Glen Lake Dials Up Winning Number
March 22, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – The numbers may not lie, as the saying goes. But sometimes they tell an unexpected story.
Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central entered Thursday’s Class C Semifinal undefeated, and then made 52 percent of its shots from the floor.
But Maple City Glen Lake will play for its first MHSAA boys basketball championship since 1977 thanks to one other number in particular – the powerful 3.
The Lakers made 10 3-pointers – and three players combined to score all of their points – as they handed St. Mary its first and only loss, 62-56 at the Breslin Center.
The numbers nearly caught up to Glen Lake. After leading by as many as 13, the Lakers saw their advantage dwindle to two with two minutes to play. But junior guard Xander Okerlund scored four of his game-high 23 points to close out the historic victory.
“The way we looked at it is (it’s) another good basketball team that knows what they’re doing,” Glen Lake senior forward Cade Peterson said. “We expected coming into the game that they were going to make their runs. We were going to make our runs. What I love about this team is just we bounce back no matter what. Even after our two (regular-season) losses to a really good Buckley team, we come back, we just keep on going. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing.”
Glen Lake (24-2) earned its first championship game appearance since 1996 and will take on Detroit Edison in Saturday’s 4:30 p.m. Final.
The Lakers’ first four baskets Thursday were 3-pointers. They made 10 of 22 from beyond the arc – 46 percent of their tries, better than the 42 percent they shot from the field overall.
“I thought we did a nice job of not forcing them. We didn’t want to come out and start firing them,” Glen Lake coach Rich Ruelas said of the long-range shots. “Our big thing is inside-out – let’s get touches inside, and once they collapse, let’s open it up. We have guys who can absolutely knock them down … but we wanted to really make that defense work.
“We didn’t always take the greatest shots. But for the most part, we did.”
Monroe St. Mary (25-1) also plays inside-out, and had plenty of success inside. Senior 6-foot-8 forward C.J. Haut made 7 of 12 shots for 15 points as St. Mary scored 32 total in the paint, compared to Glen Lake’s 12.
Junior guard Hunter Kegley added 13 points, and senior guard Mitchell Sherrard and junior forward Tyler Welch both had 10 points.
But the Falcons had a hard time containing Glen Lake’s big three. In addition to Okerlund’s 23 points, Peterson finished with 20 and sophomore guard Reese Hazelton had 19.
The 62 points were the second-most St. Mary had given up this season – opponents had averaged only 40.4 points per game against the Falcons heading into this weekend.
“We got a lot of good shots. I just felt like early we gave up too many 3s,” St. Mary coach Randy Windham said. “We let them be a little comfortable. I just felt that they settled in, and when teams settle in and get their feet under them – our whole thing is to make them uncomfortable, get them off their spot.”
This was St. Mary’s second Semifinal – its first was in 2013 – and the Falcons took the next step after falling in the Quarterfinal a year ago.
“This final game doesn’t define us as people. We still had a really rewarding season,” Haut said. “We were 25-0 coming into this game, and we were undefeated in our league. We were ranked number one in the state for a long time. I don’t think this game has anything to do with the success of our season. We were still very successful.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Maple City Glen Lake’s Reece Hazelton launches a 3-pointer Thursday at the Breslin Center. (Middle) Monroe St. Mary’s Mitchell Sherrard works to get a shot around Glen Lake’s Cade Peterson.
Dunn Reaches MHSAA Record Book Among Quincy's All-Time Greats
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
August 12, 2022
William Dunn finished his career in 2020 among the best to play at Quincy, having made career MHSAA record book lists in three categories.
Dunn, now a 6-foot-8 forward at Youngstown State, ended his prep career with record entries for 788 rebounds, 203 blocked shots and 336 free throws made in 503 attempts over 90 games and four seasons. He played in 25 games and started 13 as a sophomore this past winter for the Penguins.
See below for more recent record book entries for boys basketball.
Boys Basketball
Additionally for Quincy, 2016-17 teammate Nathan Karney was added to the MHSAA records for scoring 22 of his 37 points against Jonesville on March 6, 2017, during the second quarter.
Painesdale Jeffers, despite playing only 20 games during the abbreviated 2020-21 season, made 223 3-pointers, good for eighth-most in one season. The Jets made the single-game 3-pointers list four times, with a high of 22 in a March 11, 2021, game against Lake Linden-Hubbell. Then-junior John Schutz was part of the surge, and his 11 3-pointers in that game are tied for 11th-most on the individual single-game list. Freshman Levi Frahm was added for scoring 21 points during the second quarter of a Feb. 23, 2021, game against Watersmeet.
More than 40 years after concluding his career at Cadillac, Harold Falan has been added to the career rebounding list for grabbing 756 over 64 games and three seasons from 1974-76. The 6-foot-4 Falan reportedly was the second player in Cadillac history to score 1,000 points, and made the Class B all-state team as a senior, according to the Ludington Daily News report March 24, 1976.
Another standout has been recognized more than 40 years after his accomplishment. Cass City senior Clare Trischler scored 22 points during the first quarter of his team’s 102-58 win over Marlette on Dec. 8, 1978. He made the individual single-quarter scoring list, and Cass City made the team list with 42 points total that first period.
Concord’s Jan. 22 win over Springport saw both teams enter the record book among 3-pointer entries. Concord made 20 of 41 attempts from beyond the arc, tying for the eighth-most made 3-pointers in a game. Adding in Springport’s six 3-pointers, the teams’ combined 26 tied for third-most by two teams in a game.
Similarly, Bridgman made the record book with 18 3-pointers (in 27 attempts) against St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran on Feb. 4. Adding in Michigan Lutheran’s three 3-pointers, the teams together made the combined list for one game with 21 total.
Onaway broke a 56-year-old record Feb. 3 when it scored 49 points during the first quarter of a win over Fife Lake Forest Area. The previous record had been 48 scored by Engadine during a game in 1966.
Roscommon senior Joel Ewald scored 33 points Feb. 16 against Evart, all of them coming on 11 3-pointers. He tied for 11th-most 3-pointers made in one game. Additionally, 2009 graduate Mike Alden was added for 3-point achievements twice – for 82 over 22 games as a senior in 2008-09, and 199 over three seasons and 53 games. Ewald will continue at Eureka College in Illinois, and Alden played at Alpena Community College.
Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice was among the state’s elite throughout the 2021-22 season, and shooting skill was a big contributor. The Warriors made the single-season 3-pointers list with 178 (on 491 attempts over 22 games) and with a single-game high of 15. They also made the consecutive free throws list as a team with 33 consecutive over three games from Feb. 5-11. Junior Xavier Thomas made the single-game consecutive free throws record list connecting on all 18 attempts in an opening-night win over eventual Division 1 runner-up Grand Blanc. Thomas is tied for fifth on that list.
Buckley’s 80-64 win over the Traverse City Homeschoolers on Feb. 12 included long-distance shooting that earned two record book entries. Buckley made 16 3-pointers to make the single-game list for one team, and with Traverse City’s six added in also made the listing for most 3-pointers (22) by two teams during one matchup.
PHOTO Quincy’s William Dunn throws down a dunk during a Dec. 9, 2018, game against Jonesville. (Photo by Expressions Photography Design.)