Elite 8 - Weekend Warriors

8. Riley Kennedy – Birmingham Brother Rice Lacrosse

After Brother Rice fell behind in the Division 1 state title game, Kennedy simply took over as the senior led the Warriors attack that went on to take a 7-2 lead after falling behind 2-1. Kennedy capped off his high school career with five goals in the state title game as Brother Rice won its 10^th straight state title with a 14-8 win over Ann Arbor Pioneer.

7. Brian Bayliss-Garrett Schilling – Madison Heights Bishop Foley Baseball

Both Bayliss and Schilling put together dominant performances on Saturday as Bayliss nearly threw a shutout in the regional semifinal win over Dundee, and Schilling throwing five innings of one-hit ball in the regional final win over Riverview Gabriel Richard. The Ventures are now rolling towards a repeat thanks to their aces.

6. Taylor Timko – Pontiac Notre Dame Prep Soccer

Timko is as good of a goal scorer as there is in the state. The super-soph had already tallied 27 goals heading into Friday’s regional final against Grosse Ile, but she’s still not done scoring. The Michigan commit netted two more goals on Friday night, as she helped lead the Irish to a 4-1 win over the Red Devils and lifted her season scoring mark to 29.

5. Kelly Sweeney – Birmingham Marian

It’s hard to believe that Sweeney’s just a freshman, because the Marian star has been playing like a senior all year long. Friday night was no exception as Sweeney scored both Marian goals to lead the Mustangs to a 2-0 win over Fenton. This season’s Marian team might be younger than most year’s, but the Mustangs have plenty of players playing like upperclassmen, starting with Sweeney.

4. Jake Lowery-Jacob Jessen – Hartland Baseball

Lowery shut down Rochester Adams in the second regional semifinal game on Saturday, allowing just two hits during his seven innings of work, while Jessen was just as dominant in the regional final against Lake Orion as the senior allowed just one hit over his five dominant innings on the mound. The 1-2 punch of Lowery and Jessen could very well lead the Eagles to a state title.

3. Hannah Grieb – Rochester Adams Soccer

Can you say clutch? Grieb spent the majority of the 2012 season on the Highlander’s JV squad, but earned her way onto the varsity roster for the postseason and she took full advantage of the opportunity. Shortly after the start of the second overtime in the regional final, Grieb netted the game winning goal to lift Adams to a 2-1 win over Midland Dow. That’s about as clutch as it gets.

2. Jessica Parry – Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes/Clarkston Everest Collegiate Soccer

Parry is as good as it gets when it comes to taking free kicks, and she showed just that on Friday afternoon. Parry recorded the final two goals of the Laker’s regional final win over Saginaw Nouvel, both on free kicks. The first tied the game at 3-3 and the last came with just over six minutes to go to record the game winner. Parry also assisted on the second goal of the game for Lakes/Everest on a free kick pass to Ava Doetsch.

1. Selena Hicks – Lakeland Softball

Hicks defined dominance on Saturday afternoon, as the junior ace pitched a total of 14 innings and allowed just five hits and zero runs, while striking out 20 batters. Hicks shutdown a dangerous Athens team in the regional semifinal, limiting the Red Hawks to just three hits, and only one through the first six innings. In the regional final, Hicks held a Romeo team that had plated seven runs against Clarkston to just two hits in seven innings to lead the Eagles back to the state quarterfinals where they will face Sterling Heights Stevenson.