Highlight Reel: Class C-D Semifinals

March 25, 2016

By John Johnson
MHSAA communications director

The first four finalists for the 2016 MHSAA Boys Basketball Tournament, presented by Sparrow Health System, were determined on Thursday at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. 

Check out these video highlights from the Class C and D Semifinals. Click on the score to watch a game in its entirety and order DVDs.

Class C

Grandville Calvin Christian 65, McBain 42

Squire On Fire - Tony DeWitte scored the first 10 points of the game for Grandville Calvin Christian, and 26 of his game-high 31 points in the first half against McBain in this Class C Semifinal.

From Another Area Code - Logan Eling led McBain with 18 points, including this bomb from long range in the first quarter.

Flint Beecher 60, Detroit Loyola 59

Bulldogs Finally Take The Lead - Detroit Loyola never led in its Class C Semifinal with Flint Beecher until there were fewer than two minutes to play when Keith Johnson hit a 3-pointer.

Un-bee-leeve-able - Malik Ellison hits the game-winning shot for Flint Beecher. Ellison finished the game with 11 points.

Class D  

Waterford Our Lady 64, Wyoming Tri-unity Christian 53

Going Coast To Coast - This Class D Semifinal went back and forth deep into the final period. Here's Braydon Sherrod of Wyoming Tri-unity Christian going downcourt for a basket. 

Roback Puts Lakes Back In The Lead - Waterford Our Lady ended its Class D Semifinal with Wyoming Tri-Unity Christian on a 12-point run, starting with this 3-pointer by Noah Roback.

Powers North Central 64, Fulton 23 

Steal-Scoop-Score - Powers North Central converts a steal into points in the first quarter of a Class D Semifinal against Fulton as Jason Whitens takes the turnover and converts it into points.

Antes For Three -  Colton Antes canned a couple of 3-pointers for Fulton against Powers North Central in their Class D Semifinal.

The Boys Basketball Finals are presented by Sparrow Health System.

PHOTO: Flint Beecher's Jordan Roland pushes the ball upcourt during the Thursday Class C Semifinal against Detroit Loyola.

In Memoriam: Erik O. Furseth (1930-2022)

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

March 1, 2022

For 50 years, Erik O. Furseth’s voice chimed throughout MHSAA and Michigan State University athletic events. That voice surely will continue to live in the memories of the many who cherished listening to him, as he died Monday evening at the age of 91.

Furseth began as the public-address voice of MHSAA Boys Basketball Finals in 1968 and continued well into his 80s as those games moved from Jenison Field House to other locations across the Lower Peninsula and eventually settled into Breslin Center. He also was the longtime MHSAA football championship game voice going back to their days at the Pontiac Silverdome and provided the narration for MHSAA Baseball Finals for a decade. He announced his last MHSAA event in 2018.

An MSU basketball player during the early 1950s, the Cleveland Heights, Ohio, native played in the Spartans’ first Big Ten game in 1951. A forestry student initially, Furseth switched to communications. He later became a legendary rock-n-roll radio DJ in Lansing, and for a decade hosted Saturday night dances at the Lansing Civic Center that drew 1,000 teenagers a night – and a surprise performance by a young Stevie Wonder.

Furseth’s voice continued to be known particularly by Spartan fans as the homecourt voice for MSU basketball from 1968-2002 and MSU football from 1971-98. For more, see this feature from the MHSAA Basketball Finals programs written in 2013.

Furseth moved from East Lansing to Traverse City about 25 years ago. Click for his obituary and funeral arrangements.