BELLEVILLE — For years and years, Jackson Lumen Christi’s girls basketball program had been pretty nondescript. But the Titans have been on the upswing lately, winning 19 games last season and reaching the MHSAA Division 3 state quarterfinals, where they were edged by eventual state champion Ypsilanti Arbor Prep, 31-28.
It was just a few weeks after the season when the Titans made their next upward move, and a surprising one at that.
“I was in the middle of soccer practice, and one of our teammates told me, ‘You know that coach that we played against in state quarters? That’s going to be our new coach,’” said Ruby Boyce, who is playing on Lumen Christi’s varsity for the fourth season.
The gossip was true. Scott Stine, who guided Arbor Prep to state titles in three of the past four years, was indeed coming to Lumen Christi — the off-season’s most high-profile coaching hire. He had no prior connections to the Jackson area before accepting the job, but felt it was a worthwhile move nonetheless.
“We played them in a quarterfinal last year, so I knew that the team they had coming back has some talent,” he said. “I know Lumen Christi in everything else has had a lot of championships. They’re doing something right at Lumen.”
It hasn’t taken long for the Titan players to buy in, either.
“As soon as I heard that, I was excited, because obviously they went on to win the state championship,” said Lily Ganton, a three-year varsity member. “I know our coaches are state championship-caliber, and I know we can get there.”
“That was so surprising to find out that he was going to be our coach, but it’s been a great season so far,” Boyce added.
Lumen Christi has won its first two games, most notably a 68-37 decision over Division 1 opponent Plymouth Salem last Saturday at the Best of Michigan Holiday Classic at Belleville. The Titans caused numerous turnovers, hit 13 three-pointers and never trailed throughout the contest.
The team starts three sophomores in the backcourt, and they were the game’s high scorers. Point guard Kenna Hunt led the way with 21 points; shooting guard Lucy Wrozek had 17; and fellow shooting guard Erin O’Dowd added 15.
The victory was also notable since Stine beat a longtime friend in Rod Wells, who led Arbor Prep to its first state championship in 2016 — four years after the school first opened — becoming the first charter school to capture a girls basketball state title. Stine was a longtime assistant to Wells before ascending into the top role.
While Stine admits it was hard to leave the Arbor Prep basketball program after 14 years, he can’t complain about the warm reception he’s received at his new place of employment.
“It’s really enjoyable,” said Stine, who also teaches economics and history. “The kids and the parents have really welcomed me in, (as well as) all of the coaches in all of the other sports. It’s been great so far. Faith comes first and then academics, and the kids and the school really value sports.”
While the team’s veterans have endured several coaching changes over the years, they are confident that Stine and his assistants bring a new perspective that fits well with the Titans’ strengths.
“The thing I love about them is that they want intensity,” Ganton said. “We always bring intensity, and that’s the thing they’re looking for every game. If you don’t bring intensity, you’re off the court, and I think it really gets us fired up every game. I don’t think it was necessarily missing (in past seasons). We’ve always had that fire within us, but making it a point and making it the thing we do — that really helps us.”
“It’s definitely a different coaching style,” Boyce said. “This coach spends a lot more time with us. He studies all the teams that we will play, and he’s really prepared for our games. He brought his assistant coaches; they’re really good at working with us on things like footwork, and movement without the ball.”
Already, Stine sees similarities between the Titans and the championship squads he’s coached in the past.
“They’re very similar to all of our Arbor Prep teams, other than probably last year,” he said. “We’ve got tough kids who are committed to playing defense. We pride ourselves on our full-court man-to-man and making everything difficult on the opponent. We’ve got some offensive weapons, and we’ve got a bunch of kids who are really willing to compete.”
Lumen Christi is carrying 13 players on the varsity this winter, four of whom (Boyce, Ganton, Hunt and Wroszek) are returning starters.
“The kids all know their roles, they’re comfortable with their roles and they like each other,” Stine said. “Everybody’s got the same goal, which is to win. They really do a good job of doing what we ask them to do.”
The Titans have been on an upward curve since going 1-19 in the 2021-22 season. Now, the Titans are placed in the Catholic League’s Central Division West, which includes two-time defending Catholic League champion Ann Arbor Fr. Gabriel Richard and the three Toledo schools — Central Catholic, Notre Dame Academy and St. Ursula Academy.
“I know a fair amount about our opponents. The Ohio schools have already been playing for a couple of weeks, and I’ve had an opportunity to watch film on all three of them,” Stine said. “We want to win our Catholic League division, and then our Catholic League title, and from there, we’ve got one of the top two teams in Division 3, Grass Lake, in our district. We’ll start with winning the district and we’ll go from there.”
Lumen Christi hosts Fr. Gabriel Richard on Friday, Dec. 19, which should be a good indicator of where the Titans stand this season. The next day, Lumen Christi travels to Detroit Renaissance to take on Detroit Mumford, before returning home to host Mio on Dec. 22.
