Muskegon overpowers Utica Eisenhower in Division 1 girls basketball semifinals
It was already a historic season for Utica Eisenhower before it stepped on the court to play Muskegon.
East Lansing — It was already a historic season for Utica Eisenhower before it stepped on the court to play Muskegon in a Division 1 state semifinal on Friday. Unfortunately for Eisenhower, the biggest piece of history it wanted to make will have to wait at least one more year. Advancing to the state’s Final Four for the first time since 1982, featuring a roster with seven sophomores and a freshman, Eisenhower didn’t quite have enough to topple a powerful Muskegon team, which earned a 69-46 victory over Eisenhower at Michigan State’s Breslin Center.
Muskegon (25-2), which has a rich history as an athletic program, advanced to its first state championship game ever in girls basketball, to be played at 12:15 p. m. Saturday.
Meanwhile, Eisenhower will take all it learned from this experience, improve even more over the summer and start the process of trying to get back to this point and beyond. “We talked about, ‘Why not us? ” Eisenhower coach Madison Ristovski said of this season.
“Why not this group of kids? They believe in themselves. To be at the Final Four, the way we did it this year, it was just believing in ourselves.