Rivals Unite for 'Never Forgotten Games'
January 24, 2018
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
FENNVILLE – The small West Michigan towns of Fennville and Saugatuck are separated by less than 10 miles, thus sparking a longstanding rivalry that has played out in various sports through the years.
However, for one night, a special event brought the two communities together to help support a worthy cause.
The seventh-annual “Never Forgotten Games” between the neighboring communities were played Friday night at Hope College in honor of Wes Leonard, who died unexpectedly in 2011 after making the game-winning basket in overtime against rival Bridgman.
Leonard, a 16-year-old junior at the time, died from sudden cardiac arrest due to an enlarged heart.
To open the night, Saugatuck’s girls defeated Fennville 55-40. Then, in a back-and-forth affair typical of a rivalry game, Fennville’s boys edged Saugatuck 48-46 and improved to 8-2 on the season.
But Fennville boys basketball coach Joe Rodriguez said the final result paled in comparison to the impact the game had on both schools.
“We circle that game on the calendar because it’s an opportunity to focus your energy on something bigger than us,” he said. “It’s not just a conference game; it’s not just another basketball game or Friday night game. It’s bigger than the game of basketball itself. It’s one of our former players that we look forward to tributing.
“Everyone was there for one reason, and that was to celebrate the legacy of Wes Leonard and to support the cause.”
The two schools joined forces to help make the night a success, including meeting in the days prior to discuss game preparations.
“Some Fennville kids came over to our school and met with some of our kids before to go over cheer and signs and just how we could help out,” Saugatuck boys basketball coach Andy Diaz said. “Our kids showed up early to help set up and help Jocelyn (Leonard, Wes' mother), so it was a real collaborative effort.”
This year Fennville’s student section, recalling some of their experiences taking part in the MHSAA’s “Battle of the Fans” the last two years, invited Saugatuck’s student section to join forces for some cheers during the game. Last week, Fennville student section leaders Kamryn Vandyke, Clay Rosema and Isabella Marquez strategized with Saugatuck’s Reece Schreckengust, Sydney Ayres and Alexa Phillips, designing and planning cheers they could do together.
The schools’ band teachers – Fennville’s Paul Andrews and Saugatuck’s Andrew Holtz – also met and planned the combined bad that played together in the same section for the entirety of Friday’s game.
“Although rival schools, both student bodies have embraced the idea that the cause is an opportunity to be a part of something greater than the game itself,” Fennville athletic director Frank Marietta said. “Both schools are very competitive on the field of play, but there is a positive and strong relationship between the students as a whole. The spirit and heart of the students from each school is what makes it such a great rivalry.”
The close-knit ties between the schools run deep.
“They know each other very well,” Diaz said. “They work at the same places during the summer, and they cross paths all the time. I have a lot of friends in Fennville.”
Rivalry games often are intense and emotional, but this one is different due to the greater significance the night holds.
“That’s the unique part of it,” Rodriguez said. “As a coach you want to talk about how it’s your rivalry game, but this one is a little different. It’s all about the events, and they play a big part in helping.”
“They are our neighbors, and when we went through (Leonard’s death) they showed a lot of support as a community to Fennville, and I think it’s awesome that they are a part of this game as well.”
Rodriguez said competing against another team in that setting just wouldn’t seem fitting.
“Because we are so close it would be weird if it was another community that we were playing,” he said. “It would feel manufactured, where this is more genuine.”
Diaz said the rivalry took on a different meaning after Leonard’s untimely passing.
“I feel very fortunate to be a part of the best small-school rivalry in the state of Michigan,” he said. “That’s our personal opinion, and when Wes passed, it definitely changed the perspective and narrative of the rivalry, especially on that game night.”
Shortly after Leonard’s tragic death, The Wes Leonard Heart Team was formed. The foundation raises money for automated external defibrillator (AED) awareness and donates AEDs to schools throughout the state.
The mission of the foundation is to honor Wes’s life using a team approach, combining the efforts of his loved ones and other existing foundations in the pursuit of a common goal. The foundation “is committed to honoring the children who have lost their lives to Sudden Cardiac Arrest and preventing other families and friends from feeling the pain of losing their loved ones. With this team approach, we feel we can give others a chance at ‘just one more game.’”
More than 260 AEDs have been put into schools through the foundation, and another 4-6 will be donated with money raised Friday.
The Never Forgotten Game hits close to home for Diaz, whose mother survived a scare almost seven years ago.
“My mom was saved by an AED,” Diaz said. “She had a heart attack in church, and one was used to revive her. They had to shock her twice, and without an AED, she’d be gone.”
Diaz, a Saugatuck graduate who coached against Leonard in football and basketball, hopes the money raised by the game can help others who may encounter the same situation.
“I gave my mom a big hug before that game because an AED saved her life, and maybe this game buys the right AED for a school that saves someone else’s life,” Diaz said. “It just put things into perspective. Obviously, we always want to win the game, but at the end of the day what really matters is the cause and Wes.
“We talked before the game about how this game is bigger than any of them. It’s not about us; it’s not about them. It’s about the entire state of Michigan at this point because of the importance of saving lives.”
Dean Holzwarth covered primarily high school sports for the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years and more recently served as sports editor of the Ionia Sentinel and as a sports photojournalist for WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Fennville's students cheer as a classmate brings the ball upcourt against Saugatuck on Friday. (Middle) Fennville's student section worked with Saugatuck's to cheer together during the games at Hope College. (Photos by Isabela Marquez/Fennville High School.)
Hovey's Elite Talent on Track Helping Hart Hoops Continue to Fly High
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
January 10, 2025
HART – Addi Hovey has certainly shown she's built for speed – not only in track & field, but on the basketball court as well.
Hovey won three individual events at last year’s Lower Peninsula Division 3 Girls & Field Track Finals (leading the Hart girls to their third-consecutive team championship), and now the senior is using her unique blend of speed, jumping ability and aggressiveness to wreak havoc on the hardwood.
“All of us have grown up playing that style of basketball, just running all the time,” explained Hovey, who is the reigning LPD3 champion in the 100 meters, 200 meters and high jump.
“We are a short team, but we make up for it with speed. That’s our game.”
Hart, which has averaged better than 19 wins per season over the past three years, improved to 7-1 on Tuesday with a 62-42 win over Ravenna, led by a game-high 23 points from Hovey.
“We have great basketball players, but more than that, we have great athletes who can run and trap,” said seventh-year Hart coach Travis Rosema. “Addi is a huge part of that. We are undersized, so sometimes I need her to play post, and she is willing to do that.”
Hovey, a 5-foot-10 left-handed guard/forward, first made her mark on the state stage two years ago as a sophomore when the Pirates took on No. 1-ranked and heavily-favored Buchanan in a Division 3 Quarterfinal game.
Rosema needed someone to guard Buchanan’s 6-4 senior center Faith Carson, who now plays for Ohio State. Hovey, then a 5-8 sophomore, drew the assignment and battled Carson all night, making her work for all of her 22 points in Hart’s upset win (and Hovey also knocked down four free throws over the final 30 seconds).
Last week, she was assigned to a smaller player, Mason County Central guard Mallory Miller, and held her to 10 points – eight points below her average.
On Tuesday, Hovey was back to playing all over the court: trapping, cutting off dribblers with her speed and getting into passing lanes with her long arms.
It is that incredible athleticism which led Hovey, who already holds Hart school records in the 100 (12.27), 200 (25.51), high jump (5-11) and 400 relay (50.13), to receive offers from a variety of schools for both basketball and track. In August, she announced she would join her older sister Jayd at Indiana Wesleyan, an NAIA school in Marion, Ind., and play both sports.
“My family is very important to me, and basketball is something that brings us all together,” said Hovey, 17, the daughter of Jeff and Staci Hovey. “I felt like God was calling me to play at IW with my sister.”
Indiana Wesleyan is currently 16-0 and ranked No. 2 nationally in NAIA. Jayd, 21, is out for the season with an ACL tear after missing most of her senior basketball season at Hart with a torn ACL in her other knee.
Parker, 19, the only boy in the four-child family, is a 6-5 starting forward at Hope College, where he is having a strong season at nine points and seven rebounds per game.
The final piece of the Hovey puzzle is Mia, a 12-year-old seventh grader at Hart who serves as the varsity team’s manager – and will be a player to watch in the very near future.
Hart finished 17-6 last year and lost to Ludington in Districts after moving to Division 2. The Pirates have all five starters back from that team and are back in Division 3, sparking hope for another long tournament run.
The Pirates looked sharp in the first half Tuesday, when all five starters and several key reserves were involved in the scoring.
“I tell the girls all the time that we are a team of 10,” said Rosema. “I want to rotate through and wear the other team down, continue to press and keep that pressure on all game.”
Hovey is the tallest Hart starter at 5-10, followed by senior Kelsey Copenhaver (5-9), who averages seven points and six rebounds per game. The other senior in the starting lineup is guard Breslyn Porter, who averages five points and four rebounds.
The Pirates’ other starters are sophomores. Breslyn’s younger sister, point guard Rilynn Porter, who is off to a great start with nine points and 5.5 assists per game. Reese Smith does a little bit of everything for the team, contributing 8.7 points, 2.8 steals, 2.3 assists and 2.2 rebounds.
But when push comes to shove, just like in the high jump, Hovey is the one best-suited to elevate her game.
Ravenna, which is having a strong year and dropped to 6-2 with the loss, outscored Hart in the third quarter to get within 10 points. That led to Hovey taking over at the start of the fourth quarter, scoring 10 consecutive points off a variety of steals and deflections to put the game away.
Last year, Hovey became the third player in Hart girls basketball history to surpass 1,000 career points. Ironically, all three of those players – Amy Pickard Contreras, Landyn Lorenz and Hovey – are left-handed.
Hovey leads the Pirates in most statistical categories, averaging 16.3 points, nine rebounds, six steals, three assists and 1.5 blocked shots per game.
The one question which Hovey had difficulty answering was to name the individual highlight of her Hart basketball career.
After a pause, she instead began talking about some of Hart’s many team breakthroughs over the past three seasons – such as finally breaking through and defeating Kent City in Regionals two years ago, which was followed up by the monumental upset of Buchanan that gave the Pirates their first-ever berth in the Semifinals at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center.
“Basketball is my first love because it’s a team sport,” said Hovey, who is considering a career in teaching and coaching. “I don’t care about stats. I just want to do everything I can to help my team win.”
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Hart’s Addi Hovey (24) brings the ball upcourt during a game. (Middle) Hovey competes in the high jump during the spring. (Photos courtesy of the Local Sports Journal.)