Fowler vs. Kingston – – Girls Basketball – – MHSAA Division 4 Quarterfinal – – The Bleacher Denizen – – March 14, 2023 – – by Chuck Krafft

Tonight, your Bleacher Denizen is making his way to Mt. Morris High School, where the Cardinals from Kingston will take on the Eagles from Fowler to determine who will play in Thursday’s semifinal at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center.

While we wait for the game to start, perhaps we can enjoy this piano version of “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys from my You Tube Channel!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3482fQh0Rdo

Kingston’s Cardinals enter this game with a 25-1 record. Their only loss has been to Division 2 Saginaw Swan Valley.

Three of the Cardinal starters are sisters – – Juniors Abby and Gracy as well as Freshman Molly. Gracy Walker is an excellent perimeter defender with great passing and ball handling skills. She sees the court well and gets a lot of scores on fast breaks off the ferocious Kingston defense. Abby Walker defends well in the post and is a huge part of the Cardinal Press. She rebounds well and scores well in the lane. Molly Walker is an strong perimeter defender who can score either on slashes to the basket or from the three point line.

Delaney St. George is a great leader who has an excellent three point shot. She is also a tough defender as part of Kingston’s press. Keira McGarvie is an excellent defender, scorer and rebounder in the post. Zoe van Rijn is generally the first player off the Cardinal bench. She is a fine ball handler who brings a lot of energy to the Cardinal defense. Chesaney Wenzlaff, Sophia Schipinski and Lauren Krug are strong defenders on the perimeter. Daisy Barnes is a solid post defender.

The Fowler Eagles enter this game with a 19-7 record; however, this is quite misleading as six of the losses came while All-State Guard extraordinaire Emma Riley was out with an injury. The only loss since she has come back is to Division 3 Dansville, who went undefeated in the CMAC this year.

Emma Riley is a fine all-around guard who has nearly healed from a severe ankle injury suffered during the volleyball season. She was All-State last year as a junior. She is a determined perimeter defender who gets a lot of steals and gets her share of rebounds as well. On offense, she is an excellent ball handler and passer who gives direction to the Eagle offense. She is a dangerous scorer on drives to the basket, stop and pop mid-range shots as well as from the three point line. She also posts up sometimes and scores on post moves in the lane.

Grace Epkey puts the “d” in defense for the Eagles. She is tall and strong enough to defend opponents in the post where she is also an excellent rebounder. She is also quick enough to defend against guards on the perimeter when she needs to switch. On offense, she scores a lot on layups and putbacks; she can also step out and shoot from the three point line when she is open.

Avery Koenigsknecht and Taylor Weber are fierce perimeter defenders who create a lot of turnovers for Fowler opponents. Both of them can get hot from the three point line and both of them score a lot of layups on fast breaks. Quinn Watts is an energetic perimeter defender who also forces opponents to make a lot of mistakes.

Grace O’Hare is tall enough to defend in the post and quick enough to switch and cover guards on the perimeter. She is a good three point shooter who can also score inside. Katie Spicer is a sophomore who played the point position while Emma Riley was out with her injury. She is a fine ball handler and solid passer who is a really creative scorer on drives to the basket. She has also become one of Fowler’s best three point shooters.

It is now time to look through the events of this game through the creaky, aging eyes of a Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league when he attempted to play basketball in the days of yore. Alas, he was never able to realize that making bricks when he was employed at the brickyard was a good thing, but that basketball coaches from on players who sling bricks on the court. There is just so much to learn – – – –

Fowler wins the opening tap. Taylor Weber passes to Emma Riley, who hits a three point shot from the corner to give Fowler the first three points of the game. Kingston throws a pass too high and out of bounds. Fowler misses a driving layup. Grace Epkey grabs the offensive rebound for the Eagles. Fowler misses a layup. The rebound goes out of bounds and Fowler gets another opportunity. Fowler misses a driving layup. The rebound goes out of bounds and this time, Kingston takes possession.

Quinn Watts knocks the ball away from Kingston and Avery Koenigsknecht picks it up for Fowler. Avery Koenigsknecht passes to Taylor Weber, who hits a three point shot from the wing to give the Eagles a 6-0 lead.

Kingston misses a layup. Abby Walker gets the offensive rebound for the Cardinals. Quinn Watts gets her hand on a Cardinal pass and Kingston loses the ball out of bounds. Fowler misses a driving eight foot shot from the baseline. Kingston misfires on a threeball from the wing. The rebound goes out of bounds and Fowler takes possession. Fowler misses a driving layup. Grace O’Hare gets the offensive rebound for the Eagles. Fowler misses a layup. Emma Riley steals a Kingston pass. Avery Koenigsknecht passes to Grace O’Hare, who hits a five foot banked shot from the side to boost the Fowler lead to 8-0.

Delaney St. George passes to Abby Walker, who hits a layup to give Kingston its first points. Fowler misses a reverse layup. Emma Riley steals the ball and hits a layup for Fowler. Kingston misses a layup. Emma Riley passes to a teammate who is fouled on a layup, but misses both her free throws. Fowler leads 10-2 with 3:20 remaining in the first quarter.

Emma Riley pulls down the offensive rebound for the Eagles. Fowler misses a three point shot near the top of the key. Kingston is whistled for a three seconds violation. Gracy Walker steals the ball for the Cardinals. Kingston misses a jump shot. Gracy Walker gets the offensive rebound for the Cardinals. Kingston misses a jump shot. The Cardinals get the offensive rebound and miss a three point shot from the wing. Kingston fouls on the rebound.

Keira McGarvie steals the ball for Kingston. Grace O’Hare steals the ball for Fowler. Fowler misses a three point shot from the wing. Gracy Walker passes to Molly Walker, who hits a three point shot from the wing for Kingston. Fowler misfires on a triple try from the wing. Kingston misses a three point shot from the side. Abby Walker is fouled on a putback and hits one of her two free throws to trim the Fowler lead to 10-6 with 56.7 seconds to go in the quarter.

Katie Spicer passes to Grace O’Hare for an Eagle layup. Molly Walker throws in a threeball from the wing for Kingston. Fowler misses a driving reverse layup. The first quarter buzzer sounds off as Kingston is bringing the ball up the court.

After one quarter, Fowler has a 12-9 lead.

Kingston has the ball to open the second quarter. Abby Walker passes to Keira McGarvie, who hits a layup to cut the Fowler lead to one point. Fowler misses a shot, but gets the offensive rebound. Grace Epkey passes to Katie Spicer, who fires in a threeball from the top of the key to give Fowler a 15-11 lead.

Grace Epkey knocks a Kingston pass out of bounds to prevent a layup; the Cardinals retain possession. Katie Spicer gets her hand on the ball and a Kingston dribbler loses it out of bounds. Avery Koenigsknecht passes to Emma Riley, who hits a three point shot from the side to give the Eagles an 18-11 lead.

Kingston misses a three point shot from the top of the key. Abby Walker gets the offensive rebound and passes to Molly Walker, who hits one of her two free throws for Kingston to cut the Fowler lead to 18-12 with 5:51 remaining in the half.

Fowler misses a ten foot shot from the baseline. Kingston misses a three pointer from the side. Grace O’Hare gets the offensive rebound for the Eagles. Fowler misses a three point shot from the wing. The rebound goes out of bounds and Kingston takes possession. Kingston misses a reverse hook/layup. Fowler misses a layup. Grace O’Hare gets the offensive rebound for the Eagles. Avery Koenigsknecht is fouled on a layup and hits two free throws to boost Fowler to a 20-12 lead with 4:36 to go in the half.

A traveling violation negates a Kingston layup. Fowler misses a driving six foot shot from the side. Grace Epkey steals the ball for the Eagles. Emma Riley is fouled on a six foot runner in the lane. She hits two free throws to boost the Fowler lead to 22-12 with 4:01 left in the half.

Grace O’Hare steals the ball for Fowler. Katie Spicer passes to Avery Koenigsknecht who hits a layup for Fowler. Kingston misses a three pointer from the wing. Molly Walker gets the offensive rebound for the Cardinals. Kingston misses a layup. Molly Walker gets the offensive rebound for the Cardinals and is fouled on a putback. She hits two free throws to cut the Fowler lead to 24-14 with 3:11 remaining in the half.

Fowler misses a twelve foot shot in the lane. Avery Koenigsknecht gets the offensive rebound for Fowler. Fowler misses a three pointer from the wing. Kingston reciprocates and misses a three pointer from the wing. Kingston gets several offensive rebounds and misses a few putbacks until Molly Walker hits a putback. She is fouled on the play and hits her free throw. Emma Riley is fouled on a driving layup and hits two free throws to push the Eagle lead to 26-17 with 2:13 to go in the second quarter.

Molly Walker is fouled on a fifteen foot shot off the dribble from the side. She hits two free throws for Kingston. Fowler misses a jumper off the dribble from the free throw line. Grace O’Hare gets the offensive rebound for the Eagles. Fowler misses a ten foot shot from the baseline. Katie Spicer knocks a Kingston pass out of bounds; Kingston retains possession. Kingston is not able to shoot before the halftime buzzer makes its presence known.

Fowler has a 26-19 lead at halftime.

Molly Walker leads the Kingston scoring with 14 points.

Emma Riley has 12 points to lead Fowler.

As there is no halftime entertainment, perhaps we can listen to this arrangement of Glow Worm from my You Tube Channel!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbyez-hYtDY

Fowler inbounds the ball to get quarter number three underway. Abby Walker steals the ball for the Cardinals. Kingston misses a driving layup. Avery Koenigsknecht passes to Taylor Weber, who hits a three pointer from the corner for the eagles. Molly Walker drives and dishes the ball to Abby Walker, who scores a layup for Kingston. Fowler misses a threeball from the corner. Emma Riley gets the offensive rebound for the Eagles. Fowler is fouled on a layup, but misses two free throws. With 6:13 to play in the quarter, Fowler has a 29-21 lead.

Kingston misses a threeball from the side. Fowler misses a fast break layup. Avery Koenigsknecht snares the offensive rebound for the Eagles. Fowler misses a six foot shot from the baseline. Kingston misfires on a triple try from the wing. Fowler misses a six foot banked shot from the side. Abby Walker passes to Delaney St. George, who hits a three point shot from the top of the key to chop the Fowler lead to 29-24.

Fowler misses three point shot from the wing. Emma Riley blocks a Kingston shot. Emma Riley drives and hits a layup for Fowler. Molly Walker passes to Delaney St. George, who fires in another three point shot, this time from the wing, to cut the Fowler lead to four points. Katie Spicer fakes a shot and drives from the side to hit a layup that gives Fowler a 33-27 lead.

Emma Riley knocks a Kingston pass out of bounds; Fowler takes possession. Katie Spicer passes to Emma Riley, who hits a layup for the Eagles. Avery Koenigsknecht knocks the ball away from Kingston and ties up the ball. The Possession Arrow and its advisory council ignore her hustle and award the ball to the Cardinals. Molly Walker is fouled on a driving, scooping layup and hits one of her two free throws to cut the Fowler lead to 35-28 with 41.4 seconds left in the third quarter.

Fowler misses a layup. Molly Walker is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of her two free throws for Kingston with 23.1 seconds to play in the quarter. Zoe van Rijn steals the ball for the Cardinals. Molly Walker hits an eight foot shot at the buzzer for Kingston to cut the Fowler lead to four points.

With three quarters in the books, Fowler has a 35-31 lead.

Fowler has the ball at the beginning of the fourth quarter. The Eagles miss a three point shot from the wing. Emma Riley ties up the rebound; the Possession Arrow and its Garden Club are munching crumpets and miss the play; the ball is awarded to Kingston. Taylor Weber steals a Kingston pass. Fowler bounces a pass out of bounds. Delaney St. George passes to Molly Walker, who hits a three point shot from the top of the key to chop the Fowler lead to one point at 35-34.

Molly Walker’s tough defense forces a Fowler dribbler to lose the ball out of bounds. Kingston throws a pass out of bounds. Emma Riley passes to Grace O’Hare, who hits a three point shot from the wing for Fowler. Kingston drives from the side and misses a layup. The long rebound is tied up near midcourt. The Possession Arrow and its golf outing committee decree that Fowler shall have the ball. Emma Riley whips a pass to Avery Koenigsknecht, who hits a threeball from the wing to boost Fowler to a 41-34 lead.

Grace O’Hare blocks a Kingston runner in the lane. The Possession Arrow contacts its steering committee; they decide to award the ball to Kingston. Kingston misses a layup. Fowler misses a three point shot from the wing. Grace O’Hare ties up the rebound. The Possession Arrow and its legal committee decide to award the ball to Fowler. The Eagles miss a layup. Grace Epkey knocks the ball out of bounds; the Cardinals retain possession.

Kingston misses a three point shot from the wing. Abby Walker gets the offensive rebound for the Cardinals. Delaney St. George drives and is fouled on a five foot shot from the baseline. Delaney St. George hits one of her two free throws to shave the Fowler lead to 41-35 with 3:19 left on the clock.

Kingston commits its third, fourth, fifth and sixth fouls of the half so they can force Fowler to shoot free throws on the next foul. (The sixth foul happened with 2:04 left in the game.) Fowler is fouled and misses the first shot of a one and one free throw opportunity. Kingston misses an eight foot shot from the baseline. Abby Walker is fouled on a putback and hits one of her two free throws to cut the Fowler lead to 41-36 with 1:31 to go.

One second later, Fowler is fouled and misses the first shot of a one and one free throw opportunity. Kingston misses a jump shot. Abby Walker draws an offensive foul from Fowler. Kingston misses a layup. Avery Koenigsknecht is fouled and hits one of her two free throws to give Fowler a 42-36 lead with 58.1 seconds left in the game.

Kingston misses a driving layup. Zoe van Rijn gets the offensive rebound for the Cardinals. Kingston misses a layup. The rebound goes out of bounds and Kingston gets another opportunity. Delaney St. George passes to Abby Walker, who hits a layup for the Cardinals and shrinks the Fowler lead to 42-38.

Taylor Weber is fouled and hits one of her two free throws for Fowler. Emma Riley blocks a Kingston shot. Avery Koenigsknecht grabs the loose ball and is fouled. She hits two free throws to give Fowler a 45-38 lead with 18.6 seconds to go.

Delaney St. George drives and hits a layup for Kingston. Emma Riley is fouled and hits two free throws for Fowler with 7.9 seconds left. Molly Walker banks in a threeball from the side as the final buzzer blares.

Fowler wins this quarterfinal game 47-43 and will play Baraga in Thursday evening’s semifinal at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center.

Kingston’s Molly Walker had 24 points to lead all scorers. Delaney St. George contributed 9 points. Abby Walker scored 8 points. Keira McGarvie tallied 2 points.

Emma Riley had 18 points to lead Fowler’s scoring. Avery Koenigsknecht joined her teammate in double figures with 10 points. Taylor Weber and Grace O’Hare each chipped in with 7 points. Katie Spicer had 5 points.