Hall of Famer again: Former Westwood Patriots basketball star Sarah (Stream) Stanek honored by Michigan Tech

Sarah Stream, now Sarah Stanek, starred for the Patriots from 2000-03, then went on to MTU and was a top player there from 2004-10 even with several serious knee injuries slowing that part of her career.

Now living in the Iron Mountain area, Stanek, 38, was part of Westwood’s first state title in any sport, leading the girls basketball Patriots to the Class C championship as a senior in the fall of 2003.

A 2018 inductee into the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame, Stream was the U.P. Class ABC Player of the Year and also earned all-state honors in her final year with the Pats.

“The most complete player we’ve ever had here,” Westwood coach Tom Hammar said in a Daily Mining Gazette story published in 2020. “She did everything well.”

Michigan Tech’s Sarah Stream during her Huskies career from 2004-10

Averaging 25.4 points per game that year, she led a 27-1 Westwood team with 37 points against defending state champion Inkster in the Class C semifinals, then put in 24 points — on 11 of 16 shooting — seven assists and six steals in the Patriots’ 62-27 blowout of Michigan Center in the finals.

“She kept going and going — we couldn’t stop her,” Inkster coach Jasmine Bracey said at the state final four. “The best player we’ve seen all season.”

As a junior, Stream led Westwood to the the regional finals before losing to powerhouse St. Ignace 73-72 in overtime.

She is Westwood’s all-time scoring leader with 1,842 points and held the Mid-Peninsula Conference single-season scoring record of 373 points.

Moving on to Michigan Tech, she started at that time a program-record 126 games for the Huskies despite knee injuries in 2005 and 2007 as she twice helped Tech reach the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.

Michigan Tech’s Sarah Stream, right, passes the ball during a game at Northern Michigan University in January 2009. (Journal file photo)

She still ranks sixth in MTU all-time scoring with 1,464 points while holding the school record with 459 assists. She’s also fourth in games played, fifth in career free throw percentage at 82% and eighth in 3-point percentage at just a tad under 40%.

Stream piled up the honors immediately with the Huskies, being named the 2005 GLIAC Freshman of the Year. She was a four-time All-GLIAC pick, three years on the First Team. Her teams had a record of 98-27, winning one GLIAC Tournament crown and two each of GLIAC regular-season titles and NCAA tournament Midwest regional championships.

A two-time academic All-American, she received the NCAA Elite 88 Award at the 2010 NCAA Elite Eight. She tacked on two all-region selections, two GLIAC all-tournament team picks and earned on each of a GLIAC Commissioner’s Award and GLIAC all-defensive team.

And from MTU, she was a three-time team captain, four-time recipient of the Scholastic Achievement Award and three-time winner of the Harold Meese Sportsmanship Award.

Then after all of that, in her post-playing days she served as an assistant coach for the Tech women’s team, helping the Huskies reach the 2011 NCAA Division II championship final.

Sarah (Stream) Stanek

At her 2018 UPSHF induction, she thanked her family for a large part of her basketball success.

“I am the youngest of four kids,” Stanek said at the time. “I grew up watching them play sports and being proud to be their little sister.

“They taught me to be tough, to not be a sore loser and they made me compete. I looked up to them and I still do more than they will ever know.”

The other nine inductees into the MTU sports hall were longtime announcer Mitch Lake, past school president Glenn Mroz, former associate athletic director Dave Nordstrom, volleyball player Jennifer (Jung) Lucas, football players Tim Bedenis and Tom VanWagner, men’s basketball player Ali Haidar and hockey players Shawn Harrison and John Scott.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is [email protected].