All-State Grades
Chief cagers honored for academics

BY ED WRIGHT
April 24, 2010, 9:30 p.m.

  Canton's girls basketball team has some serious game -- both on  the court and in the classroom.

  The Chiefs, who advanced to the Class A "Final Four" before falling to Detroit Renaissance in a down-to-the-wire semifinal battle, earned All-State academic honors from the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan after compiling a team grade-point average of 3.807.

  The only Class A team to earn a higher GPA was Gibraltar Carlson, which studied at a 3.892 clip.

  "It shows how serious these girls take being students along with being athletes," said Canton coach Brian Samulski. "To make it to the 'Final Four' on the court and top two in grade-point average takes a great commitment. They're all exceptional role models."

  Samulski said it was easy to understand how the Chiefs achieved their academic excellence.

  "Whenever we're on the road, during the junior varsity games they all had their books open in the bleachers and they were studying," said Samulski. "They studied on the bus to and from games when they had a big test coming up. It's a dedicated group."

  All three seniors -- Kelly Larimore, Alyssa Cottrell and Yuki Krolicki -- have 4.0-plus grade-point averages, Samulski said. Several underclassmen are either at the 4.0 mark or close to it, he added.

  Rounding out the top five team GPA's in Class A were Traverse City West (3.794), Alpena (3.765) and Walled Lake Central (3.760).