Even though Analiya Fields was playing in her first college basketball game on November 6, she looked right at home. And it’s because … well … she was.
The Mott Community College freshman is a familiar name for Flint basketball fans, as she played high school basketball for legendary coach Keith Smith at Flint Hamady. And one of the traits she learned at Hamady is aligned with exactly the type of program second-year Mott coach Ryan Trevithick is building.
“It (playing at Hamady) made me a dog,” Fields said. “It prepared me mentally and physically for the grind right now. I don’t feel like there’s anything you’re gonna put in front of me that I can’t do, and that’s because of my coach from Hamady, so shout out to Coach Keith.”
That mentality is going to be particularly important for Mott this season, because the team will be at one disadvantage in most games: they’re small. But they plan to make up for it with tenaciousness, and that’s exactly what propelled the Bears to a 75-45 win over Kirtland Community College in their season-opener.
Mott held Kirtland to 32 percent shooting overall, including 11 percent from three-point range, and forced 38 turnovers. Despite being the smaller team, they also out-rebounded Kirtland 50-45.
“We’re not big, I don’t think there’s a secret there,” Trevithick said. “We’re gonna have to team-rebound, and we’re gonna have to force teams to play us 94 feet by 50 feet and make them get out and guard us on the perimeter, and then we’re gonna have to make them commit to us and find the open shooter. We’re gonna get better. We’re gonna continue to make shots. But this league is one of the best in the country for a reason, and you’re gonna see good teams night in and night out and they’ve got size and athleticism to go with it. We have to learn how to team rebound together, which tonight we only gave up seven offensive rebounds and they (Kirtland) had 37 missed shots. So at the end of the day, that’s a good defensive rebounding percentage for us.”
Mott also has a relatively small roster, with only nine players. Trevithick made use of every player on the bench, with each playing at least 14 minutes in the win. Sophomore Malaya Brown led the way, nearly recording a triple-double in her first game as a Bear. Brown finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds, seven steals, three assists, and a block.
Those seven steals are what directly led to a lot of Brown’s points, and that’s by design. Mott’s team is built to create pressure, which leads to quick baskets.
“Malaya almost having a triple-double was incredible,” Trevithick said. “She’s going to consistently make that defensive end of the floor a staple for us That’s what we keep telling them, they were all special players in high school. But they came here to play defense, and they’re buying into that.”
For Brown, she’s always taken pride in what she does defensively on the court, and also enjoys the challenge of competing against teams and players with more size.
“I’ve always been a defensive person, so if I’m doing good on defense, everything else is gonna fall into place,” Brown said. “I feel like that (out-rebounding Kirtland) is from how strong we are in the weight room. It’s actually helping us a lot, making us feel big. Creating those extra possessions, that’s what helped us score so many points.”
Mott’s defense and ability to create turnovers and transition opportunities also led to open perimeter shots against Kirtland. Mykalya Mast, a freshman from Indiana, and Ella Aagesen, a sophomore from Goodrich, combined to shoot 7-for-14 on three-point attempts in the game.
“I like our defensive urgency,” Trevithick said. “I like our ability to turn defense into offense. We were well over a point per possession in transition. At the end of the day, we’re creating a lot of really good shots, but we gotta find the right shots for us. And I think that’s a big piece for us as we go forward, is finding those shots that work within our offense, within our personnel, so we can get the best looks for our girls, and I think our percentages will only go up. We got some really good looks (against Kirtland).”
The Bears have a completely new roster from last season, with key players like Kyndall Dotson, Ali Anderson, and Ryleigh Zinn moving on to 4-year colleges. Brown and Damaya Hartwick, who played high school basketball at Grand Blanc, transferred from Delta College and Aagesen is a transfer from the University of Olivet. The rest of the team is made up of freshmen getting their first experience with college basketball. The coaching staff is giving the team room to play through mistakes, instead focusing on the effort and energy levels.
“They’re gonna have to grow up quickly,” Trevithick said. “We’ve only got nine kids, and three are sophomores, so those six freshmen are gonna have to figure it out quickly. But we talk a lot about sprinting towards failure. Right now, everything we do, right, wrong, or indifferent, is gonna help us get better and grow. That experience is so invaluable. So who cares if you make a mistake? It’s what you do when you respond to that mistake that matters most, and our kids bounced back. They didn’t play perfect. We had a lot of mistakes. We weren’t perfect as coaches. We made some rotation and some lineup mistakes. But we all learn through it, and we figure out how to grow together. You never dwell on the past. You always move forward and look to that next opportunity, and I thought they did a heck of a job with that (against Kirtland).”
For Fields, she didn’t just choose Mott because it was close to home. She felt a strong bond with the coaches and her teammates when she met them, which made Mott feel like the place she belonged. She showed off versatility in her first game, playing several positions and finishing with 16 points and five steals. Although the team is still getting to know each other and how they all play, she’s excited by how together they are and is willing to fit in any role the team needs her to.
“Anything they need, I’m theirs,” Fields said. “Like energy, I’m there if they need that. Defense, if they need me to take the ball up the floor, play off the ball, I’m there for them. It’s like the heart. We all gotta have the same heart pumpin’ the same blood. If one of our hearts isn’t pumpin’ the same blood, it’ll be noticeable because we won’t be moving on a string. So I feel like us playing strong together with strong hearts, that will take us a long way no matter how small or big we are compared to the next team.”
Trevithick was happy with the competitiveness the team showed in game one, and thinks it gives them something to build on. Mott’s next game is at home against Delta at 5:30 p.m. on November 11.
“We just told them they were brought in here for a reason, to be high-character kids that play high-level basketball for each other,” he said. “They’re selfless. They’re stepping into the space. I think they showed that they’re ready to compete, they’re ready to play once they get their legs under them and get that experience.”
Mott finished last season with a 10-16 record, and will face more tough matchups in the Michigan Community College Athletic Association Eastern Conference. Last season, four teams (Schoolcraft, St. Clair, Jackson, and Macomb) each finished with nine or more conference wins. Mott is looking forward to seeing where they stack up in what will surely be a tough league once again.
“I feel like we can show that a team full of guards is more capable of anything,” Brown said. “We’re as capable as the other teams, we can compete.”
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