Team of the Month: West Bloomfield Girls Basketball

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

April 14, 2022

One of the compelling moments of this season’s Girls Basketball Finals at Michigan State’s Breslin Center came just after the final buzzer of the Division 1 championship game.

As his players rushed each other to celebrate midcourt, West Bloomfield coach Darrin McAllister first leaned forward, hands just above his knees, before moving down into a crouch, head dipped to his chest, obviously breaking down a bit in joy at what his Lakers had just completed.

McCallister had played college football and helped Wayne State’s women’s basketball program to multiple NCAA Sweet 16 appearances as an assistant coach. But what the Lakers did last month – finish reeling off 25 straight wins with their first MHSAA Finals girls basketball championship – made his “Mount Rushmore,” if not much more.

“This is probably at the top,” he said this week, after a month of the experience settling in. “Because I knew the sacrifices that these players made, I knew the sacrifices that the coaches and the parents made, and then for (our players) to speak it into existence that they want to win a state championship, it’s great.”

It was not as easy as the Lakers – the MHSAA/Applebee’s “Team of the Month” for March – frequently made it appear.

Yes, West Bloomfield’s players said on their first day of practice Nov. 12 that they planned on winning the Division 1 championship. And that seemed like a logical goal for a team that eventually will send at least four players to Division I college programs and had won a league title and finished 10-3 during the COVID-interrupted 2020-21 season.

But the Lakers also entered the preseason having graduated five players from that team and with a young but talented lineup needing to learn how to be cohesive and efficient in their roles. Add in that McAllister got a late start, taking over the program after all of the summer training and majority of preseason prep were done.

West Bloomfield lost its season opener 59-46 to Dexter (which would go on to finish 19-3). But a week later, the Lakers started to show what they could do in coming back from a 19-point deficit to defeat Illinois power Bolingbrook 48-47.

Just before the midpoint of the regular season, McAllister could see things taking shape.

“We had talented players, but they were young. So we kinda started it all over and identified our identity,” he said. “Every had to establish their roles and buy into their roles, so it wasn’t easy. I think for me, it makes me more appreciative and makes me enjoy this experience more than anything else.”

Along the way, West Bloomfield repeated as Oakland Activities Association Red champion. Two weeks before the start of the playoffs, the Lakers also accomplished what for a few seasons had seemed unthinkable to most – hand Detroit Edison a 65-62 loss, the Pioneers’ first to an in-state opponent since 2017-18 and after Edison had defeated West Bloomfield by nine and 28 points the season before.

Perhaps the least surprised were the Lakers, who had started believing they could defeat Edison after the Bolingbrook win. They also believed they could compete with every other team as well – and they would continue impressing with a championship run that included wins over Bloomfield Hills Marian (15-7), Farmington Hills Mercy (18-5), Grosse Pointe North (18-6), Troy (13-12), Rockford (23-3) in the Semifinal and Hartland (25-2) in the championship game.

The pair of wins at Breslin showed what West Bloomfield has transformed into this winter. In defeating the Rams 66-63, the Lakers received double-digit scoring from four players – led by sophomore twins Indya Davis with 24 points and Summer Davis with 16 and six assists – with junior Sydney Hendrix posting a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds and guard Myonna Hooper setting the high-energy tone along with scoring 14 points. At the same time, senior center Zaneiya Batiste didn’t score and shot only twice – but grabbed nine rebounds, nearly the difference in the Lakers’ rebounding edge.

West Bloomfield defeated Hartland 51-42 with Indya Davis and Hendrix both posting double doubles, Summer Davis again dishing six assists, Hooper again energetically chipping in and Batiste again helping out big on the boards. In both games, sophomores Destiny Washington and Kendall Hendrix came off the bench to provide valuable minutes.

“March was the month everything came together,” McAllister said. “At the end of the (championship) game, I shed tears because it was emotional seeing it come together.”

West Bloomfield felt like it was just trying to catch up much of the season due to McAllister’s taking over late. But now, with five of this season’s top seven players coming back next year, it also feels like the Lakers are just getting started.

“Now I’m excited and looking forward to our offseason,” McCallister said. “I can’t wait to get the players in June and start getting workouts in and going to team camps, because I know that’s only going to make us better for the upcoming season.”

Past Teams of the Month, 2021-22 

February: Cadillac girls skiing - Read
January:
Hartland hockey - Read
December:
Midland Dow girls basketball - Read
November:
Reese girls volleyball - Read
October:
Birmingham Groves boys tennis - Read

Belleville Succeeds in Breslin Return, Earns 1st Trip to Championship Day

By Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com

March 21, 2025

EAST LANSING – Belleville has been chasing history since the start of the MHSAA Tournament.

The Tigers overcame a giant hurdle in pursuit of it Friday.

Belleville knocked off 2024 champion and perennial powerhouse West Bloomfield 60-55 in the first Division 1 Semifinal at the Breslin Center.

The Tigers (27-1) will play in their first Final at 12:15 p.m. Saturday.

“It means everything,” said sophomore Sydney Savoury, who tallied game highs of 21 points and 11 rebounds. “We felt the heartache from the loss last year so we really wanted to change the outcome and we knew from the beginning of the season that we had a chance to do it, and we knew that we could have a lasting impact on our school.

“It’s an exciting moment and we know the pressure that comes with it, but it’s a good pressure.”

Belleville, which lost to Grand Blanc last year in their first trip to the Semifinals, had defeated West Bloomfield by double digits during the regular season.

However, coach Jason Wilkins figured the rematch would be more difficult, especially against a program that had advanced to the Breslin the past four years.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Wilkins said. “They are two-time state champs, and they’ve been here four years in a row, so we knew Coach (Darrin) McAllister would come with a gameplan and they were going to play hard. We came out and made a quick run, but we knew they were not going to back down.”

Belleville’s Jaida Quinn (5) and Iyana Stephens defend as West Bloomfield’s Breasia Gamble-Jones considers her options. Belleville jumped out to an early double-digit lead during the first five minutes as junior Se’Crette Carter knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Tigers a commanding 21-5 advantage at the end of the first quarter.  

“That’s how we play,” Wilkins said. “In every game we make a run, it’s just a matter of when, and we made it in the first quarter. We knew we had to withstand their run, and us getting out to a big lead helped us.”

The Lakers (19-9) rallied in the second quarter and trimmed the deficit to 21-13 on a mid-range jumper by Sheridan Beal. Ava Lord drained a 3-pointer for West Bloomfield later in the first half to make it 28-23.

The Lakers continued to make a push in the third quarter. A driving lay-up by Breasia Gamble-Jones cut the Belleville lead to only two (31-29).

However, the Tigers responded with a 9-2 run and led 45-36 entering the final quarter. A three-point play from Paisley Stephens with 2:17 left sealed it for Belleville.

West Bloomfield, which returned only one starter from last year’s championship team, started the season 1-4 before winning 16 of their next 19 games.

“A lot of people counted us out,” McAllister said. “We lost four dynamic players, and we had players still understanding how to play their roles. Nobody thought we could get here, but the crazy part about it is we knew that we could get here.

“This has been an incredible journey just getting back here, and we had a slow start (today) and were like deer in headlights, but we had an opportunity to settle down and come together and showed we could play with the big boys.”

Beal and Gamble-Jones both finished with 17 points for West Bloomfield, while Londyn Hall had 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

Carter made four 3-pointers and added 18 points for Belleville. Stephens, a freshman guard, chipped in 10 points, five rebounds and four assists. 

Rylan Buschell, one of only two seniors on Belleville’s roster, was thrilled to get over the hump and have an opportunity to play for the school’s first Finals title.

 “We worked hard all summer and during the year, and we always wanted to come back here,” she said. “Last year was a heartbreak, but we just wanted to make it to the last day and make it count.”

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Belleville’s Sydney Savoury places her school on the championship game line of the Division 1 bracket after the Tigers’ clinched their first Finals berth Friday at Breslin Center. (Middle) Belleville’s Jaida Quinn (5) and Iyana Stephens defend as West Bloomfield’s Breasia Gamble-Jones considers her options. (Photos by Keionna Banks/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)