Country Day star Jaidyn Elam, her coach appear on D2 All-State list
Damiya Hagemann capped off her high school career with an outstanding senior year, leading Detroit Edison to a No. 1 ranking before the team was knocked to the sidelines before the district title game due to COVID issues.
Hagemann was named The Associated Press Division 2 Player of the Year for girls basketball by a panel of sports writers from across the state. The senior guard averaged 17.4 points, 9.9 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists.
Country Day’s Jaidyn Elam and her head coach, Jerica Williams, were both named to the second team.
The Yellowjackets’ Emma Arico made honorable mention along
with Clawson’s Abbey Lodato, Madison Heights Lamphere’s Nydia Shumate and Hailey Baumann of Wixon St. Catherine’s.
Hagemann, who signed with Michigan State, was the third player from Edison in as many years to win Miss Basketball.
She joins Rickea Jackson (2019) and Gabrielle Elliott (2020) as players from the school to be honored as the state top player in girls basketball.
“She had to follow Rickea, she had to follow Gabby, and this was her team,” said Edison coach Monique Brown.
“She’s special. She became a great leader. She was good when she got here, but she kept improving.
“She’s a very special talent, extremely high basketball IQ. She’s going to do well at State, I know because she had to fight her way and she had to continue to fight all the way for her minutes.”
Hageman helped Edison to an 85-2 record during her career, including a
pair of state titles, the Class C championship her freshman year and Division 2 title her sophomore year. Edison was 23-0 when the pandemic ended the 2020 season just before regional title games, then Edison went 11-0 this season.
Hagemann’s teammate, 6-foot junior guard Ruby Whitehorn also earned a spot on the 10-player AllState team.
Whitehorn averaged 19.7 points and 12.5 rebounds. She has more than two dozen offers, including Michigan, Michigan State, Indiana and Mississippi State. She scored 19 in a win over Division 3 state champion Grass Lake and had 20 points in a win over Division 1 state runner-up Detroit Renaissance.
Hagemann and Whitehorn are joined on the Division 2 team by Portland junior Ashley Bower, Grand Rapids West Catholic junior Abbey Kimball, Hamilton senior AJ Ediger, Frankenmuth sophomore Lexi Boyke, Harper Woods Chandler Park senior Taylor Walton, Standish-Sterling sophomore Macey Fegan, Caro sophomore Adelyn Moore and Escanaba senior Nicole Kamin.
Bower averaged 19.4
points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.9 steals to help Portland win the state championship, making 38 percent of her 3-pointers.
Kimball, a Michigan State commit, averaged 22 points, six rebounds and five steals. She helped West Catholic go unbeaten heading into the regional final when she had to sit out due to contact tracing, resulting in a loss to Newaygo.
Ediger, who will play at Iowa, averaged 22.1 points, 10.4 rebounds and three steals. Boyke averaged 15.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.8 blocks.
Walton averaged a double-double with 14.8 points and 16.5 rebounds for a Chandler Park team which also was unable to finish the state tournament due to COVID issues.
Fegan, who has an offer from Michigan, averaged 23.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.5 steals. She scored a school-record 41 points in a game.
Moore averaged 21.7 points, 14.3 rebounds and 5.6 steals. The Grand Valley State-bound Kamin averaged 24 points and nine rebounds to help Escanaba earn its first regional title.
Jason Haid was named Coach of the Year after
guiding Portland to the first state championship in program history.
Alma’s Alyssa Leister and Clare’s Bailey Taylor were both named to the D2 honorable mention team.
The 2021Associated Press Division 2 girls basketball All-State team as selected by a panel of 11 Michigan sportswriters.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Damiya Hagemann, Detroit Edison, Sr.
FIRST-TEAM ALL-STATE
Damiya Hagemann, Detroit Edison, Sr.
Ruby Whitehorn, Detroit Edison, Jr.
Taylor Walton, Harper Woods Chandler Park, Sr.
Abbey Kimball, Grand Rapids West Catholic, Jr.
AJ Ediger, Hamilton, Sr.
Ashley Bower, Portland, Jr.
Lexi Boyke, Frankenmuth, So. Macey Fegan, Standish-Sterling, So.
Adelyn Moore, Caro, So.
Nicole Kamin, Escanaba, Sr.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Jason Haid, Portland.
SECOND-TEAM ALL-STATE
Molly Anderson, Cadillac; Jaidyn Elam, Detroit Country Day; Ellie Toney, Corunna; Faith Carson, Buchanan; Kali Heivilin, Three Rivers; Jaylee Long, Newaygo; Gwen Rogozinski, Stockbridge; Kayla Giroux, Flat Rock.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Jerica Williams, Detroit Country Day.
HONORABLE MENTION
Emaia O’Brien, Harper Woods Chandler Park; Claire Erickson, Sault Ste. Marie; Braquelle Osborne, Montague; Emma Arico, Detroit Country Day; Abbey Lodato, Clawson; Hailey Baumann, Wixom St. Catherine; Nydia Shumate, Madison Heights Lamphere; Sydney Vis, Grand Rapids South Christian; Hannah Schroeder, Allendale; Cadence Dykstra, Grand Rapids West Catholic; Liv Brunink, Grand Rapids Christian; Maddie Smith, Grand Rapids West Catholic, Brook Simpson, Belding; Stephanie Ainsworth, Wayland; Emma Witte, Grand Rapids Christian; Katie Tate, Grand Rapids Catholic Central; Parrish Hudson, Wayland; Hillary Griffin, Parma Western; Isabel Lindo, Williamston; Alyna Lewis, Parma Western; Hannah Vallier, Vicksburg; Alyssa Leister, Alma; Katelyn Baney, Paw Paw; Lauren Vanderstelt, Plainwell, Ellen Bretzke, Benzie Central; Zoey Persails, Frankenmuth; Abi Tarrant, Bay City John Glenn; Carly McCrum, Bay City John Glenn; Elle Adrian, Standish-Sterling; Brenna Bartlett, StandishSterling; Bailey Taylor, Clare; Mya Hiram, Onsted; Lainey Garbarz, Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard; Mary Lengemann, Imlay City; Christina Bohm, St. Clair; Khloe Austin, Marine City; Kayla Ross, Onsted; Kara Stutzman, Blissfield; Anna Richards, Lansing Catholic; Brynn Reams, Ionia; Sydnie Gillett, Corunna; Ava Guilford, Portland; Aiyanna Tanksley, Detroit Cody.
COACHES
Kacee Reid, Lansing Catholic; Nate Thomasma, Newaygo.