EAST LANSING — When the Morenci girls basketball team arrived at the Breslin Center on March 19, it was the culmination of a four-year journey.
The Lady Bulldogs were set to face the Hematites of Ishpeming in a state semifinal game many viewed as a matchup of the two best remaining teams.
“Essentially, the championship game was the semifinal game and sometimes that’s just the way the bracket works out,” Morenci head coach Ashley Joughin said.
After a hard fought, low scoring battle Ishpeming eventually escaped with a 37-34 win to advance to the finals and send the Bulldogs home. Ishpeming went on to beat Portland St. Patrick 48-28 and won their second state championship in three years.
“Outside of turnovers, I thought the girls left everything on the floor and played as hard as they possibly could have for 32 straight minutes,” Joughin said. “The game could have gone either way and unfortunately, we lost the lead in the final couple of minutes and never got it back.”
Morenci entered postseason play primed for another deep run. They finished the regular season at 21-1 (12-0 in the Tri-County Conference). Their only blemish was a road loss to Columbia Central, a ranked team in Division 3.
The Bulldogs had wins over Bedford, Lenawee Christian, Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central and perhaps most impressive, a 58-25 demolition of Concord to start the year. They wrapped up the year by defeating the LCAA champs, Blissfield, on the road 39-38.
Morenci was the favorite to win their district. And after defeating Addison 70-18 in the first round, they promptly delivered a third straight district championship with a 49-14 victory over Pittsford.
Next up was Allen Park Inter-City Baptist, a familiar foe in the Regional semifinal. Morenci had ended the Chargers’ season each of the last two years. It was evident from the jump that this Allen Park team was going to play a much different style than in the previous years.
“I think they had essentially the best game plan for us that they could have had,” Joughin said of the Chargers. “The past two seasons and really all year this year, they’ve played full court pressure man-to-man defense and scored probably 20-30 points per game in transition.”
The Chargers really worked to neutralize junior center Colbie Ekins. “They did a great job of minimizing our good looks at the basket, and it took us about four quarters to finally get in any sort of offensive rhythm enough to get a lead and maintain it,” Joughin said.
Morenci entered the fourth quarter with a meager 15 points, trailing by five to a team they had beat by double digits each of the last two years.
The Lady Bulldogs seemed unfazed by the circumstances, and just over a minute into the fourth, Morenci had taken over the lead and essentially the game. The Chargers had used up all of their energy to get to this point, but the Bulldogs had reserve fuel and exploded for a 25-point quarter and went on to win 40-31.
Summerfield was now the only obstacle standing in Morenci’s path to a third straight regional title. They would prove to be a mere speed bump for the Bulldogs as Morenci won handily, 44-26.
And in a full circle moment, Morenci found themselves destined to play an undefeated Kingston team at West Bloomfield HIgh in the quarterfinals for a chance at the Breslin Center. The Bulldogs fell to Kingston 36-21 two years prior, at the same school and in the same round.
But Morenci’s sophomore- and freshman-laden team in 2024 was now seniors and juniors who had experience and confidence only achieved through exposure. It did not take long for that experience to shine.
“The senior girls certainly wanted it badly and knew it was their last chance to get to the Breslin Center,” Joughin said. “I think we won that game because of their willingness to play team defense and be patient offensively and run sets hard.”
Morenci’s defense did not allow Kingston’s senior guard, Molly Walker — a 2,000-plus career point scorer — to get comfortable. They held the Cardinals to just 25 points in a convincing 42-25 victory.
“Our goal was to keep them under 30 points, which is a tall task for a team averaging over 60 per game, and hope that we could score at least that much,” Joughin said. “It was an awesome feeling afterwards just knowing that we finally got to the place we’ve struggled to get to the last few seasons.”
After four years of blood, sweat and tears, of summer camps and scrimmages, of injuries and sicknesses, of running and lifting, the Lady Dawgs had finally punched their ticket to the Breslin Center.
“Like Kingston, we knew Ishpeming would have a powerhouse offense that we would need to work to slow down,” Joughin said. “They also averaged over 60 points per game all season and had a post player who was not really comparable to many we had played in the regular season.”
The Lady Dawgs held the Hematites under 40 points but ultimately could not overcome 31 turnovers.
Morenci will graduate five seniors in one of the most decorated basketball teams in school history. The last four years have yielded four TCC championships, three district championships, three regional championships, and now a Final Four appearance. Their 26 wins this year set a new school record for most wins in a single season, and their 89-13 record over the past four seasons is the winningest four-year span in school history.
Senior guard Emersyn Bachelder crossed the 1,000-point threshold in her final season, becoming just the fourth girl in Morenci history to accomplish the feat. She finished with 1,198 career points.
“Emersyn has played an instrumental role offensively for us and was always willing to lift us up on offense in tough games. She would attack the rim with confidence, shoot from the outside if we needed a big shot, and knock down big free throws down the stretch,” the coach said.
Senior point guard Evelyn Joughin tallied a school record 515 career assists (16th most in the state according to MHSAA all-time career records, and second in Lenawee County behind Kelsey Wyman of Blissfield with 578). She came into the year with 353 and needed only 13 to break the previous record held by Kylene Spiegel. She also ends her career with a total 1.88 assist-to-turnover ratio (515 total assists to 274 total turnovers).
“Evelyn has been the steady hand for us over the course of four years. She’s our eyes and ears on the floor and with that sometimes comes some added pressure,” the coach said. “She’s an unselfish leader and takes a lot of the offensive responsibility when it comes to making sure everything runs smoothly on the floor.”
Senior Addyson Valentine finished with 501 career rebounds, 116 this season alone. She also drew the defensive assignment of the oppositions’ best player most nights, which is noteworthy considering Morenci had the best defense in the county at 26.1ppg and held their last four postseason opponents to their season-scoring lows.
“Addyson has been the main reason we’ve had the leading defense in the county the last few seasons. She has an incredible ability to frustrate other team’s best players and outwork them for 32 minutes,” Joughin lauded her defensive stopper. “Her intelligence plays a big role in that because she doesn’t fall for shot fakes or hesitation dribbles.”
Senior post Lauryn Dominique worked her way into a starting role for her last season with Morenci. “Lauryn became somewhat of an unsung hero this year. She was in the right place at the right time a lot of the time,” Joughin said. “She finished at the rim with confidence and became a threat even at 15 feet. She ended with the highest free throw percentage on the season and has come the furthest in believing in herself and her abilities.”
Senior Katelyn Ruse proved to be an instrumental role player for the Lady Bulldogs over the last four years. “She always maintains a positive attitude and brings good energy to practice,” coach Joughin said. “She’s a vocal leader and would go in and do anything that was asked of her in games and in practice.”
Joughin herself crossed an impressive threshold this year as she secured her 100th coaching victory in just her fifth season as head coach. Her record stands at 102-21.
Despite graduating this decorated senior class, Joughin sees plenty to be optimistic about moving forward.
The program will have a turnover in leadership next year with the loss of four senior starters — three of whom have started on varsity since they were freshmen. However, Joughin said, “there are still some key pieces that will add to the Bulldog success next season. Colbie Ekins will return as one of the top players in the county and there are some juniors that will be able to step into some key roles.”
Ekins has 528 career rebounds and counting. This season she had 241 total rebounds and averaged 12.1 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.2 spg, and 0.8 bpg. Rhonda (Sutherland) McCaskey currently holds the Morenci records for rebounds in a season (289) and a career (936).
Juniors Hailey Cleveland, Aly Curtis and Tessa Zuvers will help fill out the Bulldog lineup.
Freshmen and sophomores got some valuable game minutes on JV this season, and the JV team finished 15-and-1.
“Some of those younger girls will be tasked with some ball handling responsibilities as well as some offensive and defensive tasks,” Joughin said of her young up-and-comers. “I think playing under the leadership of such a talented group of senior girls in practices this season, and even the past couple of seasons for some of these girls, has shown them what it takes to be championship caliber.”