Highlight Reel: Class B Semifinals
March 27, 2015
By John Johnson
MHSAA communications director
Wyoming Godwin Heights and Detroit Henry Ford advanced to the MHSAA Class B Boys Basketball Final with Semifinal wins Friday at the Breslin Center.
Click below for highlights from all four teams that took the court.
Wyoming Godwin Heights 70, Milan 64
Perkins Blocks & Dunks - Nick Perkins starts this sequence for Milan with a block and then runs the court to take a pass for a dunk to put the Big Reds back in the lead. Wyoming Godwin Heights, however, prevailed 70-64.
Williams’ Lucky 13's - Michael Williams had 13 points and 13 rebounds for Wyoming Godwin Heights against Milan. Here he scores on a put-back late in the first half.
Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Detroit Henry Ford 64, Cadillac 38
Going To Towns - James Towns paced Detroit Henry Ford with 24 points against Cadillac in a Class B Semifinal. Here he converts the old-fashioned three-point play.
Myers All The Way - Ethan Myers makes a nice play for Cadillac in the fourth quarter against Detroit Henry Ford, taking a rebound all the way for a basket. He had 13 points for the Vikings.
Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
PHOTO: Godwin Heights’ Karon Patrick tries to get a shot around the outstretched hand of Milan’s Latin Davis.
Belding Invites Fans to 'Fill the Gym'
January 30, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Belding High School’s Redskin Arena was completed during the summer of 2012, a glistening gymnasium with seats the school colors of orange and black reaching from a sunken floor toward the domed rafters overhead.
Tonight, the school hopes to set an attendance record by filling those 2,250 seats – and standing-room capacity of 2,650 – for the first time in the building’s brief history.
Belding hosts Coopersville for boys and then girls varsity basketball games, beginning at 6 p.m. The “Fill the Gym” idea was hatched in part this fall during an MHSAA Sportsmanship Summit, said junior Greta Wilker, also a member of the MHSAA’s Student Advisory Council.
This fall’s Summits focused on crowd participation and featured stories of past Battle of the Fans participants that had helped build large community followings.
“We were trying to think of ways that we could get some of our lower levels involved as well as the community,” Wilker said. “So it originated as a ‘kids night’ where all of the kids from the elementary buildings would get in free.
“But then we decided to go bigger.”
Tonight, all who show at the door wearing a white shirt will get in free. Elementary teams will play at halftime, and the girls 2003 MHSAA Semifinals team and boys 2008 District champ will be honored. Alumni also will join the school's band for its performance.
Fans should have plenty to cheer on during the games well. The boys, after a tough start, have won two of their last four games, and the girls are 9-3 and in second place in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Blue.
“Our hope is that it reconnects the community with our teams by having a cool event,” Wilker said. “And that it gets our younger kids involved and excited about their future athletic careers at Belding.
“I’m really just hoping for a huge, awesome event where students and the community can have fun.”
PHOTO: Belding High School’s gymnasium, which has a standing-room capacity of 2,650. (Photo courtesy of Belding High School.)