Young Grass Lake Grows Into Contender
March 2, 2019
By Doug Donnelly
Special for Second Half
GRASS LAKE – Some coaches go a whole career without ever knocking off a No. 1-ranked team.
The Grass Lake Warriors and head coach Andrea Cabana have done it twice in a month.
“And, we are just babies,” Cabana said of her youthful squad. “I think it really boosts our confidence. It gives us an idea of what we are capable of.”
The Warriors, who have been sneaking higher and higher into The Associated Press Division 3 rankings all season, are capable of just about anything with the MHSAA Tournament beginning this week. They have won 16 consecutive games since a December loss to Division 3 No. 1 Michigan Center. Included in that streak is two wins over a solid 14-5 Manchester squad, a rematch win over Michigan Center on Feb. 1 and a 64-53 win over Division 4’s No. 1 Adrian Lenawee Christian last week.
“It’s exciting,” said Cabana. “We are playing very well right now.”
On Thursday, the Warriors took care of business quickly, racing out to a 31-2 lead over Addison in a game that would clinch the Cascades Conference outright championship. Grass Lake won 64-36 to put the lid on a 19-1 regular season.
Success is certainly nothing new for Grass Lake. But this season’s rise to 19-1 can be considered somewhat of a surprise since the team, coming off an 18-5 season, had just one player returning with a lot of high school basketball experience – sophomore Abrie Cabana. She’s surrounded by two freshmen, a fellow sophomore and a junior.
“We’re not babies at this time of the year,” Coach Cabana said. “We’ve grown up.”
The Warriors have done it with a solid combination of lock-down defense and a high-powered offense. They average 56.4 points a game and allow just 29.6 a contest. The defense has allowed 20 or fewer points in a game seven times this season, and one opponent didn’t reach double figures. On the other end of the court, the Warriors have 11 games scoring above 60 points.
Lenawee Christian won the Class D championship a year ago and has been the No. 1-ranked team in Division 4 most of the season. The Cougars lost to Michigan Center to start the season and Grass Lake last week for their only two losses. Head coach Jamie Salenbien said Grass Lake has all of the pieces to make a long tournament run of its own this year.
“They have a high basketball I.Q.,” Salenbien said. “They are balanced with kids who can shoot it deep, and they get to the basket. They are well-coached and have a lot of weapons.”
Cabana called that win a total team effort.
“Lenawee Christian is a great team,” she said. “They have a handful of great players. We knew it was going to take a great effort. We went in real focused, and things went our way in the end.”
Abrie Cabana, the 5-foot-10 daughter of Coach Cabana, leads the team in scoring and most statistical categories. Although just a sophomore, she verbally committed to play college basketball at Grand Valley State University last fall. She had other offers, including from the Division I level, but chose the Division II Lakers over them all.
“She’s probably our vocal leader,” Cabana said of her daughter. “She’s played a ton of travel ball. She’s the most experienced high school player on the team.”
Her backcourt running mate, Lexus Bargesser, is only a freshman but already plays at a high level.
“She’s almost identical to Abrie,” Cabana said. “She’s a little smaller, but she’s quick and gets to the hole quick. She’s a very sound player. We are very strong at the guard position. They are both strong outside the 3-point line and inside. They are hard to handle.”
Freshman Gabrielle Lutchka (6-0) is also an imposing figure at both ends of the court for Grass Lake.
“She’s been our game changer,” Cabana said. “She handles the other team’s big player. When she is playing well, we play well.”
In the win over Lenawee Christian, Lutchka scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds. She also drew the primary responsibility of guarding LCS’s Bree Salebien, the reigning AP Class D Player of the Year.
Other Warriors, such as Amber Boomer, Faith Patania and Lauren Pongracz, play big roles as well.
“They do a real nice job of playing to their roles, playing to their strengths,” Cabana said.
While young, Cabana said, the girls already have played a lot of basketball.
“A lot of our girls play travel ball,” Cabana said. “They are very experienced players. They’ve played a lot of basketball.”
Cabana is from the Jackson area but has lived in the Grass Lake district for about 20 years. She got her start coaching her oldest daughter – now a sophomore on the Spring Arbor University team – when she was in the third grade. The Warriors are 55-13 during her tenure, and the future keeps looking brighter.
“There was an opening in the middle school, and I coached that for three years,” Cabana said. “Then there was an opening as the JV head coach and I did that for two years, and this is my third year with the varsity.”
Grass Lake will open District play with Lenawee County Athletic Association champion Brooklyn Columbia Central. Looming on the other side of the Napoleon bracket is the likes of Michigan Center and Manchester.
“This time of the year,” Cabana said, “nothing is easy.”
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) Grass Lake’s Abrie Cabana pushes the ball upcourt against Manchester this season. (Middle) Teammate Lexus Bargesser looks for an opening. (Photos courtesy of the Grass Lake girls basketball program.)
Breslin Bound: 2023-24 Girls Report Week 10
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 12, 2024
As we begin the final three weeks of this regular season, we’re keeping an eye on all of the usual signs of this point in the season – league title clinchers, conference tournament winners, and ratings climbers playing to earn a top-two seed when District brackets are released Feb. 25.
But this week’s “Breslin Bound” definitely has another theme woven throughout – revenge, with plenty taking place over the last few weeks and a few more opportunities we’ll be watching for especially this week but also as we surge into the postseason.
“Breslin Bound” is powered by MI Student Aid and based on results and schedules posted for each school at MHSAA.com.
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. West Bloomfield 61, Detroit Edison 42 The best rivalry in Michigan girls basketball the last few years continued with the reigning Division 1 runner-up Lakers (15-1) making it three straight over Division 2 contender Edison (13-2).
2. Frankenmuth 51, Hemlock 31 The Eagles (14-2) played their third game this season against a team that also reached Breslin Center last year, and ran their winning streak to 11 with this one over the reigning Division 3 champion Huskies (13-3).
3. Negaunee 65, Ishpeming 56 The Miners (17-1) moved into a first-place tie with the Hematites (15-1) in the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference East by avenging a 57-53 loss to Ishpeming from Jan. 12.
4. Detroit Edison 46, Detroit Renaissance 38 Edison bounced right back from the West Bloomfield loss to hand another Division 1 contender Renaissance (15-1) its only defeat this season.
5. South Lyon East 47, South Lyon 41 The Cougars (12-4) stand alone atop the Lakes Valley Conference after completing a regular-season sweep of the rival Lions (15-2).
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
Holland West Ottawa (12-4) The Panthers’ four losses this season have come to opponents that are a combined 60-8, and they won Ottawa-Kent Conference Red rematches with East Kentwood (53-50) and Grand Haven (54-45) over the last 10 days with a trip to Rockford coming up Feb. 20. East Kentwood and Grand Haven both have 14 wins, and West Ottawa also has defeated Byron Center (13-4), Zeeland West (11-5) and Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills (11-5) among notables. Grand Haven and Zeeland West will be among those joining the Panthers at the District at Zeeland East as they also look to bounce back from last year’s first-game exit against Grandville.
Midland Dow (12-2) The Chargers have strung together 10 straight wins over the last two months, a streak that started with a 47-40 victory over reigning Division 3 champ Hemlock and also has included solid wins over Mount Pleasant and Flushing (both 11-6). Dow and Grand Blanc are the only teams without a loss in Saginaw Valley League play, and they meet Feb. 27 after originally being scheduled to play Jan. 23. Dow fell to the Bobcats during last season’s 17-8 run, but the Chargers already have avenged losses to Hemlock and Howell – and Tuesday will attempt to do the same at Flint Carman-Ainsworth.
DIVISION 2
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (17-0) The Eaglets have quickly ascended from their first season as a program in 2020-21 and have already doubled their win total from last winter’s 8-13 finish. They clinched the Catholic High School League AA championship outright with a 44-31 win over second-place Jackson Lumen Christi on Friday, and they haven’t played a single-digit game since Dec. 22. They’ll have a bye to start the league tournament later this week as they prepare for a District that will include CHSL Intersectional #1 champ Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood.
Tecumseh (12-3) A nine-game winning streak began Dec. 30 and has Tecumseh atop the Southeastern Conference White standings heading into arguably its biggest game of the season. Tecumseh travels to Chelsea for a make-up from Jan. 12, and its 60-57 win in the teams’ first meeting Jan. 30 broke a 17-game losing streak against the Bulldogs. That remains Chelsea’s only league loss, and Tecumseh is undefeated in SEC White play, with its only setbacks to Temperance Bedford (13-1), Detroit Country Day (12-5) and Grass Lake (13-4) during the first three weeks of the season.
DIVISION 3
Morley Stanwood (13-2) Last season, as the Central State Activities Association moved to one 11-team league instead of splitting into two divisions, Morley Stanwood finished lower than second in its standings for the first time since 2016-17 (coming in third). But the team is only a half-game out of the lead this winter, with the single matchup against first-place Grant set for Feb. 23. A 38-34 loss to Big Rapids two weeks ago put Morley Stanwood in position to chase, but its only other defeat was to Lake City (15-2) – and wins over Fremont (13-3) and Kent City and Brethren (both 12-4) have been attention grabbers.
Saugatuck (14-1) The Trailblazers are fresh off avenging their lone loss of the season, defeating Martin 47-36 to also move past the Clippers into first place alone in the SAC Central. No other opponent has come within single digits of catching Saugatuck, including South Haven (12-3), Gobles (11-4) twice, Bridgman (10-4) and Lawton (10-6). Two more 10-win teams – North Muskegon and Muskegon Western Michigan Christian – will provide more prep as the Trailblazers look to build as well on last year’s District title.
DIVISION 4
Lake Linden-Hubbell (16-1) The Lakes are in second place in the overall Copper Mountain Conference standings, and only because that lone defeat came to Baraga – last season’s Division 4 runner-up. One more win will give Lake Linden-Hubbell as many as it finished with a year ago, which itself was a jump from eight victories in 2021-22 and three in 2020-21. The Lakes also defeated Baraga (14-3) by three points in December and have wins over Houghton (13-5), Ewen-Trout Creek (12-3) and Ironwood (11-6) – with a chance to meet Baraga one more time in a Regional Final.
Mendon (14-2) The Hornets are another very good second-place team, with a chance to move up, as they trail leader Colon by a game in the Southern Central Athletic Association West after falling to the Magi 54-31 on Jan. 18. Mendon also lost to Colon during last year’s District, after finishing second in the Southwest 10 Conference South before joining the SCAA this season. But the Hornets will host the Magi for the second meeting this season, Feb. 29, and already have swept third-place Climax-Scotts (10-4). The only other defeat came to Division 1 Sturgis.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – Lansing Catholic (12-3) at Portland (14-1) – The Cougars’ 62-34 win when these rivals met Jan. 9 has them a game ahead in the Capital Area Activities Conference White standings.
Friday – East Kentwood (14-2) at Rockford (17-1) – Statewide eyes will be watching this one after East Kentwood broke Rockford’s 33-game winning streak 60-54 on Jan. 19, and first place in the O-K Red also will be on the line.
Friday – Lake Fenton (14-4) at Goodrich (17-0) – The Martians own a one-game lead in the Flint Metro League Stars over Lake Fenton heading into this conference finale, thanks to a 44-36 win Jan. 19 that was Goodrich’s second-closest victory this season.
Saturday – Detroit Catholic High School League Tournament at Detroit Mercy – The Semifinals on Tuesday have Farmington Hills Mercy (8-8) facing Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard (18-0) and Toledo Central Catholic facing Toledo Notre Dame for the opportunity to play in this 5 p.m. finale.
Sunday – Detroit Public School League Tournament at Wayne State – Quarterfinals are Monday and Semifinals are Thursday leading into this 1 p.m. championship game.
MHSAA.com's weekly “Breslin Bound” previews and reviews are powered by MI Student Aid, a division within the Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP). MI Student Aid encourages students to pursue postsecondary education by providing access to student financial resources and information. MI Student Aid administers the state’s scholarship and grant programs that help make college Accessible, Affordable and Attainable for you. Connect with MI Student Aid at www.michigan.gov/mistudentaid and find more information on Facebook and Twitter @mistudentaid.
PHOTOS (Top) Houghton's Jacey Sleeman drives between Marquette's Lexi Curran and Lexi L'Huillier (3) during Marquette's 48-41 win Feb. 5. (Middle) Mount Pleasant puts up a shot on the way to its 46-42 win over Saginaw Heritage last week. (Top photo by Cara Kamps; middle photo by High School Sports Scene.)