Lansing Catholic, Holt, Fowler chasing girls basketball regional repeats
Lansing Catholic, Holt and Fowler captured regional championships last season.
All three programs are chasing repeats this week as they are among the eight Greater Lansing high school girls basketball teams still alive in the Michigan High School Athletic Association state tournament.
Fowler has the longest streak of the trio, trying to claim a fourth straight regional title in Division 4 on its home floor this week.
Here is an overview of the regionals featuring area programs.
DIVISION 1 AT MASON
CAAC Blue champion DeWitt (22-2) and CAAC Blue runner-up Holt (16-8) will meet for a third time this season to kick off the action at this site. It will mark the second straight season the programs have met in the regional stage of the state tournament. Holt knocked off the Panthers in the regional championship game in Coldwater last season.
No. 4-ranked DeWitt swept the regular-season meetings between the two on the way to claiming the outright league title, winning 52-37 on Jan. 30 and 54-41 on Feb. 20. The Panthers will try to take a step toward their first regional championship since 2019.
Interstate 8 runner-up Coldwater (21-3) and Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference West champion Portage Central (19-2) are also in the field. Coldwater picked up a regular-season win over Holt in early January and knocked off Portage Central, 44-28, to close the regular season.
DIVISION 2 AT CHARLOTTE
Defending state champion Lansing Catholic will try to continue its quest to go back-to-back and repeat as regional champions this week. CAAC Red runner-up Haslett (18-7) is the regional semifinal opponent and had a big week that included taking down No. 10-ranked Chelsea and avenging two regular-season losses to Williamston to claim a district title.
Lansing Catholic (19-5) and Haslett will be meeting for a second straight season in the state tournament. The Cougars beat Haslett in a district final last winter on their run to the Division 2 crown. Lansing Catholic won 48-37 in the regular-season matchup between the programs.
Southeastern Conference White champion Tecumseh (20-4) and Parma Western (15-9) are on the other side of the regional. Tecumseh shared the SEC White title with Chelsea and beat Parma Western in December. Haslett closed the regular season with a win over Parma Western.
DIVISION 2 AT ALMA
Alma (19-5) is one of three teams from the Tri-Valley Conference Red part of this strong regional field. The Panthers open the regional against Flint Powers (21-3), which spent most of the season ranked in the top 10. The other side of the bracket features No. 6-ranked and TVC Red champion Frankenmuth (22-2) and No. 7 Freeland, which was the TVC Red runner-up.
Alma split its regular-season meetings with Freeland (21-3) while finishing third in the TVC Red and was swept by Frankenmuth.
DIVISION 3 AT GRAND RAPIDS COVENANT CHRISTIAN
P-W is back in the regional for the first time since 2022 and will face host Grand Rapids Covenant Christian. The Pirates had their 2022 playoff run end with a regional semifinal loss to Covenant Christian. P-W had won eight of nine since an early February loss to Fowler while taking third in the CMAC. Covenant Christian (17-5) played as an independent and split its two games against Lansing area teams, beating Dansville and falling to Portland.
OK Conference Silver champion Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian (20-4) and Holton (15-9) are on the other side of the regional.
DIVISION 3 AT LESLIE
Cascades Conference East runner-up Leslie (19-6) is back in the regional for the third time in four years and will try to make the most of playing on its home court. The Blackhawks open play against New Lothrop, which avenged two regular-season losses to No. 10-ranked Ovid-Elsie on its way to a district title.
Michigan Center, which was swept by Leslie in the regular season, and Jonesville are on the other side of the bracket. Michigan Center (21-3) tied for second in the Cascades East and Jonesville (14-10) finished third in the Cascades Conference west. Michigan Center beat Jonesville in December.
DIVISION 4 AT FOWLER
No. 6-ranked CMAC runner-up Fowler (21-3) has won 10 straight since an early February loss to Portland St. Patrick to find itself back in the regional once again. The Eagles open against Muskegon Catholic Central (10-12). Battle Creek St. Philip (10-13) and Gobles (17-5) are the other teams in the regional.
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Girls basketball: Lansing Catholic, Holt, Fowler eye regional repeats
