Postseason begins Monday for area girls’ hoops teams

Lapeer West’s Lindsay Yateman (14) looks for the steal against Lapeer East earlier this season. Photo by Lisa Paine LAPEER COUNTY — Whether they’re riding high atop the Flint Metro League standings like Lapeer West or still trying to find a way to compete in its second season in the Genesee Area Conference-Blue like Dryden, girls’ varsity basketball teams all across the state are gearing up for a chance at Michigan High School Athletic Association supremacy. While some squads stand a better chance at making a title run than others, come next week they’ll all have the shot at greatness. The only question is which teams will rise to the occasion and which will fall by the wayside.

No. 9-A, Flint Northwestern

Lapeer West is a favorite to win the district with a 13-2 Metro League, 15-2 mark that is on track to break the 43- year drought of a West girls' basketball team winning the outright Metro League title.

The Lady Panthers drew Flint Kearsley, 4-11, 4-15 to open the district on Monday, Feb. 27 at 5 p.m. If West prevails, it gets Davison, 3-2 Big Nine, 12-7 overall in the semis on Wednesday, Feb. 29 at 7 p.m.

Northwestern, 13-5 overall, faces Clio, 12-3 Metro, 13-6 overall in the other district opener at 7 p.m. on March 27. The winner gets winless Lapeer East, 0-15 Metro, 1-19 overall in the other semifials. The title is decided on Friday, March 2 at 7 p.m.

The Panthers are led by seniors Marisa Liburdi and Yazmin Dababneh, the one-two punch that every team has to deal with as Liburdi routinely pours in 20-30 points per game. They are backed up by starters Maddison Smith, Shannon Brown and Marnie Fettig. The talent on the bench is deep with regular contributions from East transfer Shelby Wagner, Chanda June, Lindsay Reynolds and Lindsay Yateman. Juniors Taylor Traunton and Sarah Clinton are also in the mix. — L.P.

The Lady Eagles’ struggles have been highly publicized this season. What hasn't been mentioned is their lack of experience, or the fact that their only two returning players have been benched with injuries for the majority of the year. The emergence of Alexis Whatcott has taken some attention off of East's woes, but the Eagles still have yet to win a game.

Currently sitting at 0- 15 in the Flint Metro League, and 0-19 overall, the Lady Eagles are in last place in the conference. Regardless, the Eagles look to change their perception once the postseason arrives. East will open the districts with a first round bye. They will then await the winner of Clio and Flint Northwestern. — B.P.

No. 45-B, Capac

After going winless in coach Steve Edwards’ final year at the helm, the Almont squad at least was able to draw a first-round bye for the playoffs and will begin its journey to a championship on Feb. 29 against the winner of the Pontiac Notre Dame Prep and Lutheran North game that takes place on Monday. As the 663rd ranked team in the state and 17,082nd in the nation according to maxpreps.com, one problem the Lady Raiders have been experiencing this year is a lack of defensive focus, as witnessed in the team’s losses to Imlay City, 61-12, on Dec. 13, Yale, 57-18, on Jan. 10 and Capac, 63-15, on Jan. 13.

Fortunately for Almont, it does have several weapons it can rely on including Kat Hennig and Heather Stone, who combined for 12 points, nine rebounds and three steals in a 38-22 loss to Algonac last Friday. Sarah Nowak could also prove to be key for the Lady Raiders come playoff time, but with maxpreps listing Notre Dame as the 261st ranked team in the state and 6,204th nationally with seven wins in 17 tries, the road ahead could be a rough one. The circumstances surrounding Lutheran North are rather similar because they’re ranked 285th in Michigan and 6,875 in the country with a record of 8-10 overall.

The Lady Spartans have had a season full of ups and downs, and after Friday's superb victory over Croswell- Lexington, it looks like Imlay City is finding its chemistry and confidence at just the right time. Jacklyn Van Dyk and Morgan Lee have put together quite the combo on the hardwood for the Spartans, who are being instructed by first-year coach Jaden Clobes.

With their current record sitting at 5-7 in the Blue Water Area Conference, and 7-10 overall, the Lady Spartans’ record is good enough for fifth place in the BWAC, behind Armada. Imlay City drew a first-round bye, and will take on the winner of Capac and Armada in round two.

The host Chiefs are the cream of the crop this year in the BWAC with a 15-3 overall record and 12-0 in league play. Capac faces off with Armada in the opening round on Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m. The winner moves on to face Imlay City.

Capac and Notre Dame Prep are the contenders in this district. The Chiefs are led by doit all Nichole Parks, Emily Milostan, Whitney Paddock, Sam Closurdo and Sarah Mousseau. — M.S./B.P./E.H.

No. 56-B, Goodrich

LakeVille, 9-10 overall, 3-8 Genesee Area Conference, faces a daunting challenge to win this district that features the No. 1 team in the state, Goodrich.

The Falcons play Birch Run on Monday, Feb. 27 at 6 p.m. with the winner moving on to face Mt. Morris on Feb. 29 at 6 p.m. The final is March 2 at 7 p.m.

The host Martians face off against Flint Southwestern with the winner facing off against Flint Powers. Goodrich is considered the favorite and will look to go all the way this year after losing in the state semifinals last year.

LakeVille is led by Ashley Pardee, Katlyn Burley, Courtney Snider and Maddie Skias. — E.H.

No. 57-B, Yale

North Branch has reached the district final three straight years, but that streak is in jeopardy. The Lady Broncos are 0-19 going into their last regular-season game Thursday at Essexville- Garber. They drew a first-round bye in the district and will play Croswell-Lexington, 11-7, in the semifinals at 7 p.m. next Wednesday. North Branch met Cros- Lex in the second game of the season Dec. 2 and lost, 46-24. Should they win the rematch, the Lady Broncos would play in the final at 7 p.m. March 2 against either Millington, Caro or host Yale. Caro and Yale play in the first round Monday, with the winner meeting Millington in the first semifinal at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. — D.N.

No. 81-C, Marlette

While Dryden is finding much better results in 2011-12 than it did last season in its first year as a member of the Genesee Area Conference-Blue, that could all come crashing down once the Lady Cardinals take the court for their first-round matchup with Greater Thumb Conference-East rival Brown City on Monday. That’s because the Lady Green Devils had 12 wins after 18 games played and are currently 5-3 GTC-East thanks to the efforts of players such as senior guard Sam Gierman, who busted out for 14 points, nine steals and five rebounds in a recent 42- 13 win over Mayville. The Lady Green Devils have also been relying on the talents of freshman Skye Willer this season.

Dryden is not without its charms, though, and after beating Byron, 40- 30, on Jan. 24 and Peck, 55-25, on Jan. 30, Brianna Marsh, Kayla Worley and Rachel Johnson that coach Amy Mitchell is going to need to step up and take charge if this team is going to have any chance at pulling off this upset. Lauren Savarino will also need to be on her game for the Lady Cardinals along with Ashley Lowney and Kati Buoncompagno.

In other first round action, Vassar will take on Marlette on Monday for the right to face the winner of the Brown City/Dryden game on Wednesday in the semifinals before the finals take place on Thursday.

On the other side of the bracket, Memphis receives a first-round bye and faces the winner of Mayville, 3-16 overall, and New Haven. Round one is on Monday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. and round two is Feb. 29 at 6 p.m with the finals on March 2 at 7 p.m.

Mayville is led by Ruth Squires, Jessy Cook, Tori Bakewell and Alex Diller. Marlette should be considered the favorite in this district but don’t count out Gierman and the Green Devils. —- M.S./E.H.