Moment: Rouge Runs Title Streak to 5
April 16, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
After setting the Lower Peninsula record the season before, River Rouge completed the streak that remains the standard for boys basketball programs with a fifth-straight MHSAA Finals title in 1965.
The Panthers won Class B for the fifth-consecutive season by downing South Haven 87-65. Rouge led only 54-52 after three quarters, but scored 33 points during the final period to seal the clincher.
The 87 total points also broke a Rouge Class B Final record set the year before (86) and remained the record (tied in 2003 by Grand Rapids South Christian) until Class was replaced by Division for basketball tournament classification in 2019.
Frank Price led with 28 points. Sam Campbell added 16. Rouge finished the season 24-2. (Side note: Price's daughter Franthea led Rouge to its first MHSAA girls basketball title, in 1984.)
Only Crystal Falls (now Forest Park), with six straight championships from 1938-44, has won more consecutive MHSAA titles in boys basketball, and that streak came during a time when separate tournaments were conducted by peninsula. Crystal Falls’ streak skips the 1943 season, when Finals weren’t played because of World War II.

Be the Referee: You Make the Call
December 20, 2018
This week, MHSAA officials coordinator Sam Davis offers up a basketball "You Make the Call" scenario concerning the backboard.
Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.
Below is this week's segment – Basketball: You Make the Call - Listen
Let’s test your knowledge of high school basketball rules with this “You Make the Call ..."
An offensive player stops dribbling on the end line immediately behind the backboard. Double-teamed, the player throws the ball into the air. The ball travels over the backboard, where a teammate flies down the lane to grab it and score on a thunderous tomahawk jam.
You make the call. Is this legal?
The sides, the bottom and the top of the backboard are always in play. Anything supporting the backboard, like brackets and wires, are always out of bounds. The ball can even travel behind the backboard at any time – even between wires and brackets – and still be in play if it doesn’t touch anything. But, the ball may never pass over the top of a rectangular backboard in either direction.
This is a violation, and the ball is turned over to the other team.
Past editions
December 13: Basketball Uniform Safety - Listen
December 6: Coaching Box Expansion - Listen
November 29: Video Review, Part 2 - Listen
November 22: Video Review, Part 1 - Listen
November 15: You Make the Call - Sleeper Play - Listen
November 8: 7-Person Football Crews - Listen
November 1: Overtime Differences - Listen
October 25: Trickery & Communication - Listen
October 18: Punts & Missed Field Goals - Listen
October 11: What Officials Don't Do - Listen
October 4: Always 1st-and-Goal - Listen
September 27: Unique Kickoff Option - Listen
September 20: Uncatchable Pass - Listen
September 13: Soccer Rules Change - Listen
September 6: You Make the Call: Face Guarding - Listen
August 30: 40-Second Play Clock - Listen
August 23: Football Rules Changes - Listen