PETOSKEY — Seniors and freshmen aren’t supposed to mesh like this in sports.
But, when watching the Petoskey girls basketball team, it’s pretty hard to tell it’s a mix of first-year high school players and three- or four-year varsity vets.
They’re a team that starts two freshmen, two seniors and a sophomore. First off the bench are a pair of seniors, showing no grudges whatsoever to not be in the game’s introductions.
Most of all, they’re just simply a team.
“Our team is just so great,” Petoskey freshman Ella Sulitis said. “I can’t explain it. I’m so lucky to be on a team like this with my sister and her friends that I’ve known for years. Then Elaina (Flynn) and I have been playing basketball together since like kindergarten. We just kind of clicked when coach put us all together.”
The architect of the group is of course Petoskey girls basketball coach Brooke Carlson, who laid out everyone’s roles on the team this season, from freshmen, to seniors.
That meant making the tough call of starting freshmen like Sulitis and Flynn to put the best five out on the court, something you don’t always see at the Division 1 and 2 levels.
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She believed in her senior leadership enough that there would be no issues and she was right.
“I’ve told them many of times, we have a great mix of senior veterans who have been with me for years,” Carlson said. “Leah Sulitis has been with me for four years. I’ve coached Lauren (LaHaie) three years. We have a great mix of seniors that know what I’m looking for and what we need to do. Then, we’ve got young talent.”
That perfect mix has helped lead to a now 20-3 season, the first time the girls program has reached 20 wins in a season since the 2010-11 campaign.
On Friday, March 6, they pulled in a Division 2 district championship over Sault Ste. Marie in dramatic fashion, using a late comeback to earn a 59-57 victory.
It took everyone from the seniors to the freshmen to pull in that victory, with LaHaie nailing a late 3-pointer to pull Petoskey within one, then Ella Sulitis delivering the dagger and game-winning basket with 24 seconds remaining.
Petoskey also has secret weapon of sorts along the bench in the form of another senior turned defacto coach.
Haidyn Wegmann began the season as a senior captain draining 3-pointers, calling out the offense and motivating freshmen.
Then, she made the toughest decision she’s had to make in her high school career, putting herself on the bench, rather than on the court, in order to not put her future at West Point in jeopardy.
For Carlson, it was of course a blow to the lineup, though it’s brought out success in other ways.
“She’s that great connection between me and the girls,” Carlson said on Wegmann. “She still has that presence to her. I turn to her more and more on the bench. I’m asking her, ‘What do you think? What should we run?’”
The last time Wegmann played in a high school game, it came against the Sault in December. In her final time along the PHS bench in the Petoskey High School gym, she was helping teammates along against the same team.
“It’s definitely hard to not be on the court sometimes, but it’s made me see the game differently and I have a lot I can share with teammates, especially the underclassmen,” Wegmann said. “I have my own little role on the bench.”
Her efforts have helped Flynn blossom as a freshman point guard, though she’s not just helping the young players, it’s been everyone, including LaHaie.
“I was frustrated (my shots) weren’t going in and Haidyn was like, ‘Lauren, when you get the ball, stay confident. Say in your mind that’s going in.’” LaHaie said. “So I was like, alright, and I got the next one, believed and then it was just that relief feeling that I can make shots.”
Up and down the lineup, from LaHaie, Wegmann Leah Sulitis, Claire O’Donnell and Kiley Bromley as seniors, to Flynn and Ella Sulitis as freshmen and standouts in-between, the team just clicks.
“It’s a great mix,” Wegmann added. “We’re all super involved with each other, look out for each other. In school, outside of basketball, on the court.”
While it’s surprising to see a team mesh like this Petoskey group has, those that have watched all season are likely the least of bit surprised by the success that’s followed.
Contact or send game stats/info to Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey girls basketball showing what a true team can look like
Reporting by Drew Kochanny, The Petoskey News-Review / The Petoskey News-Review
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