Senior Leads Arbor Prep to New Heights
March 19, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Ypsilanti Arbor Prep finished its fifth season of high school girls basketball Saturday. Nastassja Chambers finished her fourth season on the varsity.
That makes her the first star in the program’s young history – and one that will be remembered for years to come thanks to the Class C championship she helped the Gators earn in her final high school game.
Chambers scored 14 points to go with three assists and three steals, and 10 of those points came as Arbor Prep put Traverse City St. Francis nearly out of contention during the first half on the way to a 53-37 title game win at the Breslin Center.
Arbor Prep opened for the 2011-12 school year, and was first eligible for MHSAA Tournament play in 2012-13. Chambers has been part of the team for all of its postseason games, including two straight trips to Finals weekend, and for a combined run of 86 wins and only 15 losses.
“She’s someone to look up to, because no matter how much pain or how tired she is, she works hard,” Arbor Prep junior Adrienne Anderson said. “And that’s what she pushes us to do. And because she pushes herself, she’s in the position she’s in today. It’s an example that we want to follow.”
Arbor Prep (25-2) finished its final opponent this season the way it’s taken on a schedule loaded with top Class A and B programs all winter.
The top-ranked Gators jumped out to a 9-0 lead, and after allowing the Gladiators to get back within three by the end of the first quarter, took off again to carry a 25-18 lead into halftime.
“We knew we had to come after them. We’re normally the team that always gets the lead, so we knew if we came out hard we could maintain the lead, and that would have them on their toes,” Chambers said. “And we knew once they called that timeout (with Arbor Prep up 4-0), we knew we had gotten in their heads."
The teams played almost evenly during the third quarter, with Arbor Prep taking a nine-point lead into the fourth – where the Gators turned on the jets again and changed up defenses a few times as they pushed the lead to as large as 18.
Arbor Prep took advantage of 29 St. Francis turnovers, scoring 33 points off takeaways, and had 16 fastbreak points to the Gladiators’ zero.
“I was worried early in the game, but I thought we’d adjust. They never let us. We never got in a rhythm. We never got in a routine,” St. Francis coach Keith Haske said. “Obviously that’s the best team we’ve seen this year. We got them a few times on the press, but obviously not enough to make a difference.
“Just watching them against Ithaca (in the Semifinal), they are just a little bit quicker than what we’re used to seeing. They’ve got more quick kids than I ever want to see in my life again. Usually when they have one or two quick kids, it’s OK. They’d take out three more, and three more came in.”
Junior Cydney Williams added 10 points and 11 rebounds for Arbor Prep, which spread the scoring among seven players – with Chambers the only senior. Her contributions were not lost on the Gators once the championship ride was done. The 5-foot-8 guard will continue her career next season at Wayne State University and averaged a team-high 11.2 points per game heading into the week.
“These last two games she led us in scoring, but previous games in the state tournament she didn’t always lead us in scoring. She’s grown as a player, understanding you don’t have to lead us in scoring to be a good player, and I think that’s the biggest thing she got out of this season,” Arbor Prep coach Rod Wells said.
“She’s’ always helped push us to our greatest potential, and when we’re down she helps pick us all back up,” Williams added. “She’ll always be there with a smile to help you move along.”
St. Francis, which played in its first MHSAA championship game and suffered its first loss since the second game of the season, also will say good-bye to only two seniors who played significant minutes Saturday – although they were the leading scorers.
Forward Annie Lyman had 15 points and center Lauren McDonnell had 10 points and six rebounds. Junior forward Juliana Phillips, a standout in the Semifinal, added nine points and 10 rebounds.
The Gladiators finished 26-2 and entered the postseason tied for No. 3 in The Associated Press' rankings.
“I’m just so proud of our team and what we accomplished this year together,” Phillips said. “We just love each other a lot. … This moment is as far as you can make it in a season. We’re all pretty sad it’s over, but super proud of what we did.”
The Girls Basketball Finals are presented by Sparrow Health System.
PHOTOS: (Top) Ypsilanti Arbor Prep players celebrate the first MHSAA championship in their school’s history. (Middle) The Gators’ Ro’zhane Wells drives to the basket with a pair of St. Francis defenders moving to clog the lane.
Countdown to Calvin: Girls Report Week 3
December 18, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
It’s easy at this time of year, at least from a basketball point of view, to look past these next few weeks toward January, the start of league play and the most intense part of every regular season.
But not so fast. Doing so would mean missing out on more great early matchups that took place last week and some big-time contests coming up over the next two, some of which are mentioned below.
For many teams, there is little break over the end of December – and we’ll catch up again with the most notable news and notes from the last half of this month during the first week of January. These reports are based on results and schedules posted for each school at MHSAA.com – to offer corrections, email me at [email protected]. Countdown to Calvin is powered by MI Student Aid.
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Detroit Country Day 70, Detroit Martin Luther King 58 – The reigning Class B champion Yellowjackets have won in back-to-back seasons over the Class A power Crusaders.
2. Bloomfield Hills Marian 53, Farmington Hills Mercy 46 – Round one of this annual rivalry series went to Marian, which finished second to Mercy last season in the Detroit Catholic League Central and lost to the Marlins three times by a combined 13 points.
3. Flint Carman-Ainsworth 63, Ypsilanti Arbor Prep 59 – The Cavaliers moved to 5-0 by downing the reigning Class B runner-up Gators, who are in Class C this winter.
4. Williamston 62, Wayne Memorial 52 – The undefeated Hornets continue to look like one of Class B’s best after handing Class A Wayne its first defeat, and after the Zebras previously downed Country Day.
5. River Rouge 52, Southfield Arts & Technology 49 – The Panthers could be making a jump this season, and last week bounced back from a loss to Ann Arbor Huron to hand 2017 Class A semifinalist Southfield A&T this defeat.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each class making sparks:
CLASS A
Grand Blanc (4-2) – The Bobcats added a 42-36 win over Hartland and 41-40 victory over Flint Powers last week to a strong start after they went 9-12 last winter. Hartland last season won the Kensington Lakes Activities Association West, while Grand Blanc finished fifth; both now are in the KLAA Gold.
Romeo (4-1) – The Bulldogs actually started 7-0 in 2016-17 before a loss to Port Huron Northern (17-4 last winter) ended the streak and began a 7-9 finish. Romeo has taken a loss early this time, but beat Port Huron Northern last week after falling to the Huskies by 17 and 16 a season ago.
CLASS B
Battle Creek Pennfield (4-0) – As noted last week, Coldwater ended Marshall’s Interstate 8 Athletic Conference winning streak at 42. Pennfield could be one of the teams on the rise in the league after defeating the Redhawks 49-40 on Friday. The Panthers tied for third in the I8AC last season.
Fowlerville (5-1) – After an opening loss to Okemos, Fowlerville has come on strong as it looks to take another step. The Gladiators have improved from four, to 13, to 15 wins the last three seasons and were one of three teams that tied for second in the Capital Area Activities Conference White last winter.
CLASS C
Byron (5-0) – The Eagles have won all of their games by nine or more points as they also are looking to take another step after going 16-5 last season. They beat Class B Perry by 10 last week and get Class B Chesaning this week before the break.
Schoolcraft (6-0) – Handing Bronson its first loss last week 62-61 was the initial attention getter on Schoolcraft’s schedule, but more are the come. The Eagles made the Quarterfinals last season but finished second in their league to Galesburg-Augusta – the second opponent on the schedule when things get rolling again in January.
CLASS D
Adrian Lenawee Christian (4-0) – The Cougars’ run so far has included a 13-point win over a reigning league co-champ in Morrice and victories over Class B Ida and most recently Class B Tecumseh. Lenawee Christian finished 15-8 last season.
Athens (6-0) – Athens had been in the mix annually as the smallest school in the otherwise Class C Big 8 Conference, and this year the Indians moved to a Southern Central Athletic Association West made up of five Class D schools. They have the upper hand early after last week’s 50-48 win over reigning league champion Bellevue.
Can't-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – East Kentwood (6-0) at East Grand Rapids (4-0) – The reigning Class A runner-up Falcons have looked unstoppable, but should get their toughest challenge yet from an EGR team that went 17-4 last season.
Wednesday – Ishpeming (5-0) at Negaunee (4-0) – These two look like the best out of the gate in the Mid-Peninsula Conference and among the best in Class C in the Upper Peninsula.
Wednesday – Saginaw Heritage (4-0) at Freeland (4-1) – The only loss between the two this season was Freeland’s two-pointer to Bay City Western, and all of Heritage’s wins have been by at least 20 points.
Friday – Detroit County Day (2-1) at Midland Dow (3-0) – The Chargers have to contend with rival Midland first on Tuesday but then can see how they measure up against the reigning Class B champ.
Dec. 29 – Ann Arbor Huron (5-1) vs. Grand Haven (5-0) at Detroit Northwestern – This Motor City Roundball Classic game pits two teams that could be ranked in Class A in January.
PHOTO: A Byron player goes hard to the basket during a win over Durand. (Click to see more from Varsity Monthly.)