Buzzer Beater Sends Laingsburg to Final
March 21, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Had the final second of Thursday’s Class C Semifinal ended differently, Shaun McKinney surely would’ve felt worse about three lay-ins he missed during the game’s first 31 minutes.
Good thing he got one more chance to score the most meaningful points in Laingsburg basketball history.
With two tenths of a second remaining, the Wolfpack senior banked a layup from the left side of the glass to cement himself in Michigan hoops history – and send his team to its first MHSAA championship game.
McKinney’s make gave Laingsburg a 45-43 victory in front of what had to be most of the residents of his small town located just 15 miles northeast of the Breslin Center, and set his neighbors up for a return visit Saturday when the Wolfpack faces reigning champion Flint Beecher at 4:30 p.m..
“I was just saving them,” McKinney said of his early misses. “I knew it was going to come down to the last one. I had to make sure I saved one.”
The shot was described after as “legendary” and one “to remember” by those who played a part. And McKinney’s focus in that brief moment was laudable.
But he also was the end recipient of two more heads-up plays by senior teammates Jake Zielinski and Zach Walker.
With the score tied 50-50 and 52 seconds left, Zielinski made a bit of an overly-aggressive decision. He tried to take on three defenders in the Negaunee lane and had his shot blocked by Miners senior Andrew Katona.
But Zielinski would get another chance.
During a Negaunee timeout with 30 seconds left, Wolfpack coach Greg Mitchell reminded his players they had a foul to give and told them to keep the pressure high. And if one grabbed a rebound or made a steal, the rest should “just go” to the basket, he said. “I would’ve sent seven guys if I could have.”
Negaunee did get off a final shot with nine seconds to play. But the rebound fell right to Zielinski below the basket, and after a few dribbles he fired a near-fullcourt football pass down the right side of the floor to a streaking Walker.
“Just don’t overthrow it. Just give them a chance to make a play,” Zielinski recalled of his thought as he threw.
Walker couldn’t corral the pass in the air – but did grab it off the first bounce. As he began sailing out of bounds, Walker fired the ball back to McKinney, who scored the last and most important of his 16 points. (Click to watch the game's final minute.)
“Obviously, you think as a coach that you’re in a position that you want to be in, 39 seconds and you have the ball in a tie game. But it just didn’t work out for us,” Negaunee coach Michael O’Donnell said. “As a coach, it’s tough. There’s not much you can say in the locker room. After a fun, exciting, successful season, there’s not a whole lot you can say.”
Aside from the final second, the teams battled to nearly a statistical draw.
Both shot between 35-37 percent from the floor and finished with one rebound and one turnover of each other's totals.
Laingsburg (24-2) led most of the game, but didn’t open up its largest advantage of six until sophomore Ryan Wade hit a 3-pointer with 2:32 remaining. Negaunee senior Tanner Uren scored five points and junior guard Tyler Jandron also drained a 3-pointer to pull the score back even heading into the final minute.
“Coming out, it definitely was a bigger stage than we thought it was going to be,” Uren said. “But by halftime, all of those jitters were gone, and after we came out (for the third quarter), we finally played our game. We said, we’re going to get back in it.”
Zielinski led the Wolfpack with 18 points and eight rebounds, and McKinney had four steals. Uren had 16 points and nine rebounds to lead Negaunee, and Jandron added 12 points and four assists.
The Miners, ranked No. 3 entering the tournament, finished 24-2.
PHOTOS: (Top) Laingsburg's Shaun McKinney scores two of his 16 points in Thursday's Semifinal. (Middle) Laingsburg's Zach Walker (12) looks for a teammate as Negaunee's Tyler Jandron defends. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Columbia Central Overcomes December Stumble to Claim Long-Anticipated Title
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
February 17, 2026
In early December, the Brooklyn Columbia Central boys basketball team dropped two games in three nights and was staring at a 3-2 record that – more importantly – included two conference losses.
So, winning the Cascades Conference championship Saturday – the first in 43 years for the Golden Eagles – was something of a minor miracle.
“It was a long chase,” Columbia Central coach Jacob Crawford said. “I feel we started to peak at the right time.”
The Golden Eagles certainly were trending upward. After losing by two points to Jonesville right after the Christmas break, Columbia Central won nine consecutive games to win the Cascades Conference West division and set up an overall league championship tilt against Michigan Center.
Michigan Center had beaten was one of those teams that beat Columbia Central in December.
“We knew that was going to be a tough one,” Crawford said. “My guys have been matched up against (Hayden) Hinkle and those guys from Michigan Center for years. We did a good job of weathering the storm.”
The conference championship game was originally scheduled to be played at Spring Arbor University, but due to a scheduling snafu, Columbia Central got to host the game. It made for an incredible environment, Crawford said.
“Don’t get me wrong, I love playing at Spring Arbor, but being able to host the championship game was an awesome experience,” Crawford said. “I had guys coming into the gym who I played with. The whole community came together.”
Columbia Central led by seven with only a few minutes remaining, but Michigan Center fought back to within one possession of the lead during the final seconds, missing a couple of game-tying attempts.
The Golden Eagles held on for a 59-56 victory.
Columbia Central is a balanced team by nature. David Munro leads with a 13.9-points per game average with Nolan Schiel a point behind him. Munro shoots a healthy 35 percent from 3-point range, making 48 shots on the season from behind the arc. Trent Troyer fills the stat sheet night after night, averaging 6.5 rebounds, 6.3 points, 2.6 steals and 2.1 assists a game.
Schiel is the point guard.
“I’m probably talking to him during a game more than anyone else,” Crawford said. “He has the ball in his hand most of the game. What’s really unique about him is his rebounding ability despite being a point guard. He really gets to the glass.”
The Golden Eagles are 17-4 heading into Thursday’s final regular-season game. The losses, however, were by a combined 12 points. They are the third seed in a tough District at Tecumseh next week. One of the teams in the District is Michigan Center, 18-2 and the top seed.
Columbia Central was a Cascades Conference member from 1968 to 1995 before joining the Lenawee County Athletic Association. In 2023-24, the Golden Eagles rejoined the Cascades Conference. Prior to the league title in 1982-83, the others all came during the 1970s.
Columbia Central not only won its first conference boys basketball championship since 1983, it also became the fifth different league team to win the title in six years. In a league that was once dominated by Hanover-Horton, seven schools have celebrated league championships since 2012.
“There is a lot of parity in the league,” Crawford said. “It’s a tough league. You play a lot of games, and then you get to the finals and have to win another.”
Last year Columbia Central reached the conference championship game against undefeated Grass Lake and lost 31-30.
Crawford said that experience played into the Golden Eagles getting back to the final this season.
“We talk about trailblazers, and last year the seniors that helped us get there were just that,” Crawford said. “They kind of showed everyone else the path, what it takes to get to that game. The experience for our guys as underclassmen was immeasurable.”
Crawford started as the freshman coach at Columbia Central, moved up to the JV coach and now is in his second season as the varsity coach at his alma mater. He graduated in 2014, having played for Jason Rychener, who is now the head coach at nearby Dexter.
“I’ve always looked up to him,” Crawford said. “It’s been really cool having him as a mentor.”
Crawford had ideas of a future in coaching, but an internship in Kalamazoo while going to school at Western Michigan University helped him decide.
“I was with Next Level Sports and I started working with schools in that area,” he said. “I had a blast, and it led me to go back to school and get my teaching degree because I knew I wanted to coach.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a news and sports reporter at the Adrian Daily Telegram and the Monroe News for 30 years, including 10 years as city editor in Monroe. He's written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. He is now publisher and editor of The Blissfield Advance, a weekly newspaper. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Brooklyn Columbia Central boys basketball coach Jacob Crawford finishes cutting the net after his team clinched the Cascades Conference title Saturday. (Middle) BCC’s Nolan Schiel (14) works to get to the basket. (Photos by Hannah Tacy/JTV.)