NorthPointe Comes Back to Land 1st Final
March 26, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Preston Huckaby is a four-year varsity starter for Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian’s basketball team.
So he had a decent idea what was necessary to earn one more chance to suit up for the Mustangs, and with history on the line.
NorthPointe trailed Boyne City by 12 points less than a minute into the second quarter of their Class C Semifinal at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center.
Huckaby sank his first shot seconds later – and went on to score a game-high 26 points to lead the Mustangs back and into their first MHSAA Final with a 48-45 edging of the Ramblers.
“I think going into the game, we were a little nervous, this being our first time in this type of environment. We said if we want to play another game, we have to do what we need to do to win this game,” Huckaby said. “I think I needed to be more aggressive. That’s what I needed to do to get our team where we needed to be.”
And that’s in Saturday’s 4 p.m. Class C Final, where NorthPointe (21-5) will seek its first MHSAA title, taking on Flint Beecher.
Huckaby was a solid 9 of 20 from the floor and also grabbed nine rebounds. And falling in line with that "aggressive" approach, he made a final deciding play at the other end of the court.
Boyne City (21-6) came back from a 23-point swing to pull within 46-45 with 31 seconds to play. The Ramblers took two strong drives to the basket – the first ended with miss but an offensive rebound; Huckaby stepped in front of the second and took a charge that all but sealed the win. He made two free throws to extend NorthPointe's lead to three, and Boyne City’s final shot to tie hit off the front of the rim.
“He might be the all-time leading scorer in our school’s history, but in my three years at NorthPointe he’s probably taken 75 charges,” NorthPointe coach Jared Redell said of his senior guard. “If there was a stat on all-time charge takers, I imagine not only at our school, but he’d be close to a state record.”
Boyne City senior guard Cole Butler scored 11 of his team’s first 15 points as the Ramblers quickly built their early double-digit advantage. Huckaby scored 11 points during the second quarter, his last-second shot tying the score at 26-26 heading into halftime.
Senior Andrew Holesinger opened the second half with a 3-pointer to give NorthPointe its first lead in more than 13 minutes. But Butler got hot again in the fourth quarter, scoring five more points to put Boyne City in position to take back the lead.
“We talked about coming in today, playing loose, playing confident and playing to win. And I felt we did that tonight,” Boyne City coach Nick Redman said. “We got off to a great start, and I’m super proud of that. They gave themselves an opportunity to win, and that’s all you can ask for.”
Butler had 16 points and 10 rebounds taking on the lead role from senior teammate Corey Redman, who will play at Central Michigan University next season. Redman ended with only six points and five rebounds playing 30 minutes despite a foot sprain he suffered during the District that required he wear a walking boot.
Senior guard Zach Napont added five points, five rebounds, seven assists and four steals for the Ramblers, who started four seniors total. Holesinger added nine points for NorthPointe and a key blocked shot on Boyne City’s first attempt to re-take the lead with 1:25 to play.
Leaders from both teams brought experience at this level into Thursday – both schools’ football teams advanced to the Division 6 Semifinals this fall.
But NorthPointe coach Jared Redell saw his team’s nerves early in the shots it was allowing and the way the Mustangs seemed out of sync.
“The third quarter always has been great for us, all tournament long,” Redell said. “We barely hung on, and you don’t want to hang on; we want to make sure we finish and we put them away. There’s a lot of things to learn from the game, and the good thing is we get to learn from them and play another game.”
Click for the full box score and video from the postgame press conference.
PHOTOS: (Top) NorthPointe Christian’s Andrew Holesinger (23) drives during Thursday’s Class C Semifinal. (Middle) Boyne City’s Zach Napont pushes the ball upcourt against a number of defenders.
Tri-Unity Avenges Season-Opening Loss, Earns Retiring Coach Another Finals Win
By
Jeff Bleiler
Special for MHSAA.com
March 15, 2025
EAST LANSING — The Wyoming Tri-unity Christian High School boys basketball team was not about to end its season the way it started – with a loss to Fowler.
The Defenders also were not going to let legendary coach Mark Keeler ride off into the sunset after a 38-year career without another Division 4 championship.
On the strength of suffocating defense and two double-digit scoring runs, along with frigid Fowler shooting during the first half, Tri-unity defeated the Eagles 49-32 on Saturday at the Breslin Center to claim its second-straight title and third over the last four years.
Keeler, who announced his retirement earlier this season, departs with his seventh MHSAA Finals championship. Fowler was making its first appearance in the championship since 2002 – when the Eagles also lost to Tri-Unity.
“This is not going to be a good time for me because I’m pretty emotional,” Keeler said. “I’m so stinking proud of them. Was that good defense? I think that was good defense. We played a great team. I thought we didn’t quit.”
Keaton Blanker led Tri-unity (27-2) with 12 points, followed by Noah Silverton with 11, all in the first half.
“Our biggest emphasis was playing 32 minutes,” Blanker said. “We don’t stop fighting until that final buzzer, and we did that. I’m just so happy for all us players.”
Tri-unity graduated eight seniors from last year’s championship team, with only Blanker and Joey Mellon seeing significant playing time, so another Division 4 title wasn’t necessarily a sure thing, especially after the loss to Fowler on opening night at home.
“I don’t think a lot of people thought that we could do this,” Blanker said. “We just fought. Every day at practice was a straight grind.”
Tri-unity’s defense was smothering all season – holding teams to an average of 39 points per game, the lowest of Keeler’s tenure – and it was downright sterling Saturday.
The first Fowler basket was a 3-pointer by Jacob Halfmann more than five minutes into the contest after Tri-unity scored the game’s first 11 points. That was quickly followed by another 3-pointer by Aaron Simon, but that was all the Eagles could muster as Tri-unity led 11-6 after the first quarter.
Six quick points from Tri-unity – aided by Fowler turnovers – pushed the lead back to 11 less than two minutes into the second quarter. At that point, Fowler had three times as many turnovers (six) as field goals (two).
The lead stretched to 16 halfway through the second quarter, prompting a third Fowler timeout.
A Jacob Halfmann 3-pointer at the 3:15 mark ended another lengthy Fowler scoring drought – and a 13-0 Defenders run – and made the score 24-9. He finished with a team-high 11 points.
The Eagles (25-4) struggled in the first half to find an answer for Silverton, who eclipsed double figures in points before they did.
“Today we just started a little slow. It took a little bit for us to settle in,” an emotional Fowler coach Kam Riley said. “We kept talking about, we got to settle in and be ourselves, and I thought we did that as the game progressed. Against a good team like Tri-unity, you dig a hole, it’s going to be tough to get out of it.”
An Alex Halfmann layup with 2:05 to play in the first half was the first Fowler field goal inside the 3-point arc. Despite a solid finish to the half by Fowler, the Defenders carried a 28-16 lead into the break.
The Eagles cut the lead to seven late in the third quarter as Tri-unity suddenly appeared mortal.
“They came back at us at the start of the second half, and we knew they would,” Keeler said. “I just thought my guys played great defense. I was more excited about our defense.”
A Clayton Rowlader 3-pointer pushed the lead back to double figures. Fowler pulled within 39-30 with 3:48 to play before Tri-unity closed the game with a 10-2 run boosted by two more 3-pointers by Rowlader. The Defenders finished 4-of-10 from long range after making only one of 23 attempts combined during Regional Final and Quarterfinal victories.
Keeler said this championship was different than the others because it’s his last, and that despite the loss of so many upperclassmen from last year’s team, he had a feeling this team could win it all.
“The competitive part of me, I wanted to win and I knew we could because I’ve watched these guys mature,” Keeler said. “I love defense. It’s the old adage, if you can do offense, you’ll win games, but if you play good defense, you’ll win state championships.”
Keeler finished his career with a 721-218 varsity coaching record, his wins ranking third in MHSAA boys basketball history.
PHOTOS (Top) Tri-unity Christian’s Keaton Blanker (4) exits the game in celebration during his team’s Division 4 Final win Saturday at Breslin Center. (Middle) The Defenders’ Cody Osbun elevates above three Fowler players to put up a shot. (Below) Fowler’s Aaron Simon (30) makes a move into the lane. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)