Tecumseh girls basketball claims first state title since 1974
EAST LANSING — Saturday was a day Bart Bartels predicted eight years ago for the Tecumseh girls basketball program.
"He told me when I was in fourth or fifth grade that my senior year we were going to win a state championship," Alli Zajac said.
It was an emotional weekend for the Tecumseh girls basketball program that culminated with Bartels' prediction becoming reality as it beat Grand Rapids West Catholic, 54-44, in the MHSAA Division 2 state championship.
"We've been playing for coach Bartels all along, and with Maddy going down we had another person we could go to," coach Kristy Zajac said. "They did that tonight. He worked his entire life to get here, and we wanted to give that to him."
After losing junior Maddy VanBlack in the final moments of the semifinal and assistant coach Bart Bartels' death in the offseason, Tecumseh played with heavy hearts Saturday.
Tecumseh came out firing to start the game, jumping out to a quick 8-0 run and leading 21-9 after the start, but the Falcons slowly creeped back into the game, getting it to one, 39-38.
But Tecumseh never relinquished the lead. The team was confident as it knocked down its free throws late to close the game out.
"(Bartles would've said) Trust each other and trust the process," Zajac said. "Don't worry about the score, as long as we're up by one at the end of the game we still win the state championship. (Bartels) would've had confidence in every single one of these guys to continue battling to the very end."
At the start of the game, junior Makayla Schlorf had all the confidence. She scored all of her 11 points in the opening eight minutes to create some distance from West Catholic. She also finished with eight rebounds and two steals.
Down the stretch, it was senior Alli Zajac going 8-for-8 from the free throw line to finish with a team-high 14 points to go with five rebounds. Her sophomore sister, Addi, had nine points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Alli — along with junior Chloe Bullinger, who had 11 points and four rebounds; senior Ashlyn Moorehead, who had nine points and five assists; and senior Lauren Kilbarger off the bench — were all part of the volleyball team who also made it to the state championship, falling in Division 2 final back in November.
"It's amazing we got it done," Alli said. "Ashlyn and I have been working toward this since we were little freshmen starting. It's amazing I get to end my career off on a note like this. We've all accomplished such great things, and I'm glad it's ending on a high note."
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Tecumseh girls basketball claims Division 2 state championship
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