Calihan Hall a fascinating arena for coaches of CHSL girls basketball champions

DETROIT — “I love this place,” Steve Robak said.

It was the seventh time in the last 12 years he shepherded his girls basketball squad from Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes to historic Calihan Hall on the University of Detroit Mercy campus.

And, for the sixth time, he is celebrating a Catholic League C-D championship, recalling the Lakers of a decade ago when they dominated the CHSL (2009-10-11-13 -16) and MHSAA Division 4 (2011-12-13).

Farmington Hills Mercy coach Greg Morris has another spin on his own success at Calihan Hall: a cycle of three. The Marlins won in 2011, 2014, 2017 and Saturday in 2020 for the Central Division championship. You can bet, however, he’d be happy to break that mold. The Marlins are an early favorite for 2021 based on the fact Morris had no seniors on the roster, and all 13 players will be back.

But no coach knows Calihan Hall better or has had as much success in the arena than Mary (nee Lillie) Cicerone, in her 34th year coaching Bloomfield Hills Marian.

She played for the Titans from 1978-82. An inductee into the U-D Titans Hall of Fame, she won the 1982 President’s Award as U-D’s most outstanding female student-athlete and is in the record book with 1,035 career points, 486 assists and 333 steals.

Four years later, in 1986, she won the first of 18 CHSL championships for Marian making her, by far, the winningest coach. Alas, Mercy has forced her to wait another time for No. 19.

Coach Jennifer VanGoethem has directed Wixom St. Catherine to the CHSL finals the last two years with only a finalist’s trophy to show for it.

“Well,  maybe the third time will be the charm,” she said.

Our Lady of the Lakes 51, St. Catherine 40

The Lakers closed the second quarter with a five-point run for a 20-16 halftime lead and came crashing out of the locker room with seven unanswered points for a 27-16 lead that pretty much decided the eventual outcome.

“We settled in in the third quarter,” Robak said. The Lakers turned up the pressure on defense and “played more like how we like to play.”

St. Catherine was limited to only 11 points in the second half.

Junior Brooklyn Robak, the coach’s niece, scored 11 of her game-high 17 points in the second half.

“I listened to my teammates. They were telling me that outside shots weren’t falling and that I should go inside,” she explained. “So I did what I had to do.”

Her penetration of the Stars defense resulted in her converting nine of 12 free-throw opportunities. She also contributed nine rebounds. Teammates senior Isabelle Kline and freshman Quinn Robak, the coach’s daughter, each had six boards to give the Lakers the edge in that category.

Quinn has garnered attention all season long with her long-range shooting. She had three triples, including one that sparked the third quarter eruption.

St. Catherine’s production was spread out among 10 players led by freshman Hailey Baumann’s seven points.

“Our offense struggled,” VanGoethem said, “which was disappointing coming off our best offense of the year (the 50-35 semifinal win against Madison Heights Bishop Foley). We were out of sync. We shot only 18 percent.”

She added, “We will have 11 of our 13 players coming back next year.”

Mercy 51, Marian 40

These two archrivals, both ranked in Division 1’s top 10, combined for more than three dozen turnovers, a slew of missed short-range shots, and a kind of lethargy, at least on Marian’s part, in this anticipated rematch. They each beat one another during the regular season.

Mercy raced out to a 10-2 lead in the opening four minutes.

“You could tell by the body language,”  Cicerone said about her squad, “they got pouty.”

“Our offense bogged down, and we got stagnant,” Morris said about his team.
The half ended with Mercy ahead 27-21.

Both teams exhibited a lot more energy in the third quarter, particularly on defense, so much so that the Marlins and Mustangs combined for the grand total of 11 points. Mercy’s lead was reduced to 33-28 to set up a frantic conclusion.

It was still anyone’s game.

Baskets by senior Lauren Licari and sophomore Sarah Sylvester to open the final eight minutes of play made it 33-32. Mercy’s Ellie Tisko’s basket made it 35-32.

At 3:38, Marian had a chance to tie the score. Junior Shannon Kennedy was fouled making his basket to make it 35-34 — but he missed the free throw for the tie.

A pair of free throws by Mercy’s sophomore Sophie Dugas and another basket by Kennedy re-established the one-point difference, 37-36.

That was the beginning of the end. Mercy slammed the victory door shut with a 14-4 run.

“We moved around our defenses to keep them off balance,” Morris said. “This is our biggest rival. We’re happy to meet the challenge.”

Freshman Maya White led Mercy with 14 points and Dugas, off the bench, had 11.

Julia Bishop only had five points but scored her biggest point of the season three nights earlier when she made a free throw with nine-tenths of a second to play for a 60-59 win over Dearborn Divine Child that advanced Mercy to the final.

Kennedy and Licari had 11 points apiece for Marian.

Operation Friendship

The two top teams of the CHSL and the Detroit Public League meet annually in a regular-season ending contest.

This year’s game is on Thursday, Feb. 27, at Detroit Renaissance High School.

At 5:30 p.m., Marian (14-4) will play Detroit Cass Tech (15-3) followed at about 7 p.m. by Mercy (17-2) playing Renaissance (17-2).