Traverse City Record-Eagle

Archive: Monday

March 12, 2012

Leland savoring March Madness

Comets still have two teams playing

BY DENNIS CHASE dchase@record-eagle.com

LELAND — Spring fever?

That might be overshadowed by basketball fever here.

Leland is caught up in the excitement of March Madness.

The small Class D school is the only school in northwestern Michigan with two teams still playing in the state tournament.

"March Madness, it's been fun," girls coach Megan Munoz said.

The boys play Northwest Conference rival Frankfort tonight in a regional opener at Bellaire. The girls face Portland St. Patrick in a quarterfinal Tuesday night at Muskegon Reeths-Puffer.

The boys are accustomed to success, having won six consecutive district titles. The girls, however, are riding an incredible high after snapping a two-year, 40-game losing streak in December.

"Everybody is so excited for the girls, to see them have success after going through some tough years," boys coach Jon Kiessel said. "Megan has done a phenomenal job. The seniors have done a great job. It's so much fun to see them have a great run. It's like they keep saying, 'Who would have thought this is where we would be?' I think it's one of the best sports stories we've had in a long time."

The girls finished the regular season 9-11 playing a predominantly Class B and C schedule, but they've won four tournament games in a row, including a 50-30 win over McBain Northern Michigan Christian in the regional final.

"I think the girls are peaking," Munoz said. "They're feeling confident in what they can do, confident in each other. I'm feeling really good about how they're playing."

St. Patrick, a perennial power, enters the quarterfinal 18-6. Munoz spent the weekend breaking down tape of the Shamrocks' 65-61 regional semifinal win over Wyoming West Michigan Lutheran.

"I've seen it about 10 times," she said. "I don't know if I can watch it again, but I probably will."

St. Pat's strength?

"They press non-stop," Munoz said. "They're quick. They're deep. But they're beatable. If we can control the tempo, and play our game, it's a game we can win. We have to make sure we don't get into a track meet with them."

Munoz said St. Pat's forced West Michigan Lutheran into 36 turnovers in that four-point win. The Comets worked on breaking full-court pressure Sunday as Traverse City Central coach Ryan Knudsen — who teaches at Leland — brought four of his players to practice to help Leland prepare.

"We worked on as many angles (beating the pressure) as we could," Munoz said.

Leland's plan is to make it a half-court game to better utilize match-ups inside, especially with center Liz McKee, who was dominating in the regional.

The boys, meanwhile, will be taking on a Frankfort team they beat twice in conference play, 56-50 and 54-43.

If the Comets need any motivation, all Kiessel has to do is remind his players of Traverse City Christian.

"I think one of the best losses, if there is such a thing, was to Traverse City Christian," Kiessel said. "The first time we played them we beat them pretty handily (76-56). The second time, they came over to our place, and our guys expected to win, TC Christian wanted to win, and we lost (60-50). We carried that with us into the tournament when we saw them again and our guys were ready (57-38).

"I think our guys are prepared to play. They know what's on the line. Nobody at this time of year wants to give their jersey up yet."

The game will feature an interesting match-up between two of the better big men in the area — Frankfort's Brandon Miller and Leland's A.J. Whittaker.

Text Only