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.)
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.)