Lansing Catholic girls basketball extends district title streak with win over Portland

PORTLAND ― Gabby Halliwill and the Lansing Catholic girls basketball team don't like to lose.

So it didn't sit well with the Cougars when they were handed a CAAC White loss by Portland nearly a month ago.

Back at the site of that loss Friday, Lansing Catholic made sure to it got a better result.

The Cougars avenged that loss with a 56-37 victory over host Portland in a Division 2 district final featuring the CAAC White co-champions.

"We don't enjoy losing at all," Halliwill said. "I just think that's the only motivation we needed was to get back and win. We want to keep our season going. (We have) a whole team of seniors and a couple of underclassmen, but we just really wanted to keep it going."

The win gave defending state champion Lansing Catholic (19-5) a fourth straight district championship. The Cougars advanced to next week's regional at Charlotte where they will face Haslett.

"It's huge," Lansing Catholic coach Kacee Reid said of her program's district streak. "They're playing as loose as they can, but it's different when they're seniors. It's a different pressure. That's the pressure that we feel. It's not even the state championship from last year. The pressure is that we have nine seniors and we don't want it to end. We don't want this to be our last practice.

"That weighs on every team in the state. That's what we have to continue to overcome for these kids. It means a lot to me because those kids have put in countless hours in the last 15 years of their life. You don't always get the reward. For them to get the reward, it's pretty cool."

Seniors Morgan Wilcox and Halliwill played big roles in making sure the Cougars continued their run. Halliwill, who was slowed by Portland during the 51-44 loss last month, finished with 18 points to lead Lansing Catholic. Wilcox added 13 points.

Lansing Catholic led 29-23 at halftime before taking control in the third quarter. The Cougars opened the third on a 10-1 run that featured five points from Wilcox and baskets from Anna Richards and Tessa Roe.

Malia Thelen finished with 13 points and Lilly Thelen had 12 points to lead Portland, which was denied in its bid for a fifth straight district title and closes the season with a 20-3 record.

"Portland is a very competitive team and it's always fun playing them." Halliwill said. "They really gave us a run for our money. I think (back-to-back state titles) has been our goal ever since the beginning of the season and we just really want to keep it going."

Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Lansing Catholic girls basketball tops Portland for district title