Frankenmuth vs. Goodrich – – Girls Basketball – – MHSAA Division 2 Semifinal – – The Bleacher Denizen – – March 17, 2023 – – by Chuck Krafft
In my You Tube Video of me running through everything from Rock to 1940s pop on the piano through “Red River Valley”, I tell the listeners that you never know where the Red River Valley will lead. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w03AhhNk1M8
One place where it does not lead is the Breslin Center at Michigan State University, where the Frankenmuth Eagles will play the Martians from Goodrich in a Girls Basketball Semifinal. However, fortunately, because Harrison Road does lead there, your Bleacher Denizen and the teams were able to get here to play the State Semifinal.
Goodrich enters the game with a 24-3 record. Riley Place scores 13.2 points per game and she is a fine threes point shooter who has hit 77 of them this year. Kalen Williams averages 8.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Alexis Kosmowski averages 10.2 points per game and gives the Martians another threat from the three point line as she is also hitting more than one per game.
Frankenmuth has a 24-2 record coming into the game. Lexi Boyke, a 6-1 center leads the team in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots with 13 points per game, 8.5 rebounds and 2.9 blocks. Mia McLaughlin is a good ball handler who scores 10.6 points per game and also averages 3.9 assists to go along with 41 made three point shots on the season. Clare Conzelmann contributes 9.8 points and 3.2 steals per game.
It’s St. Patrick’s Day, so your Bleacher Denizen settled for wearing olive to hopefully avoid pinches. I also had a great Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner at Leo’s Outpost. (That is one of my St. Patrick’s Day traditions!)
Well, I guess it’s time to start reviewing the events of this game through the occasionally observant eyes of an aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league in the days of yore when he was actually considered to be “young.” Your Bleacher Denizen showed some promise as a dunker, but all his plans were ruined when the basketball powers that be raised the rims from five feet to ten feet.
Frankenmuth wins the opening tap. The Eagles miss a driving ten foot banked shot from the side. Tanner Schramm passes to a Martian teammate who is fouled on a layup, but misses her free throws. Alexis Kosmowski pulls down the offensive rebound for the Martians. Goodrich is assessed with a traveling violation. Frankenmuth misses a ten foot shot in the lane. Izzy Bernthal hits a putback reverse layup to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead.
Lexi Boyke blocks a Goodrich layup. The loose ball goes out of bounds and Goodrich gets it back. Alexis Kosmowski drives and hits a layup for Goodrich to tie the game. Frankenmuth misses a driving layup; the rebound goes out of bounds and Goodrich gets the ball. Lexi Boyke gets a hand on the ball, but the Martians are able to recover.
Clare Conzelmann knocks a Goodrich pass out of bounds, but the Martians retain possession. Goodrich misses a ten foot shot from the side of the lane and fouls on the rebound. Frankenmuth misfires on a threeball from the side. Lexi Boyke gets the offensive rebound for the Eagles. Frankenmuth misses a six foot banked shot. Izzy Bernthal gets the offensive rebound for the Eagles. Frankenmuth misses a threeball from the top of the key. The rebound goes out of bounds and Goodrich takes possession.
Lexi Boyke blocks a Goodrich six footer from the baseline. Frankenmuth misses a fourteen foot shot in the lane. Izzy Bernthal knocks the ball away from Goodrich. Rosemary Brenner picks the ball up and passes to Clare Conzelmann, who hits a fast break layup to give Frankenmuth a two point lead. Alexis Kosmowski drives and dishes the ball to Kalen Williams, who hits a layup for Goodrich to tie the game at 4-4.
Frankenmuth misses a driving layup. Lexi Boyke blocks a Goodrich driving layup. The loose ball goes out of bounds and Goodrich gets another possession. Goodrich misses a three point shot from the side. Clare Conzelmann passes to Rosemary Brenner for a layup that gives Frankenmuth a 6-4 lead.
Goodrich misses a three point shot from the side. Riley Place hustles and causes Frankenmuth to travel with the rebound. Lexi Boyke blocks a Goodrich layup. Kayla Hairston recovers the ball for the Martians. Kierstyn Bully gets her hand on a Goodrich pass and causes a tieup. The Possession Arrow and its prom decoration committee were involved in properly folding flowers and missed the play. The ball is awarded to Goodrich.
Izzy Bernthal steals the ball for the Eagles. Kayla Hairston knocks a Frankenmuth pass out of bounds with 4.4 seconds to play in the quarter. Alexis Kosmowski harasses an Eagle ball handler into stepping on the baseline. Goodrich is not able to shoot before the buzzer although Riley Place banks in a three pointer just a second or so later.
After one quarter Frankenmuth has a 6-4 lead.
Frankenmuth has the ball to begin the second quarter. Clare Conzelmann passes to Lexi Boyke, who hits an eight foot turnaround shot from the side for the Eagles. Frankenmuth’s defense forces Goodrich into a desperation pass and Kierstyn Bully steals the ball for Frankenmuth. Lexi Boyke passes to Mia McLaughlin, who throws in a threeball from the wing to give the Eagles an 11-4 lead.
Goodrich misses a three pointer from the corner. Frankenmuth misses a driving layup. Izzy Bernthal grabs the offensive rebound for the Eagles. Frankenmuth misses a three point shot from the side. Goodrich misfires on a threeball from the top of the key. Alexis Kosmowski gets the offensive rebound for the Martians. Izzy Bernthal blocks a Goodrich layup. Frankenmuth throws a pass through the lane and out of bounds. Goodrich takes possession.
The Martians mislaunch a threeball from the side. Frankenmuth misfires on a triple try from the top of the key. Goodrich misses a ten foot shot in the lane. Tanner Schramm grabs the offensive rebound for the Martians. Goodrich misses a three point shot from the wing. Mia McLaughlin passes to Clare Conzelmann, who hits a fast break layup to give Frankenmuth a 13-4 lead.
Ella Place is fouled on a jump shot and hits one of her two free throws to trim the Frankenmuth lead to 13-5 with 2:22 remaining in the first half.
Frankenmuth throws a pass out of bounds. Tanner Schramm passes to Alexis Kosmowski, who banks in a threeball from the top of the key for Goodrich. (I’m sure I heard her yell “BANK”!!) Ella Place steals the ball and is fouled on a fast break layup. She hits two free throws to cut the Eagle lead to 13-10 with 33.5 seconds to play in the half.
Tanner Schramm goes to the floor to tie the ball up for Goodrich. The Possession Arrow and its Christmas Party committee are impressed with her hustle and award the ball to the Martians. Goodrich misses a fifteen foot shot from the wing at the buzzer.
Frankenmuth has a 13-10 lead at halftime.
As there is no entertainment at halftime, you might enjoy this 50s pop tune, “Glowworm” from my You Tube Channel. (I can always hope!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbyez-hYtDY
Frankenmuth has the ball to begin the third quarter. The Eagles miss a driving layup. The Martians drive and dish the ball out of bounds and Frankenmuth takes possession. Frankenmuth misses a fifteen foot shot from the wing. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Martians take possession. Lexi Boyke blocks a Martian layup. The ball goes out of bounds and Goodrich gets another opportunity. Goodrich misses a threeball from the top of the key. The rebound goes out of bounds and Frankenmuth takes possession.
Frankenmuth misses a driving layup. Clare Conzelmann blocks a Goodrich scooping layup. The ball goes out of bounds and Goodrich gets it back. Clare Conzelmann knocks the ball away from Goodrich and draws a foul on the Martians in the process. Mia McLaughlin drives from the side and hits a layup to give Frankenmuth a five point lead. Alexis Kosmowski is fouled on an eight foot shot from the side and hits two free throws to shave the Frankenmuth lead to 15-12 with 3:49 remaining in quarter number three.
Riley Place steals the ball for Goodrich. Mic McLaughlin steals the ball for Frankenmuth. Kierstyn Bully passes to Clare Conzelmann, who throws in a threeball from the side for Frankenmuth. Goodrich commits an offensive foul. Izzy Bernthal passes to Lexi Boyke, who hits a layup to give Frankenmuth a 20-12 lead.
Kayla Hairston passes to Riley Place, who hits a three point shot from the corner for Goodrich. Riley Place knocks the ball away from Frankenmuth and Kayla Hairston picks it up for Goodrich. Lexi Boyke steals the ball for Frankenmuth. The Eagles miss a threeball from the side. Lexi Boyke gets the offensive rebound for the Eagles. Riley Place blocks an Eagle layup Alexis Kosmowski drives and hits a layup for Goodrich. Kierstyn Bully drives and hits a layup for the Eagles. Ella Place is fouled on a six foot hook and hits two free throws to trim the Frankenmuth lead to 22-19 with 21.4 seconds left in the third quarter.
Kayla Hairston nearly steals the ball for Goodrich, but knocks it out of bounds. Frankenmuth inbounds the ball with 6.7 seconds to go, but is not able to shoot before the third quarter buzzer makes its presence known.
With three quarters in the books, Frankenmuth holds a 22-19 lead.
Goodrich inbounds the ball to get the fourth quarter underway. The Martians fumble a pass out of bounds. Mia McLaughlin passes to Lexi Boyke, who hits a reverse layup for the Eagles. Clare Conzelmann blocks a Martian six foot baseline hook shot. The loose ball goes out of bounds and the Martians get another opportunity. Goodrich misses a three point shot from the top of the key. Alexis Kosmowski and Kayla Hairston tie up the rebound. The Possession Arrow and its standing committee miss the play and award the ball to Frankenmuth.
The Eagles commit a traveling violation. Goodrich misses a three point shot from the corner. Kayla Hairston closely guards and Eagle ball handler for five seconds to cause a Frankenmuth turnover. Goodrich misses a driving layup. Frankenmuth reciprocates and misses a driving layup. Izzy Bernthal pulls down the offensive rebound for the Eagles. Clare Conzelmann drives and hits a six foot hook shot from the baseline. She is fouled on the play and makes her free throw to give Frankenmuth a 27-19 lead with 3:27 left on the clock.
Izzy Bernthal steals a Goodrich pass. Clare Conzelmann passes Izzy Bernthal, who hits a fifteen foot shot from the baseline. The Place Connection connects for Goodrich as Riley Place passes to Ella Place, who hits a three point shot from the side to trim the Eagle lead to 29-22.
Frankenmuth misfires on a triple try from the side. Clare Conzelmann steals the ball for Frankenmuth and hits a fast break layup. She is fouled on the play and makes her free throw to give Frankenmuth a 32-22 lead with 1:58 to play in the game.
Lexi Boyke knocks the ball away from Goodrich and Clare Conzelmann picks it up for Frankenmuth. Tanner Schramm steals an Eagle pass. Riley Place is fouled on a three point attempt from the top of the key. She hits one, two, three free throws to cut the Frankenmuth lead to 32-25 with 1:12 remaining.
Goodrich commits its sixth foul of the half; on the seventh foul Frankenmuth will be forced to shoot free throws. Mia McLaughlin is fouled and hits one of two free throws in a one and one opportunity to boost Frankenmuth to a 33-25 lead with 1:06 left in the game.
Izzy Bernthal gets the offensive rebound for the Eagles. Riley Place knocks the ball away from Frankenmuth, but the Eagles are able to recover. Frankenmuth is fouled, but misses the first shot in a one and one free throw opportunity. Tanner Schramm passes to Kayla Hairston, who hits a layup for Goodrich. Frankenmuth is fouled and misses the first shot of a one and one opportunity. Izzy Bernthal hits a putback to give Frankenmuth a 35-27 lead with about 24 seconds to play.
Kayla Hairston passes to Alexis Kosmowski, who hits a threeball from the wing to cut Frankenmuth’s lead to five points. Mia McLaughlin is fouled and hits two free throws to boost Frankenmuth to a 37-30 lead with 12.8 seconds to go.
Frankenmuth has less than seven fouls and can foul without sending Goodrich to the line. They use two free throws to cut down on the time Goodrich has to try to shoot. Goodrich misses a three pointer from the wing with about 4 seconds left; the rebound goes out of bounds and Frankenmuth gets the ball. Frankenmuth dribbles out the clock.
Frankenmuth wins this semifinal by the score of 37-30 and advances to tomorrow’s final game against Lansing Catholic!
Alexis Kosmowski had 14 points to lead the Goodrich scoring. Ella Place and Riley Place each added 6 points. Kalen Williams and Kayla Hairston each tallied 2 points.
Clare Conzelmann had 15 points to lead Frankenmuth’s scoring. Izzy Bernthal, Lexi Boyke and Mia McLaughlin each scored 6 points. Kierstyn Bully and Rosemary Brenner each had 2 points.
Lansing Catholic beat Grand Rapids West Catholic in the other Division 2 semifinal; they will play Frankenmuth Saturday night at around 6 PM. Here is a play by play of that game!