Fowler’s Mia Riley AP Division 4 top girls basketball player

Mia Riley was already putting together a strong senior season.

But when the Fowler girls basketball team suffered a second loss to rival Portland St. Patrick on a Tuesday night in early February, Riley knew more was needed if she hoped to close her career with another state championship.

So the next day, Riley was in the gym at 6 a.m. with her three siblings also joining her.

And that became a regular occurrence for the remainder of the season.

“We knew that the third (meeting with St. Patrick) would be the one that was for all the marbles,” Riley said. “We just got shots up before the day started. I think that really helped me. It increased my work ethic along with my shot.

“We really put in the extra hours and the extra work because we knew what we had to do. St. Pats was a great team and we had to get past them (in order) to get to the finals.”

The extra time paid dividends as Fowler avenged those two earlier losses on the way to a second consecutive Division 4 state championship.

Riley’s efforts played a large role in that, and she was a repeat selection by the Associated Press as the player of the year in Division 4. The Ferris State-bound Riley averaged 16.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.2 steals and 2.9 assists while helping Fowler to a 24-3 season.

“She’s just such a committed and dedicated player,” Fowler coach Nathan Goerge said. “Each year we saw growth. Sometimes people could say I’ve reached this level and I’m just going to flatten out, top out and just kind of coast. That’s not in her vocabulary. She has no idea how to stay stagnant. She’s always working hard. I think this is a huge credit to her for all the work she’s put in.”

Riley cemented herself as one of the best players in program history as she heads to Ferris State. She finished her career ranked among the top three scorers in school history and was part of two of the program’s three state championships. Riley helped Fowler to 77 wins and three final four appearances during her four seasons on varsity.

“I’ve had a couple people come up and tell me the impact I’ve made,” Riley said. “It’s such a great feeling and such a great accomplishment knowing that these people think I’ve left such a mark on the program and on the younger kids and the girls on my team now. It feels so great and like the biggest accomplishment. Better than even winning the state title is to leave a mark on the girls that I’ve played with and who are in the program.”

Riley was joined on the first team by teammate and younger sister Emma Riley, Anna Fernandez from state runner-up Plymouth Christian, Portland St. Patrick’s Lydia Meredith, Lansing Christian’s Mia Judd, Carney-Nadeau’s Tessa Wagner, Pickford’s Kennedy Guild, Elie Wilson of Calhoun Christian, Baraga’s Reide Osterman, Megan Bennett of McBain Northern Michigan Christian and Genesee Christian’s Ava Boike.

Fowler’s Goerge was voted the coach of the year.

The Division 4 girls’ basketball All-State team was selected by a panel of eight sports writers.

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This story was first published on March 28, 2022. It was updated on April 4, 2022, to correct the first team, which should not have included Harbor Springs’ Olivia Flynn, who is in Division 3.