One of the most meaningful experiences for Powers Catholic girls basketball players during their careers didn’t take place on the court.
Every year, a few weeks before the Chargers were set to embark on another long postseason run, the team would go away for a retreat which was organized by teachers sister Grace Scola, Nancy Barbour and Trish Morrison.
The retreats had nothing to do with basketball and still resonate to this day with many of the players.
“Before the tournament every year, we did these amazing retreats to ground us with our faith and making sure our focus was on the right things,” Rachael Carney said. “For those of us who have the faith and who are Catholic to keep that at the forefront no matter what we were doing and staying grounded was great.”
Among the powerful moments players experienced during the retreats was reading inspirational letters written by teammates, parents and other supporters.
“It really gets you excited and puts back in place that this is why we’re here and this is why we’re doing this, because we love this game, we love this community, we love this school and we loved each other,” Kelly Koerber said. “We were very close.”
When told that her former players brought up memories of those retreats a quarter of a century later, coach Kathy McGee said, “It was a huge part of it. I’m glad they remembered that. It makes me really proud.”
Weeks after emerging from those retreats, the Chargers would inevitably be contending for a state championship.
The 2000 and 2001 Powers teams won back-to-back state Class B championships after falling short on a last-second shot in the 1999 title game. Those championship teams are the second group coached by McGee to earn induction into the Greater Flint Area Sports Hall of Fame, joining the 1991 team.
At that time, the Class B championship usually came down to whichever team won the Powers vs. Detroit Country Day matchup.
The Yellowjackets rallied from seven points down in the fourth quarter to beat Powers, 49-47, on a buzzer-beating drive to the basket by Kim Wilburn in 1999. That loss lit a fire inside of the Chargers, who beat Country Day in the next two state title games, 47-42 in 2000 and 54-53 in 2001. Country Day beat Powers in the 2002 semifinals, 66-47.
“Winning my senior year was great, but I still think losing and Angi (Ausen) and Kate (Morgan) not getting that win was definitely a motivator for all of us,” said Koerber, who had 18 points and eight rebounds as a junior in the 1999 loss. “We felt like we let them down. I talk to them occasionally and still feel like we let them down.”
Koerber finished her career by going 9-for-12 from the floor and scoring 19 points in the 2000 state championship game before 4,188 fans at Central Michigan University.
The 2001 team was the only undefeated team in Powers history, going 28-0. The only loss for the 2000 team was a 45-44 setback against Flushing in the eighth game of the season. Two nights later, the Chargers began a winning streak that would reach 58 games before a 63-41 loss to Flint Northern in the 11th game of the 2002 season.
“When kids are really focused and driven, that drive comes from something inside,” McGee said. “They were really driven and I had the good fortune of being part of that.”
From the players’ perspective, it was they who had the good fortune of being coached by McGee, whose 599 career victories were a state record when she retired after the 2006 season. Betsy Kreston, Brad Terebinski and Kae Eidson were long-time assistants to McGee.
“I would watch older girls play at Powers, go to the finals and I wanted to be like that,” Shannon Rettenmund said. “I wanted an opportunity to play for coach Kathy. Coach McGee just knew how to light a fire under us. You wanted so hard to succeed as a team.”
Rettenmund emerged as an unlikely hero in the 2001 championship game. She hit both ends of a one-and-one with 27 seconds left to give the Chargers a three-point lead after going only 5-for-11 from the line all season.
It was one of five state championship game appearances for Rettenmund — three in basketball and two in soccer.
The lessons learned during their successful athletic careers at Powers translate into everyday life now that many of the players are married and have children of their own playing sports.
“I often revert back to the foundation being an athlete there provided me,” Rettenmund said. “That was respect, dedication, how hard work pays off, that you can put your mind to anything and look at what you can accomplish. It’s what kind of effort are you going to put in.”
Those championship runs took place during an era in which the Chargers got to at least the state quarterfinals 13 times in 15 seasons.
Those teams produced five Division I college basketball players in Victoria Lucas-Perry (a national runner-up at Michigan State), Koerber (Western Michigan), Ann Skufca (Central Michigan), Rachael Carney (Michigan and DePaul) and Erin Carney (DePaul).
The Chargers also had a future Olympian on their roster, though not as a basketball player. Backup player Ellen Tomek went on to compete in three Olympics in rowing, a sport she took up at the University of Michigan.
“Being part of the Powers program is something we all grew up wanting to do as little girls,” Rachael Carney said. “The history of coach McGee and the staff she put together, we all really strove to be part of that and the ability to compete at a state championship level.
“The team camaraderie alongside our trust in God for all that we did to utilize our talents to glorify Him was just incredible. It was an incredible experience that has lasted a lifetime. It developed us into the people we are today.”
