Moment: Rouge Ends '60s with 6 Titles
April 16, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
After three years without a championship, River Rouge returned to the Class B Final in 1969 and won its sixth title of the 1960s by defeating Kalamazoo Hackett 83-50.
The Panthers finished 25-2 for the season, and the championship began another string of four straight that concluded in 1972.
Rouge dominated the 1969 Final led by 6-foot-4, 250-pound forward Dwayne Johnson (reaching for the rim in bottom photo), who scored 23 points. Teammate Rod Wimphrey added 16 points, but more importantly held Hackett's Bob Calligton to nine. Calligton had scored 31 points in Hackett's Semifinal win one night earlier.
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Michigan's Best Reach Higher at Milford
July 26, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
HIGHLAND TOWNSHIP – Nearly 200 of the top high school basketball players in Michigan took part in the Reaching Higher experience during the last two weeks at Milford High School.
A total of 96 boys attended Reaching Higher on July 13, and 90 girls attended the July 25 session. The program, in its eighth year, again included instruction on the court and off.
Skill training and scrimmages followed presentations by speakers Carlton Valentine and Justin Jennings (former Michigan State and Purdue standouts, respectively) at the boys program and Nicole Elmblad (University of Michigan record holder) and Dave Ginsburg (longtime high school and college coach) at the girls session. An educational effort by the Michigan High School Athletic Association and the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan, the Reaching Higher experience also included classroom sessions for parents and instruction from NCAA compliance officers.
Players invited to Reaching Higher were selected by a committee of BCAM members and received the opportunity to show their skills in front of college coaches representing all three NCAA levels and the NAIA. Coaches representing 27 colleges attended the boys session, and 19 colleges attended the girls showcase.
Click for photos from the Boys Reaching Higher and Girls Reaching Higher.
PHOTOS: (Left) Warren Cousino's A.J. Crawford looks for an opening while defended by DeWitt's Tanner Reha (106). (Right) Bullock Creek's Haley Heldt (98) searches for a teammate while Dearborn Heights Crestwood's Demi Rodriguez anticipates her next move.