Regional ‘heartbreaker’ fueling Dakota girls basketball

MACOMB TOWNSHIP — A loss is a loss, but some impact a team far more than others, especially when it’s on the regional semifinals stage.

Macomb Dakota had a trip to the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 1 regional championships at its fingertips, but a last-second, buzzer-beating three-pointer from Grosse Pointe North slammed the door shut on Dakota’s dreams of a regional title shot.

Instead of dwelling on what could’ve been, the Cougars are choosing to embrace last season’s crushing defeat as motivation.

“We didn’t lose many people, so we were feeling super confident this year,” senior Gracie Maloney said. “We just want to get past that game (Grosse Pointe North) we lost. That regional game was a heartbreaker for us because we thought we had it. We’re just working hard to be past where we were last year and get to MSU (for the MHSAA playoffs at Michigan State University) this year.”

Behind a senior group that includes Maloney, Samone Andrews, Teagan Malloy, Tambre Williams and Jessica Moshenko, Dakota has leaned on its surplus of leadership this season to the tune of a 7-1 record and the second-highest points per game average (56.4) in the Macomb Area Conference.

Returning an all-state caliber player like Andrews is always a bonus on the court, but coach Phil McCune said Andrews and the rest of the senior leadership has made a significant impact this season.

“I think this might be the best senior leadership that we’ve ever had,” McCune said. “I think Samone (Andrews) has taken on that leadership role where she expects a lot out of her team every day in practice and at games. You can see what it does to help us be successful on the floor and off the floor.”

Andrews is a pure scorer who averaged 15 points per game for the Cougars last season, and she’s picked up right where she left off last year.

Combine her with an efficient guard in sophomore Gabby Brooks-Foster, and Dakota has one of the stronger backcourts in the MAC. Sophomore guard Gia Rizzo has been a reliable contributor as well for Dakota.

“She’s (Andrews) taken her game to another level than what I had expected,” McCune said. “She put in a tremendous amount of work in the offseason and it’s paying off right now. She’s been pretty tough to stop both offensively and defensively. Having that nice backcourt of her and Gabby (Brooks-Foster) to handle any presses that may come our way is definitely nice to have.”

While the backcourt has shined, the Cougars frontcourt combination of Williams, Maloney, Malloy and sophomore guard/forward Brooklyn Garavaglia have made their presence felt this season.

Maloney, who is currently committed to North Texas for softball, is well known for what she can do on the diamond as an elite-level pitcher, but her athletic ability has made her a threat in transition this season.

“Me and Tambre (Williams), for posts, are pretty fast, so we just fly down the court and our guards catch us a lot of times,” Maloney said.

Williams recently broke the school record for most rebounds in a game with 23 on Dec. 12, and then rebroke her record with 27 rebounds on Dec. 23 against Ferndale.

McCune describes Williams as someone with “a motor you can’t teach,” and her effectiveness on the boards translates to her ability to dominate the paint on the offensive end.

When Dakota’s bigs aren’t able to get an open shot in the paint, they are effective at finding their guards on the outside.

“I think our posts do a good job of attacking the basket, and if it’s not there they’re kicking it back out to the shooters,” McCune said. “It’s just a great combination.”

The Cougars opened their season with four-straight wins, including an impressive 66-51 win over Utica Ford on Dec. 9, a team the Cougars have struggled with in the past.

Knowing the mentality of the team after the regional loss and the eagerness to start strong this season, McCune said Utica Ford was a significant win.

“That was a huge win for confidence for our girls,” McCune said. “The year before, we swept Ford, and last year they swept us. We know how well coached they are and how many athletes they have. It was a good win for us to get our confidence back and know that we can compete against anybody. We know how hard we have to go every day and not settle for what we did the day before.”

Dakota will first focus on the MAC Red league title, which Dakota hasn’t won since the 2017-2018 season and will likely have to battle three-time defending champion Grosse Pointe North for the top spot in the league.

Dakota is motivated and ready to overcome last season’s heartbreak, and the senior class players are prepared to end their high school careers on a positive note.

“Last year, I played for the seniors because I didn’t want it to ever be their last game,” Maloney said. “Now, I feel like I’m in that position where I’m working for this goal in our senior year, and I think we can achieve that with this team.”