Chassell's Meg Hokenson comes up with a loose ball and looks to pass to Lela Rautiola during a Class D semifinal against Waterford Our Lady Thursday at Van Noord Arena in Grand Rapids. Chassell won 55-51. (James Cook/Traverse City Record-Eagle)

GRAND RAPIDS — The Chassell Panthers are playing for a state title. Read it again. Say it out loud. If it seems unfathomable, don’t feel bad, even Brandi Hainault is still processing her school’s history-making season.

“It’s crazy cause I feel like it hasn’t set in yet,” she said. “Just an awesome feeling. Just amazing to see the girls get what they’ve worked for. Hopefully we can play our game and come home with a state title.”

Chassell will meet Adrian Lenawee Christian today at 10 a.m. at Van Noord Arena in Grand Rapids to decide who will be capturing their program’s first-ever state title. 

Here are four things to watch for:

1. ALC’s Bree Salenbien

Get to know her name; she’s likely the next big thing in the Michigan. Salenbien is a 6-2 freshman with exceptional length and guard-like skills. She kept her team’s season alive with a game-winning runner in overtime for a 46-44 win over Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart in the Cougars’ state semifinal. 

Coming into the semifinals, Salenbien averaged a team-high 21.3 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. Overall, she converted 61 percent of her shots and was a 33-percent 3-point shooter. 

“The biggest thing you have to do is to contain her and try to limit the number of times she can get the ball in her hands,” Hainault said. “Make sure you know where she is at all times and close all the gaps.”

Salenbien’s sister, Dani, is the lone other scorer in double figures, averaging 13.3 points. Their father, Jamie, is the head coach.

2. Chassell’s starts

In two of Chassell’s past three games, it has trailed by 13 at halftime. Thursday against Waterford Our Lady in what would end up being a 55-51 win, and in the regional finals against Bark River-Harris, where Chassell rallied for a 58-55 overtime victory. 

Chassell’s downfall in each instance has been turnovers — a total of 33 during those two halves combined. And during those second-half comebacks, the overall turnover count was 13. 

Besides the obvious fact a turnover takes away an offensive possession, miscues in the open court doesn’t allow the Panthers to set up their halfcourt defense. Against WOL, with just two miscues after the break, Chassell was able to pressure WOL’s guards and hold the team to 7 of 30 shooting to spark the comeback.

The interesting facet of Saturday’s game is its ‪10 a.m.‬ start time. For Chassell, it will be the first morning game of the season, and perhaps it’s the same for ALC.

3. 3-point shooting

After converting just 7 of 33 attempts from 3 in its last four games, Chassell went off, making 5 of 10 from deep in the win against WOL. 

Jenna Pietila has been the team’s top shooter from deep; she made 3 of 4 against WOL and in the last four games, she’s converted 6 of 12 from 3-point range.

“I didn’t know how I’d feel about it,” Pietila said of her thoughts before the WOL game. “During warmups, my shot was a little off. But I got out there and I just knew to keep shooting and that it would come.”

4. Free-throw shooting

If Chassell is going to win its first state title, it will likely have to seal the game down the stretch with free throws. The Panthers struggled at the line in the win over WOL, making just 6 of 16 attempts. So even though Chassell led 51-44 in the final minutes, WOL had two chances to tie the game, late, thanks to Chassell’s missed shots.