Bare minimum: Ypsilanti Arbor Prep girls basketball defends state title with just 1 reserve
CONCORD — After having the second smallest layup line in the history of organized basketball, the Ypsilanti Arbor Prep girls basketball team huddled in front of its bench for some final instructions from coach Scott Stine.
When the huddle broke, the five starters took the court for the center jump and Stine took his seat on the bench before Tuesday's state playoff game.
Stine looked to his left and saw assistant coaches Cameron Smiley and Jibri Taylor as well as Taylor’s adorable 7-year-old daughter, Skyler, who admitted she really was not a player and agreed she could be an assistant.
Stine also saw something he hadn’t seen in a week — a substitute. The player was sophomore Jourdin Lewis, who at the semester break transferred to Arbor Prep from Detroit Mumford; her paperwork had cleared the Michigan High School Athletic Association on Tuesday. She gave the Gators something they hadn’t had since the state tournament began — a reserve player off the bench.
Seriously.
Arbor Prep, the defending Division 3 state champion, won last week’s district title with only five players, inspiring sophomore Eliza Bush’s grandmother, Janet Binder, to making a sign proclaiming the Gators as the real “Fab Five.”
That “five” has grown by a player and managed to avoid an upset when it hung on to defeat Brooklyn Columbia Central, 50-42, in a district semifinal at Concord, just west of Jackson.
The No. 5 Gators (18-7) will try to win the regional at 7 p.m. Thursday against an excellent No. 3 Blissfield (24-1) team.
Arbor Prep, which had no junior varsity team, began the season with seven players, But when sophomore Tyra Wright broke her collarbone and Kala Covington, the team’s only senior, tore her ACL, the roster was reduce to five.
“It ain’t getting past that,” Stine said. “We don’t have no miraculous ACL or collar bone recoveries.”
Once the game began it took all of about 30 seconds for Stine to leave his seat and yell “Don’t foul!” for the first of approximately 350 times that night.
Some coaches worry about turnovers and others go out of their mind when their players miss easy layups. For the Gators Enemy No. 1 is fouls.
None of the players fouled out last week in the two lopsided district victories because, well, they couldn’t unless they wanted to finish a game with four players.
At least this time there was a substitute had someone fouled out, which nearly happened. Freshman guard Angela Meggisson collected her second foul with 3:21 left in the first quarter and then 5-foot-11 junior Stephanie Utomi was called for her third foul with 4:46 left in the second quarter.
When she somehow avoided being tagged with her fourth foul for going over an opponent's back, Lewis made her debut with 1:26 left in the second period.
“Yeah, I should have,” Utomi said about the possibility of having four fouls by halftime. “I thought I was having a heart attack. I was thinking: ‘My team, needs me on the court and I’m not playing smart. I need to mature.’ I can’t have moments like that. They need me on the court.”
Arbor Prep had leads of 15-7 after one quarter and 23-17 at halftime.
After Arbor Prep opened up a 12-point lead, Jaylen Lambka hit three straight 3-pointers for CC and Prep’s lead was 39-32 entering the fourth quarter.
CC repeatedly went inside to 6-1 Zoie Bamm in the fourth quarter when she scored eight of her 20 points despite being double-teamed in the post.
“You come in and watch film and do the scouting report and you know that’s the girl you have to stop,” said Utomi. “You know that’s the game plan and she came in and she proved why she averages how many points. She was crucial for them down the stretch.”
But the most crucial player of all was Arbor Prep junior Taylor Wallace, especially when CC cut the lead to 43-42 with 2:08 left to play.
Trying to run some time off the clock while still looking to score, Wallace received a pass in the dead corner and without hesitating drilled her fourth 3-point bucket to spark the Gators on a 7-0 spurt to end the game.
Like her mother, Paulette Backstrom, who led Flint Northwestern to consecutive Class A state championships in 1983 and ’84, and then starred at Bowling Green, Wilson wasn’t afraid to take the clutch shot.
“No one stepped out on me,” Wallace said. “I’m a shooter; I work on that seven days a week. You don’t step out on me, I’m going to shoot it.”
Another fear each game is fatigue and Stine did what he could to buy his players some rest here and there.
“I used two timeouts total in the first three quarters,” he said. “We use them for people to get a break, but I’m trying to hold them for when it really matters. Our kids have got to learn to play through some discomfort, keep their composure. It’s something we have to do a better job of Thursday.”
This was the first game for Lewis, who didn’t score, but filled in here and there. The last time Lewis played was in December before she transferred.
“It was coming together as a team and feeling needed,” she said. “It all felt amazing to have a team on my back. And having supporters. And when the team all came together and got the win like we just did, it felt really, really good.”
It isn’t easy playing all 32 minutes game after game. But there was no alternative last week and adding only one player doesn’t mean much has changed unless there is foul trouble.
But the Arbor Prep players had to adjust their mindset for the tournament, knowing they are never leaving the court.
“Honestly, it’s all heart,” said Stacy Utomi, Stephanie’s twin sister, who scored 14 points. “We ask ourselves how bad do we want it? When you’re playing on the court you’re playing hard.”
They were certainly playing hard, but Stacy was concerned when her sister was in foul trouble.
“She was scaring me, I’m not going to lie,” she said. “It was terrifying. She’s a big part of what we do on defense and a big part of what we do on offense. We need her on the court and for her not to be on the court it made us focus better and were more so on edge.”
Making things even more difficult is that Arbor Prep is not the type of team that walks the ball up the court and takes its time getting into its offense.
Quite the opposite is true. The Gators want to race up and down the floor, creating as many possessions as possible.
“It kind of pushed us to be more mentally strong,” Wallace said. “With five people, obviously no subs. In a fast-paced game you’re going up-and down, up-and-down, so to be able to play with five for that period of time I think it helped us mentally to know what we’re capable of and show us know we’re better than what we thought we were.”
In the locker room after the game, Stine pointed out several areas the players need to improve on and it better happen quickly if they want to successfully defend their state title.
This was the closest game of the tournament for the Gators and Stine was appreciative of the way the players responded.
“We could have choked tonight, but we didn’t so keep your heads up on that,” he said. “I’m proud of you. You never know, as a coach, what will happen when a team gets punched — literally.
“You all basically got knocked to the ground. And then you got back up and punched them in the face.”
It can be unsettling to know that every team you will face in the tournament will be better rested than you before and during each game.
But these Arbor Prep girls seem to relish the thought of that challenge.
“Regardless, we have what we need here,” Stacy said. “We have all of the pieces here. Nothing changes. Four, five, six (players), regardless. We’re going to suit up day in and day out.”
Mick McCabe is a former longtime columnist for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at mick.mccabe11@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @mickmccabe1. Save $10 on his new book, “Mick McCabe’s Golden Yearbook: 50 Great Years of Michigan’s Best High School Players, Teams & Memories,” by ordering right now at McCabe.PictorialBook.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ypsilanti Arbor Prep girls basketball in state playoffs with 6 players
