They’re seeing double with two state championship trophies this year at Morley Stanwood High School.
Class C all-staters Alexis Huntey and Bailey Cairnduff were the top two players, for not only the volleyball team that won a state title last November in Division 3, but also for the basketball team that won a crown following its 61-57 edging of University Liggett School on March 17 at the Breslin Center.
The obvious question to ask the two was this: in which sport is it tougher to win a state title? Both hedged on their answers, but it appeared basketball got the slight edge.
Huntey scored 27 points and had 16 rebounds in the basketball title game and is going to George Washington for a college volleyball career. She said, “Basketball is such an emotional sport out there. Every basket and every play is so key. I can’t even explain it.”
Cairnduff, who is going to Bowling Green to play basketball, added 18 points in the title game, which went down to the wire. Elyse Starck added 10 points and five assists.
Huntey hit a 3-pointer with just over a minute to go to give her team the lead 58-55 and they never relinquished it. Starck added a free throw moments later. When Liggett got the ball, trailing 59-57, all eyes were focused on Miss Basketball, Madison Ristovski, who had already scored 42 points.
With nine seconds to go, she launched a 3-pointer that was an air ball and rebounded by Huntey, who was fouled. With five seconds left, Huntey sank both free throws to seal the win.
Morley Stanwood ended its magical season at 28-0. Liggett ended at 23-5
“We have a better record, but that doesn’t mean anything at this stage,” Morley Stanwood coach Bob Raven said prior to the game. “They had a chance to play come good competition in the Detroit area and they got beat a few times. They were here last year and return everybody. They’ve got star power and recognition.”
Raven chatted briefly with a tearful Ristovski after the game.
“I told her it was a very special performance and she’s a very special player,” Raven said.
But the Morley Stanwood coach was also complimentary of his three four-year varsity players who ended their careers with a state title.
“I knew they were special players at that young age,” Raven said of his seniors’ varsity debuts as freshmen. “ I truly in my heart believed we could get down here. I told them all year we want to come down here and win it. These three (Cairnduff, Huntey, and Starck) obviously had a lot to do with it.
“It’s a very special feeling, as a coach.”
The Mohawks were up 33-26 at halftime, but Liggett’s aggressive defense got it back in the game, putting the Knights ahead 46-45 going into the third. That led for an emotional fourth quarter.
“I don’t know what to say,” Raven said in the post-game press conference. “I’ve been coming to these state finals for a lot of years as a spectator. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better Class C game than that one. It was a battle back-and-forth.”
Huntey was 10 of 17 from the floor and 5 of 9 in threes. “They gave me the ball when I was open,” she said.
Ristovski was 15 of 29 from the floor and 4 of 8 in triples.
“We don’t have that rah-rah type of girl on the team,” Raven said. “But I think that helps us. They’re so even keel when things are going great and when they’re not going great. I think that helps us battle through situations.”