Frankenmuth at Lansing Catholic – – Girls Basketball – – The Bleacher Denizen – – February 27, 2024 – – by Chuck Krafft
The Bleacher Denizen’s Alma Mater, Frankenmuth., last played Lansing Catholic in last year’s MHSAA final game. For those of you who are interested, here is the Bleacher Denizen play by play of that game, which was won by Lansing Catholic as the Cougars claimed a State Championship!!
This year, both of these teams have achieved excellent records and are considered among Michigan’s top Division 2 teams. The Cougars from Lansing Catholic enter the game with a 16-4 record. All four losses are to ranked teams in either Division 1 or Division 2. The Frankenmuth Eagles bring an 18-2 record into the game. Both of their losses are to teams ranked in Division 1 or Division 2. We will be watching a couple good teams here!!!
While we wait for the game to begin, I hope you will enjoy this rendition of “Amazing Grace” from my You Tube Channel! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blOrsQkhhf0
Lansing Catholic has lost only one player, Hannah Pricco, who brought a lot of defense, energy and leadership to last year’s State Champions.
Senior Twins Anna Richards and Leah Richards are excellent players. Anna Richards plays on the perimeter, where she is tall for a guard, which makes her quick defense even more effective against opponents. She is an excellent ball handler and passer who makes few mistakes. She can either slash to the basket to score or hit shots from three point range. Leah Richards plays in the post on defense where she is an excellent shot blocker and all-around defender. On offense, she can score in the post or step outside to shoot a very accurate three point shot.
Gabby Halliwill is a quality ball handler who can run the point and brings and excellent three point shot to the Cougars. Morgan Wilcox is a fierce defender and rebounder in the post. She is a fine passer who keeps the ball moving on offense and hits some putbacks. Tessa Roe is a great team defender. She is a relentless ball of energy on defense and she forces a lot of opponent errors. She is a fine passer and can hit open shots in the midrange or from the three point line.
Faith Jungwirth is a strong post defender, scorer and rebounder who can hit the three point shot as well. T.R. Repichowski is a always a fine three point shooter; she is capable of getting red hot and hitting a few of them in a row.
Your Bleacher Denizen is a Frankenmuth graduate and is excited for this year’s Eagle players. Mia McLaughlin is a returning starting guard from last year’s team. She is a complete player who is tall for a guard; this combined with her quickness makes her a stifling perimeter defender. On offense, she runs the team well, handles the ball dependably and is a strong three point shooter who is also a threat slashing to the basket.
Clare Conzelmann also started for last year’s Eagle team. She is a tall, quick perimeter defender who gets a lot of steals that she turns into fast break layups. She can also hit shots from the outside. Rosemary Brenner has an excellent basketball IQ and is a team leader. She plays tough perimeter defense.
Izzy Bernthal is another returning Eagle starter from the championship game. She has a real nose for the ball when she crashes the boards, which she does with authority. She is also a solid jump shooter who gets to the free throw line a lot and generally makes them. Grace Brenner, Rosemary’s freshman sister also has a fine basketball IQ. She is an excellent on-ball defender who creates a lot of turnovers. Lucy Conzelmann defends the perimeter well.
I was able to watch most of the JV game. Frankenmuth got out to a 17-7 lead after one quarter. Catholic outscored Frankenmuth 15-10 in the second quarter to pull within five points; the halftime score was 27-22. Frankenmuth gradually took control in the second half and finally won by the score of 57-36.
Katy Howard led the Catholic JVs with 14 points. Grace Wonch contributed 7 points. Cristal Guzman and Olivia Wever each added 4 points. Leighton Marlan tossed in 3 points. Angeleah Reyes and Josi Sarata each had 2 points.
Nyla Sholten led the victorious Frankenmuth JVs with 25 points. Addie Bickel and Miranda Polley each joined their teammate in double figures with 12 points. Emerson Totten, Julia Stamper and Chloe Comstock each had 2 points.
Catholic Senior Annie Tietsort led the crowd in an opening player and then the National Anthem was played.
It is now time to review the events of this game through the tired, but (hopefully) eager eyes of an Aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league when he attempted to play basketball in the days of yore. Many people criticized his jumping ability, but in my defense, few players jumped well in the armor uniforms we used to wear for basketball.
Catholic wins the opening tap. Grace Brenner steals the ball for the Eagles. Frankenmuth commits a traveling violation. Catholic misses a three point shot from the wing. Morgan Wilcox grabs the offensive rebound for the Cougars. Catholic misfires on a threeball from the wing. Morgan Wilcox grabs another offensive rebound for the Cougars. Catholic misses a three pointer from the corner. Rosemary Brenner passes to Izzy Bernthal, who hits a layup to give Frankenmuth a 2-0 lead.
Catholic shuffles feet before starting a drive and turns the ball over. Tessa Roe knocks the ball away from an Eagle dribbler and out of bounds. Frankenmuth gets the ball back. Frankenmuth misses a three point shot from the wing. The Brenner Connection comes through for Frankenmuth as Grace Brenner knocks the ball away from Catholic and Rosemary Brenner picks it up for Frankenmuth. Rosemary Brenner keeps the Brenner Connection going as she passes to Grace Brenner, who hits a layup to boost Frankenmuth to a 4-0 lead.
Catholic misses a layup. The rebound goes out of bounds and Frankenmuth takes possession. The Eagles miss a three pointer from the wing. Rosemary Brenner gets the offensive rebound for the Eagles. Mia McLaughlin drives and hits a layup for Frankenmuth. Catholic misses a layup, but Frankenmuth fouls on the rebound. Grace Brenner steals the ball for the Eagles. Frankenmuth misses a threeball from the side. Catholic misses a driving layup. Mia McLaughlin finishes an Eagle fast break by making a three point shot from the corner to give her Eagles a 9-0 lead.
Catholic throws a pass out of bounds. Frankenmuth fumbles a pass out of bounds. Clare Conzelmann steals the ball for Frankenmuth. Grace Brenner passes to Mia McLaughlin, who hits a layup for Frankenmuth. Catholic misses a three pointer from the corner. Mia McLaughlin hits a three point shot from the corner to give Frankenmuth a 14-0 lead.
Catholic turns the ball over. Catholic misses a three point shot from the corner. Gabby Halliwill hustles and knocks the offensive rebound to Morgan Wilcox. Catholic misses a three point shot from the wing. Leah Richards pulls down the offensive rebound for the Cougars. Catholic misses a three point shot from the corner and fouls on the rebound. Grace Brenner passes to Alyson Peterson, who hits a three point shot from the side. Frankenmuth has a 17-0 lead.
Anna Richards makes a layup to stop Frankenmuth’s seventeen point scoring run. She is fouled on the play and hits her free throw. With 1:20 to play in the first quarter, Frankenmuth’s lead is at 17-3.
Frankenmuth misses a three point shot near the top of the key. Catholic misses a sixteen foot shot from the wing. Leah Richards grabs the offensive rebound for the Cougars. Catholic misses a layup. Mia McLaughlin throws in a threeball from the wing as the first quarter buzzer decides to end the quarter.
After one quarter, Frankenmuth holds a 20-3 lead.
Frankenmuth has the ball to open the second quarter. The Eagles are assessed with a traveling violation. Catholic misses a ten foot shot from the baseline. Leah Richards gets the offensive rebound for the Cougars. Catholic misses a layup. T.R. Repichowski and Gabby Halliwill double team Frankenmuth and force a traveling violation.
Catholic misses a three point shot from the side. Frankenmuth misses a fast break layup. Clare Conzelmann knocks a Cougar pass out of bounds; Catholic gets the ball back. Morgan Wilcox passes to Anna Richards, who hits a layup for Catholic to trim the Eagle lead to 20-5.
Frankenmuth misfires on a triple try from the corner. Mia McLaughlin gets the offensive rebound for the Eagles. Tessa Roe nearly pilfers the ball for the Cougars, but the Eagles are able to recover. Frankenmuth misses an eight foot shot in the lane. Catholic misses an eight foot shot off the dribble from the baseline. Frankenmuth misses a three point shot from the corner.
Catholic misses a three pointer from the side. Tessa Roe pulls down the offensive rebound for the Cougars. Catholic misses a threeball from the wing and fouls on the rebound. Morgan Wilcox forces a tieup. The Possession Arrow consults its Magic 8 Ball and awards the ball to the Cougars. Catholic misses a three point shot from the top of the key. Frankenmuth misses a driving layup.
Catholic misses a threeball from the corner. Anna Richards hustles and grabs the long offensive rebound for the Cougars. Gabbi Halliwill drives and dishes the ball to Anna Richards, who hits a three point shot from the wing to shave the Frankenmuth lead to 20-8.
Frankenmuth misses a three point shot from the top of the key. Catholic misses a three point shot from the wing. A Frankenmuth pass catcher steps on the sideline. Catholic misses an eight foot shot off the dribble in the lane. Frankenmuth misses a three point shot from the wing. Clare Conzelmann races to the backcourt to get the long offensive rebound for the Eagles. Frankenmuth commits a traveling violation. Leah Richards passes to Morgan Wilcox, who spins and hits a layup to cut the Frankenmuth lead to 20-10.
Alyson Peterson passes to Lucy Conzelmann, who hits a three point shot from the side to give Frankenmuth its first (and only) three points of the quarter. Catholic misses three point shot from the side. Anna Richards blocks Frankenmuth’s three point attempt from the side at the buzzer.
Frankenmuth has a 23-10 lead at halftime.
Anna Richards has 8 points to lead the Lansing Catholic scoring at halftime.
Mia McLaughlin has 13 points to lead the Frankenmuth scoring so far.
Catholic honored its 2023 State Championship Golf Team at halftime. For those of you who cannot see this fine ceremony, I hope you will enjoy these tunes from my You Tube Channel!
“Blues Stay Away from Me” is a vintage blues song performed in a vintage style. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TtsKUnqw7g
“A Man Like Me” is an original tune; we had a lot of fun with the video on this one! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTdeYRUEOkc
Frankenmuth inbounds the ball to get quarter number three underway. The Eagles misfire on a triple try from the wing. Morgan Wilcox hits a layup for Catholic. Mia McLaughlin is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of her two free throws for Frankenmuth. Catholic misses a three point shot from the wing. Morgan Wilcox gets the long offensive rebound for the Cougars. Tessa Roe passes to Leah Richards, who hits a layup for Catholic and is fouled. She hits her free throw to trim the Frankenmuth lead to 24-15 with 6:27 remaining in the third quarter.
Frankenmuth misses a three point shot from the top of the key. Mia McLaughlin gets the offensive rebound for the Eagles. Frankenmuth misses a layup. Mia McLaughlin gets another offensive rebound and is fouled on a putback. She hits one of her two free throws for Frankenmuth. Leah Richards passes to Morgan Wilcox, who is fouled on a layup and hits two free throws to cut the Frankenmuth lead to 25-17 with 5:32 to play in the quarter.
Mia McLaughlin passes to Clare Conzelmann, who hits a three point shot from the corner for Frankenmuth. Leah Richards passes to Tessa Roe, who hits a three pointer from the side for Catholic. Grace Brenner drives from the side and hits a layup to give Frankenmuth a 30-20 lead.
Catholic misses a three point shot from the wing. Frankenmuth misses a reverse layup. Gabby Halliwill passes to Leah Richards, who hits a layup for the Cougars. Anna Richards steals the ball from Frankenmuth and draws a foul from the Eagles in the process. Izzy Bernthal defends as Catholic loses a pass out of bounds. Tessa Roe steals the ball for the Cougars. Leah Richards passes to Anna Richards, who throws in a threeball from the top of the key to cut the Frankenmuth lead to 30-25.
Morgan Wilcox blocks a Frankenmuth layup; the loose ball goes out of bounds and Frankenmuth gets another opportunity. Frankenmuth travels with the ball. (Basketball cliches can be interesting. I don’t imagine traveling without the ball would be terribly newsworthy.) Leah Richards ignores the Bleacher Denizen’s semantic angst and passes to T.R. Repichowski, who hits a three point shot from the wing to chop the Frankenmuth lead to 30-28.
Frankenmuth misses a three pointer from the side. Clare Conzelmann knocks a pass out of bounds; Catholic retains possession. Catholic misses a ten foot shot from the side of the lane. Clare Conzelmann hits a twenty-five foot threeball past the top of the key as the third quarter buzzer sounds off.
After three quarters, Frankenmuth has a 33-28 lead.
Catholic has the ball to open the fourth quarter. The Cougars miss a short hook shot. Anna Richards nearly steals the ball and forces Frankenmuth to call time out to preserve their possession. Frankenmuth misses a layup. Izzy Bernthal hits a putback to give Frankenmuth a 35-28 lead.
The Richards Connection comes through for Catholic as Leah Richards passes to Anna Richards, who hits a three point shot from the corner for the Cougars. Frankenmuth misses a three point shot from the corner. Rosemary Brenner knocks a Catholic pass out of bounds; the Cougars retain possession. Leah Richards passes to Morgan Wilcox, who drives and hits a reverse layup to trim the Frankenmuth lead down to 35-33.
Frankenmuth is assessed with a traveling violation. Clare Conzelmann blocks a Cougar layup. Catholic fouls trying to recover the loose ball. Grace Brenner fires a cross court pass to Izzy Bernthal, who hits a three point shot from the corner to give Frankenmuth a five point lead. Tessa Roe passes to Anna Richards, who hits a three point shot from the wing to cut the Frankenmuth lead back to 38-36.
Frankenmuth is called for an illegal screen. Catholic misses a driving layup. Leah Richards grabs the offensive rebound for the Cougars. Catholic misses a three point shot from the side. Frankenmuth is whistled for a traveling violation. Mia McLaughlin steals the ball and passes to Grace Brenner, who hits a fast break layup to give Frankenmuth a 40-36 lead.
Catholic misses a three point shot from the wing. Mia McLaughlin is fouled and hits two free throws to boost her Eagles to a 42-36 lead with 48.5 seconds left on the clock.
Catholic misses a ten foot shot in the lane. Izzy Bernthal is fouled on the rebound and hits one of her two free throws for Frankenmuth. Catholic misses a three point shot from the wing. Clare Conzelmann is fouled and hits one of her two free throws for Frankenmuth. Catholic misses a three point shot from the wing. Frankenmuth runs out the last few seconds on the clock.
Frankenmuth wins this big conference battle of two state powers by the final score of 44-36.
Anna Richards led the Lansing Catholic scoring with 17 points. Morgan Wilcox supported her teammate with 8 points. Leah Richards chipped in with 5 points. Tessa Roe and T.R. Repichowski each tallied 3 points.
Mia McLaughlin led Frankenmuth’s scoring with 17 points. Izzy Bernthal added 8 points and Clare Conzelmann scored 7 points. Grace Brenner added 6 points. Lucy Conzelmann and Alyson Peterson each tossed in three points.