Portland St. Patrick vs. Muskegon Catholic Central – – MHSAA Girls Regional Basketball Final – – The Bleacher Denizen – – March 11, 2026 – – by Chuck Krafft

Tonight, your Bleacher Denizen is at Fowler High where the Shamrocks from Portland St. Patrick will compete with the Crusaders from Muskegon Catholic Central for the Division 4 Girls’ Basketball Regional Title.

St. Patrick has a 20-5 record and advanced to the regional final game by defeating Climax-Scotts in the regional semifinal. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2026/03/10/climax-scotts-vs-portland-st-patrick-mhsaa-girls-district-basketball-semifinal-the-bleacher-denizen-march-9-2026-by-chuck-krafft/

Muskegon Catholic Central enters the game with a 16-5 record and advanced to this game by defeating Whitmore Lake 29-22 in the regional semifinal.

As we wait for this game to begin, I hope you will enjoy this original Christian tune from my You Tube Channel!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYixQ0OWsd4

I have seen St. Patrick play a number of times this season. Thanks to Coach Michelle Smith for providing this information.

Grace Rockey is an excellent athlete who excels at softball in addition to basketball. In basketball, she is a complete player who can dominate on offense or on defense. She is strong and tall enough to defend the post well and she is quick enough to defend the perimeter at a high level as well. On offense, she is a fine ball handler who can use her strength to get to the basket for layups. She is a fine passer and can hit the three point shot as well.

Lily Sandborn runs the Shamrock point where she is a top ball handler and passer. She is also a fierce perimeter defender and can slash to the basket to score. Macie Smith is also tall enough to defend in the post and quick enough to cover the perimeter. Even though she is a guard, she usually does the game-opening center jump for the Shamrocks. She sees the floor well and is an accurate shooter from the three point line.

Marian Davlin is a tough rebounder and defender in the post. She can score in the post and also shoots an accurate mid-range shot. Macie Leonard is a freshman who has a great three point shot. She is tall and strong enough to defend in the post and quick enough to cover the perimeter.

Mattie Honsowitz would have been one of the best post players in the area this year, but she reinjured a knee and has had to miss most of this season. She had excellent fundamentals that made both her post defense and rebounding effective. On offense, she had great hands for catching passes in the post and quality fundamental post moves that freed her for a lot of layups and midrange shots.

Catholic Central Coach Kaelee Cook provided me with some information about her Crusader players.

Andre’a Johnson is an quick, speedy player who was all-Conference this last year. She is a great perimeter defender who can get into the lane to score. She supplies valuable leadership to her team. Molly Caughey is a good rebounder and defender in the post who gives a lot of putback baskets to her Crusaders. Aaliyah Winston runs the point for Catholic Central. She is an excellent distributor and ball handler who can hit the three point shot. She is also a tough perimeter defender.

Kenzie Kammeraad is an excellent three point shooter who also handles the ball well and slashes to the basket effectively. Leona Kotecki is a quick player who slashes to the basket well and is a threat from the three point line. She is able to defend the post or the perimeter. Unfortunately, she sprained her ankle in warm-ups and will not start tonight. Senior Abbigail Cook will start in her place.

It is now time to review the events of this game through the somewhat clean lenses of an Aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league when he attempted to hoop in the days of yore. He was showing a lot of promise as a shooter until the basketball powers that be refused to allow him to use a large funnel to direct his shots into the basket. When the shots missed the basket, the Bleacher Denizen missed out on his playing time.

St. Patrick wins the opening tap. Abbigail Cook stops St. Patrick from shooting a layup; the Shamrocks retain possession. St. Patrick misses an eight foot shot off the dribble from the baseline. Kenzie Kammeraad passes to Andre’a Johnson, who hits a three point shot from the wing to give Catholic Central the first three points of the game.

The Bleacher Denizen’s pen breaks and the spring in the pen forces shrapnel into the space occupied by the MCC (abbreviated to save excess wear on your Aging Bleacher Denizen’s aging fingers.) scorer. She is nice about it. Some pens just aren’t built to stand the stress involved with a varsity regional final game!

St. Patrick (actually, the players and not the saint, himself) ignores the Bleacher Denizen’s pen adventures and runs their play. Macie Smith hits a layup for the Shamrocks to trim the Crusader lead to one point. Marian Davlin dives and forces a tieup. The Possession Arrow is busy gluing stamps into its collection and misses the play. The ball is awarded to MCC.

Macie Leonard knocks the ball away from the Crusaders and Marian Davlin picks it up for the Shamrocks. The Shamrocks miss a threeball from the side. Lily Sandborn gets a hand on the ball, but the Crusaders recover. MCC misses a threeball from the side. Molly Caughey grabs the offensive rebound for the Crusaders. MCC is fouled on a layup, but misses two free throws. With 5:35 remaining in the opening quarter, the Crusader lead is at 3-2.

St. Patrick is whistled for a traveling violation. Macie Smith gets her hand on the ball; MCC recovers. Grace Rockey steals the ball and passes to Macie Leonard, who hits a layup. She is fouled on the play and makes her free throw. With 4:57 remaining in the quarter, St. Patrick has a 5-3 lead.

MCC misses a driving layup. Macie Leonard drives the baseline and hits a layup for St. Patrick. MCC misses an eight foot shot in the lane. Lily Sandborn passes to Macie Leonard, who hits a three point shot from the corner for St. Patrick. Aaliyah Winston passes to Molly Caughey, who hits a layup for the Crusaders. Grace Rockey is fouled on a driving reverse layup and hits one of her two free throws to give St. Patrick an 11-5 lead with 3:21 remaining in the first quarter.

MCC misses a threeball from the wing. St. Patrick is assessed with a traveling violation. Andre’a Johnson hits a ten foot banked shot off the dribble from the side of the lane for MCC. St. Patrick misses a three point shot from the wing. Marian Davlin pulls down the offensive rebound for the Shamrocks. St. Patrick misfires on a threeball from the top of the key.

MCC misses a three point shot from the wing. Aaliyah Winston gets the offensive rebound for the Crusaders. MCC misses a threeball from the wing. Grace Rockey passes to Lily Sandborn, who throws in a threeball from the corner to give St. Patrick a 14-7 lead.

MCC misses a three point shot from the wing. Andrea’a Johnson gets the offensive rebound for the Crusaders. Andre’a Johnson passes to Molly Caughey, who hits a layup for the Crusaders. Grace Rockey hits a three point shot from the corner for the Shamrocks. Andre’a Johnson slashes to the basket and hits a ten foot banked shot from the side for MCC. She is fouled on the play and sinks her free throw to cut the Shamrock lead to 17-12 with 24.6 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Grace Rockey is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of her two free throws for the Shamrocks. Marian Davlin pulls down the offensive rebound for the Shamrocks and passes to Macie Leonard, who hits a fifteen foot shot from the baseline for St. Patrick. MCC misses a layup. St. Patrick misses a long three pointer from the wing just before the first quarter buzzer decides it is time to end the quarter.

After one quarter, St. Patrick holds a 20-12 lead.

St. Patrick inbounds the ball to open the second quarter. Macie Leonard passes to Grace Rockey, who hits a three point shot from the corner for the Shamrocks. MCC misses a driving layup and fouls on the rebound. A Shamrock bad pass turns into an over and back violation. Grace Rockey knocks the ball away from the Crusaders and Morgan Krieger picks it up for the Shamrocks. Macie Leonard passes to Grace Rockey, who hits a threeball from the side to give St. Patrick a 26-12 lead.

MCC misses a driving layup. Grace Rockey drives and hits a layup for the Shamrocks. Andre’a Johnson drives and hits a layup for the Crusaders. St. Patrick misses a driving layup. MCC misses a jump shot from the free throw line. A Shamrock traveling violation negates a layup. Leona Kotecki, who has entered the game after missing the first quarter with an ankle injury, passes to Andre’a Johnson, who banks in a threeball from the wing to cut the St. Patrick lead to 28-17.

St. Patrick misses a layup. Grace Rockey is fouled on a putback and hits one of her two free throws for the Shamrocks. MCC is called for traveling. St. Patrick commits an offensive foul. Aaliyah Winston drives and hits a ten foot shot in the lane. She is fouled on the play, but misses her free throw. With 2:34 remaining in the half, St. Patrick’s lead is at 29-19.

Abbigail Cook grabs the offensive rebound for the Crusaders. She is fouled on a putback and hits two free throws for MCC. St. Patrick is called for traveling. Lily Sandborn steals the ball for the Shamrocks. Leona Kotecki steals a Shamrock pass in the lane. Leona Kotecki fires the ball to Kenzie Kammeraad, who hits a three point shot from the side to cut the Shamrock lead to 29-24.

St. Patrick misses a twelve footer from the baseline. Macie Smith hits a putback for the Shamrocks. Aaliyah Winston passes to Kenzie Kammeraad, who hits a three point shot from the side for MCC. St. Patrick commits an offensive foul with just 4.7 seconds to play. Leona Kotecki shoots a halfcourt shot at the buzzer that hits the backboard and the front of the rim before falling to the court.

At halftime, St. Patrick has a 31-27 lead. Muskegon Catholic Central ended the half on a 10-2 run.

Andre’a Johnson has 13 points for the Crusaders at halftime and Kenzie Kammeraad has 6.

Grace Rockey has 14 points for St. Patrick and Macie Leonard has 10 points.

As there are no halftime activities tonight, I hope you will enjoy a couple Christian songs from my You Tube Channel.

“Just As I Am Without One Plea” is a classic Christian hymn. Nikki Zeeb and I perform a nearly a Capella arrangement of this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM_D5Npbyzo

And here’s an original tune, “He Loves Us.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxrh1V9JJkE

MCC inbounds the ball to get quarter number three underway. The Crusaders miss a three point shot from the wing. Lily Sandborn passes to Grace Rockey, who hits a layup for the Shamrocks. MCC misses a three point shot from the side. Macie Leonard passes to Macie Smith, who hits a three point shot from the side to give St. Patrick a 36-27 lead.

Macie Smith knocks a Crusader pass out of bounds; MCC retains possession. Lily Sandborn gets her hand on the ball; MCC recovers. The Crusaders miss a three point shot from the top of the key. Leona Kotecki grabs the offensive rebound for MCC. The Crusaders commit a double dribble violation. Lily Sandborn passes to Grace Rockey, who spins and hits a layup for the Shamrocks. She is fouled on the play and ends up with a bloody nose. Grace Rockey hits her free throw and St. Patrick has a 39-27 lead with 5:03 to go in quarter number three.

MCC misses a threeball from the corner. Grace Rockey drives and hits a layup for St. Patrick. Macie Leonard steals the ball for the Shamrocks. Macie Smith passes to Lily Sandborn, who hits a layup for St. Patrick. Macie Smith gets a hand on the ball and Grace Rockey ties it up for the Shamrocks. The Possession Arrow looks up after having glued a stamp on the wrong page; it awards the ball to the Shamrocks. Macie Leonard passes to Lily Sandborn, who is fouled on a layup and hits two free throws to boost the Shamrock lead to 45-27 with 2:25 left in quarter number three.

Aaliyah Winston passes to Kenzie Kammeraad, who hits a three point shot from the side for MCC. St. Patrick misses a layup. Macie Leonard pulls down the offensive rebound for the Shamrocks. St. Patrick misses a layup. Macie Smith gets a hand on a Crusader inbound pass; MCC retains possession. Macie Smith steals the ball for the Shamrocks. Molly Caughey steals the ball for the Crusaders.

MCC bounces its inbound pass out of bounds. St. Patrick misses a three point shot from the corner. MCC reciprocates and misses a three point shot from the corner. Leona Kotecki forces a Shamrock traveling violation. MCC misses a three point shot from the side. Molly Caughey blocks a Shamrock layup. The loose ball goes out of bounds and the Shamrocks get another opportunity. Macie Leonard inbounds the ball to Lily Sandborn, who hits a three point shot from the corner just as the buzzer calls for an end to quarter number three.

With three quarters in the books, St. Patrick has a 48-30 lead.

MCC inbounds the ball to open the fourth quarter. The Crusaders miss a three point shot from the wing. Grace Rockey dribbles into the lane and hits a six foot shot for St. Patrick. Leona Kotecki is fouled on a layup and hits two free throws to trim the St. Patrick lead to 50-32 with 6:18 left on the clock.

Macie Smith passes to Grace Rockey, who hits a layup for the Shamrocks. MCC misses a three point shot from the wing. Leona Kotecki gets the offensive rebound for the Crusaders. MCC misses a three point shot from the side. Leona Kotecki knocks the ball out of bounds; MCC takes possession. Abbigail Cook passes to Kenzie Kammeraad, who hits a three point shot to trim the Shamrock lead to 52-35.

St. Patrick is whistled for traveling. Andre’a Johnson passes to Leona Kotecki, who dribbles in and hits a six foot banked shot for the Crusaders. St. Patrick begins to run time off the clock. Abbigail Cook gets her hand on the ball, but the Shamrocks recover. Grace Rockey is fouled and hits one of her two free throws for the Shamrocks. With 52.2 seconds remaining, the Shamrock lead is at 53-37.

Andre’a Johnson passes to Molly Caughey, who hits a layup for the Crusaders. She is fouled on the play and makes her free throw. St. Patrick runs the final 35.6 seconds off the clock.

St. Patrick wins this regional final by the final score of 53-40 and will move on to Tuesday’s quarterfinal, where the Shamrocks will play Concord, the team that beat them in the regional last year.

Andre’a Johnson led the Muskegon Catholic Central scoring with 13 points. Kenzie Kammeraad joined her teammate in double figures with 12 points. Molly Caughey scored 7 points. Leona Kotecki added 4 points. Aaliyah Winston and Abbigail Cook each tallied 2 points.

Grace Rockey had 26 points to lead the St. Patrick scoring. Lily Sandborn and Macie Leonard each contributed 10 points. Macie Smith chipped in with 7 points.