Flushing vs. Saginaw Heritage Preview

Friday December 4th 2015

Saginaw Heritage

(FLASHBACK)

Nervy…Shocking...Steadfast… The sequel to the Saginaw Heritage vs Flushing game can be described with these three words…

Above is the intro to my story on March 13th of last season; the day after I witnessed one of the most exciting regional championship games of the season. The final score 39-30, also above, doesn’t tell the story of an underdog, Saginaw Heritage Hawks, battling a state championship contender, the Flushing raiders. It’s not too often you see a team shoot 7 of 28 and have 28 turnovers and still be in position to win in the last minute of the game such as Flushing did. Heritage also had turnovers; they also missed multiple shots on multiple possessions. However they were able to make a few more shoots than Flushing down the stretch to win. Probably the most important shot was Courtney McInerney rebounding and making a put back layup after a missed free throw with just under a minute left in the game.

 These teams will battle till the very end like both of last year’s epic games; the 1st game ending with Flushing winning 50-48 in overtime. You will see execution on offense, defense, rebounding, and discipline which is 2nd nature to both programs.  We know the story line for this epic trilogy. What we don’t know is… Who will win????

Prior to me seeing Saginaw Heritage at the Mid-Michigan Mega Scrimmage, I would have picked Flushing as a sure thing, with my primary reason being the loss of the Hawks hard working guards due to graduation. However, after seeing Heritage’s young guards in action and hearing from sources that Flushing is not performing like themselves, mainly in part to injuries, I can’t be so sure. What is a sure fact... This is one of the best match ups of the year.

Keys to victory

Saginaw Heritage:

• Take advantage of their size: Involve Jaela Richardson (‘18), Courtney McInerney (‘16), Shine Strickland (‘19), and Jenna Falkenberg (‘16) as much as possible.

• McInerney and Richardson have to stay out of foul trouble.

• Execute and finish on offense. Don’t always go for the quick shot, look for the best shot.

• Control the tempo of the game. Make Flushing uncomfortable early.

• Get back on defense in transition. Flushing is great at speeding the game up whenever needed.

Flushing:

• Guards have to dominate the game. Guards have to be willing to take and hit the big shots.

• Force Heritage to turn the ball over. Don’t allow them to get into half court sets comfortably.

• Guards have to rebound. With the absence of Claire Glowniak (‘16), the guards have to help fill that void.

• Take care of the ball. In order for Flushing to win they can’t have more than 12 turnovers.

• Attack the inside and get the Heritage inside players in foul trouble early.

This matchup will be decided in the last 2 minutes of the game, just like the last two times these teams met. It will come down to who can execute and rebound in those last 2 minutes. Both teams are very well coached but those last 2 minutes belong to the players. This year I have to go with Saginaw Heritage for the win. 

Score: 48 – 40 Heritage

**Follow Nate Brown on Twitter @LBI_Nate**