Lisa Negri was focused on making history, not for herself, but for her school.
By the fall of 1991, the Powers Catholic girls basketball program was beginning to make its mark on the state scene,
but still hadn’t won the first of its four Class B championships.
Negri was a senior that season. She was a freshman called up from the junior varsity when Powers reached the state
championship game for the first time in 1988.
Much of the spotlight was on Negri and fellow senior Sarah Willyerd, who were nominated for the Miss Basketball
award. No Flint-area player had won the award since its introduction in 1981. There are now three Flint-area winners.
“When I think back on it, I guess I didn’t really focus on it,” said Negri, who is now Lisa Davis. “I don’t know if that
was just because I was told, ‘Don’t think about it; you have to be a team player.’ I don’t think it was quite like that.
(Coaches) didn’t talk about it. They weren’t going to put this added pressure. Plus, there were other people I knew also
in the running.”
Negri and her teammates took care of the primary mission, winning the state championship with a 41-29 victory over
New Boston Huron on Dec. 7, 1991 at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek.
A week later, Negri was at home when Powers’ coaches showed up at her door.
“They had a cake that said, ‘Congratulations, Miss Basketball,'” she said. “It was another one of those moments
where, ‘Wait, what? What’s happening right now?’ It was just one of those surprise moments. When you’re that young,
you don’t really fully understand what’s happening.”
Negri averaged 19.8 points and 12.3 rebounds for Powers in 1991, scoring 15 points and grabbing 6 rebounds in the
championship game. The Chargers were 26-1 that season and 72-6 with Negri as a starter.
“It was just perfect, the dream season,” said Negri, who was a two-time Associated Press all-state selection.
“Everything just fell into place. We just had such a strong team. I think that makes it much easier when you know each
other, how to play with each other and everything. It was perfect.”
That 1991 Powers basketball team was inducted into the Greater Flint Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2014. Negri
becomes the first player from the Powers girls basketball program to earn induction as an individual. Coach Kathy
McGee was inducted in 2002.
