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.)
Inspired by Home, Eager to Give Back, Spencer Hosts Hoop City Alumni Games
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
July 2, 2026
Eddie Spencer now lives more than 1,100 miles away in Dallas, but his thoughts are never far from his hometown of Muskegon Heights.
It was there in “the Heights” where Spencer learned the game of basketball, developing into a 6-foot-5 forward who could shoot and handle the ball – leading Heights to the Class C Semifinals as a junior in 2002 and the Class B Final as a senior in 2003.
Spencer, 41, said the biggest lessons he learned from basketball had nothing to do with shooting or rebounding.
“Playing basketball taught me how to work hard, stay focused and, really, how to be a man,” said Spencer, who went on to become a three-year starter at Central Michigan, graduating in 2008.
“I wanted to find a way to give something back.”
Spencer’s desire to return some love to his hometown led to the Hoop City Alumni basketball tournament, which is set for its third year at Muskegon High School’s historic Redmond-Potter Gymnasium on Aug. 22 with five alumni games – highlighted by the finale, featuring Muskegon vs. Muskegon Heights.
The last two years, the RPG was standing-room-only with more than 2,000 fans for the finale, with Muskegon fans in their trademark cardinal red and Heights fans proudly in their orange and black.
“Honestly, when I walked out of the locker room that first year and saw all of the excitement and pride in that gym, it brought tears to my eyes,” said Spencer. “It really brought back that old feeling of Heights vs. Muskegon, like back in high school.”
A rivalry like no other
Few rivalries in the state can match the history and the intensity of Muskegon vs. Muskegon Heights.
The Big Reds and Tigers played each other in football 55 years in a row from 1922-76, with the most competitive years and largest crowds occurring during the 1940s and 1950s.
In more recent years, the rivalry was on the basketball court, including a run of nine years from 2003 to 2011 when the two schools played the final game of the Muskegon Area Sports Hall of Fame Holiday Classic, with Heights winning six of those nine matchups. The rivalry came to an end in 2011 after a period of upheaval and enrollment losses at Heights.
Now, thanks to the efforts of Spencer and his crew (notably Muskegon head coach and athletic director Keith Guy and 2014 Mr. Basketball Award winner DeShaun Thrower from Muskegon) the rivalry has resumed each August at the alumni game.
“It definitely divides the community for a couple of hours,” said Spencer, who also ran cross country at Heights. “There is already a huge buzz about this year’s event and tons of trolling and trash talking.”
Spencer played several years of professional basketball, including overseas, after graduating from CMU. He then returned home and coached basketball for several years at Muskegon Heights under Guy before the latter moved on to lead the Big Reds.
Spencer moved to Dallas eight years ago and has coached AAU basketball and served as a personal trainer, in addition to his work in the mortgage industry. About five years ago, he helped a friend organize an alumni basketball game in the Dallas area – and he knew immediately that he had to do the same back home.
“The first thing I thought was that we have to do this with Muskegon and Muskegon Heights,” said Spencer, who noted that the games also feature alumni cheerleaders.
The event is not designed for recent high school graduates, with most of the teams’ players in their 30s and 40s.
This year’s tournament will begin with Mona Shores vs. Muskegon Orchard View alumni at 2 p.m. and a Muskegon-area girls game (East vs. West) at 3 p.m.
North Muskegon squares off against Muskegon Reeths-Puffer at 4 p.m., followed by the addition this year of ex-standouts from Grand Rapids against Kalamazoo at 5 p.m. – all leading up to the Heights vs. Muskegon finale at 6 p.m.
Spencer expects attendance to be strong all day (admission is $10), but acknowledges the crowds and atmosphere move to a whole different level for the final game. This year’s tournament also will be live-streamed so people can pay to watch the games from anywhere in the world, with those details still being worked out.
Beyond basketball
Spencer knows that beyond the basketball and beneath the banter, the Hoop City Alumni event is really a celebration of two proud communities.
It has become the weekend when many make plans to come back home to Muskegon, not only to relive the glory days, but to celebrate the post-basketball accomplishments of those prep greats – including some who have gone on to become doctors, lawyers, business leaders, coaches and school principals.
“We are really utilizing the game of basketball to help the community,” said Spencer, whose daughter, Nya, graduated from Muskegon High. “When people feel pride in their community, they want to make it better. We want all the kids, especially, to be there and to see how playing sports can be the start of great things for them.”
The Hoop City games have evolved into a full weekend of events, starting with a Friday back-to-school event with backpacks and school supplies giveaways at Rowan Park in downtown Muskegon Heights, pre- and postgame adult gatherings Friday and Saturday night and a picnic Sunday.
But make no mistake, basketball is the centerpiece.
Heights won the inaugural alumni game in 2024, and Muskegon prevailed at the buzzer last year, making this year’s event (which has been dubbed “The Trilogy”) the rubber match, at least for now, in the latest installment of the decades-old rivalry.
This year’s game will be hard-pressed to match the drama and emotion of last summer’s contest.
In a back-and-forth affair, it was Thrower who forced a turnover at the defensive end and then hit the game-winning shot at the buzzer for Muskegon, leading to a raucous scene as Big Reds fans stormed the court.
It was a highly-emotional moment for Thrower, who was playing his first competitive game in years after a foot injury, and it came just a few months after the death of his mother, Nina Morgan Thrower.
“The way the whole event went and the way it ended, it felt like a movie, for sure,” said Thrower, who has worked alongside Spencer to grow the showcase.
“I know that my mom was with me on that day, in that moment.”
PHOTOS (Top) At left, Muskegon Heights’ Eddie Spencer (1) defends during the 2003 Class B Final against Grand Rapids South Christian; at right, Spencer (far right) stands for a photo at last year’s Hoop City alumni event with former coach Keith Guy and past Muskegon High standout DeShaun Thrower. (Middle) Spencer, far left, poses with the rest of the Muskegon Heights and Muskegon High alumni teams after last season’s Hoop City matchup. (Below) This season’s Hoop City poster advertises five alumni games. (Hoop City photos provided by Eddie Spencer.)