By Jeff Steers
JTV Sports
(March 15, 2025 8:00 AM ET) A hand in the face.
Defense extended out past the 3-point line.
A flick or tick of the basketball out of bounds.
These are some of the things opponents of Concord High School’s girls basketball team have been experiencing all year.
The Yellow Jackets get after it defensively and nothing is a given once you get the ball out of bounds.
One of the main perpetrators on the defensive side of the basketball is Hannah Stimer. The senior guards opponents like her life depends on it.
“It is very frustrating for opponents at times,” Stimer said. “But defense is what is winning for us.”
Coach ArShawn Parker agrees saying he told the Yellow Jackets before their regional win over Reading – a 30-point blowout – just to concentrate on one end of the court.
“This is a defensive game … our defense will lead to the offense,” Parker said after the win.
Stimer provided Concord with a little offense too against Reading. She hit three 3-point shots in the first half on her way to 11 points.
“I have been working on it hard (her shot) because I have been in a bit of a slump,” Stimer said. “This was a perfect night to get out of it (the slump).”
Stimer has had plenty of help offensively this season with a four-headed monster on the offensive side of the basketball. Fellow senior Grace Thorrez is averaging 14 points, sophomore Bradie Lehman is averaging nearly 14 points per game, and junior Cieara Barrett is scoring 11 points per game.
Concord is averaging nearly a dozen steals per game and giving up only 33 points per game.
But Stimer has another “game” as she is a three-time state qualifier in golf for the Yellow Jackets. She led Concord to a 15th-finish in Division 4 golf this past fall.
“I would like to play golf in college,” Stimer said.
But Concord has a little bit of work to do in basketball.
Concord plays Tuesday at Harper Creek High School in the Division 4 quarterfinals, with a win would move to the state semifinals Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Breslin Center on the campus of MSU, and have a quick turnaround with the state finals at the Breslin Center Saturday at 10 a.m.
A confident Stimer says the Yellow Jackets can make it to Breslin.
“We are going all the way,” Stimer said.
