to Rich Tradition - Read
Nov. 23: Marysville Builds Winning Streak Yet to be Challenged - Read
Nov. 16: Wroubel Has Championed Girls School Sports from Their Start - Read
Nov. 9: Pioneer's Joyce Legendary in Michigan, National Swim History - Read
Nov. 2: Royal Oak's Finch Leading Way on Football Field - Read
Oct. 26: Coach Clegg Sets Championship Standard at Grand Blanc - Read
Oct. 19: Rockford Girls Set Pace, Hundreds After Have Continued to Chase - Read
Oct. 12: Bedford Volleyball Pioneer Continues Blazing Record-Setting Trail - Read
Oct. 5: Warner Paved Way to Legend Status with Record Rounds - Read
Sept. 28: Taylor Kennedy Gymnasts Earn Fame as 1st Champions - Read
Sept. 21: Portage Northern Star Byington Becomes Play-by-Play Pioneer - Read
Sept. 14: Guerra/Groat Legacy Continues to Serve St. Philip Well - Read
Sept. 7: Best-Ever Conversation Must Include Leland's Glass - Read
Aug. 31: We Will Celebrate Many Who Paved the Way - Read
PHOTOS (Top) Diane Laffey accepts the 1991 MHSAA Women in Sports Leadership Award, and at right hands the 2017 Division 1 softball championship trophy to her Regina players. (Middle) Laffey confers with her hitters during a 2015 Division 1 Semifinal.