EAST GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The five 2023 Miss Basketball finalists for the state of Michigan were announced on Friday.
To no one's surprise, East Grand Rapids High School senior Macy Brown is one of the finalists along with West Catholic's Cadence Dykstra.
Brown has certainly impressed in every game she has stepped on the floor for this season.
"This isn't normal," East Grand Rapids head coach Troy Hammond said. "Don't take a kid like this for granted."
The six-foot tall point guard is a swiss army knife on the floor for the Pioneers. Brown has the speed to bring the ball up the court, the size to finish in the paint and the range to hit shots consistently from the volleyball line.
"Definitely just going out there and giving it my all," Brown said. "Knowing and having confidence in myself and my teammates that we have worked for this."
That hard work does not go unnoticed. Brown is one of the top scorers in the state as she averages 25 points-per-game.
"I think it is reassuring to me as a coach and reassuring for our kids to know every game that we play, we will have the best player on the floor," Hammond said.
Brown has been the best player at EGR this year. She has led the Pioneers in scoring for every single game this season, and is just eight points away from becoming the program's all-time leading scorer. She will pass her sister, Jillian, who currently plays college basketball at Northwestern.
However, she does not credit herself for her own success.
"I wouldn't be where I am without my team or my coaches."
As special as her talent on the court may be, it's Brown's intangibles and leadership that sticks out the most for Hammond.
"That's why she is the leader that she is," Hammond said. "It's team-first. She wants to win. She might score 30 but if we lose it is a bad night."
That team-first mindset helped Brown secure a scholarship to play college basketball at the University of Michigan.
"Whenever I would go there and just step on campus, it just felt like home," Brown said. "It's surreal honestly knowing a year from now, I will be in their shoes. It is really cool."
Those maize and blue shoes will have to wait because Brown still has some unfinished business at East Grand Rapids.
"It's definitely in the back of my head and I am definitely looking forward to it," Brown said. "I am just taking the season as it is first and then focusing on it."
Brown and the Pioneers open the playoffs on Monday against Wyoming. Tip is at 6 p.m.
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