The Patriots are no longer focused on building the roster. Now, they can focus on winning games.
Livonia Franklin girls basketball winning just 11 games over the past two seasons had nothing to do with its talent.
Sure, they might have been young and inexperienced, but their standouts were just as good as some of the other stars around the Kensington Lakes Activities Association.
Kinsey Nordbeck was formidable in the post. Heck, the All-KLAA selection averaged almost 11 points and nine rebounds per game last season, recording eight double-doubles in the East, a division that had two teams play at the Breslin Center, including state champion Belleville.
Bre Campbell has been a reliable guard, which is saying something. Nightly, she brought the ball up the floor against defensive pressure from the likes of Wayne Memorial’s Colleena Bryant, a Western Michigan signee and Hometown Life’s Player of the Year, and Temple commit Mariah Cross as well as Belleville’s Se’Crette Carter, a Marquette pledge, and many other college-bound athletes.
And, pound for pound, Sammy Carignan has proved to be one of the best defenders in the league. Despite being only 5-foot-1, she led the defense, scoring 47 of her 184 points off turnovers, nabbing 48 steals and deflecting 46 passes.
Talent has had nothing to do with the Patriots‘ losing record. The culprit has been their depth — or the lack thereof.
When coach Colleen Flaherty took over the team in 2023, they had only 10 players. No, not on varsity. That’s 10 players in the entire program. In fact, seven of them had to pull double-duty, by playing on the JV and varsity, taking advantage of the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s fifth-quarter rule that allows players to suit up for, you guessed it, five quarters a night.
Players benefited from the extra reps, but that also forced Flaherty to get creative with playing time. Sometimes she’d have an underclassman playing one specific quarter on JV so they’d be available for the entire varsity game. Others played the entire JV game, allowing them to come off the bench for a few possessions to give the full-time varsity players a breather.
Last season, the numbers almost doubled, with the program having 19 players on the roster and needing only three — Gabby Roberts, Ashley Copeland and Avery Little — to start the season playing for both teams.
The result? They spent less time searching for bodies to fill out a starting lineup and more on building team chemistry, developing their roles and learning to compete. That was a boon for players such as Carignan, who went from being a two-way player two seasons ago to being one of their most reliable scorers and defenders. The career-high 23 points she totaled against Farmington ensured them their first playoff victory since Flaherty took over.
“It helped with my skills and learning how to adapt with my different teams, but it was definitely tiring,” Carignan said before a Summer League Shootout game on July 9. “I feel like when I got to the varsity games, I always was already tired out, but it definitely did help me, being able to play at two levels.”
Those days are over for the Patriots. Sure, they’ll bring up players now and then for varsity experience, but they’re no longer relying on JV players to fill out the roster.
Their numbers have grown again, despite graduating three seniors. Fortunately for them, they didn’t lose any starters, with Nordbeck, Campbell, Carignan, Callie Bates and Vick Hairston returning as well as Copeland, who solidified her role as the sixth man late last winter.
They’ll exit the summer with at least 10 players earmarked for the varsity, but they’ll likely add a few more following tryouts in November.
“We have 21 girls here today, just showing up for Summer League, and we’ve had 20 at workouts,” Flaherty said. “We’re getting on these younger kids hard, and we’re trying to have fun but also provide a learning environment so they can improve their skills, and they just keep wanting to come out.”
With the roster-building portion of rebuilding the program finished, the fun finally starts.
They can start focusing on winning games and competing in their league. That’s not to say they’re going to knock off state powers Belleville and Wayne on their first try. But those games against the likes of rivals Churchill and Stevenson and Dearborn and Fordson are no longer guaranteed losses by five or 10 points.
Having a well-rounded roster, one where players have established roles and know what they’re supposed to contribute nightly, should make them competitive.
“I think we’ll have better team chemistry because we’ll be able to practice with the actual team we’re playing with,” Nordbeck said. “I also think we’ll be able to be fresher for the games, allowing us to focus specifically on the position and plays we’re needed for on the team. When you don’t have to play partially on JV and have a different position on the team than you do on varsity, it’ll allow us to focus in and do the best to our abilities.”
Flaherty admitted it’s been a lot of work getting the program to where it is now vs. when Nordbeck, Campbell and Carignan were underclassmen. But she’s happy, now that they’re seniors, that they all stuck with the team, ensuring its growth and prosperity for years to come.
She said they all showed “grit” during the process, but they all recognize the job is only just beginning.
“It’s been a battle, but I’m not afraid of a little sweat equity,” Flaherty said. “That’s what we’ve had to do here. I’ve seen the growth from them, game over game and year over year. Hopefully, the work we put in now and in the fall will pay off as we approach the season.”
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