<span style="font-weight: 400;">The Saline Hornets defeated the Wayne Memorial Zebras, 51-40, in the Michigan regional semifinals in a game that included a handful of highly skilled athletes. Saline was led by the dynamic duo of [player_tooltip player_id="27971" first="Ella" last="Stemmer"] and [player_tooltip player_id="126300" first="Steffi" last="Bentley"], who combined for 40 points, 16 rebounds, and seven assists. Wayne Memorial, on the other hand, got a lot of production from their center [player_tooltip player_id="27968" first="Alana" last="Micheaux"] and a couple of guards. Here are my top-five players from the two teams. </span>
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>1. [player_tooltip player_id="27971" first="Ella" last="Stemmer"] (Saline):</b></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> The junior guard has been phenomenal for the majority of her career but she was downright special in Saline’s recent playoff victory over Wayne Memorial. Stemmer scored a game-high 30 points (13 of which came in the second quarter), to go along with eight rebounds and two assists. She was also 12/12 from the free throw line in the win. Stemmer has earned offers from Hillsdale, Northwood University, Saginaw Valley State, and Wayne State. </span>
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b style="font-size: 1rem;">2. <b>[player_tooltip player_id="27968" first="Alana" last="Micheaux"] (Wayne Memorial):</b></b></span><b style="font-size: 1rem;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Micheaux, a 6’2” junior, was also very impressive, despite her team coming up short in the end. She was the main reason why Wayne Memorial led 16-11 after the first quarter as she had seven points in the opening period. After being outscored 21-0 in the second quarter, she helped her team get back into the game with six rebounds in the third quarter. Micheaux, who has an offer from Eastern Michigan, finished with 13 points and 15 rebounds. </span></b>
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b style="font-size: 1rem;">3. [player_tooltip player_id="126300" first="Steffi" last="Bentley"] (Saline):</b></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Stemmer steals the show in a lot of Saline games but Bentley has proven to be a really solid second option. And at times, she has the potential to be a go-to player. When Saline was struggling early on, Bentley kept them within striking distance. She had four points and three assists in the first quarter, before finishing with 10 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, which is really impressive, especially from the center position. Bentley is one of three Saline seniors. </span>
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>4. [player_tooltip player_id="27986" first="LaChelle" last="Austin"] (Wayne Memorial):</b></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Austin was the clear second best player on the Zebras as she totaled nine points, two rebounds, and two assists in the 51-40 loss. She still has work to do as she will learn to take better shots and make better decisions but the talent is there and she’ll continue to improve heading into her senior season. Austin was really impressive in the third quarter as she helped her team cut Saline’s lead from 20 points down to three. </span>
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>5. Sophie Canen (Saline):</b></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> The last player I want to spotlight has to be Canen. Although she isn’t a pure scorer, she has the ability to get to the rim with ease and finishes well with both hands. With Stemmer and/or Bentley on the court at all times, Canen isn’t looked at to score in bunches but she did provide an important eight points, including four in the dominant second quarter. She also finished with three assists and two rebounds, helping her team to their 22nd win of the year. </span>
