The Northeastern Lady Knights, state-ranked fourth in 2A, were expected to win the Wayne County Tournament championship for the sixth consecutive year when they squared off against the Centerville Lady Bulldogs on Saturday, Jan. 11, for the title. Even though the Lady Bulldogs had the advantage of more rest, the Lady Knights lived up to their pregame hype, easily winning 61-33.
The night also belonged to Knight senior guard Ava Mikesell. Late in the second quarter, Mikesell reached the 1,000-point plateau for her career and the game was briefly halted to acknowledge her achievement. Her teammates celebrated the milestone with her as enthusiastically as they did when they accepted the traveling team trophy at the end of the game. Mikesell, a four-year starter and a recent Olivet Nazarene University commit, became the second Lady Knight to reach the 1,000-point level this season, joining running mate Ady Kircher, who scored her 1,000th point on Dec. 27 against Kokomo.
The Lady Knights started by scoring the first 16 points of the game and pushed their lead to 23-8 after one quarter and 40-13 by halftime. Four minutes into the third quarter, Mackenzie Johnson scored to extend the Knight lead to 51-15 to trigger a running clock for the balance of the game.
Ady Kircher led Northeastern with a game high of 20 points and Johnson scored 13 points. Kendall Nelson and Taelynn Swartz each scored 14 points for Centerville.
Centerville head coach Tyler Frame said his team will shake off the loss and keep working to improve. “It is impossible in practice and in previous games to replicate the speed and basketball IQ Northeastern has,” Frame said. “Everything they do is so fast it is hard to adjust to. It took us a long time to really settle in. Northeastern is really good. We had won three in a row coming into this game, and this loss won’t discourage us. We still have confidence, and we have team chemistry building that we have not had in several years. We were not worried about Northeastern, we were just trying to get better, and I think we did.”
Northeastern head coach Cody Dudley was happy for the team. “Winning this tournament is a priority for us,” Dudley said. “The kids played well, and I’m happy for them. We still have bigger goals, so we will enjoy this tonight and go back to work next week.”
Ava Mikesell said she was proud to be a part of the tradition the Lady Knights have built.
“This is the fourth time we have won this tournament during my playing career and I am proud of that,” Mikesell said. “Everyone on this team contributes, and winning tonight is great, but we think we have an opportunity to make a run in the state tournament. We will continue to work hard to achieve that goal.”
Northeastern (17-1) 23 17 18 3 61
Mikesell 6, Ady Kircher 20, Ariel Shuler 3, Cami Angi 5, Johnson 13, Karri Gammon 8, Brooklyn Adams 6, Amiyah Davis 0, Chloe Peters 0, Macey Oler 0, Ti’aja Adams 0, Sammi Kircher 0 — Total 61
Centerville (6-10) 8 5 7 13 33
Bowi Frame 0, Swartz 14, Ruby Snyder 0, Nelson 14, Hannah Beaman 0, Lorna McKinney 3, Olivia Hunter 2, Maddie Beach 0, Abbie Talbot 0, Madison Rowe 0, Aubrey Seifer 0, Lindy Skinner 0, Alexis McGinty 0 — Total 33
A version of this article appeared in the January 15 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.