Football, Basketball Successes May Be Just Start for Talented Ludington Crew
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
March 13, 2026
Thad Shank has coached basketball at Ludington for almost 30 years and has lived in the quiet, Lake Michigan shoreline town for most of his 58, and he’s never seen anything quite like it.
“We have a lot of young talent in Ludington right now, some really special athletes coming through at the same time,” said Shank, whose team completed a memorable 24-3 season with a loss to Freeland in Tuesday’s Division 2 Quarterfinal at Mount Pleasant.
“And they are only going to get better.”
That’s a scary thought for Ludington’s opponents, who have already felt the wrath of the new-look Orioles in football and basketball this year.
Ludington posted its first undefeated regular season in football last fall since 1989, outscoring its nine opponents by an average of more than 40 points and winning the West Michigan Conference Lakes title for its first outright conference championship since 1999.
Many of those same athletes jumped right onto the hardcourt, where the Orioles were once again perfect in the WMC Lakes (12-0) and won District and Regional titles – the 16th boys basketball Regional championship in school history.
Moments after that basketball run ended Tuesday night in Mount Pleasant, the Orioles were already talking about next year.
“I can’t wait for my senior year,” said Ludington junior Taj Williams, a 5-foot-11 point guard and wide receiver who led all scorers with 24 points. “We have a lot of athletes coming back, and we will be even better. This offseason is going to be huge for us to get bigger and stronger.”
Tuesday night was the passing of the torch, in an unfortunate way, as senior leader Cam Gunsell left the game in the third quarter with an ankle injury and Williams stepped forward as the Orioles’ new leader.
Gunsell, who has committed to play quarterback and defensive back at Ferris State, surpassed 4,000 passing yards and 3,000 rushing yards during his career, and also topped 1,000 points in basketball.
Williams, a definite college prospect at receiver, led the Orioles last fall with 31 catches for 900 yards.
Williams showed off his basketball skills on a statewide stage Tuesday, alternating between draining mid-range jumpers with his smooth, lefty stroke and acrobatic finishes at the basket. The Orioles’ floor general also led the team in scoring at 19 points per game.
Returning alongside Williams next year in both sports will be three multi-talented Himes brothers – Messiah (junior), Kyle Jr. (sophomore) and Mikey (freshman) – who all bring electric energy and tremendous speed and leaping ability.
“It’s different now,” said Kyle, who scored 14 points off the bench in Tuesday’s Quarterfinal. “Ludington is kind of known for having big guys, but not a lot of speed. We are the opposite. We’re pretty small, but we have a lot of athleticism.”
Mikey Himes has already been tabbed as Gunsell’s replacement at quarterback by new football coach Brent Gillett, who was promoted from his offensive coordinator spot after Charlie Gunsell stepped down after 22 years. Messiah and Kyle will both play key roles as receivers and ball-carriers.
Ludington could potentially start a small but extremely athletic basketball lineup next winter with Williams and the three Himes brothers, but the list of returnees to watch doesn’t stop there. In fact, six of the Orioles’ nine players in their regular rotation are underclassmen.
Juniors Steele Stowe and JT “Country Strong” Keith also are playing key roles among several contributors whereas they might have been counted on to shoulder more on past Ludington teams.
While the Orioles had great seasons in football and basketball, Williams noted there is certainly unfinished business in both sports.
Ludington football still has just one playoff victory in school history, which came during the COVID year of 2020, after a heartbreaking 32-31 loss to Big Rapids in last year’s Division 4 District opener – a game which Ludington led by 11 points with less than six minutes remaining.
In basketball, Williams & Co. would love to get back to the “Final Four” at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, where Ludington advanced in 2017 (lost in Finals) and again in 2019 (lost in Semifinals).
“You look at it and we lost last year in the Regional Finals when most of these kids were sophomores,” said Shank, whose father, Gene, was also a basketball coach at Ludington.
“We took that next step this year, and we’ll see what next year brings. The best part is these kids are not just great athletes, they work hard and they love to compete. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Ludington’s Kyle Himes Jr. (21) brings up the ball during a game against Mason County Central on Dec. 20. (Middle) Taj Williams looks up court during the Orioles’ 64-43 victory. (Photos by Leo Valdez/Local Sports Journal.)
Fowler Earns Opportunity to Finish Season Same Way as Eagles Started
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 13, 2025
EAST LANSING — Fowler began the season Dec. 3 with an opening-night road win over reigning Division 4 champion Wyoming Tri-unity Christian.
On Saturday, the Eagles will end the season with a chance to officially dethrone the Defenders as champions.
Fowler did its part to set up the rematch during the second Division 4 Semifinal on Thursday, earning a 59-43 win over Allen Park Inter-City Baptist.
“We’re both completely different teams since that time, but I think we both know what we are going to get from each other,” Fowler head coach Kam Riley said of Tri-unity. “We knew there was a chance we could see them at the end of the year. We’re excited for the opportunity.”
The Eagles advanced to their first championship game since 2002 on the strength of 3-point shooting and rebounding.
Fowler didn’t shoot great from the field overall, connecting on 21 of 58 attempts. But nearly half of those made field goals were 3-pointers.
Fowler made 8 of its first 17 shots from 3-point range to build a 19-point lead during the second quarter and finished 10 of 27 from beyond the arc for the game, as seemingly everyone associated with Fowler was making them from deep – even a Fowler student dressed in an eagle costume hit a half-court shot during a contest before the fourth quarter started.
Seniors Asher Koenigsknecht and Aaron Simon both scored 15 points, and senior Jacob Halfmann had 14 for Fowler (25-3).
The Eagles also controlled the boards, holding a 44-32 rebounding advantage with 15 offensive rebounds.
Senior Alex Halfmann and junior Joe Epkey both had 10 rebounds for Fowler.
“We anticipated it could be hard to shoot in a gym like this,” Riley said. “We don’t play here a lot. We knew we had a size advantage. Just an incredible effort by our guys crashing the glass.
Fowler held a 36-17 lead with 3:08 remaining in the first half and extended the margin to 38-22 by halftime, never letting Inter-City Baptist pull closer than 14 points the rest of the game.
Fowler committed only one turnover in the first half and seven for the game against an Inter-City Baptist team that had an experience advantage given it played in the Semifinals at Breslin Center last year.
“We just told each other that it was another game,” Koenigsknecht said. “Don’t make the court put any more pressure on you. Just do your thing like we have all season.”
Inter-City Baptist (24-5) was led by junior Ethan Esse, who scored a game-high 25 points. The silver lining for the Chargers is that they should be well-equipped for another run next year with just one senior on the roster.
But that didn’t make a second-straight Semifinal loss hurt any less.
“We were a team that was averaging 23 assists to nine turnovers a game,” said Inter-City Baptist head coach Mark Kraatz, whose team had nine assists Thursday. “It just wasn’t the way we’ve been playing. We didn’t share it. We didn’t get the assists that I thought. Rebounding, assists and then they shot it well. They played well.”
PHOTOS (Top) Fowler's Asher Koenigsknecht (3) gets up a 3-point shot as Inter-City Baptist's Ethan Esse (22) attempts to get a hand on the ball Thursday. (Middle) Inter-City Baptist's Carlos Jackson (11) considers his options with Fowler's Joe Epkey defending.