Ishpeming vs. Kingston – – MHSAA Division 4 Girls Basketball State Championship – – The Bleacher Denizen – – March 23, 2024 – – by Chuck Krafft

This morning, the Ishpeming Hematites will play the Kingston Cardinals to determine the State of Michigan’s Girls’ Division 4 Basketball Championship. Both of these excellent teams come into the game with 27-1 records.

The Michigan High School Athletic Association provided some statistics for the players. Please note that they do not include the semifinal games.

Ishpeming is rated Number 1 in Division 4. They have only lost one game this year; that was to Division 2 Semifinalist Negaunee. Ishpeming also has a win over Negaunee. Ishpeming reached the final game by beating Fowler in the semifinal. Here is the Bleacher Denizen play by play of that game.
https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2024/03/22/ishpeming-vs-fowler-mhsaa-division-4-girls-basketball-semifinal-the-bleacher-denizen-march-21-2024-by-chuck-krafft/

Jenna Maki averages 15.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game. She had 30 points in the Hematites’ semifinal win over Fowler. Jenessa Eagle averages 16 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.3 and 3.8 assists per game. She is a big threat from the three point line and has hit 63 three pointers through the quarterfinal round. Mya Hemmer averages 10.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.1 steals and 1.4 blocks per game. Addie Morton contributes 5.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.

Kingston is rated Number 4 in the state. Their only loss is to Division 2 Quarterfinalist Goodrich. The Cardinals reached the final game by beating Frankfort in its semifinal. This is the play by play of that game. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2024/03/22/frankfort-vs-kingston-mhsaa-division-4-girls-basketball-semifinal-the-bleacher-denizen-march-21-2024-by-chuck-krafft/

Delaney St. George is a lifetime 1000 point scorer; this year she averages 16.2 points and 3.0 assists per game. She is a big threat from the three point line and has hit 84 of those shots this year. Kingston also starts three sisters. Sophomore Molly Walker averages 13 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 3.3 steals per game. Her fellow starting sisters are senior twins Abby Walker and Gracy Walker. Gracy Walker averages 7.8 points and 5.7 assists per game. Abby Walker averages 7.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.

As I cover Kingston every year for at least a game or two, I also know that seniors Zoe van Rijn and Keira McGarvie split time in the post where they are tough defenders and rebounders. Chesaney Wenzlaff sees a lot of time on the perimeter as well.

We had our first snow and ice in a while here in Lansing, but the chill outside is not affecting the enthusiasm inside Michigan State’s Breslin Center! Your Bleacher Denizen found his spot at court side and got ready to take his notes.

It is now time to look through the events of this game through the eyes of an aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league. He was showing some promise as a three point shooter until the Basketball Powers That Be banned the catapult he was using to shoot the shots.

Ishpeming wins the opening tap. The Hematites miss a layup. Kingston misses a threeball from the wing. Ishpeming misses a layup and fouls on the rebound. Mya Hemmer blocks a Kingston six foot shot in the lane. Ishpeming misses a fast break layup. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Cardinals take possession. Jenna Maki steals the ball and hits a fast break layup to give the Hematites a 2-0 lead.

Mya Hemmer gets her hand on a Kingston pass and knocks it out of bounds; the Cardinals retain possession. Delaney St. George passes to a teammate who is fouled on a layup, but misses both her free throws. Zoe van Rijn gets the offensive rebound for the Cardinals. Kingston misses a driving layup.

Ishpeming misfires on a triple try from the side. Kingston commits a traveling violation. Ishpeming misses an eight footer from the side. Kadie Kaukola pulls down the offensive rebound for the Hematites. Ishpeming misses a three pointer from the wing. Mya Hemmer grabs the offensive rebound for the Hematites. Ishpeming misses a three point shot.

Mya Hemmer ties up the ball for the Hematites. The Possession Arrow is working in its garden and misses the play. The Possession Arrow and its Garden Club vote to award the ball to the Cardinals. Abby Walker passes to Molly Walker, who hits a layup for Kingston to tie the game at 2-2.

Zoe Van Rijn steals the ball for the Cardinals. Gracy Walker passes to Molly Walker, who hits a layup for Kingston. Jenna Maki drives and hits a layup for Ishpeming to tie the game. Addison Morton blocks a Kingston layup. The loose ball goes out of bounds and the Cardinals get another opportunity. Mya Hemmer harasses a Kingston ball handler into losing the ball out of bounds. Jenna Maki hits a jump shot off the dribble from the free throw elbow to give Ishpeming a 6-4 lead.

Abby Walker passes to Molly Walker, who hits a layup for the Cardinals. Ishpeming misses a six foot shot from the side. Mya Hemmer gets the offensive rebound for the Hematites. Ishpeming is fouled on a layup, but misses two free throws. With 4:10 to play in the first quarter, the game is tied at 6-6.

Addison Morton steals the ball for the Hematites. Mya Hemmer is fouled on a fast break layup and hits one of her two free throws to give Ishpeming a 7-6 lead with 4:01 left in the opening quarter.

Jenessa Eagle steals the ball for the Hematites and hits a fast break layup. Addison Morton steals the ball for Ishpeming. The Hematites commit a traveling violation. Molly Walker passes to Abby Walker, who hits a layup for Kingston to trim the Ishpeming lead to 9-8.

Ishpeming misses a threeball from the side. Kadie Kaukola grabs the offensive rebound for the Hematites. Gracy Walker steals the ball for the Cardinals and passes to Molly Walker, who is fouled on a layup. Molly Walker hits one of her two free throws to tie the game at 9-9 with 3:00 to play in the first quarter.

Ishpeming misses a driving layup. Jenna Maki knocks the Kingston inbound pass out of bounds; the Cardinals retain possession. Mya Hemmer forces a Kingston double dribble violation. Abby Walker steals the ball for the Cardinals. Molly Walker drives and hits a hook/layup for Kingston to give the Cardinals an 11-9 lead.

Ishpeming misses a six footer from the side of the lane. Keira McGarvie passes to Delaney St. George, who hits a three point shot from the corner for Kingston. Ishpeming misses a jump shot from the free throw line. Jenna Maki hits a putback for Ishpeming. Molly Walker passes to Keira McGarvie, who hits a layup to give Kingston a 16-11 lead.

Ishpeming misses a three point shot from the side. Kingston is fouled on a driving hook shot, but misses two free throws. Keira McGarvie grabs the offensive rebound and passes to Delaney St. George, who hits a threeball near the top of the key for Kingston to give the Cardinals a 19-11 lead.

Ishpeming misses a driving layup. Delaney St. George is fouled on what looked like a three point shot near the top of the key, but was awarded two free throws. (Your Bleacher Denizen does concede that the referees know the rules better than he does.)

Delaney St. George makes the first free throw and misses the second. Zoe van Rijn gets the offensive rebound, but there seems to be a lot of confusion as to whether or not the ball is live. Finally, Zoe van Rijn shoots her layup and is fouled. She hits two free throws to give her Cardinals a 22-11 lead with 3.3 seconds to play in the quarter.

Ishpeming misses a long heave.

After one quarter, Kingston has a 22-11 lead.

Ishpeming inbounds the ball to start out the second quarter. Delaney St. George steals the ball for the Cardinals. Mya Hammer blocks a Kingston layup. Zoe van Rijn alertly throws the rebound off a Hematite player to get another possession for the Cardinals. Mya Hemmer blocks a Kingston layup. Ishpeming misses a ten foot shot in the lane. Kingston misfires on a threeball from the top of the key.

Ishpeming misses a three point shot from the side. Jenna Maki gets the offensive rebound for the Hematites. Zoe van Rijn steals the ball for the Cardinals. Kingston misses a layup. Ishpeming misses a fast break layup. Kadie Kaukola gets the offensive rebound for the Hematites. Ishpeming misses a threeball from the wing.

Kingston misses a three point shot from the side. Zoe van Rijn snags the offensive rebound for the Cardinals. Kingston misses a layup. Ishpeming misses a three point shot from the side. Jenna Maki knocks the ball away from Kingston and Payton Manninen picks it up for Ishpeming.

Jenna Maki hits a fast break layup for the Hematites. Molly Walker is fouled on a driving layup and hits two free throws to give her Cardinals a 24-13 lead with 4:37 to play in the second quarter.

Ishpeming misses a driving six foot shot in the lane. Kingston loses a pass out of bounds. Gracy Walker gets her hand on the ball, but Ishpeming is able to recover. Jenna Maki hits a driving layup for Ishpeming. She is fouled on the play and hits her free throw to cut the Cardinal lead to 24-16 with 4:15 left in the half.

Kingston loses the ball out of bounds. Ishpeming misses an eight foot banked shot from the side of the lane. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Hematites get another opportunity. Lilly Swanson drives and hits a layup for Escanaba. Kingston misses a layup. Keira McGarvie hits a putback to give Kingston a 26-18 lead.

Jenna Maki drives and hits a six foot banked shot from the side. She is fouled on the play and hits her free throw. Kingston misses a driving layup. Keira McGarvie gets the offensive rebound for the Cardinals. Kingston is fouled on a layup, but misses two free throws. With 2:34 to play in the half, the Kingston lead is at 26-21.

Kadie Kaukola passes to Jenessa Eagle, who hits a three point shot from the wing to pull Ishpeming to within two points. Kingston misses a twelve foot shot from the side. Abby Walker gets the offensive rebound for the Cardinals. Kingston misses a ten foot banked shot from the side. Ishpeming misfires on a triple try from the wing. Kaitlyn Van Deuren gets the offensive rebound for the Hematites.

Lilly Swanson passes to Kaitlyn Van Deuren, who hits a three point shot from the corner to give the Hematites a one point lead. Kingston misses a layup. Keira McGarvie hits a putback to give Kingston the lead. Ishpeming misses a three point shot from the side. Delaney St. George passes to Gracy Walker, who hits a layup to give Kingston a 30-27 lead.

Jenessa Eagle passes to Payton Manninen, who hits a layup for the Hematites. She is fouled on the play, but misses her free throw. With 59 seconds to go until halftime, Kingston’s lead is at 30-29.

Mya Hemmer gets the offensive rebound for Ishpeming. Ishpeming misses a layup. Kingston reciprocates and misses a layup. Gracy Walker gets the offensive rebound for the Cardinals. Kingston misses a jump shot from the free throw line. Abby Walker gets the offensive rebound for the Cardinals. Kingston misses a layup.

Ishpeming misses a layup. Mya Hemmer gets the offensive rebound for the Hematites. Ishpeming misses a layup. Mya Hemmer gets another offensive rebound for the Hematites. Jenessa Eagle hits a putback to give Ishpeming a 31-30 lead.

Jenessa Eagle knocks the ball out of bounds; Kingston retains possession. Kingston misses a jump shot. Gracy Walker gets the offensive rebound for Kingston, but there is no time to shoot before the halftime buzzer makes its presence known.

At halftime, Ishpeming has a 31-30 lead.

Molly Walker leads the Kingston scoring at halftime with 11 points. Delaney St. George has 7 points and Keira McGarvie has 6 points.

Jenna Maki has 16 points to lead Ishpeming at halftime. Jenessa Eagle has 7 points.

Kingston inbounds the ball to get quarter number three underway. Jenna Maki steals the ball and hits a fast break layup for Ishpeming. Kadie Kaukola knocks the ball away from Kingston; Jenna Maki picks it up for Ishpeming and passes to Mya Hemmer, who hits a fast break layup for the Hematites to give her team a 35-30 lead.

Jenessa Eagle gets her hand on the ball and forces a Kingston traveling violation in the lane. Mya Hemmer passes to Jenessa Eagle, who hits a hook/layup for Ishpeming. Mya Hemmer blocks a Kingston layup; the Cardinals recover. Kingston misses a twelve foot shot from the side. Jenna Maki passes to Jenessa Eagle, who hits a fast break layup to give Ishpeming a 39-30 lead.

Ishpeming’s aggressive press ties up the ball; the Possession Arrow looks up from pruning its roses and grants the ball to Ishpeming. The Hematites miss a jump shot. Kingston loses the ball out of bounds Ishpeming misses a six foot shot from the side. Jenna Maki gets the offensive rebound for the Hematites.

Abby Walker steals the ball for the Cardinals. Jenessa Eagle nearly steals the ball for the Hematites, but the Cardinals are able to recover. Kadie Kaukola forces the Cardinals to lose the ball out of bounds. Ishpeming misses a driving six foot shot from the side. Molly Walker passes to Abby Walker, who hits a layup to shave the Ishpeming lead to 39-32.

Kadie Kaukola hits a twelve foot shot from the baseline for Ishpeming. Kingston loses a pass out of bounds. Mya Hemmer passes to Jenessa Eagle, who throws in a threeball from the side for Ishpeming. Kingston misses a three point shot from the top of the key. Molly Walker steals the ball for Kingston and passes to Molly Walker, who hits a layup to trim the Hematite lead to 44-34.

Jenna Maki passes to Jenessa Eagle, who hits a three point shot for Ishpeming. (The Ishpeming defense has this game going so fast that it is really difficult to take these notes; I only heard the announcer say that she made the shot; I did not see where it came from LOL.) At this point, the Hematites are ignoring the Bleacher Denizen’s angst because they have a 47-34 lead.

Kingston misses a layup. Abby Walker hits a putback for the Cardinals. Gracy Walker blocks an Ishpeming layup. Mya Hemmer grabs the loose ball, hits a layup for Ishpeming and is fouled in the process. She hits her free throw and the Hematites have a 50-36 lead with 3:04 remaining in quarter number three.

Kingston turns the ball over. Molly Walker steals the ball for the Cardinals. Kingston misses a fast break layup. Ishpeming misses a twelve foot shot from the baseline. Jenessa Eagle knocks the ball out of bounds; the Cardinals retain possession. Gracy Walker passes to Delaney St. George, who is fouled as she releases a threeball from the side. Delaney St. George makes one, two and three free throws to trim the Hematite lead to 50-39 with 2:19 remaining in the third quarter.

Jenessa Eagle hits a jump shot off the dribble from the free throw line for Ishpeming. Mya Hemmer blocks a Kingston fast break layup. The loose ball goes out of bounds and Kingston gets the ball back. Kingston misses a fifteen foot jumper from the side. Gracy Walker gets the offensive rebound for the Cardinals. Kingston misses a layup. Molly Walker steals the ball for the Cardinals and is fouled on a fast break layup. She hits one of her two free throws. With 1:34 remaining in the third quarter, Ishpeming’s lead is at 52-40.

Lilly Swanson passes to Jenessa Eagle, who swishes a threeball from the top of the key for Ishpeming. Kingston beats the Ishpeming press and Molly Walker hits a layup for the Cardinals. Delaney St. George steals the ball for the Cardinals. Kingston loses the ball out of bounds. Ishpeming misses a threeball from the wing. Zoe van Rijn passes to Abby Walker, who hits a layup to trim the Hematite lead to 58-44.

Mya Hemmer passes to Payton Manninen, who hits a three point shot from the side. Zoe van Rijn passes to Gracy Walker, who hits a twelve foot shot from the side for Kingston as the third quarter comes to an end.

With three quarters in the books, Ishpeming has a 58-46 lead.

Kingston inbounds the ball to open the fourth quarter. Lilly Swanson steals the ball and hits a six foot banked shot from the side for Ishpeming. Kingston misses a fast break layup. Ishpeming misfires on a threeball from the side. Zoe van Rijn drives and banks in a six foot hook/layup for Kingston. She is fouled on the play, but misses her free throw. With 7:05 remaining in the contest, Ishpeming has a 60-48 lead.

Gracy Walker gets the offensive rebound for the Cardinals. Kingston misses a layup. Abby Walker hits a putback for the Cardinals. Jenna Maki passes to Jenessa Eagle, who hits a three point shot for the Hematites. Kingston misses a jump shot. Ishpeming misfires on a triple try from the wing. Kingston is assessed with a traveling violation.

Ishpeming misses a three point shot from the side. Kingston misses a three pointer from the top of the key. Mya Hemmer passes to Jenna Maki, who hits a fast break layup for Ishpeming. Kingston misses a layup. Jenna Maki passes to Jenessa Eagle, who hits a driving layup to give Ishpeming a 67-50 lead.

Kingston misses a layup. Gracy Walker pulls down the offensive rebound for the Cardinals. Kingston misses a three point shot from the side. Jenna Maki passes to Kadie Kaukola, who hits a layup for Ishpeming. Jenna Maki steals the ball for the Hematites. Jenessa Eagle inbounds the ball to Jenna Maki, who hits a jump shot from the free throw elbow. Ishpeming has a 71-50 lead.

Jenna Maki knocks the ball away from Kingston and Addison Morton picks it up for the Hematites. Ishpeming misses a layup. Kingston misses a ten foot banked shot from the side. Ishpeming misses a driving layup. Mya Hemmer knocks the ball away from Kingston and Addison Morton picks it up for Ishpeming. Jenna Maki hits a fast break layup and the Ishpeming lead is at 73-50.

Kingston misses an eight foot shot in the lane. Abby Walker hits a putback for the Cardinals. Molly Walker steals the ball and passes to Gracy Walker, who hits a layup. With 2:38 left in the game, Ishpeming has a 73-54 lead.

Ishpeming misses a sixteen footer from the side. Kingston misses a threeball near the top of the key. Ishpeming misses an eight foot shot from the baseline. With 1:50 left on the clock, both teams put in substitutes.

Kingston misses a driving layup. Ishpeming misses a three point shot from the corner. Kingston misses a three point shot from the side. Ishpeming runs out the last thirty or so seconds remaining on the clock.

Ishpeming wins the game and the state championship by the final score of 73-54.

Molly Walker and Abby Walker each had 14 points to lead the Kingston scoring. Delaney St. George joined her teammates in double figures with 10 points. Keira McGarvie and Gracy Walker each had 6 points. Zoe van Rijn added 4 points.

Jenessa Eagle had 27 points to lead Ishpeming and Jenna Maki also had a big game with 24 points. Mya Hemmer contributed 6 points. Payton Manninen poured in 5 points. Kadie Kaukola and Lilly Swanson each notched 4 points. Kaitlyn Van Deuren chipped in with 3 points.

I also covered the Division 3 final between Ypsilanti Arbor Prep and Niles Brandywine. Here is the play by play of that game. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2024/03/23/niles-brandywine-vs-ypsilanti-arbor-prep-mhsaa-division-3-girls-basketball-final-the-bleacher-denizen-march-23-2024-by-chuck-krafft/