Girls Basketball Regional Preview.

Written Saturday March 5th at 1:45 AM

Here is my early regional insight for the remaining OAA teams that are left in the postseason. So here are my early thoughts on the matchups. More info will be on the podcast on Monday.

Region 7 @ West Bloomfield

BERKLEY vs Grosse Pointe North

WEST BLOOMFIELD vs Farmington Hills Mercy

 

EARLY THOUGHTS: The Lakers earned themselves a regional at home. After winning their district on the blacktop, they get the Marlins of Farmington Hills Mercy in the regional semifinals. The Marlins feature Maya White and are well coached under Coach Gary Morris. West Bloomfield has the Davis sisters, Hendrix sisters, and Myonna Hooper. In that matchup it will be too much Lakers in that game with the athleticism and talent on the floor. Berkley is playing with house money in the regional semifinals. They play Grosse Pointe North which should be a very interesting matchup of star players. The Norsemen feature Annabel Aryault which her sister Julia is at Michigan State playing for Coach Susy Merchant along with Natalie Babcock. The Bears pulled a shocker by upsetting Detroit Renaissance at their own gym by 20 points (51-31.) Berkley was led by Ashley Loon whom had 22 points in that game. The Bears have a great chance to pull off another upset, I haven’t been that impressed with Grosse Pointe North despite playing in the Macomb Area Conference Red this season. It will be very interesting to see how that matchup goes.

Region 8 @ Troy Athens

TROY vs St. Clair Shores Lakeview

Utica vs Macomb L’Anse Creuse North

 

EARLY THOUGHTS: The Colts have overcame their postseason woes by winning their first district since 2001 by beating Warren Cousino on an Alyssa Matuza three pointer in the district finals. Matuza has really made an impact since coming back from an ACL injury that she had earlier this summer. What should help Troy is that they are close to home at arch rival Troy Athens. They will have a very interesting matchup with St. Clair Shores Lakeview in the regional semifinals. The Huskies won their district with ease over Roseville and Sterling Heights. The Colts will give them a challenge. I think Troy gets to the regional final behind the play of Matuza, Charlotte Sobotka, and Kendal Zeiter. On the other side of the bracket, there is Utica led by Lina Rea and had to overcome a tough Utica Ford II squad in the district finals. They have a really difficult matchup with Macomb L’Anse Creuse North. The Crusaders beat Macomb Dakota in the district finals and has a really talented player in Brooke Daniels. Daniels had 33 points against the Cougars in the district finals. I can see right now this being a Troy vs Macomb L’Anse Creuse North regional final.

Region 2 @ Fenton

 

LAKE ORION vs CLARKSTON

Hartland vs Lakeland

 

EARLY THOUGHTS: This is setting up to be a very interesting district between these four teams. The experts and pundits are likely predicting a Clarkston/Hartland regional final but keep an eye on Lake Orion. The Dragons are a young and hungry group after winning their first district title since 2010 by going through the Rochester schools (Adams, Stoney Creek, and Rochester,) they look to make more history against their arch rivals. Maddie Skourpski has been on a different planet lately. She had 20 points against Waterford Mott in the district semifinals and 38 points against Waterford Kettering in the district finals for the Wolves. This is an interesting matchup of PR1DE girls going against one another and the coaching matchup is a fun one between Coaches Bob Brydges and Aaron Goodnough. On the other side there is Hartland. The Eagles are loaded with Division One talent in Gracy Metz, Lauren Sollum, and Amanda Roach. Hartland has a ton of size to boot as well. They should have no issue with Lakeland in the regional semifinals. Right now, until proven otherwise this regional is Hartland’s to lose but upsets always happen in March.