For Bloomfield Hills Marian girls basketball to be the best, it must 'play the best'

The schedule maker for the Bloomfield Hills Marian girls basketball team should be in hot water right now. 

The Associated Press released its first top-10 rankings of the season this week. Tied for first place in Division 2 were defending Catholic League tournament champion Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard and Detroit Edison, who also happens to be the two teams the Mustangs just faced in back-to-back games after returning from winter break. 

And neither squad took it easy on Marian, as FGR won 59-36 on Jan. 5 and DEPSA won 63-15 on Jan. 9. 

That's a rough, unfortunate stretch of games for any team, but especially for a program like Marian's, which is powering through its rebuild under second-year coach Michelle Lindsey. The team has just two seniors, while most of its experience comes from its junior class. And they also have four underclassmen still learning the ropes. 

You'd think getting smacked around by two state powerhouses would be something you'd want to easily forget. 

Not this group. 

They've actually embraced that experience. It became a great learning opportunity, one they're using to inspire their play going forward and hope will benefit them when the playoffs begin in a handful of weeks. 

"I thought it was good, a good growing experience for us," guard Molly McLeod said following Wednesday's 47-22 bounce-back win against Dearborn Divine Child. "To be the best, you've got to beat the best. They're not easy, but it was totally worth it. It made us strong, and it makes us want to work harder in practice because we just want to win the next game even more, you know?" 

That, right there, is the difference between last year's Marian team and the current one. 

Last season, the Mustangs didn't have that kind of confidence, nor did they play like a team ready to pick themselves off the mat and sign up to go another round or two — at least throughout the first two months of the winter. 

But that makes sense. It was Lindsey's first season as the head coach, and she was leading an incredibly inexperienced team with only a few players that had significant playing time on the 2021-22 CHSL title team. 

They're all a year older and a year better now. 

It started with how they ended their 2022-23 campaign. After losing eight straight in the middle of the season, they won seven of their final eight games, which included beating Birmingham Seaholm to win a district championship. 

That exciting finish propelled them into the off-season and gave them plenty of motivation to improve. 

"We're definitely playing together as a team, and I'm proud of those kids, especially with how we came off those two losses (against FGR and DEPSA) to get back into the winning column," Lindsey said. "It was tough, but if you want to be the best, you've got to play the best, so it was a good experience for the young kids. 

"I pulled up a few JV kids to experience DEPSA and FGR, and — no joke — they were really good teams. We're obviously not close to where they're at yet, but that's the goal, right? In a few years, we want to get there. We'll keep them on our schedule and, hopefully, playing them will pay off in March." 

On paper, the Mustangs should have what it takes to finish with a winning record and prepare themselves for what should be the toughest district tournament in the entire state. 

The teams assigned to their bracket include reigning state runner-up West Bloomfield, which was ranked No. 1 in D-1 in this week's AP Poll and features twin sisters Indya and Summer Davis, who are committed to Georgia, as well as rival Farmington Hills Mercy and defending Oakland Activities Association-White champion North Farmington. 

But Marian has some firepower of its own. 

It starts with senior Mckenzie Swanson, a 6-foot-3 Butler University signee who was one of five players from Michigan selected as a McDonald's All-American nominee last week. 

Joining her in the lineup are fellow senior Abby Landa as well as some talented juniors in McLeod and Charlie Bingham and freshman point guard Mack Reid. 

They also get plenty of minutes out of junior forwards Ella Swanson, Mckenzie's younger sister, Ruby Jansen, the daughter of former longtime NFL lineman Jon Jansen, and Lauryn Billingsley and freshman CeCe Murray. 

The Mustangs (5-4, 2-2) have a strong nucleus, something that should help them continue to build and inch closer to becoming as dominant as programs such as FGR and DEPSA. Heck, maybe one day they can return to the glory years they enjoyed under former coach Mary Cicerone, who led Marian to six state championships. 

It's all going to come down to team chemistry. 

"I think we're really coming together, bonding together and getting to know each other on and off the floor," said Mckenzie Swanson, who scored a game-high 16 points vs. Divine Child. "Over the last year and this year, I think we've just gotten closer together, and that leads to our confidence."

Sure, Marian has participated in offseason workouts, open gyms and scrimmages, including playing in the fall league at The Compound Athletics in Sterling Heights. 

But what also is helping them is the quality time they spend together away from basketball. 

They've tackled a handful of service projects together around metro Detroit, which has included volunteering at Capuchin Soup Kitchen, plus they're finding time to hang out with one another as friends. 

"Over the summer and in the fall, it's almost been like a team bonding thing where we've spent more time together," said McLeod, who pitched in nine points vs. the Falcons. "It's team dinners and just hanging out. We've just gotten so much closer. But I think it's also just us working harder together and having fun. 

"We put in so much work in the off-season. We've been working with the strength and conditioning coach and running, and we've had most of our team there. Really, I just think it feels more like a family and we're just bonding. It's like, these are my best friends. I can trust everyone, and know they have my back, too." 

Make no mistake: The Mustangs have a long way to go, but you can see the progress they're making. And Marian has no interest in backing down from an opportunity to show just how much it has grown. They proved that by losing to FGR and DEPSA on back-to-back nights and still showed up to practice the next day with an eagerness to improve. 

Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life. Follow him on Twitter @folsombrandonj.