Before they made it to the Class C title game, the Morley Stanwood Mohawks had to overcome defending state champion St. Ignace in the semifinal game – a game to which St. Ignace brought a 49-game winning streak.
But the Mohawks prevailed 60-50, sending the Upper Peninsula team home with a 25-1 record.
“What a game,” said Morley Stanwood coach Bob Raven. “We just beat a really good basketball team. We have the utmost respect for St. Ignace. It seems like they’ve been here every year.”
The Mohawks were led by Bailey Cairnduff with 28 points and eight rebounds, Elyse Starck with 19 points and five boards, and Alexis Huntey with 11 points and six rebounds.
“We’ve been knocking on the door here every year. It’s good to get down here. St. Ignace had the advantage of playing here every year. But I wouldn’t trade this group of girls for anybody. I knew we had to rebound and play defense,” Raven said. “In the third quarter, they took it at us hard and we got the big stops.”
Morley Stanwood had a 28-21 halftime lead but only nursed a 38-36 advantage going into the final quarter.
St. Ignace got back into the game in the second half via an effective press against the Mohawks.
“In our league, we don’t get pressed a whole lot, obviously not like St. Ignace’s press,” Raven said. “We knew it was coming. These girls played a lot of minutes and I think they were getting tired; both teams were. Their press was as good as we’ve seen; we battled through it.”
It went down to the wire.
“The fourth quarter took forever,” Raven said. “It didn’t get over soon enough. I thought our seniors stepped up, took care of the ball, and made the free throws.”
Huntey threw a perfect lob pass to Cairnduff for an easy layup late in the game for a key moment.
“We’ve worked on that all year; I threw it up and I knew Bailey was going to get it,” Huntey said.
Huntey would have 16 rebounds in the title game against University Liggett. Morley Stanwood was outrebounded 36-27 by St. Ignace but outrebounded Liggett 45-22.
Starck was 3 of 11 from the floor and 1 of 6 in 3-point tries. She was 12 of 16 in free throws and had five offensive boards. More importantly, in 31 minutes of court time and handling the ball under constant pressure, she was guilty of only three turnovers.
“I couldn’t be happier for her,” Raven said. “She’s playing with Alexis [Huntey] and Bailey [Cairnduff], two first team all-staters and maybe doesn’t get the pub. But she took the ball to the basket every time we needed her to. She went to the line and knocked them down.”
“It’s always been our dream to even be here in the state finals,” Starck said. “It’s an absolute blessing for our team and community. It’s a great accomplishment for all of us.”