Class D Final: 'Best We've Ever Played'
March 24, 2012
EAST LANSING – As a sophomore on Southfield Christian’s one-win team two seasons ago, Gavin Toma didn’t spend much time dreaming an about MHSAA championship.
And although the Eagles improved to 11-10 last season, they still seemed a long way from what they finished Saturday.
Two seasons after winning one game, Southfield Christian won its first MHSAA title, downing Climax-Scotts 76-44 in the Class D Final at Michigan State’s Breslin Center.
“This season has been the greatest basketball we’ve ever played,” Toma said. “SCS hasn’t been a basketball school, until this year, so to win it for SCS is great. We put in so much work. It’s unbelievable.”
Both teams made their first MHSAA championship game appearance Saturday. Southfield Christian entered the postseason ranked No. 7, while Climax-Scotts was No. 5.
The Eagles put on one of the most incredible shooting performances in MHSAA Finals history. They tied the 2007-08 Saginaw team with a championship game record 12 3-pointers, including eight in the first half when they connected on 53 percent of their shots from behind the arc.
Southfield Christian (24-2) shot 46 percent from 3-point range for the game, a few ticks higher than its 43 percent from the floor as a whole.
“This is one of the best shooting teams I’ve ever coached. Obviously, (Chris) Dewberry is the best shooter I’ve ever coached, Southfield Christian coach Josh Baker said. “Hopefully we take good shots, and they’re naturally great shooters and put in a lot of time to be that way.”
The Eagles student section sang “Happy Birthday” to Dewberry during warm-ups .That, on its own, might’ve made for an unforgettable moment.
But the now 18-year-old senior also had a game-high 30 points, including six of those 3-pointers, on 10 of 13 shooting from the floor.
“My team, we talk about it all the time in practice. The coach says it. They say I’m one of the best shooters in the state, so we’ve got to get me the ball,” Dewberry said. “So when they had me open, or when I got myself open, or when there was a pick to get me open, they got me the ball. And I capitalized on it.”
Senior Lindsey Hunter III added 15 points and eight rebounds and Toma had 13 points. Hunter is 6-1 and Toma 6-2, and with Dewberry they took advantage of a few inches in elevation on the Panthers’ defenders.
“Their athleticism once they’re in person … We’ve got big guards, fast guards, and they’ve played defense all year long,” Climax-Scotts coach Steve Critchlow said. “(But) Dewberry had six 3-pointers for a 6-foot-2 guard, and that’s a tough matchup for us. We hoped to make our bigs the tough matchup. And their defense was just phenomenal in the paint.”
Southfield Christian contained 6-7 juniors Malachi Satterlee and Aaron Cook to a combined nine points and six rebounds, and the Panthers to 21 percent shooting from the floor as a team. Senior Jacob Hinga led his team with 11 points and eight rebounds.
Climax-Scotts finished 26-2 and will graduate five seniors – although three starters this season were juniors, including the all-stater Satterlee.
“We didn’t even realize what’s going on, because we were focused on the next game. But now we have time, back in the locker room, to sit and reflect on what they just did,” Critchlow said. “We had a lot of talent we haven’t had … but the hard work we put in with that talent, and the good attitude, that’s something we have to reflect on and say this is how we’ve got to get to the next step.”
“I think the highlight, honestly, was … the end, when the crowd stood up and supported us even when we lost,” Hinga added. “They were all there. Just to look around and see we made it to Breslin; we didn’t win, but we’re second place. That’s a pretty good feeling.”
Click for box score or to watch the game and press conferences at MHSAA.tv.
PHOTOS: (Top) Lindsey Hunter III (11) and Ben Cookinham lead a championship celebration with Southfield Christian’s student section after Saturday’s Class D Final. (Middle) Chris Dewberry launches a 3-pointer over Climax-Scotts’ Brandon Eshuis. (See more at Terry McNamara Photography.)
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.)