Girls District Thoughts.

Written Saturday March 4th at 1:45 AM

Who would had ever thought that we would have only two OAA teams left in Girls Basketball after districts. One was not much of a surprise while the other was a surprise. Here is my take on districts.

Adams Heading to the Regional.

This is a district win that I didn't see coming. The Highlanders finished 6-14, last in the Red, and yet they win the district at Utica High School over the Macomb Area White Division Champions Utica Eisenhower 50-46. The upset gives Adams their first district title since 2001 and denied the Eagles first district crown since 2003. Ryian Owusu had 23 points for first year coach Jackie Steinacker's team. The Highlanders are a Senior heavy team when you look at them with Owusu, MaKayla Smith, Maggie Rogers, and Hannah Simard. Adams is not a deep team and they will have a tough regional semifinal match-up with Fenton on Tuesday at Port Huron Northern.

Southfield Arts and Tech on collision course with Detroit Martin Luther King.

The Warriors in their first season as a school got a measure of revenge against Detroit Renaissance beating the Phoenix on their home floor 68-52. I didn't think Southfield Arts and Tech matched up well with Detroit Renaissance but I was wrong. Coach Michelle Jackson-Marshall's team remains on a collision course in the regional final against Detroit Martin Luther King at Dearborn Fordson but first they have Livonia Churchill in the regional semifinal on Tuesday, which they should not have a problem with before Thursday's clash with the Crusaders.

Catholic League Finds a Way to Advance.

Well there were two OAA vs Catholic League match-ups in the district finals with Bloomfield Hills taking on Birmingham Marian and North Farmington taking on Farmington Hills Mercy. Both games went down to the wire with both Catholic League teams beating the two OAA teams. The Raiders fell 32-30 at Farmington to the Marlins and the Blackhawks lost 47-45 to the Mustangs at Troy. I thought both North Farmington and Bloomfield Hills were both going to make deep playoff runs especially with both teams being Senior heavy teams. I wasn't sold on both Catholic League teams this season but both Birmingham Marian and Farmington Hills Mercy found ways to win their respective games and move onto the regional with the Mustangs hosting their own regional while the Marlins will go to North Farmington for their regional. The Raiders finished at 16-6 and Blackhawks finished at 20-2. Both Bloomfield Hills and North Farmington lose a ton of talent next season with the Blackhawks losing Amanda Sape (Kent State), Victorie Franklin, Kathrine Prinna, Mya Jones, and Immani Wright while the Raiders lose Kierra Crockett (Saginaw Valley State), Kelly Lusk, Sam Randel, and Sophie Muller.

Clarkston loses to Waterford Kettering for Second Straight Year.

The Wolves can't seem to get a break when it comes to facing Waterford Kettering. Last season the Captains beat Clarkston in the pre-district but this time around it was the district final as Waterford Kettering beat the Wolves 44-31. If you want to know how the Captains have beaten Clarkston the last two seasons then look at how Waterford Kettering has handled Kayla Luchenbach. Luchenbach was shut down by the Captains, she fouled out of the game last season early in the fourth quarter. Waterford Kettering used their size and depth to neutralize both Clarkston big girls. Luchenbach was limited to three points and was in foul trouble most of the game. Her sidekick Molly Nicholson was no better against the "Defense Department" as she was limited to four points. The Wolves return nine players from a team that finished 17-6 including Luchenbach, Nicholson, Maddie Beck, and Taylor Heaton.

Hazel Park No Match for Detroit Mumford.

Well Hazel Park got to the district finals this season but Vikings were no match for the Mustangs as they were blown out 58-27 in the district final but you got to give credit to coach Chris Stroud for what he did in his first season at Hazel Park. The Vikings won 13 games this season and has a ton of talent returning next season. They had a tough match-up with Detroit Mumford whom is a very good basketball team on their home floor, tough to overcome those odds.

District Upsets.

Perhaps the biggest upset that sent shock waves was on Monday at Troy when Seaholm whom lost two straight games to their arch rivals from Beverly Hills only to comeback from 18 down in the second half to stun Groves 54-44. The Maples were without Mackenzie Harbort whom was out for the season with an ACL injury which made this victory even more shocking. Dana Hoerman became the Denzel Valentine of Seaholm, playing everywhere on the court while forward Wendy Wilkerson had the task of shutting down Falcons star guard Sha Carter while Caroline Owens guarded Groves other star Kayla Nelson in the process. The Falcons finished 18-3 which gave them the Gold crown while the Maples fell to Bloomfield Hills in the district semifinals finished with a 10-12 record and winning the Blue crown.

Another upset occurred at Warren Cousino with the Stallions of Sterling Heights shocking Royal Oak 56-51 in the district semifinals. The Ravens are normally a good defensive team but lost four of their last six games to close out the season. Royal Oak coach Brian Sopota's team allowed 286 points (47.6 ppg) in their last six games. The Ravens have their two top players returning next season in Jessica Adams and Samantha Potter but they lose Mikea Williams and June Donnellon. Royal Oak has to get back what got them to prominence, which is their defensive mindset.

The next upset occurred at Utica when the Utica Eisenhower shocked Stoney Creek 43-32 in the district semifinals. It didn't help that the Cougars lost Morgan Porter (knee) and Emily Solek (concussion) to injuries in a span of 90 seconds. Stoney Creek had won four straight district titles until this season but this was a really bad break for coach Kellen James and his team. Expect the Cougars to be back with a vengeance next season despite losing Solek, Porter, Madison Rochow, Gabby Sincola, Mackenzie Warner, Ally Voss, and Gina Cerny.

I would call the Colts 32-30 victory over Avondale in the pre-district at Troy a bit of an upset because the Yellow Jackets won 14 games this season under coach Phil Dawson and they beat the Colts twice by a combined nine points. Avondale was without Olivia Russell, who tore her ACL for the second time in two years and guard Grace Schwerin. Russell, Schwerin, and Keiori Lee are underclassmen and if all three of them are healthy next season then the Yellow Jackets could be dangerous.