GIRLS BASKETBALL: Troy Bethany Christian dethrones defending champs for MACS-I state title
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
CLARKSTON — Two years ago, Leanna Sprankle and her Troy Bethany Christian teammates saw their dreams of a state championship dashed away with a buzzer-beater loss.
In that game, coming against Davison Faith Baptist in the Michigan Association of Christian School Division I state championship match, the Bruins lost 30-29. Sprankle and her teammates could not hit the ocean standing on the beach in that contest, shooting around 25 percent from the floor collectively in the contest.
“We didn’t play very well in that game and they came back and beat us on a last-second shot,” recalled Sprankle, now a senior guard and fourth-year varsity veteran. “This was our last shot and we wanted to win it this season.”
The Bruins, seeded fourth, made sure they didn’t let this opportunity slip away. Troy Bethany came out on fire and led virtually the whole way, posting a 54-38 victory over defending state champion Carson City Fellowship Baptist at Clarkston Springfield Christian.
It marked the seventh time in eight years that Bethany Christian (13-7) reached the state title game. The Bruins missed last season, lost in the finals in 2011 and won five straight from the 2006 fall season to the winter 2010 season. The win was the school’s sixth overall state title — all coming in a nine-year span.
“We have been blessed with some good players over the years,” said veteran Bethany Christian coach Tom Hagspihl. “This team just kept better and better as the season went along. We had some losses early in the year. But we started to play better the second half of the season and we came together at the right time. We played our best ball in the tournament.”
Troy Bethany never trailed and was only tied at 2-2 with 6:15 left in the opening quarter. A three-pointer from junior guard by Sarah Bishop gave the Bruins a 5-2 cushion and the lead ballooned to 16-6 by the end of the first quarter.
An 11-6 run in the second quarter helped Bethany Christian build a 27-16 lead at the half.
In the third quarter, the hot-shooting Bruins continued to pull away and led by as many as 20 points (34-14) with 4:01 left in the third stanza on another triple by Bishop. Bethany Christian finished the night 18-for-48 from the floor (37.5 percent), although the Bruins cooled off for a stretch in the second half.
Both teams scored 11 points in the third quarter, as Bethany Christian led 38-25 by the end of the period. The Bruins finished off the game with a 16-13 run.
“I thought our guard play was really good in this game,” said Hagspihl. “We have a lot of quickness (in our four-guard lineup) and we were able to get a lot of steals and score on the fast break several times. Lianna Sprankle had a great game. I don’t know how many times she got into the open court and went nearly the whole length of the court for a layup. Sarah Bishop’s three-point shooting helped us get the early lead.
“There are a handful of these girls that played in the state championship game two years ago. We have a lot of experience on this team and I think it showed,” added Hagspihl.
While Fellowship Baptist was able to contain Bethany Christian 5-foot-11 senior center Jordan Walraven to only two points — Walraven scored 19 in the Bruins’ upset of top-ranked Midland Calvary Baptist in the semifinals on Friday — both Sprankle and Bishop used their quickness to exploit the Falcons (13-3) the whole afternoon.
Sprankle finished with a season-high 28 points along with nine rebounds and four assists in her high school finale. Bishop added 17 points on the strength of a trio of 3-pointers with seven boards and four steals, while junior guard Yuri Kasaka contributed five points and six rebounds for Bethany Christian.
Walraven added eight rebounds and four blocks for the Bruins.
“In the tape that we saw of them for a couple of games, it was their big girl (Walraven) that was really hard to stop. Their guards didn’t shoot very well,” said Fellowship Baptist coach Marie McAlvey. “They shot really well today. Their quickness caused us some problems and we didn’t shoot very good at all.
“They came out on fire and we really struggled in the first half. Once we started to pick it up (offensively), we were down by too much,” added McAlvey. “We were trying to play catch up the whole game.
Fellowship Baptist has six players stand between 5-10 and 6-1 and the Falcons finished the game a season-low 16-for-71 (22.5 percent) from the floor, although they finished with a 38-33 rebounds edge. Fellowship Baptist did not sink a single three-pointer in the contest.
“We usually shoot the ball fairly well. This was the (lowest shooting percentage) game for us that I can remember here in a long time,” said coach McAlvey.
Senior forward Charley McAlvey finished with 15 points, 13 rebounds and four steals for Fellowship Baptist. Junior Alyssa Rogers added seven points, sophomore Molly McAlvey followed with six points and 10 rebounds and sophomore Sara McAlvey added six points, five rebounds and three steals.
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