West Bloomfield Makes Good on Preseason Goal with 1st Finals Win
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
March 19, 2022
EAST LANSING – Apparently Sydney Hendrix holds a grudge.
The West Bloomfield junior has held onto the hurt from her team’s Regional Semifinal loss to Hartland in 2020, and on Saturday, she let it all out on the court.
Hendrix had 12 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Lakers to a 51-42 victory over the Eagles in the Division 1 Girls Basketball Final at the Breslin Center.
“We lost to Hartland my freshman year, and I think I was crying for like three days straight,” Hendrix said. “I wanted it so bad, but we couldn’t pull out the win. I’ve been wanting my get-back for a minute now. I’m just so glad we got it.”
The title win was the first in program history for the Lakers, who last played in a Final in 1989. This year’s team set the goal of winning it all at the first practice, and after losing its opening game against Dexter, won 25 straight to accomplish that.
“I remember November 12, everybody coming together and saying they wanted the state championship,” West Bloomfield coach Darrin McAllister said. “So I knew at that time, our coaching staff, we had to do everything in our power to get us to this point. We bought into the ‘I believe’ mindset. We worked our tails off, and we got here to the Breslin and we did what we had to do.”
West Bloomfield never trailed in the game, and held Hartland at arm’s length throughout most of it.
Indya Davis led the Lakers (25-1) with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Summer Davis and Myonna Hooper each scored nine points for the Lakers.
“This game was very personal,” said Hooper, who was also on that 2020 team. “We took it upon ourselves to make sure everybody was in the position they needed to be, everybody was playing their role, everybody was executing, everybody was picking each other’s heads up when somebody was down. From Day 1, we’ve been talking about this, and we never let up.”
Amanda Roach scored 21 points for Hartland to lead all scorers. Emerson Sargeant had six points and nine rebounds for the Eagles (25-2).
Roach had half of Hartland’s field-goal makes in the game, as the Eagles struggled to make shots, finishing 16 of 64 from the field.
“I think West Bloomfield had a lot to do with that, but on the other hand, we did have some good looks,” Hartland coach Don Palmer said. “Shots that we normally make, they didn’t go today. Sometimes, that just kind of feeds.”
West Bloomfield led by as many as 14 points in the second half. Roach tried to pull the Eagles back into the game, and nearly did in the fourth quarter. She hit a long 3-pointer to bring her team to within seven with four minutes to play and put some belief in the Hartland fans.
The Eagles wouldn’t get any closer, though, until she hit another long 3 with 25 seconds to play that brought her team within six of the lead. But West Bloomfield was able to close the game out at the free throw line.
“I personally thought we still had a chance with 30 seconds left,” Roach said. “We fight back every single game. I’m just proud of everybody.”
Each Hartland push was met with a response from the Lakers, and often it was the result of an offensive rebound, or two. Hendrix had seven on her own.
“She’s a beast,” Palmer said. “She is strong, she can finish, she’s got a little bit of a mid-range jumpshot. A lot of times when you have teams with ‘superstars’ those other kids get lost in the coverage, but I certainly picked (Hendrix) up on tape.”
Hartland also came into Saturday in search of its first Finals title after advancing beyond the Quarterfinal for the first time.
“Obviously, it feels great to be up here and play with all these girls that I started with,” Hartland senior Leah Lappin said. “Obviously, disappointing because we didn’t play our best. But it was good to play with these girls.”
PHOTOS (Top) West Bloomfield’s Indya Davis (24) turns toward the lane Saturday as Hartland’s Lauren Sollon (25) walls off the baseline. (Middle) The Lakers’ Myonna Hooper (4) prepares to make her move toward the hoop. (Below) Sydney Hendrix (5) pulls up for a shot over Sollon’s reach. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Breslin Bound: 2021-22 Girls District Preview
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 28, 2022
As February ends and March begins this week, so does the most “Breslin Bound” portion of our girls basketball season.
District tournaments tip off all over the state tonight. Check out “Tracking the Tournament” on MHSAA.com for every matchup from all of them, and see below for some of last week’s most eye-catching scores and three Districts in each division that could make the biggest impacts this week on the overall postseason pictures.
“Breslin Bound” is powered by MI Student Aid.
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Bloomfield Hills Marian 53, Detroit Renaissance 34 The Mustangs (14-6) continued their late-season surge with a win over the Phoenix (14-6) in the Operation Friendship matchup of Detroit Catholic League and Public School League champions.
2. Midland Dow 56, Flint Carman-Ainsworth 45 The Chargers (19-1) clinched a share of what turned into the outright Saginaw Valley League title, with this the only SVL defeat for Carman-Ainsworth (16-4).
3. Hartland 63, Howell 48 The Eagles (19-1) won the third meeting this winter with the Highlanders (15-5) to take a 2-1 season lead and clinch the overall Kensington Lakes Activities Association Tournament championship.
4. Bloomingdale 30, Hartford 29 The Cardinals (19-1) clinched a share of the eventually outright Southwest 10 Conference title by avenging an earlier six-point loss to Hartford (17-3).
5. Detroit Edison 67, Farmington Hills Mercy 44 The Pioneers (12-3) rolled into the Division 2 postseason with three wins over strong Division 1 teams, this against Mercy (16-4) the first of the final week’s run.
Districts at a Glance
These could be among our most competitive brackets. Host sites are in bold:
DIVISION 1
Dexter
1. Dexter (18-2), 2. South Lyon East (18-2), Brighton (13-7), South Lyon (9-10), Ann Arbor Skyline (4-14).
The Dreadnaughts bring an 11-game winning streak and undefeated run through the Southeastern Conference Red into this week, with 15 of their wins by double digits. Dexter is No. 7 overall in Division 1 MPR, and South Lyon East slotted No. 18 after a perfect run through the Lakes Valley Conference and 12 straight victories – with no win of their 18 total by fewer than 13 points. Brighton finished fourth in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association West dominated by Hartland and Howell (see below), a combined four losses to those two and also four of their defeats total by only five points or fewer.
Howell
1. Hartland (19-1), 2. Howell (15-5), Linden (15-5), Fenton (10-10), Holly (0-18).
Hartland finished No. 4 overall in Division 1 MPR, and Howell at No. 10. They split the KLAA West title, and Hartland won the regular-season series 2-1, capped with a 63-48 win in last week’s KLAA overall championship game (also noted above). The Highlanders’ 37-31 win in their first meeting Jan. 11 was the Eagles’ only loss of this season. All of that said, Linden will try to break into the conversation coming out of finishing second in the Flint Metro League Stripes and with four of its five losses to teams that finished 16-4 or better.
West Bloomfield
1. West Bloomfield (18-1), 2. Bloomfield Hills Marian (14-6), North Farmington (11-8), Birmingham Seaholm (14-4), Birmingham Groves (9-10), Bloomfield Hills (3-16).
West Bloomfield reaffirmed itself as a Division 1 championship favorite two weeks ago in handing Detroit Edison its first in-state loss in four years. The Lakers slotted No. 6 in the final Division 1 MPR with their only defeat in their season opener to Dexter. But Marian’s profile has risen significantly over the last two weeks as the Mustangs have come from finishing fourth in a strong Detroit Catholic League Central to defeating the first and second-place teams in claiming the Bishop Tournament championship and then downing Renaissance (see above) to cap the regular season. Birmingham Seaholm also is a league champion, from the Oakland Activities Association Blue, and Groves defeated Seaholm in December.
DIVISION 2
Adrian
1. Chelsea (17-3), 2. Tecumseh (18-2), Onsted (14-6), Milan (6-12), Hillsdale (3-17), Adrian (2-16).
Chelsea was undefeated in winning the SEC White, with Tecumseh’s only losses to the Bulldogs – 64-40 and 69-48. Chelsea did close with a 52-36 loss to Dexter last week, but that defeat ended a 12-game winning streak that had included wins over Battle Creek Lakeview (18-1) and Grass Lake (14-5). As noted, Tecumseh otherwise was undefeated this regular season – including with a 67-34 win over Onsted on Jan. 6. Onsted tied for second in the Lenawee County Athletic Association, and all of its defeats this winter were to teams that finished 14-6 or better.
Essexville Garber
1. Saginaw Swan Valley (16-4), 2. Freeland (15-5), Midland Bullock Creek (13-7), Essexville Garber (13-7), Bay City John Glenn (5-15), Saginaw Arthur Hill (4-13), Carrollton (2-18).
Swan Valley and Freeland tied for second in the Tri-Valley Conference 8, splitting their regular-season meetings with Freeland winning 45-25 in last week’s rematch. Garber finished fourth in the TVC-8 with a combined six of its losses to those two and league champion Frankenmuth. Bullock Creek also has a chance to shake things up a bit; in addition to finishing fourth in the TVC-10, the Lancers fell by only four in overtime to Freeland in last season’s District (which the Falcons went on to win by also defeating Swan Valley and John Glenn).
Ionia
1. Portland (19-1), 2. Lansing Catholic (17-2), Ionia (11-8), Hastings (12-8), Lake Odessa Lakewood (5-14), Lansing Eastern (3-15).
The Raiders are the reigning Division 2 champions, and their only loss came to Lansing Catholic 55-52 on Jan. 14 – which Portland avenged Feb. 18, 53-41. Portland finished No. 3 in the final Division 2 MPR and the Cougars No. 7, as both loaded their regular-season schedules. Portland also had wins over 2021 Division 4 champion Fowler and Division 1 Renaissance, East Lansing and Haslett, plus Chelsea; and Lansing Catholic also owns a win over Haslett plus others against Swan Valley, Detroit Cass Tech and Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard. Ionia was fourth behind those co-champs of the Capital Area Activities Conference White, and Hastings finished fourth in another strong league, the Interstate 8 Athletic Conference.
DIVISION 3
Calumet
1. Calumet (17-2), 2. Hancock (16-4), Ishpeming Westwood (13-6) Ishpeming (10-8), Gwinn (1-18).
Calumet sits No. 3 and Hancock No. 9 in final Division 3 MPR, the Copper Kings having swept the Bulldogs in winning the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference West title. One of Hancock’s other two losses came to Westwood, which shared the West-PAC East championship with Negaunee but must open Wednesday against Calumet. Ishpeming is an interesting potential stopper with eight wins over its last 10 games including a 42-37 victory over Westwood in their second meeting of the season Feb. 5.
Montrose
1. Reese (16-4), 2. New Lothrop (15-5), Montrose (9-11), Flint Beecher (13-5), Vassar (6-14), Burton Madison Academy (4-9).
The Rockets have won nine of their last 10, and three of their defeats were to teams highlighted among the larger-school divisions in this report (Dexter, Swan Valley and Freeland). They won a solid Greater Thumb Conference West and are looking to add to a Division 3 volleyball championship won in the fall. New Lothrop finished second only to Division 2 Ovid-Elsie (19-1) in the Mid-Michigan Activities Conference, and the Hornets have won eight of their last 10 with three of their defeats to teams that won league titles. Beecher was runner-up in the Genesee Area Conference Red.
Traverse City St. Francis
1. Maple City Glen Lake (20-0), 2. Elk Rapids (18-2), Traverse City St. Francis (14-6), Benzie Central (10-10), Grand Traverse Academy (11-5), Mancelona (6-13).
The Lakers finished their second-straight perfect regular season and are looking to build on last year’s Quarterfinal fun. The Northwest Conference champions have wins over Elk Rapids, St. Francis and Benzie Central, although those over the Elks and Gladiators were in December. Elk Rapids was first and St. Francis third in the Lake Michigan Conference, with the Elks on an 11-game winning streak since its only other defeat, to Harbor Springs (18-2). Grand Traverse Academy has won nine of its last 10 and opens with Benzie Central.
DIVISION 4
Athens
1. Athens (19-1), 2. Colon (16-4), Mendon (17-3), Burr Oak (8-10), Tekonsha (2-17).
Athens is No. 5 in Division 4 MPR and didn’t lose again after falling to No. 4 Adrian Lenawee Christian in its season opener. That 19-game winning streak included a pair over Colon on the way to winning the Southern Central Athletic Association West. The Magi’s other defeats came to Pittsford (17-3) and Division 3 Schoolcraft (19-1) as it finished second in the SCAA West. Mendon will be representing the best from the Southwest 10 Conference after finishing third in that league with losses only to champion Bloomingdale (19-1) and runner-up Hartford (17-3).
Lansing Christian
1. Portland St. Patrick (20-0), 2. Fowler (17-3), Lansing Christian (11-9), Morrice (11-5), Fulton (1-18), Webberville (3-16).
The winner of this District will be a favorite to win it all. Fowler is the reigning Division 4 champion and No. 3 in Division 4 MPR, and Portland St. Patrick is No. 2 and defeated the Eagles 53-49 and 58-51 in overtime during the regular season. St. Pat’s also has wins over Lansing Christian and Morrice, and Fowler defeated top-ranked Plymouth Christian Academy 43-35 on Jan. 10. The Eagles only other loss was to Division 2 reigning champion Portland.
Mackinaw City
1. Pickford (16-2), 2. Mackinaw City (17-3), Cedarville (8-11).
Yes, there are only three teams in this District, but some exciting possibilities from whichever emerges from it. Pickford won the Eastern Upper Peninsula Athletic Conference with a perfect league record and its only losses to Division 3 St. Ignace (18-2). Two of Mackinaw City’s losses also were to the Saints, as the Comets were perfect in Northern Lakes Conference play with the only other defeat to Indian River Inland Lakes (12-8). Cedarville will be looking to avenge a Jan. 17 loss to Mackinaw City, and all of the Islanders’ defeats were to teams with winning records – including five with records of 16-2 or better.
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PHOTO Reese, here against Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker, is among contenders facing a strong District field this week. (Photo by Terry Lyons.)