Ansel On Target for Record Book Rise

April 23, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Comstock junior Daisy Ansel will be one of the seniors to watch in Michigan next girls basketball season after she joined the state’s top shooters of all-time already as a junior this past winter.

Ansel is tied for 24th for career 3-pointers with 181, with that total recently added to the MHSAA record book. She’s made 38 percent of her long-range tries over the last three seasons, and also was added to the records for connecting on 86.5 percent of her free-throw attempts (64 of 74) over 21 games in 2017-18 as the Colts finished 19-2.

Below are more recent record book additions in girls basketball and boys soccer. Click the sport headings to view those record books in full.

Girls Basketball

Traverse City Central senior Margot Woughter earned a spot in the record book with 15 free throws on 19 attempts in a Jan. 19 game against Alpena. She finished with 40 points total in the 62-55 win. Woughter will continue her career at Indiana Wesleyan University.

Former Posen star center Korynn Hincka ranks among the all-time best in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots. She was added for 2,198 points, 1,224 rebounds (eighth-most) and 360 blocks (10th) over 98 games from 2011-14, along with a number of single-season entries and a single-game 19 free throws against Fairview during 2012-13. Younger sister Jenna Hincka was added for 170 steals as a senior during the 2015-16 season, which rank eighth. Korynn went on to play at Grand Valley State, and Jenna played a season of softball at Alpena Community College.

Ishpeming set an MHSAA record this winter making 77.6 percent of its free-throw attempts on the way to a 20-4 finish. The Hematites made 274 of 353 tries, led by senior Madigan Johns with 115 makes in 131 attempts. She was added to the individual list for highest free-throw percentage in a season at 87.8 and for her career at 82.2 over the last three seasons.

Coldwater junior Malorie Rzepka made the list for most free throws in a game with 15 in 16 tries against Kalamazoo Central in a 69-63 overtime win Dec. 19. Rzepka’s free throws all came during the second half and overtime.

Westland Universal Learning Academy then-freshman Zahraa Cherkaoui scored all but two of her team’s points Feb. 1, 2017, in a 49-23 win over Hope of Detroit. Her 47-point performance included seven 3-pointers.

Niles Brandywine’s run to the Class C Regional Finals and a 22-3 record included some record 3-point shooting. The Bobcats connected on 153 3-pointers in 639 attempts, making record book lists in both categories. They also made the single-game list with 14 3-pointers against Saugatuck in a 73-37 win on Dec. 5.

Kent City made the Class C Quarterfinals and finished 22-4 also on the strength of 3-point shooting. The Eagles made 198 3-pointers – fourth most in MHSAA history – on the third-most attempts, 737. Kent City made at least 13 3-pointers in three games, with a high of 16 against Hesperia on Jan. 19.

Boys Soccer

As reported last fall on Second Half, Lincoln Alcona senior keeper Conner McCoy broke the national saves record in late September – and finished his high school career with 1,280 over four seasons. His 365 last fall rank fifth for one season after he set the record as both a sophomore and junior. He will continue his career at Finlandia University.

Ryan Wiesniewski capped his four-year Gladwin varsity career in the fall tied for 10th all-time with 144 goals and eighth with 202 career points. He also made the career assists list with 58 and with highs of 46 goals and 64 points as a junior in 2016. He made the single-game goals list with a school record six against Houghton Lake last September.

PHOTO: Comstock’s Daisy Ansel lines up to attempt a free throw during the 2016-17 season. (Photo courtesy of the Comstock athletic department.)

Trenton Pair Scores Record Book Fame

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

August 9, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

McKenna Mahoney and Makenna Mascaro drove Trenton to the Division 2 Regional Finals in 2018, with a half-dozen reminders of that successful run now part of the MHSAA record book – including a listing for the best offensive season all-time.

Mahoney, a senior that spring, scored 64 goals – tying for second most in one season – and finished with an MHSAA record 89 points. She also made the single-season assists list in 2018 and finished her career with 112 goals over four seasons and 87 games. Mascaro was a junior in 2018 and made the single-season lists with 38 assists and 62 points, her assists tying for fifth most all-time.

Mahoney tied for the team lead in goals during her freshman season at Adrian College last fall, and Mascaro will join her there this season.

Click to see the girls soccer record book in full, and read on for more recent records additions in girls and boys basketball, football, boys lacrosse and softball. Click on those sports’ headings to see those record books in full.

Girls Basketball

Carly Hickey earned Gladwin’s first entry in the girls basketball record book when she grabbed 26 rebounds in a 58-49 District win over Pinconning on Feb. 27, 2017. Hickey was a senior at the time and just finished her second season at Mid Michigan College.

Boys Basketball

Mitchel Skym added to the list of top long-distance shooting games with 11 3-pointers in Corunna’s 68-51 win over Lake Fenton on Jan. 11. The Cavaliers’ senior made six 3-pointers during the first quarter, falling just one shy of tying that record.

Football

Grayling quarterbacks are listed all over the MHSAA record book, and Cam Summers took his place after setting school career passing yards and touchdown records from 2014-16. Summers capped his career completing 152 of 298 passes for 2,662 yards and 22 touchdowns as a senior, and he finished with 311 completions on 645 attempts for 5,597 yards and 52 touchdowns – amassing seven record book entries total – over three seasons.

West Bloomfield receiver Tre Mosley finished his three-season varsity career last fall among the all-time career leaders in three categories with 108 receptions, 2,001 receiving yards and 21 receiving touchdowns over 37 games. He is a freshman at Michigan State University. Mosley’s quarterback last season, then-junior C.J. Harris, was added to the records for his 2,001 passing yards over 12 games. Harris reportedly has committed to sign with Ohio University.

Gabe Ellis capped his Davison three-season varsity football career in 2017 with 26 tackles for loss that fall, tying for ninth most on that list. Ellis is continuing his career at Grand Valley State University.

Although their team eventually was defeated by Temperance Bedford on Sept. 25, 2015, Darryn Davis and Hunter Rison helped Ann Arbor Skyline mount a second-half comeback with single-game passing and receiving yardage performances that both made the records. Davis finished with 425 yards passing, completing 21 of 41 attempts. Rison finished with 12 catches for 339 yards, the yardage ranking fourth all-time. Rison played at Michigan State and Kansas State and reportedly will play this fall at Fullerton College in California, while Davis plays baseball at University of Toledo.  

Boys Lacrosse

A trio of Muskegon Reeths-Puffer athletes were added for single-game contributions over the course of a week during the 2016 season. Nick Schanhals had seven goals and 11 total points in his team’s 23-6 win over Comstock Park on May 5, 2016, and teammate Gavin Poulin was added for five assists in that game. Reeths-Puffer’s Jake Kovalcik was added for five assists the previous game, May 3 in an 18-2 win over Grand Rapids South Christian. All three were seniors that season.

Pontiac Notre Dame Prep senior Maximilian Stowe finished high school this spring with a highlight-filled season, making the record book eight times including for 68 goals, 48 assists and 116 points over 20 games. He also made single-game lists in all three categories with highs of seven goals, six assists and 12 points.

Softball

Erica Zandarski earned Three Oaks River Valley’s first entry in the softball record book with six RBI in an April 28, 2016 win over Niles Brandywine. She went on to play at Lake Michigan College.

PHOTO: Trenton’s McKenna Mahoney, right, jumps into the arms of teammate Makenna Mascaro during the 2018 season. (Photo courtesy of the Southgate News-Herald.)