Nearly 25 Years After Leading Unexpected Run, Morton Directing Life-Changing Mission
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
August 11, 2026
Nearly a quarter century after presiding over arguably one of the most improbable boys basketball state championships in Michigan history, the same fight and underdog mentality still exists for Tim Morton.
Back in 2002, Morton was the head boys basketball head coach at Auburn Hills Avondale, which produced a Hollywood-type run during that season’s Class B tournament.
Unranked and without a future Division I college player in the lineup, a Yellow Jackets team headlined by seven seniors went on a quest that stunned many statewide observers.
Avondale avenged the disappointment of not getting out of the District round the previous year and then recorded a stunning upset of a highly-ranked Flint Southwestern team in their Regional Final, winning in double overtime. But after squeaking out a six-point win over a solid Williamston team in a Quarterfinal and earning an 11-point win over Comstock Park in the Semifinals, surely midnight was going to strike for Cinderella in the championship game. After all, Avondale was up against a powerful Grand Rapids South Christian team which had multiple future Division I college players on its roster.
It didn’t matter as Avondale, led by tough-as-nails captains Mike Lewis and Wes Whiteside, senior Dionte Miller and sophomore Dave Holston, completed its stunning run with a 70-65 win to capture what still stands as the program’s only Finals basketball championship.
Morton said he thought his team the previous year that couldn’t make it out of Districts was more talented, but there were intangibles the 2001-02 team possessed that couldn’t be matched.
“I think that nobody really thought that they’d have a shot,” Morton said of his team. “I think that is why we were unranked, because of what had left. But you’ve got to have something to fight for, and I think the reason was the year before. We were motivated. I think playing that underdog role, we just loved it. We won games in so many different ways and got on that roll.”
This past March, Morton and other alumni of the Avondale team certainly were thrilled to see this year’s squad advance to the Semifinals for the first time since their 2001-02 team did so. This time, the Yellow Jackets suffered a three-point Semifinal loss to eventual Class A champion Rockford.
Today, Morton is also heading another team that has an underdog mentality but is motivated to fight for each other and surrounding communities.
Morton is the multi-area director for the Southeast Michigan chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which aims to serve kids, coaches and communities by promoting through activities faith, self-esteem, serving others and being the best version of yourself.
The organization has roughly 50 student-led “huddles” that meet at high schools or middle schools, where students can have a safe haven to talk about problems, promote successes, go over scripture and bond during a challenging time of life.
Through volunteers and other staff members, the organization also conducts camps throughout the state for coaches, athletes and others to learn from each other and grow as leaders.
The chapter will have its annual golf outing Sept. 28 at Oakland University’s Sharf Golf Course.
“We just want to be really good at cultivating those relationships, making sure that we’re following up with people, and sharing what the Lord is doing so people feel like they can be connected to something bigger than themselves.”
Playing for something bigger than themselves certainly worked for the 2002 team, and Morton said there is a 25th anniversary reunion in the works for next spring.
But while he nor anyone else in the Avondale community will forget that run in 2002, these days Morton is spearheading a team he said is playing for an even greater purpose, one he tried to describe to a group of youth football coaches in Flint during a recent gathering.
“I had only about 15 to 20 minutes to share with these guys,” Morton said. “I shared that we won a state title in 2002 and I was driven to be the best coach I could possibly be. A lot of great things happened, and the state championship happened. I’m on my way home from the state championship and we’re watching the video, and it’s crazy because this fear came over me. How are we going to do this again?
“Every coach that puts his or her full identity in the performance of the team, that’s scary and that’s not good. I got out six years later because of that fear. The most important relationships of my life were not good because I had to be validated by the performance of my team. That conversation kind of led into, “Why are you coaching? Why are you doing what you are doing? I wanted them to be motivated to be the best versions of themselves, for those kids, their wives and children. That’s why I’m in FCA. That’s my cause to fight for.”
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PHOTOS At left, Tim Morton raises the Class B championship trophy in 2002. At right, Morton now a director for Fellowship of Christian Athletes. (Middle) Morton, kneeling, speaks to his team during the championship win at Breslin Center. (MHSAA archives)
P-W Withstands Lovejoy's Record-Approaching Performance to Complete Historic Run
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
March 14, 2026
EAST LANSING – Pewamo-Westphalia overcame one of the best scoring performances in Finals history Saturday to claim the Division 3 boys basketball title.
Arts & Technology Academy of Pontiac got 41 points from sophomore Lewis Lovejoy, but the Pirates made enough stops during the biggest moments to come away with a 61-57 win at the Breslin Center.
“That game was exactly as we expected, just a great game between two great basketball teams,” P-W coach Dominic Schneider said. “What can you say about Mr. Lovejoy? I mean, that guy, he’s a stud at all three levels. But, I will say our guys did the job and became state champions because they believed in each other and believed in what we do as a program. That was a perfect example of team ball out there. I’m so proud of our guys.”
It was the second title in program history and first since 2019 for the Pirates, who were making their second-straight appearance at Finals weekend.
The senior class that brought them back included four starters – Nolan George, Tyler Spitzley, Trent Piggott and Grady Eklund, as well as sixth man Ty Thelen.
“They never once wavered and never once batted an eye,” Schneider said. “Sometimes you bring up freshmen or sophomores and things don’t go well, but it never was an issue. They took the sophomores under their wing, and obviously they helped us today. The senior class stayed together. Yeah, you have some great players but you have some players who don’t play as many minutes, and it never was an issue. They always wanted to be leaders and they wanted to win, and they did that in the best way possible.”
Eklund led the way in his final game at P-W, scoring 26 points while adding nine rebounds and four assists. Piggott had a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds, and sophomore Logan Farmer added 14 points.
The balance was in contrast to ATAP, which ran through Lovejoy, and for good reason – it was working.
Lovejoy’s 41 points were the seventh most in MHSAA Finals history. He shot 50 percent (14 of 28) from the field, and hit six 3-pointers, one away from tying the Finals record.
But the performance was no consolation following a second-straight loss in the Division 3 Final.
“It don’t mean nothing; we lost,” Lovejoy said. “If we won, I’d be on top of the world, but we lost. None of this matters. Not one point matters.”
Devonte Grandison added seven points and seven rebounds for the Lions, while Jaiden Price also had seven points.
Lovejoy had 35 through three quarters, as the Lions took a one-point lead into the fourth. But with Farmer switching onto the assignment, things slowed down for Lovejoy.
“I will say, once we switched Logan onto him – and Ty Thelen and Logan George did a heck of a job, that’s quite a task to take on – but I think throwing a different look at him helped a lot,” Schneider said. “Logan’s length and giving him a third defender that he had to go against, that helped a lot with that. I know how bull-headed this kid can be, and I know he wasn’t going to back down from a big challenge.”
Schneider was right, as Farmer was ready to take on the task.
“I saw he had 35, and I tried to keep him at 35,” Farmer said. “It didn’t work. He stops so quick and he has that back-up game, so he’s always keeping you on your toes. So it’s hard to stay with him. But when he raised up, I just tried to contest the best I could.”
Farmer also hit the game-sealing free throws with nine seconds remaining and was nearby when ATAP’s final 3-point attempt missed.
Lovejoy’s shooting kept ATAP in the game in the first half, as he scored 18 points over the opening 16 minutes. He was 4-of-7 from 3-point range in the second quarter, scoring 14 of his team’s 16 points in the frame.
The Lions were just 4-of-13 from behind the arc in the first half and 8-of-29 from the field overall.
That, and a 6-2 edge in turnovers forced, offset a hot-shooting start from the Pirates, who had hit 10 of their first 18 shots, including better than 64 percent of their 2-pointers. They held an 18-4 advantage in points in the paint.
Lovejoy’s heroics won over the Hudsonville Unity Christian students who had started filling in for their school’s Division 2 Final.
“You’re him, zero!” they yelled, eventually coming all the way over to the ATAP side and starting a “Let’s go Lions” chant.
But in the end, it was the Pirates student section making the most noise.
“The bottom line is the better team won,” ATAP acting coach Zachary Kelso said. “They made stops and they made plays when they needed to, and we didn’t. That’s the bottom line.”
PHOTOS (Top) Pewamo-Westphalia’s Logan Farmer gets up a shot over ATAP’s Lewis Lovejoy (0) on Saturday. (Middle) Lovejoy finishes a fastbreak with a layup. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)