Ishpeming girls crush Fowler to advance to state title game
EAST LANSING — Fowler girls basketball has established a comfortable second home as guests at the Breslin Center.
The Michigan State arena is where Fowler has reached the Division 4 semifinals each year for five consecutive tournaments — not counting the 2020 COVID year — and has won it all with state titles in 2021 and ’22.
On Thursday, a new leaf was turned as Upper Peninsula representative Ishpeming crushed Fowler, 75-40.
“We weren’t sure what we were getting into. Fowler has been here quite a few times … five times, and this is our first time,” said Ishpeming coach Ryan Reichel. “It’s been a special year; and you get jealous watching these games as a coach when you’re sitting at home. To me this has been one of the most special journeys that we’ve had, with these girls, with our community.
“It just so happens that it’s been 50 years since we established girls basketball at our school and it’s been 50 years since we had a regional title,” he added. “So, we are representing a bunch of trailblazing ladies, and you don’t get a good future without a good past. These girls now are setting a standard for what we want to be for the next handful of years, and I think they’re probably one of the best representations of what you can do as a girls basketball player. They play with grit, they play with fire, they show emotion.”
Ishpeming scored early, fast and frequently. The Hematites took a huge 23-6 lead after one quarter and grew that advantage to 42-19 at halftime. A suffocating defense and some solid scoring were in order and kept the Eagles at bay.
Ishpeming senior guard Jenna Maki, who at 5-10 played more like a power forward, scored 22 points in the first half, shooting 8 of 17 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line. She scored 13 of her team’s 19 points in the second quarter. Jenessa Eagle added 10 first-half points and finished with 14.
Maki finished with 30 to lead all scorers. The 30th point was special.
Reichel said that Maki’s final point, on a free throw with 5:14 on the clock in the fourth quarter, set a new school career scoring record at 1,307, topping the former record by one.
“We’ve been keeping things under wraps,” Reichel said. “She changed as a player, from a ‘me’ player to a ‘we’ player over this past summer. We’re not in this position without her change as an athlete. She’s a four-year varsity starter and everyone had to look to her to do everything. Then we added some dynamic freshman last year and we had some issues. (Maki) went from wanting to score a 1,000 points to wanting to play in the Breslin Center.
“I’m super proud of what she’s done for this program and what she has done in changing as a player, from a ‘me’ to a ‘we.’ That’s why we’re here, because these girls became a ‘we.’”
The third quarter started out slower, but eventually became more of the same as the Hematites scored 18 points while holding the Eagles to eight as the chants of ‘U.P. Power’ began filling the arena. Ishpeming won all four quarters.
In all, Ishpeming forced 34 turnovers, while committing only 15.
No Fowler player reached double-figure scoring, but were led by eight points each from Elizabeth Hufnagel and Katie Spicer.