EAST LANSING – West Bloomfield showed in Friday’s Division 1 semifinal that it was nearly as good at chasing a favorite as being one itself.
The defending state champs stayed hot on the trail of Belleville, ranked No. 2 heading into the playoffs, for much of the game, but ultimately the Tigers came out on top, 60-55
After graduating Summer and Indya Davis from last year’s one-loss championship team, the Lakers came into this year’s tournament with a 14-8 record and unranked in the polls, leaving most to assume that Friday’s game could mark a changing of the guard.
But all the way to the end, West Bloomfield proved its pedigree and refused to go quietly, leaving its head coach of high standards, Darrin McAllister, receptive of the defeat.
“I’m not that guy who looks for morale victories or anything like that,” McAllister said. “I just don’t. But today is one of those days where I can kind of accept a morale victory, especially knowing how we started the season. A lot of people counted us out (after) we lost four dynamic players last year.
“This year, we were trying to figure it out, especially from the start. At one point, we were 1-4, and players were still trying to understand their roles. We as coaches knew we had a hard job, and 1-4, nobody thought we could get here. But we knew we could get here, so it’s been an incredible journey just getting back here.”
Included in those four losses was one to the Tigers (27-1), and by 35 points, no less.
“If you would have seen the first game, and I think some of you probably did, it wasn’t pretty,” McAllister said. (It was) definitely not the girl I want to take to the prom.”
As the rematch was concerned, most judges would have awarded West Bloomfield doubts, not a prom court crown, going by Friday’s opening quarter. After a 3-pointer by Sheridan Beal 1:03 into the game for the Lakers’ only lead of the day, Belleville went on a 19-2 run for the remainder of the quarter. The Tigers did it behind their 1-2 punch in junior guard Se’Crette Carter (Marquette), and sophomore and Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year, Sydney Savoury, who combined for 16 points in those first eight minutes.
McAllister felt his team, mostly comprised of juniors and seniors, but ones who played far lesser roles behind talents like the Davis twins in recent years, was phased by the bright lights of the Breslin Center, but those players settled in and fought back.
Six of the 18 overall turnovers forced by the Lakers came in the second quarter, many of them during a 10-0 run in its first three minutes that cut the lead to six.
That pattern continued on the other side of the interval. Belleville gave it away six times in the first four minutes of the third quarter, which helped lead to the Lakers getting to within two points on several occasions.
“I think the 2-1-2 zone bothered us a little bit,” Belleville head coach Jason Wilkins said. “We threw some bad passes, but once we started cutting in the second half, we got some easier shots … Give West Bloomfield credit for a great game plan.”
In regards to the defensive strategy, McAllister said, “It was something that we always had in our back pocket. I didn’t want to show it in that first half, because I knew that they would make adjustments, so the second half we put it in. I still think a few times our rotation wasn’t where it was supposed to be to be able to disrupt them. Blame it on me, maybe I should have put it in the first half.”
It was the rest of that third quarter that ended up being the difference for Belleville, as they didn’t turn it over after the midway mark in the third, and at one point the Tigers scored on five straight possessions, leading to a nine-point advantage over West Bloomfield entering the fourth.
Once again, West Bloomfield tested the security of Belleville’s lead with a jumper by Beal and a 3-pointer by Ava Lord to start the final period, but that was followed by too many scoreless possessions down the stretch, allowing Belleville to extend its lead back to a dozen with a little over a two minutes remaining.
Photos from West Bloomfield vs. Belleville in a Division 1 girls hoops semifinal
&&&&&&&&&&&
Even so, West Bloomfield fought all the way to the final seconds, including a consolation corner triple by Beal a few ticks before time ran out.
"It shows they're resilient," McAllister said. "We took their best punch and we were able to kind of bounce back, and once we started executing our assignments, that kind of got us back into the game. I'll be honest, I don't think they were believing in the assignments that we had ... It was a little shaky for them, but once they got it and realized, you know, 'we belong here' -- and that's what I kept telling them the whole game, (that) we belong here -- they were able to step up and get the game closer."
Savoury had game-highs of 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Tigers, while Carter made 4-of-10 three-point attempts and ended with 18 for Belleville.
Beal, the lone holdover starter from last year's title team, scored 17 points for West Bloomfield (19-9), as did senior Breasia Gamble-Jones. Junior forward Londyn Hall provided 13 points for the Lakers, and senior guard Ava Lord wrapped her career with six points and five assists.
Asked about the seniors' who stepped up into roles to get the Lakers back to the Final Four for the fourth year in a row, McAllister replied, "Breanna (Gamble-Jones), Breasia, Ava, and Sheridan being a junior, they really took it and put it on their backs and showed what we're about: working hard in practice and just being stand-up kids, stand-up student athletes. And I'm so proud of them. I hate that the season had to end this way, but at the end of the day, it was, what, 128 teams? And we're one of the Final Four. And back in December, nobody even expected us to have a winning season, let alone standing here at the Breslin talking to you guys."