Ovid-Elsie at New Lothrop – – Girls Basketball – – The Bleacher Denizen – – January 5, 2026 – – by Chuck Krafft

Tonight, your Bleacher Denizen’s journey (Someday, I hope to obtain the gravitas that would allow me to describe my travels as an odyssey.) takes him to New Lothrop, where the hometown Hornets will host the Marauders from Ovid-Elsie in a girls basketball game that will be a major factor in the Mid-Michigan Activities Conference basketball standings. Both the Marauders and the Hornets are undefeated in league play. New Lothrop has a 3-0 overall record where Ovid-Elsie is 5-1; its only loss is to Division 1 Okemos.

While we wait for the game to begin, I hope you will enjoy this video of “Four in the Morning” from my You Tube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwKDbxp-uuE

New Lothrop Coach Jim Perry gave me this information about his Hornet players.

Katelyn Wendling is an excellent all-around player who can score on slashes to the basket or from the three point line. She is a strong rebounder who defends well in the post and is quick enough to defend the perimeter as well. Kelsey Kohlmann has a good three point shot and plays excellent defense from her wing position. Madyson Schneider runs the point for the Hornets. She is a strong ball handler, passer and perimeter defender who can score from the three point line.

Ovid-Elsie Coach Shaun McKinney provided me with this information about his Marauder players.

Dannika Campbell was named as an All-State football kicker. When she plays basketball, she is a fine scorer who can slash to the basket or hit three point shots. She is also a formidable rebounder. Kendal Tokar runs the point for the Marauders. She can score from the three point line or slash to the basket to score. She is also a dependable ball handler, passer and perimeter defender.

Kortlynn Loynes is a good defender, scorer and rebounder in the post. Alyson Moore is a solid defender on the perimeter who can score from the three point line or slash to the basket. McKenzie Keck is a quick perimeter defender who can hit the three point shot. Isabella Phillips is a tough post player and defender who excels at taking charging fouls from Marauder opponents. Allison Veith is a long, athletic perimeter defender who is a good rebounder.

I arrived at the game just before halftime of the JV game. New Lothrop had a 15-4 halftime lead and controlled the game through the second half. The Hornet JVs won by the final score of 39-12.

Laura Newman led the Marauder JVs with 6 points. Makayla Milledge and Marlee O’Bryant each added 2 points. Adalyn Polash and Callie Risinger each tallied 1 point.

Sydney Knieper led the victorious Hornet JV team with 20 points. Zoey Thomas and Clara Green each chipped in with 5 points. Julie Lindner and Julia Dumond each added 3 points. Gwenyth Galvas put in 2 points and Liz Barckholtz had 1 point. Rory Matthews had four rebounds and two steals. Cayden Sweezea contributed four rebounds and two steals. Molly McGinnis had three steals.

It is now time to review the events of this game through the occasionally clear lenses of an Aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league when he attempted to hoop in the days of yore. It seems that he and his coach had a disagreement as to how much creativity could be shown during games.

Your Bleacher Denizen thought it was a barrier to his creativity when his coach insisted that he only pass the ball to people wearing the same color shirt as his. However, your Bleacher Denizen felt this was a bit exclusive and also interfered with his creative flow. The Coach kept bringing up this concept called “turnover prevention” and unilaterally decided to give the Bleacher Denizen’s playing time to others. Life is not always fair.

New Lothrop wins the opening tap. Addison Phillips passes to Katelyn Wendling, who hits a layup to give her Hornets the first two points of the game. Ovid-Elsie travels with the ball. (Basketball cliches can be interesting. Somehow, I don’t think that traveling without the ball would be of much interest.) Madyson Schneider ignores the Bleacher Denizen’s semantic musings and passes to Katelyn Wendling, who throws in a threeball for the Hornets. The score is now Katelyn Wendling 5 Ovid-Elsie 0.

Ovid-Elsie misses a driving ten foot banked shot from the side. New Lothrop loses control of the ball and fouls as they try to recover it. Ovid-Elsie misses a driving layup; the rebound goes out of bounds and New Lothrop gets the ball. Alyson Moore steals the ball for the Marauders and hits a fast break layup to trim the Hornet lead to 5-2.

Katelyn Wendling passes to Kelsey Kohlmann, who hits a three point shot from the wing for New Lothrop. Katelyn Wendling steals the ball for the Hornets. Kendal Tokar steals the ball for the Marauders. (The Bleacher Denizen wonders if he should really be reporting this crime wave to the authorities.) Ovid-Elsie ignores the Bleacher Denizen’s angst, but misses a threeball from the side. Kelsey Kohlmann passes to Madyson Schneider, who hits a three point shot from the wing to give New Lothrop an 11-2 lead.

Ovid-Elsie misses a driving layup. Kortlynn Loynes gets the offensive rebound for the Marauders. Ovid-Elsie misses a layup. Katelyn Wendling drives and hits a layup for the Hornets. Ovid-Elsie misses a driving layup. Kendal Tokar steals a Hornet pass. Katelyn Wendling blocks a Marauder fast break layup. The loose ball goes out of bounds and Ovid-Elsie gets another opportunity. The Marauders commit a traveling violation. Katelyn Wendling drives and hits a layup for the Hornets. She is fouled on the play and sinks her free throw to give New Lothrop a 16-2 lead with 2:50 left in the opening quarter.

Ovid-Elsie misfires on a triple try from the side. Kortlynn Loynes ties up the rebound for the Marauders. The Possession Arrow interrupts its meeting with its Legal Committee and awards the ball to Ovid-Elsie. Madyson Schneider steals the ball for the Hornets and passes to Katelyn Wendling, who hits a layup to push the Hornet lead to 18-2.

Alyson Moore hits a threeball from the side for Ovid-Elsie. Kendal Tokar steals the ball for the Marauders. Kendal Tokar hits a jumper off the dribble from the free throw elbow for Ovid-Elsie. Kendal Tokar steals the ball again for the Marauders and passes to Allison Veith, who hits a layup to cut the Hornet lead to 18-9.

The first quarter buzzer seeks attention and makes a distracting noise to end the quarter. The players, coaches and referees all observe its direction and stop the action for a minute or so.

New Lothrop inbounds the ball to open the second quarter. Alyson Moore’s defense causes a Hornet double dribble violation. Alyson Moore is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of her two free throws to trim the Hornet lead to 18-10 with 7:32 remaining in the second period.

New Lothrop misses a layup. Ovid-Elsie misses a three point shot from the wing. Kendal Tokar pulls down the offensive rebound for the Marauders. Ovid-Elsie misses a layup. Dannika Campbell gets the offensive rebound for the Marauders. Ovid-Elsie is fouled on a layup and misses two free throws. Katelyn Wendling is fouled on a layup and hits one of her two free throws to boost her Hornets to a 19-10 lead with 6:21 remaining in the second quarter.

New Lothrop gets the offensive rebound, but Alyson Moore steals the ball for the Marauders. Kelsey Kohlmann’s fierce defense causes Ovid-Elsie to lose a pass out of bounds and probably prevents a layup. Allison Veith steals the ball for Ovid-Elsie. Ovid-Elsie commits a double dribble violation. New Lothrop misses a ten foot shot in the lane. The Hornets get the offensive rebound, but miss a putback. Dannika Campbell hits a fast break layup for Ovid-Elsie to trim the New Lothrop lead to 19-12.

New Lothrop misfires on a threeball from the side. Madyson Schneider grabs the offensive rebound for the Hornets. Dannika Campbell steals the ball for the Marauders. Ovid-Elsie is called for traveling on a too fast break. New Lothrop misses a three point shot from the wing. The rebound goes out of bounds and Ovid-Elsie gets the ball.

The Marauders miss a three pointer from the side. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Hornets take possession. New Lothrop misses a ten foot shot off the dribble from the side. Ovid-Elsie misses a driving layup and fouls on the rebound. Kortlynn Loynes blocks a New Lothrop layup. Cassie green knocks the ball out of bounds to prevent a Marauder layup; Ovid-Elsie retains possession. Kendal Tokar passes to Dannika Campbell, who hits a layup to cut the Hornet lead to 19-14.

New Lothrop misses a three point shot from the side. Kelsey Kohlmann gets the offensive rebound for the Hornets and passes to Madyson Schneider, who throws in a three pointer from the top of the key for New Lothrop. Alyson Moore is fouled and hits two free throws to trim the Hornet lead to 22-16 with 2:05 to go in the half.

New Lothrop misses a threeball from the wing. Ovid-Elsie is whistled for a traveling violation. New Lothrop misses a three pointer from the wing. Addison Phillips gets the offensive rebound for the Hornets. McKenzie Keck steals the ball for the Marauders. Kelsey Kohlmann inbounds the ball to Katelyn Wendling, who is fouled on a layup and hits one of her two free throws to boost New Lothrop to a 23-16 lead with 1:11 left on the first half clock.

Ovid-Elsie is whistled for a traveling violation. Madyson Schneider passes to Addison Phillips, who hits a three pointer from the side for New Lothrop to give the Hornets a ten point lead. Ovid-Elsie misses a layup. Dannika Campbell hits a putback for the Marauders. New Lothrop misses a twelve foot hook shot just as the second quarter buzzer decides to temporarily end the proceedings.

New Lothrop takes a 26-18 lead into the locker room at halftime. I will make a bold prediction that the Hornets will continue to have a 26-18 lead when the third quarter begins.

As we cannot hear the halftime program, I hope you will enjoy these videos from my You Tube Channel.

“Bring it on Home to Me” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flgzousiL9g

“She’s About a Mover” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HfCVev8rE4

It’s time for quarter number three to begin. Your Bleacher Denizen checks the scoreboard and smugly notes that New Lothrop STILL has a 26-18 lead. He is baffled when no one sitting near him thinks that his ability to predict the future is all that powerful.

Ovid-Elsie inbounds the ball to get quarter number three underway. The Marauders miss a driving layup. Kendal Tokar knocks the ball out of bounds and Ovid-Elsie takes possession. Kendal Tokar passes to Kortlynn Loynes, who spins and banks in a hook shot for the Marauders. Kelsey Kohlmann throws in a threeball from the side to boost the Hornet lead to 29-20.

Ovid-Elsie misfires on a threeball from the side. Kelsey Kohlmann passes to a teammate who is fouled on a layup, but misses her free throws. Ovid-Elsie commits an offensive foul. New Lothrop misfires on a triple try from the wing. Dannika Campbell passes to McKenzie Keck, who is fouled as she shoots a layup. McKenzie Keck hits one of her two free throws to trim the New Lothrop lead to 29-21 with 5:44 remaining in quarter number three.

Ovid-Elsie is whistled for a traveling violation. New Lothrop misses a six foot banked shot from the side. Kendal Tokar drives and hits a layup for Ovid-Elsie. New Lothrop misses a layup. Addison Phillips steals the ball for the Hornets. Alyson Moore steals the ball for the Marauders. Ovid-Elsie is whistled for carrying the ball. Katelyn Wendling is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of her two free throws. With 3:24 to play in quarter number three, New Lothrop has a 30-23 lead.

Kelsey Kohlmann blocks a Marauder layup. Ovid-Elsie recovers the loose ball. The Marauders miss a layup and foul on the rebound. New Lothrop misses a three pointer from the side. The rebound goes out of bounds and Ovid-Elsie gets the ball. Kelsey Kohlmann blocks a Marauder layup. The loose ball goes out of bounds and the Hornets take possession. Kendal Tokar draws a charging foul from the Hornets. Kendal Tokar is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of her two free throws to trim the Hornet lead to 30-24 with 1:47 to play in quarter number three.

Allison Veith steals the ball for the Marauders. Kendal Tokar drives and scoops in a layup for Ovid-Elsie. New Lothrop misses a three point attempt from the corner. Ovid-Elsie misses a driving layup. Kendal Tokar steals the ball for Ovid-Elsie. The Marauders miss a fast break layup just before the third quarter buzzer decides it is time for a break.

After three quarters, New Lothrop has a 30-26 lead.

New Lothrop inbounds the ball to open the fourth quarter. Dannika Campbell steals a Hornet pass in the lane. Allison Veith reacts quickly to prevent a loose ball from becoming a Marauder turnover. Dannika Campbell drives and hits a layup to chop the New Lothrop lead down to 30-28.

Katelyn Wendlin hits an eight foot shot in the lane for New Lothrop. Ovid Elsie misses a threeball from the side. Katelyn Wendling hits a three point shot off the dribble from the wing to boost the Hornet lead to 35-28.

Cassie Green blocks a Marauder layup. Ovid-Elsie recovers the loose ball. Katelyn Wendling blocks another Ovid-Elsie layup. Katelyn Wendling passes to Ashley Krupp, who hits a layup for the Hornets. Ovid-Elsie misses a threeball from the wing. Isabella Phillips ties up the offensive rebound for the Marauders. The Possession Arrow and its legal committee are impressed with Ms. Phillips’ aggressive play and award the ball to Ovid-Elsie.

The Marauders commit an offensive foul while inbounding the ball. New Lothrop misses a driving layup. Cassie Green pulls down the offensive rebound for the Hornets. New Lothrop commits an offensive foul. Ovid-Elsie misses a driving layup. Kendal Tokar gets her hand on the ball and knocks it out of bounds. Ovid-Elsie misses a threeball from the side. New Lothrop fouls on the rebound.

Ovid-Elsie misses a driving layup. Kortlynn Loynes ties up the offensive rebound. The Possession Arrow is sorting all the correspondence from the legal committee and misses the play; the ball is awarded to New Lothrop. Alyson Moore steals a Hornet pass and throws the ball to Dannika Campbell, who is fouled as she shoots a layup. Dannika Campbell hits one of her two free throws to shave the New Lothrop lead to 37-31 with 3:11 left on the clock.

Cassie Green is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of her two free throws for New Lothrop. Ovid-Elsie misses a driving layup. Kortlynn Loynes ties up the offensive rebound for the Marauders. The Possession Arrow apologizes for its mistake on the previous held ball and awards the ball to Ovid-Elsie. The Marauders miss a threeball from the wing. The Hornets commit and offensive foul and one of their starters fouls out.

Addison Phillips knocks the ball away from Ovid-Elsie, but the Marauders recover. Ovid-Elsie loses the ball out of bounds. Alyson Moore steals the ball for the Marauders and passes to McKenzie Keck, who throws in a threeball from the wing to cut the Hornet lead to 38-34.

Katelyn Wendling is fouled and hits two free throws for New Lothrop. Ovid-Elsie is called for a traveling violation. Katelyn Wendling is fouled and hits two more free throws for New Lothrop. With 1:02 left in the game, New Lothrop has a 42-34 lead.

Ovid-Elsie misses a layup. The rebound goes out of bounds and New Lothrop takes possession. On two consecutive inbound attempts, Ovid-Elsie defends so fiercely that New Lothrop is forced to call time out to prevent turning the ball over for failing to inbound it in the required five seconds. Alyson Moore knocks the next Hornet inbound pass out of bounds. Finally, New Lothrop gets the ball inbounds and Katelyn Wendling is fouled again. She sinks two free throws to push New Lothrop to a 44-34 lead with 45 seconds to go.

Ovid-Elsie misses a layup. Kelsey Kohlmann is fouled and hits two free throws for New Lothrop. Katelyn Wendling blocks a Marauder layup. Kelsey Kohlman is fouled and hits one of her two free throws with just fourteen seconds to go. Ovid-Elsie misses a three point shot from the side. New Lothrop runs out the clock.

New Lothrop wins this tough battle between two of the top teams in the Mid-Michigan Activities Conference by the final score of 47-34.

Dannika Campbell led the Ovid-Elsie scoring with 13 points (or four field goals and one extra point in football terms.) Allison Veith, Kendal Tokar and Alyson Moore each provided 5 points. McKenzie Keck tossed in 4 points and Kortlynn Loynes added 2 points.

New Lothrop’s Katelyn Wendling led all scorers with 26 points. Kelsey Kohlmann supported her teammate with 9 points. Madyson Schneider chipped in with 6 points. Addison Phillips scored 3 points. Ashley Krupp added 2 points and Cassie Green tallied 1 point.