The Glen Lake girls’ basketball team will lose an important component of its success: a true center.
Senior Dani Frost was key to the Lakers’ stingy defense and helped her team to a 13-8 overall record, good for fourth-place in the Northwest Conference at 9-5.

“Dani’s job in every game we played was to take on the other team’s center, their big girl, and she stepped up every time,” said coach Jason Bradford of his 5-foot-11 center.

He cited Frost’s work against Kalkaska’s post player. “In our first game against them, she held her to 8 points, in the game last Wednesday, Dani kept her to six points,” Bradford said.

Bradford will lose Frost and her fellow senior Paige Stachnik to graduation in June, and said the Laker program will miss both of them.

“Paige will be hard to replace for her three-point shooting ability and her leadership out on the floor. Both girls were very coachable, worked hard all season and I’m going to miss them. They are great individuals on and off the court,” he said.

The good news for Glen Lake is that most of the team can return next year. Key contributors Taylor Martin, Bailey Lautner and Scotlyn Brengman are all underclassmen. “The one thing we’ll be missing is Dani’s height,” he said.

St. Mary had the best record in the county at 17-4 overall, and tied with Traverse City Christian for the Cherryland Conference title at 5-1. But the Eagles lost to the Sabres in the semifinals in the Class D District.

Coach Paula Korson said St. Mary will lose much of its offensive punch in seniors Christy Miller, Brooke Fortner and Tiffany Moore. Miller and Fortner each averaged 11.2 points per game to lead the team in scoring. Also leaving the team to graduation in June will be seniors Emily Boss and Kelsey Collins.
“Defensively, we are very strong for next season with my daughter Lindsey and Gabrielle Kuznicki coming back. The challenge will be in finding our new shooters,” Korson said.

“I will miss the seniors. They have been great floor leaders, they lead by example,” Korson said.
Northport reached the Class D District final this year before having its season end Friday in a loss to T-C Christian. The Wildcats finished 10-12 overall and took third in the Cherryland Conference with a 2-4 record. First-year coach Casey Wilcox loses five seniors this season: Nina Muller, Bryton Collins, Kelly Fischer, Bailey Hanson and Amanda Adams.

“Nina has been a consistent force on this team all season. Kelly worked her way into the starting line up and Bryton had flashes of brilliance this season,” Wilcox said.

Wilcox said having juniors Emily Stowe, twin sisters Victoria and Maria Roman, and sophomores Ashley Agosa and Monni Raphael back will be a big help. “Victoria was out most of the season with a shoulder injury so getting her back next year with her sister, and Emily and Ashley and Monni, we’ll have a great base to work with,” she said.

The Suttons Bay girls’ team also saw its season end last week in a loss to eventual Class C District champion Kalkaska, 82-31. The Norsemen finished the year 7-14 overall and took fifth place in the Northwest Conference at 5-9. Coach Laurie LaCross loses the team’s top scorers in Olivia Raftshol and Emily Send, as well as center Angela Patterson and Kelli Ruthkowski. Raftshol averaged 17.2 points a game this season, the top mark in the county. Send was the team’s top rebounder at 10 a game, while Raftshol averaged 9. LaCross has experienced players ready to return next year in juniors Samantha Stark, Hannah Olson and Justine Sourie, and sophomore Koriama Guillen.

The Leland girls’ basketball program struggled most of the season with only one win. With no successor coach named as yet, the Comets may have a tough time replacing seniors Carrie Dunklow, Amy Larsen and German foreign exchange student Althea Schmidt.

After coach Keven Pershinske resigned in the middle of the season, principal Jason Stowe stepped in to finish the year. Juniors Sierra Parent and Meghan Flohe should be back, along with sophomore Tantzi Snyder. Freshman Katelyn Pershinske and Isabelle Scott should also return as well as sophomores Hanna Schaub and Elizabeth McKee.