Bedford, Airport, Summerfield capture district championships

TEMPERANCE — Defense is the calling card of Bedford’s girls basketball team.

The Mules won two games this season when they scored less than 40 points.

But they are capable of scoring points.

“We have another gear,” insists coach Bill Ryan.

Bedford showed that gear Friday night in cruising past Downriver League champion Trenton 74-33 in the finals of the Division 1 district the Mules hosted.

“Once we got into the flow in the third quarter, we were pretty dynamic,” Ryan said. “We had a 30-point quarter, which is good for us.”

The coach says his emphasis on defense may stifle the Mules offensively at times.

“Sometimes they think they are doing me a favor by being more conservative on offense,” he said.

Payton Pudlowski is the player who shifted the Mules into their other gear.

Bedford was nursing a 20-18 lead with two minutes left in the first half when a basket and a 3-pointer by Pudlowski fueled a 10-2 run that pushed the home team’s lead to 30-20.

Pudlowski kept the pedal to the metal in the second half with four baskets as her team scored the first 12 points of the third quarter to turn the game into a rout.

“We just needed to change the pace and step up,” Pudlowski said of the 22-2 run. “We pushed the ball in transition.”

Ryan likes when Pudlowski is aggressive offensively.

“Pud had a favorable matchup,” he said. “We told her to force the issue a little more. She knows she doesn’t need permission, but sometimes it’s good to remind her.”

Pudlowski often sacrifices her offense for the sake of the team.

“I like to move the ball and keep the team together,” she said. “Sometimes, I do need to be reminded (to take charge).”

Victoria Gray led Bedford with 20 points and Pudlowski finished with 17. Nyah Mullins added 10 as 10 Mules scored points.

Bedford will take a 22-2 record to Woodhaven for regional play. They will play 18-4 Riverview at 7 p.m. The first game of the semifinal doubleheader that night pits Detroit Cass Tech against Dearborn Fordson.

DIVISION 2

Airport 64, Grosse Ile 46

ROMULUS – Airport coach Darrell Mossburg knew it was coming.

In fact, he warned his team.

The Jets were tested by Grosse Ile in the finals of the Division 2 District at Summit Academy.

Airport was flying high during the first half, starting the game on a 13-0 run en route to a 33-16 halftime lead. During the intermission Mossburg told his team to expect a more energetic opponent in the second half.

He was right – the Red Devils went on a 9-0 run that lasted the first four minutes of the third quarter cutting the Jets lead to 38-27.

“We were really gritty in the first half and we told them at the half ‘they’re going to make a run,’ which they did, but defensively we figured it out and we answered that run,” Mossburg said.

Mossburg called a timeout and everything changed.

“We told them ‘This is their run, we’ve got to match them, but we’ve got to do it with defense,’ and after that we stopped them three or four possessions in a row and went on a run ourselves,” Mossburg said.

Sophomore Jillian Baker led the Jets out of that storm, scoring 15 of her 19 points after the intermission.

“It feels amazing, our goal from the beginning was to bring this trophy home,” Baker said.

Baker pointed to her teammates for her success Friday night.

“All because of my teammates, I couldn’t do it without them,” she said.

One of those teammates is her cousin, Brenna Baker, who led the Jets in the first half knocking down four 3-pointers and totaled 16 points for the game.

“It’s so fun to watch her, we’ve been playing sports since we were like four years old and it’s just so awesome to watch her shoot like that,” Jillian Baker said of her cousin’s hot first half shooting.

Brenna Baker entered the game with 41 3-pointers, after Friday night she is now just two 3-pointers from the program record of 48.

“B has been a very good shooter and tonight she was on, she had her feet set followed through on her shots and I’m really really proud of her,” Mossburg said.

The Jets (16-8) beat Grosse Ile for the third time this season.

They will play 6-18 Dearborn Divine Child in the regional semifinals on their home floor at 7 p.m. Monday. The first game that night will pit Redford Westfield Prep (12-6) against Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard (24-0).

DIVISION 3

Blissfield 51, SMCC 38

ERIE — There were a few tears and bruises on the St. Mary Catholic Central faces Friday night, but a district championship loss to the fourth-ranked team in Division 3 was nothing to hang their heads about.

SMCC didn’t go down easy, constantly diving on the floor for loose balls, fighting through screens and battling inside for every rebound.

“I’m so proud of the girls for how they came back and fought,” Kestrels coach John Durbin said. “We knew it was going to be a battle.”

SMCC trailed 15-4 after the first quarter.

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“That changed our perspective,” Durbin said. “It opened up our eyes a little bit. I knew we were going to have to weather that storm, and we did.”

SMCC started the second quarter strong with a bucket by Bella Fountain, a layup by Faith Dean and a basket by Adela Illes to cut the deficit to 15-10. Blissfield led 23-15 at the half.

Blissfield bumped its lead to 40-24 in the third quarter before Natalie LaPrad scored five quick points for SMCC.

By then, the damage had been done. The Kestrels never stopped diving for loose balls, something that didn’t go unnoticed by Durbin.

“It was a battle — every loose ball, every play, a lot of bodies flying around,” he said. “That’s a mark of a good team. If you are on the floor for a loose ball, that shows you care.”

Illes, a sophomore, led SMCC with 10 points. Junior Brooke Mossburg scored nine points and LaPrad, also a junior, scored seven.

The Kestrels finished the season 19-5 and with a Huron League championship.

Blissfield, which played in the state finals last season, improved to 22-2 and will play in the regional Monday at Onsted against Brooklyn Columbia Central. Leigh Wyman led the Royals with 18 points Friday.

DIVISION 4

Summerfield 43, Lenawee Christian 34

ADRIAN — Summerfield made it back-to-back district titles and three in the past four years with one of its best performances of the season.

“I am super excited for the girls,” Summerfield coach Mickey Moody said. “They were really focused tonight and everyone played with a ton of energy and intensity tonight. It was definitely our best of the year.”

Defense was the key for the Bulldogs.

Lenawee Christian star Hannah Baker scored 24 points the last time the teams played. She was limited to six this time.

“Our defense tonight was really good, we were rebounding the ball and not giving them second-chance points,” Moody said. “We did a really good job tonight fronting their bigs and not letting them get the ball down low. Our guards were pressuring their guards all night.”

Summerfield was balanced on offense as Mia Miller, Mayley Mannebach and Jaeli Jones notched 10 points apiece and Ava Fisher added nine.

“Ava Fisher played a great game tonight,” Moody said. “She was aggressive on the offensive end of the floor, but she was the floor general. It was great to see her lead and play like that.”

“Offensively, we shared the basketball and made Lenawee work hard on defensive side of ball as we wore them down towards the end of game. Our bench players were great tonight giving us key minutes and they were so huge for us tonight as they brought so much energy when they were in the game.”

Summerfield improved to 14-10. It will play Morenci at 7 p.m. Monday in the regional at Whitmore Lake.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Girls Basketball: Bedford, Airport, Summerfield wear district crowns