Seniors Have St Mary on Verge Again
March 12, 2018
By Dennis Chase
Special for Second Half
GAYLORD – Averi Bebble was a water girl when Gaylord St. Mary reached the MHSAA Class D Girls Basketball Quarterfinals in 2012 and 2013.
“That was exciting,” Bebble said, “just as exciting as it is now.”
Now, Bebble is a senior and the Snowbirds are in the Quarterfinals again – for the fourth time in eight years and the second time since Bebble has been on varsity.
This time Bebble is hoping St. Mary (23-1) can reverse a trend when it faces Chassell (24-1) on Tuesday at Sault Ste. Marie
“Every year we‘ve been in the Quarterfinals we’ve lost by one or two points,” she said. “We’re excited to get back and try to beat Chassell.”
The Snowbirds lost by two points to Crystal Falls Forest Park in 2012, by two to Climax-Scotts in 2013 and by one to Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart in 2016.
Bebble and Alex Hunter were starters on the 2016 squad. And now the best friends are the catalysts of a senior-driven team that’s rattled off 23 consecutive wins after a season-opening setback at Clare.
Four seniors start for the Snowbirds.
“That’s huge,” first-year head coach Pat Schultz said. “We have a lot of experience where it matters – handling the ball. We have guards that can control the game for us.”
The 5-foot-3 Hunter and the 5-5-Bebble are joined by 5-4 junior Olivea Jeffers in a three-guard lineup. Hunter was an Associated Press first-team all-state pick a year ago. The tallest starters are 5-7 Maggie Schultz and improving 5-8 center Emily Myler.
To compensate for lack of size, the Snowbirds like to press and run – and then run some more.
“We like to get out in transition, push the tempo,” Schultz said. “Our kids are in good shape. We can get up and down the floor. Plus, we can defend.”
Those are the hallmarks of this team, which is outscoring the opposition by an average of 32 points (61-29). Only two teams, Rudyard and Cedarville, scored more than 50 points, and St. Mary won those two Regional games by 22 and 10 points, respectively.
The Snowbirds played a schedule that included Class B Clare (13-9), Class C Lake City (15-7) and Traverse City St. Francis (17-4) and Class D Bellaire (21-3), Rogers City (18-5) and Cedarville (20-4), which handed Hillman its lone regular-season loss.
After the loss to Clare – “We’d like to have that one back,” Schultz said – the Snowbirds met all challenges.
“We came together as a team around January,” Hunter said. ”Everyone focused on finding their role and realizing what that role was, no matter how big or small.”
By January, the Snowbirds were locked in. St. Mary beat Bellaire, also a Class D quarterfinalist, twice to capture the Ski Valley Conference title.
Bellaire, whose only other loss was to Class B Kalkaska, edged Rogers City in double overtime to claim last week’s Regional. The Snowbirds, meanwhile, defeated Rogers City by 35 in early January to start an impressive five-week run that also included wins over Bellaire (41-39 and 38-32), Lake City (60-35) and St. Francis (41-29). St. Francis, which played in the Class C Final two years ago, won the Lake Michigan Conference this winter.
That five-week window opened some eyes.
“We started to believe we might have something in January,” Schultz said. “But when we went to St. Francis, which is a perennially strong program, and held them to 29 points, well, we walked out of that gym with a little swag that night. I think the girls felt if we can play like this we can play with anyone in Class D.”
Schultz said he can go nine deep in his rotation – juniors Megan Loffer and Emma Jo Cherwinski are usually the first two off the bench – but it’s Hunter and Bebble who set the tone.
Hunter is averaging 13.7 points, 5.4 assists and 3.5 steals a game. She’s shooting 51 percent on two-pointers, 44 percent on three-pointers.
“She’s a great shooter, a pure shooter,” Schultz said. “You give her an open shot and she’s as automatic as any girl.
“She’s a hard worker, too, a disciplined kid.”
Her infectious upbeat attitude rubs off on her teammates.
“Alex is awesome to play with,” Bebble added. “She’s been one of the most committed (players) all the way through school. She’s makes the rest of the team better.”
Hunter’s scoring average is down from a year ago, but that’s more by design as St. Mary has spread the points around.
“I had a super strong season last year, but I realized what this team needs from me isn’t always scoring 20 points a game,” Hunter said. “I’m not scoring as much, but I definitely feel I’ve (contributed more) in other ways to help the team. It’s whatever the team needs each game, whether it be assists, defense, drawing defenders to the corner (to open up the offense).”
Hunter is fourth on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,260 points. She was fourth in the state a year ago in three-point shooting (46 percent) and is 16th all-time statewide in assists (493) and 35th in steals (375). She’s only missed one game in four years.
Bebble’s scoring average is up as she’s elevated her game. The four-year varsity veteran is averaging 11.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.7 steals and 3.6 assists. She scored a career-high 26 points in the Regional Final.
“Averi’s a unique talent,” Schultz said. “She’s not a pure shooter like Alex, but she is so quick. She can be a nightmare (for opponents).”
Schultz put the ball in Bebble’s hands against Cedarville, utilizing clear-outs to take advantage of her quickness in space. Hunter added 14 in the win.
Bebble also stars on the defensive end.
“She can lock down on defense,” Schultz said. “She’s the definition of a pestering defender. You can’t get rid of her.”
Bebble and Hunter have been playing basketball together since second grade.
“She’s stepped up and had an awesome year,” Hunter said. “It’s all come together for her. She’s super quick, pushes the ball, gets to the rim on anyone – and plays defense on anyone.”
The two play off each other, too.
“I know where Alex is going to be on the court, and she knows where I’m going to be,” Bebble said. “It’s easy between us. We’re always in sync with each other.”
Bebble’s sister, Jada, was on the Quarterfinal teams when Averi was the water girl. Her cousin, Kari Borowiak, was the star player then. Borowiak is now an NAIA All-American at Concordia – she was the only NAIA player to average 20 points and 5.5 assists this season – and she still follows the Snowbirds. Borowiak quickly retweeted a Gaylord Herald Times tweet about Bebble’s efforts against Cedarville.
It’s been quite a first year for Schultz, who formerly coached the junior varsity and was an assistant to Dan Smith the last two seasons. Schultz also coaches the school’s volleyball and softball varsity teams.
“I know these girls,” he said. “This group makes it easy. A lot of people could have come in this year and looked good coaching because this team gets it. I make some adjustments, motivate, and chew on them a little when they need it, but for the most part they make the adjustments that most coaches have to make. They understand and that’s because they’ve played so much basketball, including travel ball. They can auto-correct really well.”
Myler’s developing presence inside, and her ability to guard bigger opponents, has helped alleviate a concern there.
“We’re not a super tall team, but we have posts who work hard,” Hunter said. “Heart over height.”
That will be put to the test Tuesday against a talented and taller Chassell squad that won its first Regional in school history by overcoming a 14-point deficit to beat Bark River-Harris in overtime.
“Chassell’s a great team,” Hunter said. “Anyone left at this point is tough competition. We’re excited for the chance.”
Schultz agreed.
“They’re big, and they’re good,” he said of the Panthers. “We don’t want to allow it to become a half-court game.
“This time of year you have to play well, and you have to have a little luck.”
Who will have that combination Tuesday?
Dennis Chase worked 32 years as a sportswriter at the Traverse City Record-Eagle, including as sports editor from 2000-14. 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) Gaylord St. Mary’s Averi Bebble drives to the hoop during Thursday’s District Final win over Cedarville. (Middle) The Snowbirds’ Alex Hunter finds an opening to the lane during the 61-51 win. (Photos courtesy of the Gaylord Herald Times.)
Shores Star Walker Continues Drive for Hoops Greatness as College Coach
By
Scott DeCamp
Special for MHSAA.com
August 8, 2024
NORTON SHORES — Dribbling, passing, and shooting are prerequisites for basketball players, and Muskegon Mona Shores alumna Jordan Walker did them quite well.
But for Walker, determination has been perhaps her most important trait.
It helped her win the Michigan Miss Basketball Award during her senior season in 2017 after suffering an ACL injury prior to her junior year with the Sailors. It’s also allowed her to continue an ascent in the basketball world.
Time-management habits and prioritization have been instilled in all three of Jarvis and Danielle Walker’s three children.
“There’s a special drive with these (Walker) kids,” said Brad Kurth, who was Jasmyn and Jordan Walker’s basketball coach at Mona Shores.
Jordan Walker earned two master’s degrees over six years of college while juggling the demands of being a Division I basketball player at Western Michigan University and University of Tennessee. The 25-year-old’s playing days appear to be finished, but she’s still pursuing her basketball dreams as an assistant coach at the D-I level.
Walker spent the 2023-24 season as a first-year assistant at Mercer University. This March, Mercer head coach Susie Gardner announced her resignation, meaning Walker had to seek opportunities elsewhere.
In typical Walker fashion, she landed on her feet, and it didn’t take long. In May, she was hired as an assistant coach at Jacksonville University. Her responsibilities include player development with point guards, academics, community service, and housing.
“(The Mercer position) kind of fit exactly where I was at perfectly,” Walker said during a break while on the road recruiting for Jacksonville recently. “I was really thankful for that opportunity and thankful for my circle and my village thinking of me at that time and putting my name out there because it honestly was the perfect situation for me.
“At the Final Four, you meet people and you meet a lot of coaches and you network, you build relationships. There was one coach I saw on the road a ton throughout the year and I saw at the Final Four and he knew the situation. At that point, (Jacksonville) didn’t have any openings, and later on it opened up and they gave me a call. At that point, it was getting to the interview and what the position holds and what it would look like. Again, it was another situation that was perfect for where I was at in life and what I wanted to do and the path that I’m on, so it was another no-brainer for me to head to Jacksonville.”
At Mona Shores, the 5-foot-7 guard broke the school’s all-time scoring record — one that stood 22 years — with 1,365 points. During her Miss Basketball season, Walker averaged 22.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game.
At the collegiate level, Walker amassed more than 1,300 points, 700 rebounds, and 400 assists. In two seasons with WMU (she lost one season with another ACL injury), she started 54 of 64 games and averaged 11.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.8 steals. As a graduate transfer at Tennessee, she started 77 of 96 games and averaged 6.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.1 steals while helping the Lady Vols reach the NCAA Tournament three times.
According to Walker, the foundation for her success began in the home and in the Mona Shores school community.
“Honestly, my memories with Mona Shores I truly cherish because it’s such a special time, a special place. Playing high school ball, I tell people AAU and high school ball is some of the most fun times that you’ll have playing. Obviously, I enjoyed my college time as well — I did six years,” she quipped. “But I definitely enjoyed my time at Mona Shores. Just the people that were there because it was a truly special place.
“Again, I talk about the village a lot because it does take that and (the) Mona Shores community, they really just poured into me and supported (me) and that’s something that I was always grateful for. Especially my head coach there, Brad Kurth. He did an amazing job with us and preparing us, not only for the games in high school but for the next level as well as far as player development and scouts and going over stuff like that so when I got to college, it wasn’t my first time seeing a scout, it wasn’t my first time doing a film study. Those things I always take with me.”
Of course, with the Walker family, it’s always been books before basketball.
While at Mona Shores, Jordan Walker served on the MHSAA’s Student Advisory Council and earned one of the prestigious MHSAA/Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Awards as a senior; only 32 honorees are selected annually. Walker earned her bachelor’s degree in political science and minor in communications from WMU in 2020, taking only three years. At Tennessee, she completed her first master’s degree in 2022 in business administration (MBA) with a concentration in entrepreneurship and innovation; she finished her second master’s degree in 2023 in the Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications (ALEC) Department with a concentration on name, image, and likeness (NIL) and women’s leadership.
When Walker suffered the ACL injury at WMU, which sidelined her for a year, it allowed her to get ahead in the classroom. She had 19- and 20-credit semesters that year. In her third and final year at WMU, she was taking 21 credits in a semester.
“Academics in our house was nothing to play around with,” Walker said. “If you didn’t have your academics right — in the summer, if you didn’t finish your workbooks, if you didn’t read your books, you were not playing basketball. Academics were a big thing, and I thank my parents for that because they instilled that at a young age.
“It came down to time management, which kind of goes back to what I was saying about the foundation of your high school and what you do in high school and the habits that you form because that’s ultimately going to carry you throughout college. Of course, you can tweak it and gain new things, but I think Mona Shores did a great job of setting me up academically so that when I got to college, some of the courses that I took, I was able to comprehend at that level and take multiple classes and high-credit semesters and be able to graduate early, which led to me being able to get my (two) master’s (degrees).”
All three of the Walker siblings continue to achieve at a high level on and off the court.
Jasmyn Walker, the eldest of the siblings, was a first-team all-stater at Mona Shores and a Division I basketball player at Valparaiso and Western Michigan. She is in her first season as an assistant coach at George Washington University after previous stops at Purdue-Fort Wayne, Butler, Ferris State and Davenport.
Jarvis Walker II, the youngest of the siblings, was a first-team all-stater at Muskegon High School and is a graduate student playing basketball for Indiana University-Indianapolis after starting his collegiate career at Purdue-Fort Wayne.
The Walker siblings are each other’s biggest fans.
“I’m immensely proud of them,” Jasmyn Walker said. “Jordy and Jay have gone above and beyond to reach their goals. I’ve seen the work they’ve put in, the time invested, and sometimes the lows that come with chasing dreams. They’ve pushed themselves at every turn.”
Jarvis Walker II said that sister Jordan is somebody who will “figure it out no matter the circumstances.”
He believes that each stop along her journey has afforded her great experience and deeper knowledge that will benefit her not only in basketball but in life.
“Grind, grind, grind — she is one of the hardest-working people I know,” he said about his sister. “It has motivated me to be better in every aspect of life from school to basketball and day-to-day interactions and how I go about certain things.”
In many respects, Kurth feels like a proud papa to the Walkers as he’s coached Jasmyn and Jordan and has spent countless hours around the family.
“All three of the kids — I mean, Jarvis, Jordan, and Jasmyn — I could never be prouder of a group of kids,” Kurth said. “You talk about the full package: Basketball is one part, but every single one of them shows academic excellence, every single one of them shows extreme character. Those are things that are timeless. Basketball is a young person’s sport. Coaching you can do a long time, but your playing days are limited. I think I’ve seen a lot of kids sacrifice everything, including their character, including their academics, to do basketball and they shouldn’t. Character should be at the top. These three kids, it’s just matchless.”
Included in Jordan Walker’s long resume is her active participation in leadership programs such as “So You Want To Be a Coach” and “Above the Rim Summit.”
Walker aspires to be a collegiate head coach. She’s doing all she can to keep climbing that ladder.
With her second master’s degree specializing in NIL and that being such a large part of college athletics now, she appears to have a leg up on her competition.
“NIL can look like a bunch of different things, and I think that when choosing a school and what that looks like, make sure that outside of NIL it meets all of your expectations,” Walker said. “Money and brand deals and all of that may look enticing, but still don’t fall on your standards of what your program you want to have has.
“It’s the academics, and if they have your major, and it’s the culture and it’s your relationships with your coaches and your teammates. Make those be your tops and NIL be a plus. I think that that’s the biggest thing.”
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PHOTOS (Top) At left, Jordan Walker stands with her class on the Breslin Center floor during the 2017 MHSAA/Farm Bureau Scholar-Athlete Awards ceremony, and at right in 2023 after receiving her second master's degree from University of Tennessee. (Middle) Walker makes her move toward the basket during a game her senior season at Muskegon Mona Shores. (Below) Jordan Walker, middle, takes a photo with sister Jasmyn and brother Jarvis. (Graduation and family photos courtesy of the Walker family; Mona Shores basketball photo by Tim Reilly.)