Westwood Sets Sights on Past Heights
December 20, 2018
By Dennis Grall
Special for Second Half
ISHPEMING – The Westwood Patriots do not have a senior on their girls basketball roster and only two players stand as tall as 5-foot-9.
But don’t overlook this team.
Five juniors who played extensively a year ago provide the leadership and experience, while two sophomores and a promising freshman show excellent potential in the challenging Mid-Peninsula Conference. And they play for a team that is steeped in tradition and success, including a 2003 Class C championship.
Kurt Corcoran, a former Westwood cager, is in his seventh season as head coach. His assistant coach is Irv Dieterle, who is second in the Upper Peninsula among boys basketball coaches with 555 wins. Corcoran played for Dieterle in the 1990s.
“Irv is one of my very best friends in life now,” said Corcoran. “At times I was so angry and frustrated with him as a teenage boy. Now we can sit over a cup of coffee and laugh and laugh and laugh.
“I have the best assistant coach possibly in the nation. I feel very privileged to have him as a friend, assistant and mentor.”
Dieterle provides suggestions at halftime or when asked on the bench. “I would be crazy not to heed his advice,” said Corcoran, who is in charge of this team.
With the lack of size, the Patriots use solid defense and rely heavily on the shooting skills of junior Madi Koski, a three-year starter who was all-conference and All-U.P. as a freshman. In their most recent game, Dec. 18, Koski scored 21 points and hit two 3-point baskets to help subdue Gladstone 50-32.
“Madi is a stone-cold killer when it comes to scoring,” said Corcoran. “I’ll put her shot up against anybody (in high school).”
Her sister Jillian is a freshman with outstanding promise playing like most freshmen riding the roller coaster of success and mis-adventures. She did not score against Gladstone but had 17 points against archrival Ishpeming on Dec. 10.
“They are not the same player. Jillian will sacrifice her body, but Madi is a little more reserved diving into those (piles of) bodies,” said Corcoran. “(Jillian) is a real good ball handler, probably one of the best I’ve seen, but she needs to get stronger and catch up to the speed of the game.”
Jillian Koski has been a point guard since forever but is now at shooting guard, with her sister at the point. “(Jillian) is not on anybody’s radar yet (but) she is catching up with the speed of the game. That takes at least 10 games,” said Corcoran. “She lets the game come to her. Madi has to score. Madi facilitates the game. She wears many hats (scoring, passing, defending).”
He said the young sisters “really have just one goal in common, and that is to win.”
Corcoran is trying to restore Westwood to the level of long-ago years when the Patriots were always among the Upper Peninsula’s elite teams under veteran coach Tom Hammar (nearly 400 career wins) and with such standouts as Sarah Stream and Megan Manninen, who both played in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for Michigan Tech and Lake Superior State, respectively. Jessica Racine also played at Tech, and Chelsea Wealton was another standout.
Two years ago, the Patriots beat unbeaten Norway and all-stater Jordan Kraemer, and last year they beat unbeaten neighbor Negaunee in the District opener. Negaunee and Westwood, two of the best teams in the peninsula this season, will collide in the tourney opener in March after two regular-season league matchups.
“With the guard play we have now and in the future, our goals are set high,” said Corcoran. “But we have to get past that first game to even get out of Districts. I’d be lying if I didn’t say we have our sights set on making a run downstate. They have paid their dues; they want a state championship. That is not a secret, but that is also Negaunee’s goal and West Iron’s goal. That is everyone’s goal.”
Reaching that height would be a big change from where the Patriots were a couple of years ago. The Pats were 5-15 when Madi Koski and fellow junior standout Tessa Leece were in eighth grade.
“As freshmen, they came to a struggling program that had been down in the dumps. They were given the keys to the Cadillac as young teenagers and they really were not ready,” said Corcoran.
But the two frosh made an immediate impact and Corcoran said “from that moment forward the program took a turn for the better. They got to 12 wins and beat 18-0 Norway. (Madi Koski and Leece) are the lead dogs and are really comfortable in their lead roles. They really stepped into a big hole in the program.”
He said his junior aces spend 365 days a year in the gym, and that hard work is catching on with their teammates, such as junior Karlie Patron and sophomore Ellie Miller.
Leece’s sister Mallory is a freshman on the school’s junior varsity. With low numbers (eight varsity players, nine jayvees), the younger Leece stayed with the jayvees but could join the varsity for the postseason.
Corcoran said he is seeing many long-time Westwood fans returning to the gym as they hear about the program’s revival. “We’re turning heads a little bit and people are starting to notice,” he said, admitting that also generates pressure from parents, fans and administrators.
He pointed out the Westwood school district was born in 1974 through a consolidation that brought in students from Champion, National Mine and Michigamme. “Westwood is not a town,” he said of the area west of Ishpeming that covers about 700 square miles of woodlands and water and consists of multiple generational Westwood school families.
With just 17 girls in the basketball program, Corcoran was asked about the future of girls basketball, which in the U.P. has just seven freshmen teams.
He said youth travel programs have made a big impact in recent years – and goals can become misplaced on winning tournaments instead of how many players enjoy the sport enough to continue on into high school.
“They play little (weekend) tournaments and everybody has fun, they have pizza parties at their hotel. Then they get to the high school level and coaches hold you accountable," Corcoran said. "We practice seven days a week, there are no pizza parties, no trophies. They’re in ninth grade and they already have a seven-year career and they’re not having fun anymore.”
“Basketball is a way of life up here and we take it seriously. With that comes a lot of hard work, too.”
Denny Grall retired in 2012 after 39 years at the Escanaba Daily Press and four at the Green Bay Press-Gazette, plus 15 months for WLST radio in Escanaba; he served as the Daily Press sports editor from 1970-80 and again from 1984-2012 and currently is in a second stint as the interim in that position. Grall was inducted into the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 and serves as its executive secretary. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for the Upper Peninsula.
PHOTOS: (Top) Westwood's Tessa Leece (2) drives to the basket while Ishpeming's Emma Poirier defends last week. (Middle) Poirier (2) is pressured by Westwood's Jillian Koski as she heads to the basket. (Photos by Cara Kamps.)
Maska/Shiels/Zajac Family Celebrating, Sharing In Each Other's Hoops Successes
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
March 6, 2024
Call them Lenawee County’s First Family of Basketball.
The Maska-Shiels-Zajac clan have dominated the Lenawee County basketball scene this season with family members breaking records and winning championships in multiple communities.
- Brad Maska has coached Onsted to its third straight Lenawee County Athletic Association championship. His Wildcats are 20-5, won a District and will play for a Division 2 boys basketball regional title Thursday.
- Kristy Zajac, Brad’s sister, is the head coach of Tecumseh’s girls basketball team, which shared the Southeastern Conference White title this season – the program’s first league title in 20 years – and surpassed 100 career wins last month.
- The season came to an end Tuesday for Britton Deerfield and head coach Darren Shiels, who is married to Brad and Kristy’s sister Kelly. But it was the best in BD history and included the program’s first District championship.
“As happy as I was for myself, I think I was happier for Darren,” Maska said, reacting to Britton Deerfield and Shiels upsetting second-ranked Adrian Lenawee Christian in the District Final last week. “I was so ecstatic for them. To lose to that team by 50 points a month ago, to get those kids to believe and come back … I couldn’t believe it.”
The family is tight. They spend summers together at the family cottage in northern Michigan, vacation together every spring break in Florida, and during basketball season it’s not uncommon to find any one of them at each other’s practices.
Over Christmas break, Shiels stopped by Zajac’s Tecumseh practice to help with a specific defense she wanted to implement, and Shiels and Maska shared some strategy at a practice in January.
“We talk basketball all of the time,” Zajac said. “It’s constantly basketball.”
All three played at Britton High School before Britton and Deerfield merged. They all played under the tutelage of Bart Bartels, who coached both the girls and boys varsity teams at Britton for years. He is an assistant coach with Zajac at Tecumseh now.
“It’s really fun to bounce ideas back and forth,” Maska said. “We talk often, probably every other day. It really spurs a lot of conversations. It’s neat to have that family base where we can bounce ideas off each other.”
Zajac has been on the phone this week talking to her brother about their matchups.
"Why reinvent the wheel when you have two great coaches in your family that you can go to for help," she said. "At Christmas this year, all three of us were drawing out plays on napkins. It's always a great resource to have."
Shiels hit the game-winning shot for Britton in its 1995 District championship game, which was the last time Britton or Deerfield won a District basketball title until last week.
He began coaching almost as soon as high school ended and took over the Britton varsity in 2005. He coached his alma mater for four seasons, then Britton and Deerfield became a cooperative program for a couple of seasons, and then the communities voted to join the districts together. He’s been head coach through it all. This season’s 18-7 Patriots were led by Darren and Kelly’s son Logan Shiels, who finished as the school’s all-time leading scorer.
BD has six seniors, including Shiels and Brayden Shiels, a nephew of the head coach, and Ryan Good, a cousin.
“I’ve coached them since they were little because they were all on my son’s team,” Shiels said after Tuesday’s Regional loss to Allen Park Inter-City Baptist. “This is tough. The finality of it all hasn’t hit me yet, but I just think I’m most proud about how the kids all care about each other so much.
“They tell each other they love each other all the time. They’ve played together so long.”
After the District title was won at Adrian College, the Britton Deerfield team held an impromptu celebration at BD. The team gathered in front of family and friends to cut down the nets and talk about the season.
“I was surprised so many people showed up,” Shiels said. “It just shows how big it was to win the District. It’s hard to win a District.”
Maska was a 1,000-point scorer at Britton who played college football at Adrian College. He is in his 17th season as head coach at Onsted. His teams have averaged 15 wins a year and have had two Mr. Basketball Award candidates despite being one of the smallest schools in Division 2.
Ayden Davis is a Mr. Basketball finalist this year and will finish his career with more than 1,800 points, 1,200 rebounds and as the No. 2 shot-blocker in state history.
“Mr. Basketball candidates don’t come around very often, and we’ve had two,” Maska said. “It’s a big deal. We’ve had a lot of success and built a pretty solid program.”
Zajac was the all-time leading scorer during her playing days at Britton and played four years at Eastern Michigan University. She has two daughters on the Tecumseh team, including junior Alli, who recently became Tecumseh’s career scoring leader.
“I told her now that she has the school record, she has to catch me,” Zajac said.
One of the biggest fans in the gym at Onsted, Britton Deerfield or Tecumseh is 92-year-old Urvin Reau.
Reau grew up on a farm a few miles from Britton. He raised six children, including Brad and Kristy’s mom Denise. He is at a game almost every night of the week supporting his grandkids – who coach – and great grandkids who play.
“I always get to the games,” said Reau, 92. “I love to watch the kids play. High school sports are great. They are playing against their rivals. That makes it fun.”
The families got together the Sunday before the boys started District week for a family dinner, and they already have spring break carved out of their schedules.
“Spring break has always been our time,” Maska said. “It’s literally when we all have time to decompress and relax. It’s when we all can get together and discuss a lot of things – good and bad – that we had during the season.”
Basketball season rolls on. Zajac’s team is in the District Semifinals tonight as it tries to repeat as District champ.
Maska said Tecumseh better.
“I already told Kristy,” he said, “that if she’s the one that doesn’t have a District championship when we head down to spring break, she is going to hear about it.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) From left: Cole Shiels, Darren Shiels, Kelly Shiels and Logan Shiels. Darren is the varsity boys basketball coach at Britton Deerfield, Kelly is the longtime scorekeeper and Logan and Cole have both played for their father. (Middle) The Maska family, including from left: Kristy Zajac, Brad Maska, Urvin Reau, Alli Zajac, Addi Zajac, Avery Zajac, Logan Shiels and Gretchen Maska, Brad’s wife. (Photos courtesy of the Shiels/Maska/Zajac family.)