Climax-Scotts vs. Portland St. Patrick – – MHSAA Girls District Basketball Semifinal – – The Bleacher Denizen – – March 9, 2026 – – by Chuck Krafft

Today, the BleacherDenizenMobile is aimed at Fowler High School, where the Shamrocks from Portland St. Patrick will compete with the Panthers from Climax-Scotts in the regional basketball semifinal. Climax-Scotts enter the game with a 17-6 record and Saint Patrick is at 19-5.

While we wait for this game to begin, I hope you will enjoy this original tune from my You Tube Channel, “A Man Like Me” about an office worker with Walter Mitty tendencies!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTdeYRUEOkc

I have seen St. Patrick’s girls play a number of times this season. With help from Coach Michelle Smith, I have learned the following information.

Grace Rockey is a complete all-around player who is an excellent athlete. She is tall and strong enough to defend in the post while being quick and agile enough to defend on the perimeter. On offense, she is a dependable ball handler and passer who can overpower other players to score in the post or hit shots from the three point line.

Lily Sandborn runs the point for the Shamrocks. She is an excellent ball handler and passer who defends the perimeter aggressively. She is a threat to slash to the basket to score. Macie Smith is another Shamrock who is tall enough to defend in the post and quick enough to cover the perimeter. She is a good three point shooter who also sees the floor well.

Marian Davlin is a tough rebounder and defender in the post. She is able to score in the post and has a dangerous mid-range shot as well. Macie Leonard is a freshman who is a great three point shooter. She is another versatile Shamrock defender who is strong in the post and can also chase people around the perimeter.

I’d also like to give a special to Mattie Honsowitz, who would have been one of the best post players in the Central Michigan Athletic Conference this year. Unfortunately, she has injured her knee and is out for the season. Her mastery of fundamentals as well as her excellent post defense and scoring is missed by the Shamrocks.

Climax-Scotts Coach Chip Paddock was generous with his time and information before the game.

Holly Talbert is a thousand point scorer who is effective defending the perimeter or the post. She is able to slash to the basket to score or hit shots from the three point line. Kendal Reitz runs the point for the Panthers. She handles the ball and passes well. She is an able defender either in the post or on the perimeter. Alyssa Langs is a solid ball handler and perimeter defender.

Annabelle Edwards and Adalynn Reeves bring tough post defense and good rebounding to the Panthers. Sophie Braithwaite is a good perimeter defender who can hit the three point shot. Ashlynn Gilbert provides rebounding and post defense.

It is now time to review the events of this game through the occasionally observant eyes of an Aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league when he attempted to hoop during the days of yore. The Bleacher Denizen was becoming a dominant rebounder when the basketball powers that be ruined everything by banning him from using his Pogo stick during games. When opposing rebounder consistently soared over him to get rebounds, the Bleacher Denizen’s playing time cratered.

St. Patrick wins the opening tap. The Shamrocks miss a driving layup. Grace Rockey hits a putback to give St. Patrick the first two points of the game. Climax-Scotts misses a ten foot shot from the side of the lane. St. Patrick misfires on a threeball from the wing. Climax-Scotts misses a ten foot shot from the side of the lane. Grace Rockey drives and hits a layup to give the Shamrocks a 4-0 lead.

The Panthers miss a driving eight foot banked hook shot. St. Patrick misfires on a threeball from the side. Holly Talbert passes to Alyse Langs, who hits a threeball from the side to slash the Shamrock lead to one point. Macie Leonard passes to Lily Sandborn, who hits a three pointer from the side for the Shamrocks to give St. Patrick a 7-3 lead.

Grace Rockey steals the ball for the Shamrocks. Annabelle Edwards steals the ball for the Panthers. Lily Sandborn knocks the ball away from a Panther dribbler and it goes out of bounds. Climax-Scotts retains possession. Grace Rockey ties up the ball for the Shamrocks. The Possession Arrow is sipping an after-dinner coffee at the restaurant and misses the play. The ball is awarded to Climax-Scotts.

Macie Smith gets her hand on the ball, but the Panthers recover. Sophie Braithwaite is fouled on an eight foot shot off the dribble from the side and hits one of her two free throws for the Panthers. With 2:46 remaining in the opening quarter, St. Patrick has a 7-4 lead.

Adalynn Reeves knocks a Shamrock pass out of bounds; St. Patrick retains possession. Holly Talbert gets her hand on the ball and a Shamrock dribbler loses it out of bounds. Climax-Scotts misses an eight foot shot from the baseline. St. Patrick misses a ten foot shot from the baseline. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Shamrocks get another opportunity. Macie Leonard inbounds the ball to Grace Rockey, who hits a three point shot from the side to give St. Patrick a 10-4 lead.

Climax-Scotts throws its inbound pass out of bounds. Holly Talbert blocks a Shamrock ten foot shot in the lane. Climax-Scotts misses a three point shot from the corner. St. Patrick reciprocates and misses a three point shot from the corner. The rebound goes out of bounds and Climax-Scotts takes possession. Macie Smith steals a Panther pass. Macie Leonard passes to Macie Smith, who hits a three point shot from the side for St. Patrick. Kendal Reitz passes to Holly Talbert, who hits a three point shot from the side just before the first quarter buzzer seeks attention and decides to blare to end the quarter.

After one quarter, St. Patrick has a 13-7 lead.

St. Patrick inbounds the ball to open the second quarter. Kendal Reitz steals a Shamrock pass. Annabelle Edwards passes to a Panther teammate who is fouled on a layup, but misses both her free throws. St. Patrick misses a ten foot shot from the baseline. Holly Talbert passes to Annabelle Edwards, who spins an hits a layup to cut the St. Patrick lead to 13-9.

Annabelle Edwards blocks a Shamrock layup; the loose ball goes out of bounds and St. Patrick gets another opportunity. Grace Rockey drives and hits a layup for St. Patrick. Holly Talbert passes to Annabelle Edwards, who is fouled on a layup and hits one of her two free throws to trim the Shamrock lead to 15-10 with 5:16 remaining in the second quarter.

St. Patrick misses a three point shot from the wing. Grace Rockey gets the offensive rebound. The Shamrocks miss a layup. Grace Rockey gets the offensive rebound for the Shamrocks. St. Patrick misses a driving reverse layup. Climax-Scotts misses a scooped layup. Macie Leonard passes to Grace Rockey, who throws in a threeball from the side to give her Shamrocks an 18-10 lead.

Climax-Scotts misses a threeball from the side. In a near Deja vu moment, Macie Leonard passes to Grace Rockey, who throws in another threeball for the Shamrocks although this time, it’s from the wing. Marian Davlin knocks a Panther pass into the lane out of bounds; Climax-Scotts retains possession.

Climax-Scotts misses a three pointer from the side. Kendal Reitz pulls down the offensive rebound for the Panthers. Climax-Scotts misses a three point shot from the side. Annabelle Edwards comes down with the offensive rebound for the Panthers. Climax-Scotts misses a six foot shot in the lane.

St. Patrick misses a driving five foot hook shot. The rebound goes out of bounds and St. Patrick gets another possession. St. Patrick misses a layup. Grace Rockey steals the ball and hits a layup to boost her Shamrocks to a 23-10 lead.

Grace Rockey blocks a Panther eight foot shot from the side of the lane. Holly Talbert gets her hand on the ball and a Shamrock dribbler loses it out of bounds. The Panthers miss a ten footer from the side of the lane. Grace Rockey passes to Macie Leonard, who hits a three point shot from the wing for St. Patrick. Climax-Scotts has no time to shoot before the second quarter buzzer blares.

At halftime, St. Patrick has a 23-10 lead.

Alyse Langs, Holly Talbert and Annabelle Edwards each have three points for Climax-Scotts.

Grace Rockey leads St. Patrick with 17 points at halftime.

As there are no halftime activities, I hope you will enjoy these videos from my You Tube Channel.

“Snoopy vs. the Red Baron” was a big hit for the Royal Guardsmen in late 1966!! Here is my cover! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHucLvxuQx8

For something a bit mellower, I hope you will enjoy this cover of “Blues Stay Away From Me”, which has been done in many genres. It was written and first performed by the Delmore Brothers in the late 1930s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TtsKUnqw7g

Climax-Scotts inbounds the ball to open quarter number three. Grace Rockey gets her hand on a Panther pass and knocks it out of bounds; Climax-Scotts retains possession. Macie Leonard knocks the ball away from the Panthers and Macie Smith picks it up for the Shamrocks. St. Patrick misses a three point shot from the corner. Grace Rockey gets the offensive rebound for the Shamrocks. A Shamrock player is fouled on a layup, but misses her free throws. With 6:57 remaining in quarter number three, the Shamrock lead remains at 26-10.

Climax-Scotts misses a threeball from the corner. Holly Talbert blocks a St. Patrick layup. Climax-Scotts misses a three point shot from the wing. Ashlynn Gilbert knocks the ball away from St. Patrick and Alyse Langs picks it up for Climax-Scotts. Grace Rockey ties up the ball. The Possession Arrow looks up from calculating its tip and awards the ball to the Shamrocks. Lily Sandborn drives and hits a layup to boost the Shamrock lead to 28-10.

Lily Sandborn knocks a Panther pass out of bounds; Climax-Scotts gets the ball back. The Panthers miss a driving eight foot banked shot. St. Patrick misses a threeball from the wing. Marian Davlin is fouled on a putback and hits one of her two free throws for the Shamrocks. Grace Rockey steals the ball for the Shamrocks. Lily Sandborn passes to Grace Rockey, who is fouled on a layup. Grace Rockey hits one of her two free throws to boost the St. Patrick lead to 30-10 with 3:55 remaining in quarter number three.

Lily Sandborn knocks the ball away from the Panthers and Macie Smith picks it up for the Shamrocks. Lily Sandborn passes to Grace Rockey, who hits a three point shot from the side for the Shamrocks. Climax-Scotts misses a driving layup. Climax-Scotts misses a twelve foot shot from the baseline. Sophie Braithwaite gets the offensive rebound for the Panthers.

The Panthers miss a ten foot shot in the lane. Annabelle Edwards pulls down the offensive rebound for the Panthers. Climax-Scotts misses a twelve foot shot from the side and fouls on the rebound. Grace Rockey hits two free throws to boost the Shamrock lead to 35-10 with 1:38 remaining in quarter number three.

Macie Smith steals a Panther pass. Holly Talbert steals the ball for Climax-Scotts. Climax-Scotts misses a threeball from the side. Sophie Braithwaite forces a Shamrock dribbler to step out of bounds. Holly Talbert takes a hard dribble and hits a fifteen foot shot from the side for the Panthers just before the buzzer calls an end to quarter number three.

With three quarters in the books, St. Patrick has a 35-12 lead.

Climax-Scotts inbounds the ball to open the fourth quarter. The Panthers miss a three point shot from the wing. The rebound goes out of bounds and St. Patrick takes possession. The Shamrocks miss a driving six foot reverse bank hook/layup. Kandal Reitz is fouled on a ten foot shot off the dribble in the lane and hits two free throws for the Panthers. With 6:44 remaining in the game, the St. Patrick lead is at 35-14.

St. Patrick moves the ball around to keep the clock running as it looks for the perfect shot. Kendal Reitz gets her hand on the ball, but the Shamrocks recover. St. Patrick misses a seventeen foot shot from the wing. Climax-Scotts fouls on the rebound. Holly Talbert blocks a Shamrock threeball from the wing. Climax-Scotts misses a three pointer from the wing. Holly Talbert steals a Shamrock pass. Macie Smith steals the ball and hits a fast break layup to give St. Patrick a 37-14 lead.

Holly Talbert passes to Adalynn Reeves, who takes a hard dribble and hits a ten foot shot in the lane for Climax-Scotts. Adalynn Reeves gets her hand on the ball, but St. Patrick recovers. Holly Talbert gets her hand on the ball, but St. Patrick recovers. Annabelle Edwards steals a Shamrock pass. Climax-Scotts misses a layup. Sophie Braithwaite gets the offensive rebound for the Panthers.

Lily Sandborn knocks the ball away from the Panthers and Macie Leonard picks it up for St. Patrick. Macie Leonard is fouled on a fast break layup and hits two free throws to give the Shamrocks a 39-16 lead with 3:04 left on the clock.

Lily Sandborn knocks the ball away from Climax-Scotts and Marian Davlin picks it up for St. Patrick. Grace Rockey passes to Macie Smith, who hits a layup for the Shamrocks. Kendal Reitz drives and hits a six foot banked shot from the side for the Panthers. St. Patrick misses a driving layup. Climax-Scotts misses a three point shot from the side. With 1:17 remaining, both teams empty their benches.

St. Patrick is whistled for a traveling violation. Kyla Etheridge hits a twelve foot shot off the dribble from the wing. St. Patrick runs out the clock.

St. Patrick wins this game 41-20 and will play Muskegon Catholic Central in the Regional Final Wednesday night.

Holly Talbert led the Climax-Scotts scoring with 5 points. Kendal Reitz added 4 points. Alyse Langs and Annabelle Edwards each tossed in 3 points. Adalynn Reeves and Kyla Etheridge each scored 2 points. Sophie Braithwaite tallied 1 point.

Grace Rockey led the victorious Shamrocks with 23 points. Macie Smith supported her teammate with 7 points. Lily Sandborn and Macie Leonard each chipped in with 5 points. Marian Davlin had 1 point.