Lakeview, Harper Creek get rivalry wins in first round of girls districts

BATTLE CREEK - When you get punched in the mouth, you tend to remember that.

Lakeview took that feeling and poured it into its first-round tournament game and came away with an inspired win.

Lakeview defeated rival Battle Creek Central 47-42 on opening night of the postseason in this Division 1 girls basketball district game at Battle Creek Central’s Fieldhouse on Monday, March 2.

MORE: MHSAA girls basketball district pairings. Who is your team playing?

It was just 10 days ago that Battle Creek Central had beaten Lakeview in overtime. And that loss was fresh in the memory of the Spartans.

"When we lost to them, it kind of woke them up for what Central was capable of. They kinda punched us in the mouth a little bit. But our girls dug in tonight and I am really proud of them," Lakeview coach Jay Luoma said.

Lakeview advances to play Sturgis (18-3) in the district semifinal on Wednesday, March 4 at BCC. The Spartans advanced with a late surge in the fourth quarter to get the win.

Battle Creek Central had just scored six straight points to go up 40-34 on a layup by Myliyah Mosley with 5:12 remaining in regulation. From there, Lakeview took the lead on a jumper by Aaliyah Smith at 43-42. Then, down the stretch, Lakeview made 4-of-6 free throws to finish the game on a 13-2 run for the win.

"We made an adjustment down the stretch. Credit to the girls, they just refused to lose that one. It was pretty cool," Luoma said.

Smith led Lakeview with 17 points with Jaleesa Todd getting 13 points as the Spartans improve to 13-10.

Battle Creek Central ends the season at 12-9 with Mosley leading the way with 15 points with Za'Kariona Caldwell getting 10 and Kyliera Guest chipping in with eight.

On the other side of the bracket at Battle Creek Central, Coldwater raced past Loy Norrix, 61-36. Coldwater improves to 16-7 and will see Gull Lake (17-3) in the district semifinal on Wednesday.

Division 2 at Harper Creek

A young Harper Creek team hadn't tasted a lot of success during the season. But the Beavers made up for it with a district victory in the first round of the tournament.

Harper Creek defeated Pennfield 35-28 in the opening game of this Division 2 girls basketball district. At 6-15, Harper Creek advances to the district semifinal to play Parma Western (15-7).

"This means so much to the program. They probably have no idea what this actually means. But this is great for the program, good win for this team to experience this," Harper Creek coach Steve Casselman said.

Harper Creek led 24-11 in the third quarter, but saw Pennfield climb all the way back to tie the game at 27-27 on a short jumper by Madelyn Hensel, with 4:50 remaining.

Harper Creek's Taegen Anderson gave the Beavers back the lead on a putback at 29-27 with 1:51 left. From there, the Beavers made 6-of-6 free throws in the final minute.

"We saw growth with this young team," Casselman said. "We faced adversity. We had the lead, we knew they would make a run and then we executed down the stretch."

Remi Zirkel led Harper Creek with 10 points with Madelyn Gallagher adding seven.

Pennfield ends the year at 6-16 with Hensel leading the Panthers with 14 points and Haydyn TenBrink chipping in with seven.

Bill Broderick can be reached at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on X/Twitter: @billbroderick

This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Battle Creek-area results in first round of girls basketball tourney