Salenbien wins D3 AP Player of the Year award

Bree Salenbien of Adrian Lenawee Christian has been named The Associated Press Division 3 Player of the Year, winning the award for a fourth straight year.

She won the honor in Class D as a freshman, Division 4 as a sophomore and junior and repeated this year in Division 3.

The senior, who scored more than 2,000 points in her career and has signed to play at Gonzaga, finished second in Miss Basketball voting.

“When we play teams like we play and she’s facing matchups that people have thrown at her

for four years and you still score 2,000 points, to me that’s something special,” said Lenawee Christian coach, and Bree’s father, Jamie Salenbien. “To me, that’s impressive. She can always be proud that she never backed down from anybody.”

Salenbien was at her best this season. The Cougars faced one of the toughest schedules in the state regardless of class. She averaged a career-best 25.6 points, 10. 5 rebounds and made 39 3-pointers. She also connected on 112 of 129 free throws and led her team in assists (78), steals (71) and blocked shots (46).

She did all of that coming off knee surgery. She was hurt in the final regular season game of her junior year, missed all summer while in therapy and rehabilitation, and opened the season on the first night teams could play this winter by scoring 29 points.

“There was always some questions because I hadn’t gone full go,” she said. “I had some questions myself about the contact piece of it and whether or not I would be able to go up and down the court. It took a few games but once things got going, I was good.”

Salenbien played all five positions at times, bringing the ball up the court against the press and operating near the basket when LCS needed a bucket.

“I had to take on a new role,” she said of this season. “It was hard because I didn’t know if I wanted to bring the ball up and distribute it or be the one who it was distributed to. It was definitely a new role for me.”

Lenawee Christian won state championships when Salenbien was a freshman and sophomore and was in the Regional final last season when the season ended. This year, the Cougar squad had three new starters, but Salenbien still led the team to a 13-4 record and into the regional final.

She is joined on the first

team by a pair of state champion Grass Lake players in senior Abrie Cabana and junior Lexus Bargesser. Grass Lake head coach Andrea Cabana was named the Coach of the Year after leading the Warriors to the school’s first state title in girl’s basketball.

Also on the first team are seniors Emma Anderson of Menominee; Kenzie Bowers of Kent City; Grace Bradford of Maple City Glen Lake; Sarah Marvin of Byron; Elli Djerf of Calumet; Taylor Folkema of Western Michigan Christian; Kallie Harrison of Bloomingdale; Hallie Marshall of St. Ignace and Krystina Kasson of Kalamazoo Hackett, along with juniors Mya Petticord of Ypsilanti Arbor Prep and Alyssa Hill of Negaunee.

In mid-Michigan Farwell’s Madison Travis along with Ithaca’s Delaney Seaman and Breckenridge’s Summer Smith all were named to the honorable mention team.

The 2021 Associated Press Division 3 girls basketball All-State team as selected

by a panel of 11 Michigan sportswriters.

Player of the year

• Bree Salenbien, Adrian Lenawee Christian, Sr.

First-Team All-State

• Bree Salenbien, Adrian Lenawee Christian, Sr.

• Emma Anderson, Menominee, Sr.

• Kenzie Bowers, Kent City, Sr.

• Grace Bradford, Maple City Glen Lake, Jr.

• Mya Petticord, Ypsilanti Arbor Prep, Jr.

• Sarah Marvin, Byron, Sr.

• Abrie Cabana, Grass Lake, Sr.

• Lexus Bargesser, Grass Lake, Jr.

• Elli Djerf, Calumet, Sr.

• Taylor Folkema, Western Michigan Christian, Sr.

• Kallie Harrison, Bloomingdale, Sr.

• Hallie Marshall, St. Ignace, Sr.

• Krystina Kasson, Kalamazoo Hackett, Sr.

• Alyssa Hill, Negaunee,

Jr.

Coach of the Year

• Andrea Cabana, Grass Lake

Second-team all-state

Macy Bisballe, Houghton Lake; Shea Tripp, Michigan Center; Sabrina Gottschalk, Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest; Maddi Osantowski, Reese; Samantha Dietz, Watervliet. Coach: Andre Williams, St. Charles.

Honorable mention

Shamya Reid, Redford Westfield Prep; Ally Schultz, St. Ignace; Jayd Hovey, Hart; Jenna Harrison, Kent City; Kyla Wiersema, Western Michigan Christian; Melanie Moore, Madison Heights Bishop Foley; Emily Grulke, Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest; Amanda Barber, Gobles; Chloe Watson, Hemlock; Lindsey Pumford, St. Charles; Macy Kellstrom, Oscoda; Mady Pahl, Beaverton; Molly Gerow, Beaverton; Brooke Brauher, Morley-Stanwood; Taylor Petrosky, Charlevoix; Emma Schierbeek, McBain; Olivia Bellows, Lake City; Lauren Wilder, Manton; Maggie Napont, Traverse City St. Francis; Kaiden Glenn, Ypsilanti

Arbor Prep; Lizzy Liedel, Erie Mason; Makayla Clement, Byron; Ty’Ana Williams, Flint Hamady; Brooke Wenzlick, New Lothrop; Gabrielle Lutchka, Grass Lake; Zoie Bamm, Brooklyn Columbia Central; Grace Graham, Laingsburg; Ashlyn Wilkes, Vermontville Maple Valley; Liilian Jackson, Wellspring.

Aydan Dalak, Reese; Madison Travis, Farwell; Emily Carbajal, Sand Creek; Carly Anschuetz, Adrian Madison; Zoe Myers, Saugatuck; Karrisa Moerler, Saugatuck; Alyssa Samartino, Madison Heights Bishop Foley; Delaney Seaman, Ithaca; Summer Smith, Breckenridge. Coach: Scott Carlson, Kent City