March Magic Hoopfest Comes to Jenison
March 21, 2016
Second Half editor
March Magic Hoopfest will return to Jenison Field House for this weekend’s Michigan High School Athletic Association Boys Basketball Finals, marking the seventh championship weekend the event has run concurrent with the games being played at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center.
A number of favorite attractions will return including slam dunk (on lowered rims), 3-point shootout and half-court shot areas where fans can come at any time and participate, and the festivities also will include a court for timed “Around the World” shooting games and another court featuring a skills challenge. Also returning is the Walk of History, showcasing championship games, life-size photos and display boards from throughout the MHSAA Finals’ near century-long run.
Two Hoopfest center courts will host a number of games throughout the event, including the “JumpBall Jamboree” made up of teams of boys and girls in grades 3-8, and a series of games between Special Olympics Project UNIFY high school teams.
Admission to the March Magic Hoopfest is $2 per person, and fans attending the MHSAA Boys Basketball Semifinals and Finals will be admitted free with their game tickets. Hours on March 24 and 25 will be 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.; the event is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on March 26. Jenison Field House, site of Hoopfest, also was the site of the MHSAA Boys Basketball Finals for 31 years. To find out more general information about the event, visit the March Magic Hoopfest Website.
Hoopfest also will be home to Hoopie, the event’s mascot who made his first public appearances during the 2014 MHSAA Finals. Watch the video below of Hoopie preparing for this weekend’s event.
The March Magic Hoopfest is being conducted in partnership between the Greater Lansing Sports Authority (GLSA), a division of the Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the MHSAA, with vital support coming from the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics at Michigan State University.
“We hear stories every year about families continuing a tradition by attending our Boys Basketball Finals, and many families have made Hoopfest a part of their annual trip as well,” MHSAA Director of Brand Management Andy Frushour said. “There’s something for every fan from the youngest to those who have enjoyed our championship games for decades.”
The Greater Lansing Sports Authority’s mission is to be the leading voice of sports tourism in the Greater Lansing area and to promote economic growth by attracting a diverse range of sporting events to the region. The GLSA strives to enhance the quality of life for area residents through the development of local sports and fitness programs for all ages and supports the continued development and maintenance of safe, high-quality athletic facilities.
“The March Magic Hoopfest sets off a great weekend of MHSAA Tournament games and helps create a multi-day event which will involve the Lansing area and thousands of visitors from across the state,” GLSA Executive Director Mike Price said. “If you’re coming to the championships, Hoopfest is a destination to visit before and after the games; and if you’re not coming to the games, Hoopfest is a fun, wholesome, inexpensive, family activity.”
Wayne Memorial's Moment Arrives as Zebras Pull Away for Historic Win
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 14, 2025
EAST LANSING – Carlos Medlock Jr. makes no excuses for wanting the ball at crunch time.
The Wayne Memorial junior guard enjoys his dual role with his team, including shooting the ball from almost any angle at any time. Whatever the defense gives him, Medlock Jr. said he's happy to take it.
Case in point was Wayne Memorial's 66-49 win over Flint Carmen-Ainsworth in Friday's second Division 1 Semifinal at the Breslin Center.
With the Zebras nursing a tenuous five-point lead midway through the third quarter, the 6-foot, 170-pound Medlock hit a short jumper, a layup, a free throw, a pullup jumper and a reverse layup during a span of less than three minutes.
The lead ballooned to as much as 52-38 a minute into the fourth quarter as Wayne Memorial earned a trip – the program's first – to Saturday's 12:15 p.m. championship game against East Lansing.
As much as Medlock Jr. admits to happily possessing a shooter's mentality – he's averaging nearly 25 points per game – he also takes pride in providing open looks for teammates. Medlock Jr. wound up tossing in 29 points on 11-of-24 shooting while adding eight rebounds and six assists.
"Even when they're trying to stop me, that means my teammates are available," he said. "I want the ball, but it's about helping others, too. When I'm hot, I want the ball. If I'm not, I'll get it to Austin (Tory) or someone open."
Tory, who complements Medlock Jr. from the other guard spot, added 14 points and six rebounds.
Wayne Memorial improved to 25-3, while Carmen-Ainsworth finished 22-6.
Zebras coach Steve Brooks said Medlock Jr. is a key member of a team which, in some cases, has been together since middle school. He said the program takes pride in that it hasn't been aided by transfers. The Zebras, he said, are pure homegrown.
"We're here because we have fun," he said. "I'm happy for our seniors; they've bought into this. They're Wayne kids who've put in the work."
Wayne Memorial led 30-25 at the half, then salted the game away with a 20-13 third quarter run. The Zebras outscored Carmen-Ainsworth 16-11 in the fourth quarter.
Wayne Memorial senior center Talan Clark said because the team has basically been intact for four years, there has been talk of reaching Finals weekend.
"We've worked four years for this moment," he said. "No transfers have come in. It's just been us who've put in the work. After all the work we've put in in the summer, this is what we wanted to do. We all had the same goal."
Carmen-Ainsworth was led by Donovan Hamlin's 15 points and eight rebounds. MarQuinn Weston II had 11 points.
Cavaliers coach Jay Witham said his team simply didn't do the things which led to winning four tournament games over the last two weeks by fewer than nine points. Carman-Ainsworth shot 44.7 percent from the floor, but missed nine of its 3-point attempts while turning the ball over 17 times.
"They are a talented team, and their guards are tough to defend," said Witham, whose club finished fourth in the Saginaw Valley League. "But for whatever reason we turned the ball over and took (bad) shots we don't normally take, and that hurt us. We had to settle for (longer) shots instead of getting to the rim.
"It happens. Whether it was playing on this stage in a big moment, I thought we were focused. It just wasn't our day."
PHOTOS (Top) Wayne Memorial’s Antwaun Williams (10) guards Flint Carman-Ainsworth’s MarQuinn Weston II during Friday’s Division 1 Semifinal. (Middle) Carman-Ainsworth’s Kendreyas White (10) gets up a shot as Wayne’s Joshua Dennis (33) goes for a block. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)