The girls basketball season concludes this weekend at Eastern Michigan University with four teams being crowned state champions. But from an individual standpoint, it's been another huge winter with a Class C standout from Saginaw Nouvel leading the way.
Jenny Ryan set a mark with 12 steals in last year's title game. She averaged 5.5 steals per game. She was named Miss Basketball in Michigan this week.
“I was in shock,” Ryan said. “I knew I was a candidate. I played against most of the other candidates. They are amazing athletes. To be nominated was one honor. To win it was unbelievable.”
Ryan, who is her class president and carries a 4.3 grade-point average as the No. 2-rated student in her class, scored 1,405 career points with 4.3 steals per game over the four years. This season, she averaged nearly 17 points per game with 4.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds.
Ryan holds the state finals records of 17 points in a quarter against Flint Hamady in the 2006 state championship game, while she had 12 steals in the 2008 state finals.
“I take pride in my defense,” Ryan said. “I think I work hard on defense and it helps to create my offense. I also take pride in my leadership. I've been a captain for two years and I was really honored when I got voted on my junior year. I don't take that lightly.”
Compared to last year, Ryan said she showed major improvement.
“My left hand definitely improved over the summer,” she said. “I added a pull-up jump shot to my game. It was something I never had. I was more of a drive-to-the basket and going all the way type of player. To add that was a big benefit for me.”
She's been playing basketball since she was 4 years old at the local YMCA.
Ryan has committed to playing basketball at the University of Michigan.
“Probably since I was little and I went to some of those games growing up, I thought those girls were amazing and I was always in awe,” Ryan said. “It's always been a dream of mine to be at that level. To get there, I'm really happy with that.”
Ryan's coach has been Kris Hengesbach.
“She gets to the ball in so many different ways,” Hengesbach said. “She averaged six steals a game and seven to eight deflections. Defensively, she gets her hands on the ball seven to 13 times a game, which is just amazing. She sees the court so well and makes tremendous passes.”
Hengesbach has also been impressed with Ryan's contributions off the court.
“She has touched so many young people's lives,” Hengesbach said. “She is such a role model for so many.
“She has that competitive spirit and that will to win.”
More Girls Basketball
Among the teams that made the state semifinals this week was Marine City Cardinal Mooney with Class D player of the year Sammy Theut.
“That was pretty exciting,” Theut said. “It was unexpected.”
It's the second straight season Theut led her team into the state semifinals. A 5-foot-7 shooting guard, Theut averaged 22.6 points, 7.2 assists, nine rebounds and five steals for the Cardinals. She shot 50 percent from the 3-point area, 69 percent from the charity stripe and 56 percent from the floor. She has more than 1,200 career points.
“Sammy handles the ball very well,” said Theut's coach Susan Everhart, “particularly well under pressure. She does better when she has pressure in her face. She sees the floor, can pass the ball and is also a shooter. She offers us a lot of weapons.”
“Everyone plays together and our defense has really kept us in games,” she said. “That's what helped us win (Tuesday in the quarterfinals).”
Theut said her fourth and final season with Mooney has been her best.
“I'm out there to do a little bit of everything,” Theut said. “Now more than before, I'm trying to score more than setting people up. But I'm trying to set them up too.”
Her best game was 22 Tuesday in a quarterfinal victory over Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes. She's also had 28 points in a couple of games.
She'll be playing next year at Milwaukee-Wisconsin.
“We focus a lot on defense,” Everhart said. “Obviously, we have a great player in Sammy Theut. She's our general out there. Our defensive game gets us going. We're a fairly good transition team.”
Theut, a senior, has two other sisters on the team with Allie, a junior and Sarah, a freshman. “I have a sophomore center Breagh Beaton and another freshman guard,” Everhart said. “We have five people that can score.”
Boys Basketball
Sanford Meridian, a Saginaw-area school, overcame a 16-point deficit with just over four minutes left in regulation to score a 76-67 victory in double overtime over Carson City-Crystal in a regional tournament game this week.
The big gun was Jason Hockemeyer who scored 21 points for Meridian including 10 in the fourth quarter and 19 in the two overtimes.
“We have the potential to score,” said Meridian coach Mitch Bohn.
Boys Ice Hockey
Detroit Catholic Central won the Division I title with a convincing 7-0 title game victory over Howell.
It was Catholic Central's first state title since 2005 and the program's ninth overall.
“We keep telling people that we haven't fallen off,” said Shamrocks coach Todd Johnson. “High school hockey keeps getting better and better. We got good fortune when we won some of those others in some really tight games. They're all really special.”
Mr. Hockey candidate Camden Wojtala scored two goals to lead Trenton to a 4-2 victory in the Division 2 state championship game against Muskegon Mona Shores.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood defeated Big Rapids 4-3 on March 14 in the Division 3 high school state championship game at Compuware Sports Arena.
It was the 14th overall state crown for the Cranes and their sixth since the 2000 season.