Beecher Pulls One Win Closer to Repeat
March 21, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Monte Morris returned to the Breslin Center on Thursday for the start of his fourth and final trip as a member of the Flint Beecher basketball program.
The group on the court with him was, for the most part, different than the one that last season won the MHSAA Class C championship. But the Buccaneers’ level of motivation hasn't changed a bit.
Beecher may not be seeking to end a title drought this time after last season's was its first since 1987. But Morris and another group hungry to make history pulled one more win closer to doing so with a 73-55 win over Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central.
Beecher will finish this season against Laingsburg in Saturday’s 4:30 p.m. championship game.
“Last year, any one of these guys could’ve stepped in and started like they do now. They were just getting ready,” Morris said. “They put the work in during the offseason. They just waited their turn. Now it’s their year, and they’re cherishing the moment.”
And it’s been another memorable week for the Bucs (26-1).
On Monday, the Iowa State-bound Morris was named Mr. Basketball by the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan. On Tuesday, Beecher edged Detroit Consortium 46-44 to earn its return trip to East Lansing.
Morris and his teammates were aware that his award would serve as additional motivation for the teams it would see this week. The Bucs used that as an opportunity to focus their collective mindset even more.
“We’re still hungry,” Beecher coach Mike Williams said. “We’ve got 32 minutes left, and we’re going to learn from history. We know what happened the last time Beecher was here trying to repeat. We’ve got to put in 32 minutes Saturday to bring it home.”
That season, 1988, Beecher returned to the Semifinals but lost in overtime 68-64 to eventual champion Grand Rapids South Christian.
The potential for that kind of situation faded quickly Thursday.
Just 18 seconds in, junior Emmanuel Phifer dunked two of Beecher’s eventual 23 fastbreak points. Senior Markell Lucas’ basket six minutes later gave the Bucs a lead it would not relinquish.
St. Mary senior guard Kevin Woodson scored seven points over 1:22 to help cut what grew to a 23-point lead down to 52-39 with 2:27 to play. But the Falcons (23-3) got no closer than 11 of the lead.
“It was just a great opportunity for our kids,” St. Mary coach Randy Windham said. “We’ve been knocking at the door. Two years ago we lost to Schoolcraft (in the Quarterfinal), and last year we went to the Regional and lost to River Rouge. This year, their will and character just showed. They refused to lose to Schoolcraft this time (again in a Quarterfinal).
“This is something these young men will remember the rest of their lives.”
Morris led Beecher with 29 points and eight assists, while Phifer had 14 points and senior Eric Cooper added 12.
Woodson led four Falcons in double figures with 15 points. Senior Chinedu Nwosu, junior Bradley Sherman and sophomore Bryce Windham all scored 10 points, and Nwosu and Sherman both grabbed eight rebounds.
PHOTOS: (Top) Flint Beecher's Eric Cooper (12) and Emmanuel Phifer (10) defend Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central's Bradley Sherman (40) during Thursday's Semifinal. (Middle) St. Mary's Chinedu Nwosu and Beecher's Markell Lucas go up for the opening tip. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Unity Makes Fast Start Stand Up, Sets Up Rematch on Season's Final Day
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
March 13, 2026
EAST LANSING – Hudsonville Unity Christian likes the idea of a rematch.
The Crusaders turned a near-flawless first half into a much-anticipated rematch after outlasting Detroit University Prep 59-44 in Friday's concluding Division 2 Semifinal at the Breslin Center.
The win means Unity Christian will play Freeland for a second time in just over a month in Saturday's 6:45 p.m. championship game.
Freeland knocked off the Crusaders 65-60 in the teams' first meeting Feb. 7. Since that game, Unity Christian (25-3) has won 11 straight, while the Falcons (25-3) have collected nine wins in a row.
Over 30 years as Unity Christian's coach, Scott Soodsma's teams have faced countless rematches in the MHSAA Tournament. His philosophy in matching up a second time in those games has never wavered.
"In the first game, we kind of gave it up or they probably took it," said Soodsma, one of the only Michigan coaches to win boys (2019) and girls (2006) Finals titles. "(Saturday) should be a really good game. They know how we play, and we know how they play. They watch a lot of tape, I watch a lot of tape. It'll be a contest of who steps up and who doesn't."
The question may be which Unity Christian team shows up. Will it be the one which lost the first meeting? Or the torrid Crusaders team which trampled its way to a 34-11 halftime lead against a University Prep club which had won 10 of its last 11? Or the Unity Christian club which was outscored 33-25 in the second half of Friday’s Semifinal, including scoring only four points during the fourth quarter?
Unity Christian senior forward Jack Kamminga thinks he knows which team will arrive at Breslin on Saturday.
"Definitely the better one," he said. "We kinda dropped off in the fourth quarter tonight. They pressured us and put us in a bad position. But we'll go full hammer tomorrow. We've got nothing to lose."
Crusaders senior guard Brogan Sherd said either way he's expecting a classic championship game.
"It'll be fun. We had a great crowd the first time, and we know we've got to play hard," he said. "We kind of got lazy the first time and fell apart."
Soodsma would give away nothing about what the Crusaders learned from the first meeting.
"They've got a very good club, well-coached. They play the right way," said Soodsma, who this season passed Kent Ingles and Kurt Keener to move into fourth place on the state's all-time coaching wins list with 694.
Owen VanderWall led Unity Chistian on Friday with 12 points and nine rebounds. Luke Tubergen had 12 points and Sherd nine points, five rebounds and three assists.
Detroit University Prep trailed by as many as 23 points twice in the third quarter, including at 55-32. But the Panthers cut the lead to as little as 57-44 with 3:37 to go.
"They're a better team than I thought they were," Panthers coach Brandon Barrett said of Unity Christian. "They're a big team, they're aggressive and for their size, they move very well. Maybe if we'd pressured them earlier it would have been a different outcome. But that's 50/50. Credit them, they played well."
Unity Christian's Tubergen said the team's first half was outstanding.
"One of our best," he said. "We rebounded great, hit some 3s, worked the ball inside and the defense was really good."
PHOTOS (Top) Unity Christian’s Owen VanderWaal (12) makes his move toward the basket during Friday’s Division 2 Semifinal against University Prep. (Middle) Maurice Jackson (21) considers his options from just outside the arc. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)