Ewen-Trout Creek vs. Concord – – MHSAA Girls Basketball Division 4 State Semifinal – – The Bleacher Denizen – – March 20, 2025 – – by Chuck Krafft
Tonight, in the first Division 4 semifinal, The Panthers from Ewen-Trout Creek will face the Yellowjackets from Concord. Ewen-Trout Creek enters the game with a 26-1 record. Concord has a record of 22-4.
While we wait for this game to start, I hope you will enjoy this cover of “Can’t You See That She’s Mine” by the Dave Clark Five from my You Tube Channel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEc_2hjvblA
Now that we’ve had time to (hopefully) enjoy a bit of music, it’s time to learn more about these teams. The statistics used in these team introductions come from the Semifinals Preview posted on the Michigan High School Athletic Association Website.
I have seen the Concord Yellowjackets a week and a half ago when they played the Regional semifinal against Portland St. Patrick.
Concord is ranked #4 in Division Four and tied for first place in the Big Eight Conference this year. Grace Thorrez averages 14.1 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game. Cieara Barrett fills up the stat sheet with 10.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 3.5 steals per game. Bradie Lehman averages 13.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 4.5 steals per game. Hannah Stimer averages 8.4 points per game and has thrown 42 threeballs through the hoop.
Ewen-Trout Creek has a 26-1 record and finished first in the Copper Mountain Conference. They are ranked #10 in Division 4. They beat #1 St. Ignace in the Quarterfinal to advance to this semifinal game.
The Panthers are a young team with no seniors and only three juniors. Freshman Bree Besonen averages 16.9 points and 4.5 assists per game. She has made 37 three point shots so far this season. Emma Besonen scores 12.3 points and passes out 3.2 assists per game. She has made 60 three point shots this year. Irelynd McGeshick averages 16.5 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. McKayla Basel scores 8.5 points per game.
It is now time to review the events of this game through the somewhat observant eyes of an Aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league when he attempted to play in the Days of Yore. He was showing some potential running the floor and scoring on fast breaks. However, the Basketball Powers-That-Be ruined everything when they ruled he was no longer allowed to use a jet pack to help him scurry down the court. Your Bleacher Denizen’s scoring average and playing time dropped dramatically after that.
Concord wins the opening tap. The Yellowjackets miss a layup. Bradie Lehman ties up the ball for Concord. The Possession Arrow is polishing its silver collection and misses the play; the ball is awarded to Ewen-Trout Creek. McKayla Basel passes to Irelynd McGeshick, who is fouled on a layup. She hits one of her two free throws to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead with 7:08 remaining in the opening quarter.
Concord misses a driving layup. Hannah Stimer knocks the ball away from Ewen-Trout Creek, but the Panthers recover. The Panthers miss a threeball from the wing. Irelynd McGeshick pulls down the offensive rebound for Ewen-Trout Creek. The Panthers miss a fifteen foot shot from the baseline. The rebound goes out of bounds and Concord gets the ball.
Hannah Ferguson knocks a Yellowjacket pass out of bounds. Concord retains possession. Concord misses a fifteen foot shot from the side. Bree Besonen passes to McKayla Basel, who hits a layup to give Ewen-Trout Creek a 3-0 lead.
Hannah Ferguson steals the ball for the Panthers. Hannah Stimer knocks the ball out of bounds and Concord gets the ball. McKayla Basel blocks a Concord fifteen foot shot from the side. Concord recovers. Cierra Barrett drives and hits a ten foot shot from the baseline for Concord to shave the Ewen-Trout Creek lead to 3-2.
Bradie Lehman taps the ball away from Ewen-Trout Creek and Cierra Barrett picks it up for Concord. Concord commits an over and back violation. Ewen-Trout Creek misses a driving ten foot banked shot. Hannah Ferguson pulls down the offensive rebound foer the Panthers. Bradie Lehman steals the ball and hits a fast break layup to give Concord a 4-3 lead.
Ewen-Trout Creek misses an eight foot shot from the side of the lane. Bree Besonen dives and nearly steals the ball for the Panthers. Bree Besonen dives and causes a tieup. The Possession Arrow is trying to get tarnish off its teapot and misses the play. The ball is awarded to Concord. Concord misses a fifteen foot shot from the side. Ewen-Trout Creek misses a driving layup. Concord misses a jump shot off the dribble from the free throw elbow.
Ewen-Trout Creek misfires on a triple try from the side. Concord misses a three pointer from the corner. Cierra Barrett pulls down the offensive rebound for the Yellowjackets. Irelynd MeGeshick blocks a Concord six foot shot. Emma Besonen is fouled on a driving layup and hits her free throw to tie the game at 4-4 with 45.9 seconds to play in the quarter.
Hannah Ferguson steals a Concord pass. Ewen-Trout Creek misses a threeball from the wing as the opening quarter buzzer flexes its audio capability.
After one quarter, this semifinal game is tied at 4-4.
Ewen-Trout Creek inbounds the ball to start out the second quarter. The Panthers miss a threeball from the wing. Bree Besonen pulls down the offensive rebound for Ewen-Trout Creek. The Panthers miss a layup. The rebound goes out of bounds and Ewen-Trout Creek gets another opportunity. Grace Thorrez knocks the ball away from the Panthers and Hannah Stimer picks it up for the Yellowjackets.
Concord misses a driving layup. Cierra Barrett grabs the offensive rebound for the Yellowjackets. Concord misses a ten foot hook shot in the lane. The rebound is tied up. The Possession Arrow looks up from polishing the gravy boat and awards the ball to Concord. The Yellowjackets miss a layup. Ewen-Trout Creek misses a short hook shot. Grace Thorrez passes to Cierra Barrett, who hits a threeball from the side to give Concord a 7-4 lead.
Bree Besonen responds with a threeball from the wing for Ewen-Trout Creek to tie the game. Bree Besonen dives and nearly steals the ball for the Panthers, but the Yellowjackets recover. Hannah Ferguson knocks the ball out of bounds and Ewen-Trout Creek gets the ball. Cierra Barrett steals the ball and hits a fast break layup for the Yellowjackets. She is fouled on the play, but misses her free throw. With 4:14 remaining in the opening half, Concord has a 9-7 lead.
Hannah Stimer gets her hand on the ball and forces a tie-up. The Possession Arrow is working on the butter knives and misses the play; it awards the ball to Ewen-Trout Creek. Bree Besonen drives and hits a layup for the Panthers. She is fouled on the play and hits her free throw to give her Panthers a 10-9 lead with 3:44 to play in the second quarter.
Irelynd McGeshick gets her hand on the ball and knocks it out of bounds; Concord retains possession. Cierra Barrett passes to Grace Thorrez, who hits a layup to give Concord a one point lead. Bradie Lehman steals the ball and hits a layup for Concord. Grace Thorrez forces Ewen-Trout Creek to miss a short shot in the lane. Concord misses a fifteen foot shot from the side. Grace Thorrez hits a putback to give Concord a 15-10 lead.
Bree Besonen passes to McKayle Basel, who hits a fifteen foot shot from the baseline for Ewen-Trout Creek. Concord misses a jump shot. Ewen-Trout Creek misss a driving eight foot banked shot. The rebound goes out of bounds and Concord gets the ball. Concord misses a driving hook/layup shot. Bradie Lehman steals a Panther pass into the lane. Bree Besonen steals the ball for Ewen-Trout Creek. The Panthers buzzer shot from midcourt hits the front of the rim.
At halftime, Concord has a 15-12 lead.
Bree Besonen has 6 points and McKayle Basel has 4 points for Ewen-Trout Creek at halftime.
Cierra Barrett has 7 points for Concord. Bradie Lehman and Grace Thorrez each have 4 points.
Concord inbounds the ball to get quarter number three underway. The Yellowjackets miss a driving layup. Grace Thorrez gets the offensive rebound for Concord. Concord misses a layup. Bree Besonen drives and hits a reverse layup for Ewen-Trout Creek. Cierra Barrett whips a cross court pass to Haley Stimer, who hits a fifteen footer from the side for the Yellowjackets. Emma Besonen passes to Irelynd MeGeshick, who hits a fifteen foot shot from the side to cut the Concord lead to one point at 17-16.
Concord misses a driving layup. Bree Besonen passes to McKayla Basel, who banks in an eight foot shot from the side to give her Panthers a one point lead. Concord misses a layup. McKayla Basel passes to Irelynd McGeshick, who hits a layup for Ewen-Trout Creek. Bradie Lehman passes to Grace Thorrez, who hits a four foot hook shot for Concord. Ewen Trout-Creek misses a three pointer from the wing. Cierra Barrett drives and hits a layup to give Concord a 21-20 lead.
Ewen-Trout Creek misses a shot. McKayla Basel gets the offensive rebound for the Panthers. McKayla Basel passes to Irelynd McGeshick, who hits a fifteen foot shot from the side to give Ewen-Trout Creek a one point lead. Irelynd McGeshick knocks the ball away from Concord and Bree Besonen picks it up for Ewen-Trout Creek. The Panthers miss a fifteen foot shot from the side. Concord misses a threeball from the side. Haley Stimer grabs the offensive rebound for the Yellowjackets.
Irelynd McGeshick blocks a Concord layup; the loose ball goes out of bounds and the Yellowjackets get another opportunity. Concord misses a jump shot from the free throw elbow. Haley Stimer ties up the rebound for the Yellowjackets. The Possession Arrow is focused on polishing its turkey serving platter and misses the play. The ball is awarded to Ewen-Trout Creek. Irelynd McGeshick is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of her two free throws to give Ewen-Trout Creek a 23-21 lead with 1:35 remaining in quarter number three.
Concord misses a driving layup. Bree Besonen drives and hits a reverse layup for the Panthers. Irelynd McGeshick taps the ball away from Concord, but the Yellowjackets recover. Hannah Stimer passes to Grace Thorrez, who hits a layup to trim the Panther lead to 25-23 just before quarter number three comes to a conclusion. As the buzzer ends quarter number three, Ewen-Trout Creek misses a threeball from the wing.
After three quarters, Ewen Trout-Creek holds a 25-23 lead.
Concord has the ball to begin the fourth quarter. Irelynd McGeshick knocks the ball away from Concord and Bree Besonen picks up the loose ball for Ewen-Trout Creek. The Panthers miss a fifteen foot shot from the baseline. Heley Stimer is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of her two free throws to shave the Panther lead to 25-24 with 6:42 left on the clock.
Ewen-Trout Creek misses a fifteen foot shot from the baseline. Concord misses an eight foot shot from the baseline. The rebound is tied up. The Possession arrow looks up from the salad fork it is polishing and awards the ball to Ewen-Trout Creek. McKayla Basel passes to Hannah Ferguson, who hhits a layup to give the Panthers a 27-24 lead.
Concord misses a diving layup. Cierra Barrett dives and steals the ball for the Yellowjackets. Hannah Ferguson knocks a Yellowjacket pass out of bounds; Concord retains possession. Irelynd McGeshick blocks a Concord layup. Ewen-Trout Creek misses a three point shot from the side. Concord misses a three pointer from the top of the key. Bree Besonen is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of her two free throws to boost the Panther lead to 28-24 with 3:21 remaining in the game.
McKayla Basel gets the offensive rebound for the Panthers. Bradie Lehman knocks the ball away from Ewen-Trout Creek, but the Panthers recover. Cierra Barrett steals the ball for the Yellowjackets. Concord misses a layup. The rebound is tied up. The Possession Arrow looks up from its butter knives and awards the ball to Ewen-Trout Creek. The Panthers miss a six foot shot in the lane. Hannah Ferguson knocks the ball away from Concord and the Yellowjackets foul trying to recover. Emma Besonen passes to McKayla Basel, who hits a layup to give the Panthers a 30-24 lead.
Concord misses a driving six foot banked shot in the lane. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Yellowjackets get another opportunity. Concord misses a fifteen foot shot from the side. Bree Besonen is fouled and hits two free throws to give the Panthers a 32-24 lead with 1:00 left in the game.
Bree Besonen knocks the ball away from Concord, but the Yellowjackets recover. Concord is fouled on a driving eight foot shot from the baseline, but misses two free throws. Bree Besonen is fouled and hits two free throws for Ewen-Trout Creek with 33.8 seconds to go. Concord misfires on a threeball from the side. Ewen-Trout Creek dribbles out the clock.
Ewen-Trout Creek wins this semifinal game by the final score of 34-24 and will play Fowler in the state final.
Cieara Barrett led the Concord scoring with 9 points. Grace Thorrez tossed in 8 points. Bradie Lehman added 4 points and Haley Stimer totaled 3 points.
Bree Besonen led the Ewen-Trout Creek scoring with 15 points. McKayla Basel and Irelynd McGeshick each contributed 8 points. Hannah Ferguson scored 2 points and Emma Besonen tallied 1 point.
Fowler played Genesee Christian in the other Division 4 semifinal. Here is the play by play of that game.