Class D: Eagles Survive and Advance
March 22, 2012
EAST LANSING – All four Class D Semifinalists came to the Breslin Center this weekend seeking their first MHSAA basketball title. In fact, none had even played in a championship game.
Southfield Christian looked like a lock to reach its first Final, given its No. 7 ranking, the teams it had beaten so far and a Semifinals opponent – Muskegon Catholic Central – that was just two wins over .500 entering the postseason.
But with 2:16 to play, that was anything but guaranteed with the Eagles leading by just two points. So an Eagles assistant coach with a little bit of experience winning games – former Detroit Pistons guard Lindsey Hunter – called over his son Lindsey III and seniors Chris Dewberry and Gavin Toma.
“He said, ‘You’re seniors. This is your last year. Is this how you’re going to come down and lose like this, let these guys come out here and be tougher than you?’” Hunter III said. “We looked at each other on the court and said ‘Guys, we’re not going to lose this game. No matter what it takes.’”
A little scare on the way to the MHSAA Finals often turns out to be a good thing. And Southfield Christian survived theirs with a 78-74 win over the Crusaders.
The Eagles (23-2) will face Climax-Scotts in Saturday’s 10 a.m. Final.
They had beaten all of their postseason opponents by at least 14 points entering Thursday. But none of those teams had a player like MCC’s Jason Ribecky.
Southfield Christian players and coaches might have nightmares about the 6-foot-4 senior for a few days. He seemed to be everywhere, playing all 32 minutes and making 14 of 22 shots from the floor for a game-high 37 points.
His ninth point of the fourth quarter gave MCC a 67-66 lead with 3:25 to play. Junior teammate Cari Campbell hit a 3-pointer with 2:25 to play to keep the Crusaders ahead 70-69.
“We were like, ‘They’re wearing down. They’re wearing down.’ But they did not wear down,” Southfield Christian coach Josh Baker said. “We missed some rotations. We tried to double (Ribecky), but that left other guys open. They hit a lot of open shots too. They made us pay for everything, and they were a little tougher than us on the glass.”
But the Eagles indeed had a little more left at the end.
Toma hit a 3-pointer to make the score 72-70, and that was followed by the timeout and inspiring words by Coach Hunter to the team’s seniors. Campbell tied the score up with a rebound and lay-in after the timeout, but Hunter III then scored five straight to push the lead to 77-72 with 1:28 to play.
MCC again pulled within three with 54 seconds to go, and got the ball back with 21 left on the clock. Ribecky pulled up for a 3-pointer that was on line – but just a bit deep, and it bounced off the back of the rim. “It looked good. But it didn’t go in,” he said.
Dewberry led Southfield Christian with 25 points and eight rebounds, while Toma added 20 points. Hunter III had 16 and freshman Bakari Evelyn came up big with 14 and four steals off the bench.
Campbell and senior Jacob Budde both added 13 points for the Crusaders, who finished 17-10.
“Coming into this tournament 11-9, not knowing what to expect but knowing what our goals were, and to exceed those goals and make it here is a fantastic thing,” MCC coach David Ingles said. “It hurts right now. But I’m so proud of my guys … for their efforts, not just tonight but during the whole tournament run.”
Click for box score or to watch the game and press conferences at MHSAA.tv.
PHOTO: Southfield Christian's Lindsey Hunter IV (12) and Muskegon Catholic Central's Jason Ribecky battle for a rebound during Thursday's Class D Semifinal. (Photo courtesy of Terry McNamara Photography.)
Inspired by Home, Eager to Give Back, Spencer Hosts Hoop City Alumni Games
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
July 2, 2026
Eddie Spencer now lives more than 1,100 miles away in Dallas, but his thoughts are never far from his hometown of Muskegon Heights.
It was there in “the Heights” where Spencer learned the game of basketball, developing into a 6-foot-5 forward who could shoot and handle the ball – leading Heights to the Class C Semifinals as a junior in 2002 and the Class B Final as a senior in 2003.
Spencer, 41, said the biggest lessons he learned from basketball had nothing to do with shooting or rebounding.
“Playing basketball taught me how to work hard, stay focused and, really, how to be a man,” said Spencer, who went on to become a three-year starter at Central Michigan, graduating in 2008.
“I wanted to find a way to give something back.”
Spencer’s desire to return some love to his hometown led to the Hoop City Alumni basketball tournament, which is set for its third year at Muskegon High School’s historic Redmond-Potter Gymnasium on Aug. 22 with five alumni games – highlighted by the finale, featuring Muskegon vs. Muskegon Heights.
The last two years, the RPG was standing-room-only with more than 2,000 fans for the finale, with Muskegon fans in their trademark cardinal red and Heights fans proudly in their orange and black.
“Honestly, when I walked out of the locker room that first year and saw all of the excitement and pride in that gym, it brought tears to my eyes,” said Spencer. “It really brought back that old feeling of Heights vs. Muskegon, like back in high school.”
A rivalry like no other
Few rivalries in the state can match the history and the intensity of Muskegon vs. Muskegon Heights.
The Big Reds and Tigers played each other in football 55 years in a row from 1922-76, with the most competitive years and largest crowds occurring during the 1940s and 1950s.
In more recent years, the rivalry was on the basketball court, including a run of nine years from 2003 to 2011 when the two schools played the final game of the Muskegon Area Sports Hall of Fame Holiday Classic, with Heights winning six of those nine matchups. The rivalry came to an end in 2011 after a period of upheaval and enrollment losses at Heights.
Now, thanks to the efforts of Spencer and his crew (notably Muskegon head coach and athletic director Keith Guy and 2014 Mr. Basketball Award winner DeShaun Thrower from Muskegon) the rivalry has resumed each August at the alumni game.
“It definitely divides the community for a couple of hours,” said Spencer, who also ran cross country at Heights. “There is already a huge buzz about this year’s event and tons of trolling and trash talking.”
Spencer played several years of professional basketball, including overseas, after graduating from CMU. He then returned home and coached basketball for several years at Muskegon Heights under Guy before the latter moved on to lead the Big Reds.
Spencer moved to Dallas eight years ago and has coached AAU basketball and served as a personal trainer, in addition to his work in the mortgage industry. About five years ago, he helped a friend organize an alumni basketball game in the Dallas area – and he knew immediately that he had to do the same back home.
“The first thing I thought was that we have to do this with Muskegon and Muskegon Heights,” said Spencer, who noted that the games also feature alumni cheerleaders.
The event is not designed for recent high school graduates, with most of the teams’ players in their 30s and 40s.
This year’s tournament will begin with Mona Shores vs. Muskegon Orchard View alumni at 2 p.m. and a Muskegon-area girls game (East vs. West) at 3 p.m.
North Muskegon squares off against Muskegon Reeths-Puffer at 4 p.m., followed by the addition this year of ex-standouts from Grand Rapids against Kalamazoo at 5 p.m. – all leading up to the Heights vs. Muskegon finale at 6 p.m.
Spencer expects attendance to be strong all day (admission is $10), but acknowledges the crowds and atmosphere move to a whole different level for the final game. This year’s tournament also will be live-streamed so people can pay to watch the games from anywhere in the world, with those details still being worked out.
Beyond basketball
Spencer knows that beyond the basketball and beneath the banter, the Hoop City Alumni event is really a celebration of two proud communities.
It has become the weekend when many make plans to come back home to Muskegon, not only to relive the glory days, but to celebrate the post-basketball accomplishments of those prep greats – including some who have gone on to become doctors, lawyers, business leaders, coaches and school principals.
“We are really utilizing the game of basketball to help the community,” said Spencer, whose daughter, Nya, graduated from Muskegon High. “When people feel pride in their community, they want to make it better. We want all the kids, especially, to be there and to see how playing sports can be the start of great things for them.”
The Hoop City games have evolved into a full weekend of events, starting with a Friday back-to-school event with backpacks and school supplies giveaways at Rowan Park in downtown Muskegon Heights, pre- and postgame adult gatherings Friday and Saturday night and a picnic Sunday.
But make no mistake, basketball is the centerpiece.
Heights won the inaugural alumni game in 2024, and Muskegon prevailed at the buzzer last year, making this year’s event (which has been dubbed “The Trilogy”) the rubber match, at least for now, in the latest installment of the decades-old rivalry.
This year’s game will be hard-pressed to match the drama and emotion of last summer’s contest.
In a back-and-forth affair, it was Thrower who forced a turnover at the defensive end and then hit the game-winning shot at the buzzer for Muskegon, leading to a raucous scene as Big Reds fans stormed the court.
It was a highly-emotional moment for Thrower, who was playing his first competitive game in years after a foot injury, and it came just a few months after the death of his mother, Nina Morgan Thrower.
“The way the whole event went and the way it ended, it felt like a movie, for sure,” said Thrower, who has worked alongside Spencer to grow the showcase.
“I know that my mom was with me on that day, in that moment.”
PHOTOS (Top) At left, Muskegon Heights’ Eddie Spencer (1) defends during the 2003 Class B Final against Grand Rapids South Christian; at right, Spencer (far right) stands for a photo at last year’s Hoop City alumni event with former coach Keith Guy and past Muskegon High standout DeShaun Thrower. (Middle) Spencer, far left, poses with the rest of the Muskegon Heights and Muskegon High alumni teams after last season’s Hoop City matchup. (Below) This season’s Hoop City poster advertises five alumni games. (Hoop City photos provided by Eddie Spencer.)