Senior-Dominated Falcons Finish Freeland Careers in Best Way Imaginable
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
March 14, 2026
EAST LANSING – Not many teams had a sense of urgency to win it all as big as Freeland’s this season.
And Saturday night, they capped off a run to a title that went well beyond just this year.
Led by its 12 seniors – and two senior student managers – Freeland claimed its first Boys Basketball Finals title, defeating Hudsonville Unity Christian 42-32 in the Division 2 championship game at the Breslin Center.
“To go back home with this big thing (trophy) and do something that no Freeland boys team has ever done, win a state championship, is pretty special,” senior guard Wilson Huckeby said. “Not just for me, but for all these guys, I couldn’t have done it without them.”
Everyone that saw the floor for the Falcons in the Final will graduate, and they’ll go out in the best way they could imagine.
The game started slowly, as the Crusaders led 6-4 after the first quarter with the teams going a combined 4-of-19 from the field.
Some space opened up during the second quarter, but not much, as Unity Christian held a 17-15 lead at the half.
It was Freeland, though, that started to find a groove toward the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth, going ahead by 13 with under three minutes to play.
“In the locker room, you walked in and it was just poised and composed,” Freeland coach John Fattal said. “Everyone knew in that locker room what the second half was going to look like. Everyone knew in our locker room what the belief looked like. Everyone understood that these guys were going to handle pressure, were going to make free throws, they were going to handle everything that Unity Christian threw at them, everything the environment threw at them, and they were just poised and composed the whole second half.”
The run was highlighted by 3-pointers from Tristan Comer and Connor Lasceski on back-to-back possessions, stretching a three-point lead to nine.
“Obviously I’m extremely confident in the shot,” said Comer, a 6-foot-6, 260-pound center who will play offensive line at Michigan State next year. “But I gotta give it to my teammates for setting me up with the perfect pass. I’ve only been able to develop a shot like that because of Coach Fattal and how he runs his practices and how he teaches when to take those shots.”
Comer finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Falcons (26-3), while Huckeby had 12 points, six rebounds and four steals. Senior Cooper Wagner had five points and six assists, and Lasceski had six points.
“Every shot (Huckeby) made was contested,” Unity Christian coach Scott Soodsma said. “We kind of screwed up a little right before half. We went to a zone and all of the sudden I think we forgot and left that kid open. He’s a great player. If you would have told me that Huckeby and Comer had 24 total, one of those could score 24 on their own. So, yeah, it was just one of those nights where I thought our defense didn’t let us down and it was right there. I thought we just weren’t able to put the basketball in the basket.”
Jack Kamminga led Unity Christian (25-4) with 14 points and five rebounds.
Unity Christian lost senior guard Brogan Sherd early in the third quarter to a leg injury. He was carried back to the locker room and returned on crutches to watch the end of the game. Owen VanderWaal was also limited because of an injury.
“We were down a little horsepower and we had a hard time scoring, that was the issue,” Soodsma said. “Those are our top two leading scorers and both of them are down on the bench. I thought Jack really stepped up and made a couple key baskets. (Kyler) Berghuis did a great job on Huckeby fighting over all those screens. But we couldn’t score. If you would have told me we were going to hold them to 42 points, I’m thinking we win that ball game by 10. I thought we’d get to 55, probably. But, tonight, it just wasn’t meant to be.”
PHOTOS (Top) Freeland’s Wilson Huckeby attempts to cut between a pair of Unity Christian defenders during the Division 2 Final on Saturday. (Middle) Unity’s Kyler Berghuis (3) dribbles into an opening just inside the arc. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
We Will Always Remember Trojans, Lumberjacks as 114-Year-Old Rivalry Nears End
By
Ron Pesch
MHSAA historian
February 9, 2024
The MHSAA basketball record book still lacks a rivalries category. The state’s football record book offers clues to likely candidates, but without deep research, the participants and sequencing of such lists will remain unknown.
Certainly, among the candidates would be the annual boys basketball battles between Saginaw’s east side and west side – Saginaw High vs. Saginaw Arthur Hill. Come Friday, Feb. 16th, 2024, twilight falls on one of Michigan’s most intense. Because of its significance, the game will be hosted outside of a high school gymnasium.
Saginaw’s Dow Event Center will stage the final regular-season showdown between the Trojans and Lumberjacks. Titled the ‘Game of Legends,’ all 5,000 tickets for the celebration were snapped up in 20 minutes. After years of discussions, at the end of the school year, Saginaw High and Arthur Hill will combine to finalize the formation of Saginaw United High School.
Based on the research of Dave Slaggert, the series between schools began during the 1910-11 season at the Saginaw Manual Training School gymnasium. Head varsity boys basketball coach at Arthur Hill from 1996 through 2001, Slaggert spent five years compiling a book documenting the rivalry. Much of the manuscript has already been committed to paper. That includes a chapter penned by Michigan State University coaching legend Tom Izzo, who highlights the uniqueness of the crosstown rivalry, the crazy fans, and the talent that brought him regularly to town. Titled “Remember the Trojans & the Lumberjacks,” the concluding chapter awaits the results of the 2024 season.
The Beginnings
In 1889, Michigan’s State Legislature consolidated the cities of East Saginaw and Saginaw City into what we know today as Saginaw.
East Side High School opened in 1865. In 1901, West Side High School was renamed Arthur Hill, in honor of a former school board president and mayor of Saginaw City.
Football teams from Saginaw High (sometimes called Saginaw Eastern) and Arthur Hill High first met on the gridiron in 1894. In 1904, both joined Flint (Central) and two schools from Bay City to form the Saginaw Valley League. During the 1910-11 season, the boys squads from the Saginaw schools squared off on the basketball court for the first time.
“Saginaw High easily defeated the Arthur Hill High school basketball players … in the first game of the interscholastic series,” stated the Saginaw Daily News, “the final score standing 60 to 17. … (Bill) Steckert contributed 12 field baskets for the winners. … (Leo) Vondette starred for the losers.”
Perhaps it was a typo – it’s impossible to know – but the final score differed in the 1911 Saginaw yearbook – “The Aurora” – when published in the spring. “Before a large crowd of enthusiastic fans, Arthur Hill was decisively defeated in the local gym, the final count being 69 to 17, with the East Siders on the heavy end.”
The author concluded with flair and flourish: “Steckert starred for Saginaw, getting 24 points to his credit, while Vondette was the celestial light for the vanquished quintet. Dancing was enjoyed after the game.”
A week later, the Saginaw girls basketball team opened its season against the west siders. According to the yearbook, “Saginaw out-played Arthur Hill and defeated them by the score of 41-4.” The newspaper credited Leona Buck as the leading scorer, with a phenomenal 29 points.
The Inevitable Finale
The doors open at 3 p.m. for the 2024 festivities at The Dow next Friday. Fittingly, the Saginaw girls team will tip off the action on the court at 5 o’clock. The girls programs already have consolidated, and the Phoenix of Saginaw United will face Flint Carman-Ainsworth – a school that consolidated in 1986. The Hill and High contest is scheduled for 7 p.m.
“It’s really going to be a big deal,” said Slaggert, thrilled by the prospect. “Saginaw’s going all out for this. They’re trying to do it up in style.”
The wrap-up comes a decade after what, initially, looked like the end.
On Feb. 15, 2014, Detroit Free Press sportswriter Mick McCabe wrote about the expected unification.
“Saginaw and Saginaw Arthur Hill likely met for the last time ever in the regular season Friday,” he wrote. Saginaw had just knocked off the Lumberjacks, the No. 2 team in McCabe’s weekly ranking of the state’s top teams.
“The Saginaw-Arthur Hill basketball rivalry is the best in the state, so you shouldn’t be surprised when the underdog wins. But Saginaw (11-6) was coming off consecutive losses to Midland and Midland Dow for maybe the first time ever.”
The school district was expected to announce the closure of Saginaw High that following Monday, merging its students into Arthur Hill. The move would mean a new school name, new school colors, and a new nickname.
Like many urban centers across the country, outbound migration of both jobs and people, combined with plunging birth rates, had altered the demographics of cities, and the education landscape.
“In just five decades, the city's population dropped from nearly 100,000 in the 1960s to fewer than 52,000 by the 2010 census,” stated the Saginaw News in 2014. “To say it another way, Saginaw lost 48 percent of its residents during the last 50 years.”
McCabe cut to what that meant to enrollment numbers at the two schools: “In 1987, Saginaw High had over 1,800 students; it is now down to about 600. Arthur Hill had 2,395 students in ’85; it now has 973.”
Despite the defeat, McCabe predicted Arthur Hill to be among the final four Class A teams still standing that season when the annual MHSAA Tournament shifted to Michigan State’s Breslin Center. But in the craziness of March, the Trojans again took down Arthur Hill in the Districts, 53-51.
Adding to the madness, the expected consolidation didn’t happen. A recommendation by a Saginaw interim superintendent to close Saginaw High found no school board support.
With the potential consolidation still hovering, one year later sportswriter Bill Khan recalled other recent departures from Michigan’s classic basketball landscape in an article for the StateChamps! Sports Network:
“The Saginaw-Arthur Hill rivalry is at risk of going the way of other great urban rivalries – such as Flint Central-Flint Northern, Pontiac Central-Pontiac Northern, Lapeer East-Lapeer West, Detroit Cooley-Detroit Southwestern, Detroit Mackenzie-Detroit Redford, Detroit Kettering-Detroit Northeastern, Detroit Miller-Detroit Northern and Detroit Southeastern-Detroit Eastern, that have ended in years past due to school closures and consolidations.”
Arthur Hill downed the Trojans twice during the 2014-15 regular season league action, and again in postseason District play, before finishing the year as Class A runner-up, and the holding pattern of the planned school merger continued.
Enrollment numbers continued to drop at both schools and after much community and school board debate, construction on a brand-new five-story Saginaw United High School began in 2022.
A Celebration of Statistics
The state basketball tournament kicked off in 1917. Over 107 years, on only two occasions – in 1943 during World War II, and in 2020, due to COVID-19 – the tournament was not completed.
Slaggert breaks down the City of Saginaw School District’s incredible basketball history in a quick series of numbers.
“47-36-18-8,” said Slaggert, stressing a bullet point of a well-rehearsed pitch, breaking out the incredible success of the two schools come tournament time.
“During those 105 tournaments, 47 times, Saginaw High (starting in 1919) or Arthur Hill (beginning in 1930) made it into the state Quarterfinals – the final eight.
“That’s almost half of the 105 possible years. And in most cases throughout that rivalry, they would have played each other in the Districts. So how many more times would they have made it if they were coming in different brackets or different directions? “
To take that further, he noted, 36 times one of those teams made it into the final four. On 18 occasions, one of the two schools reached the state title game, and on eight occasions, they emerged as MHSAA state champions.
Six of those titles were won by Saginaw High (1942, 1962, 1996, 2007,2008, 2012). Arthur Hill’s championships were won in 1944 and 2006.
“That's a pretty incredible stat for two schools in the same town, don’t you think?” Slaggert asked.
That history also points out another Slaggert challenge. As illustrated, come March the schools could, in theory, bump into each other one more time come the postseason. This year, the teams are in different Districts, and could potentially cross paths in an MHSAA Regional.
A Parade of All-Staters
Between 1938 and 2023, a combined total of 106 players from the two schools – 10 or more in each decade from the 1940s to the 2010s – have earned all-state basketball honors from The Associated Press and/or one or more of the Detroit newspapers: the Free Press, News or Times.
Since the introduction of Michigan’s Mr. Basketball award in 1981, honoring the best-of-the-best from the state’s top high school seniors, 10 players from the two schools have landed among the top five in voting: Eric Davis (AH –‘15), Maurice Jones (AH –‘10), Draymond Green (S –‘08), Dar Tucker (AH –‘07), Anthony Roberson (S –‘02), Eugene Seals (S –’00, and head coach of the United girls basketball team), Jason Richardson (AH-‘99), Jessie Drain (S –‘91) and Daryl Reed (S –‘87). Richardson won the award. Davis, Green, Tucker, Roberson, and Seals all finished second in the annual voting.
Tony Smith (S -‘74), Craig Dill (AH -‘63), Ernie Thompson (S -‘62), Webster Kirksey (S -‘51), Dick Rifenburg (AH -‘44), and Larry Savage (S -‘42) were all honored by the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan with their Retro Mr. Basketball Award when the organization sought to honor the great seniors in Michigan high school basketball from the years 1920 through 1980. Seven others – James Koger (S -‘79), Lovell Humes (S – ’63), Bill Agre (AH -‘47), Gene Glick (AH -’46), Jack Mott (AH -’45), Eddie Johnson (S – ’43) and Stanley Paskiewicz (S -’38) – were among the candidates for that award.
Based on research by Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Robin Goddard, Saginaw High is likely the state’s winningest basketball program, trailed by Benton Harbor, Kalamazoo Central and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s.
Initially, Saginaw dominated the crosstown series with the Lumberjacks. But by the 1920s Arthur Hill overcame the deficit, and by the mid-1950s the Hill had opened a wide 25-game lead in wins versus losses. But by 1975, the gap had narrowed with the Trojans just six games back in the series. And yet, the exact status of the rivalry is still unknown, as the capture of game scores is spotty going forward.
The digging to capture those missing scores continues, as does the race to game day.
Slaggert has committed to printing 1,000 copies of his book. His challenge to date has been selling copies of something that does not yet, physically, exist. As it stands, currently there are 772 pages in the book. It includes a mind-blowing 800+ photos dating as far back as 1905. The sale price is fixed at $40. That currently means the production cost per copy exceeds the retail price, so Slaggert continues to chase sponsorships to defray the printing expense.
“It’s a non-profit effort,” he noted. “If there are any profits, they go to scholarships for the new high school. All money is run through the Saginaw Community Foundation,” which makes sponsorships tax-deductible.
His favorite memory from the series is his last victory as an Arthur Hill coach. It comes from 2001.
“Saginaw High defeated us 90-37 in the second game of that season and finished with a 17-5 season record that year,” he retold. “We had a modest 10-10 season record heading into the Districts but showed lots of improvement through the season. We met again in the District Finals. Saginaw High was led by Anthony Roberson, LaMarr Woodley, Michael Thomas and Tanoris Shepard and was ranked seventh in the state. In front of a sold-out Heritage High School crowd, our kids played their hearts out and, led by Devaundre Whitson, Omar Linder, and Freddy Jackson, pulled out a 68-66 overtime win! (It’s) my greatest thrill in coaching, and most of the old-timers say it’s the greatest upset in the rivalry.”
Slaggert retired from coaching after that season, and in the years to follow, found a desire to record the history of the series.
“I have nine living coaches from Saginaw and Arthur Hill that have written a chapter for me. I have eight others that I've written on Larry Laeding, Chuck Fowler, and different coaches that are deceased,” he said. “My intent is to give something back to my community. I didn’t do this for money. I wanted this story to be passed down to future generations – people 100 years from now about Jason Richardson, Draymond Green, Ernie Thompson, Craig Dill, and all the great ones.
“It’s a labor of love for me, I’ve really enjoyed it.”
To order Slaggert's book, click for the Facebook link or visit the Saginaw Community Foundation website, click "Give Now" and select the book title as Fund. Cost is $40 with an option including shipping for $52.
PHOTOS (Top) Saginaw Eugene Seals drives against Arthur Hill’s Jason Richardson – with coach Marshall Thomas in the background – during a sold-out 1999 game at the Saginaw Civic Center. (2) Arthur Hill’s Ernie Thompson and coach Larry Laeding accept the 1962 Class A championship trophy. (3) Saginaw High’s Webster Kirksey (30) puts up a shot; he graduated in 1951. (4) Richard dunks at the final buzzer as Arthur Hill downs top-ranked Flint Northwestern in a 1999 Class A Regional matchup. (Photos collected by Dave Slaggert. Top photo courtesy of Saginaw News/MLive.)