Unity Makes Fast Start Stand Up, Sets Up Rematch on Season's Final Day
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
March 13, 2026
EAST LANSING – Hudsonville Unity Christian likes the idea of a rematch.
The Crusaders turned a near-flawless first half into a much-anticipated rematch after outlasting Detroit University Prep 59-44 in Friday's concluding Division 2 Semifinal at the Breslin Center.
The win means Unity Christian will play Freeland for a second time in just over a month in Saturday's 6:45 p.m. championship game.
Freeland knocked off the Crusaders 65-60 in the teams' first meeting Feb. 7. Since that game, Unity Christian (25-3) has won 11 straight, while the Falcons (25-3) have collected nine wins in a row.
Over 30 years as Unity Christian's coach, Scott Soodsma's teams have faced countless rematches in the MHSAA Tournament. His philosophy in matching up a second time in those games has never wavered.
"In the first game, we kind of gave it up or they probably took it," said Soodsma, one of the only Michigan coaches to win boys (2019) and girls (2006) Finals titles. "(Saturday) should be a really good game. They know how we play, and we know how they play. They watch a lot of tape, I watch a lot of tape. It'll be a contest of who steps up and who doesn't."
The question may be which Unity Christian team shows up. Will it be the one which lost the first meeting? Or the torrid Crusaders team which trampled its way to a 34-11 halftime lead against a University Prep club which had won 10 of its last 11? Or the Unity Christian club which was outscored 33-25 in the second half of Friday’s Semifinal, including scoring only four points during the fourth quarter?
Unity Christian senior forward Jack Kamminga thinks he knows which team will arrive at Breslin on Saturday.
"Definitely the better one," he said. "We kinda dropped off in the fourth quarter tonight. They pressured us and put us in a bad position. But we'll go full hammer tomorrow. We've got nothing to lose."
Crusaders senior guard Brogan Sherd said either way he's expecting a classic championship game.
"It'll be fun. We had a great crowd the first time, and we know we've got to play hard," he said. "We kind of got lazy the first time and fell apart."
Soodsma would give away nothing about what the Crusaders learned from the first meeting.
"They've got a very good club, well-coached. They play the right way," said Soodsma, who this season passed Kent Ingles and Kurt Keener to move into fourth place on the state's all-time coaching wins list with 694.
Owen VanderWall led Unity Chistian on Friday with 12 points and nine rebounds. Luke Tubergen had 12 points and Sherd nine points, five rebounds and three assists.
Detroit University Prep trailed by as many as 23 points twice in the third quarter, including at 55-32. But the Panthers cut the lead to as little as 57-44 with 3:37 to go.
"They're a better team than I thought they were," Panthers coach Brandon Barrett said of Unity Christian. "They're a big team, they're aggressive and for their size, they move very well. Maybe if we'd pressured them earlier it would have been a different outcome. But that's 50/50. Credit them, they played well."
Unity Christian's Tubergen said the team's first half was outstanding.
"One of our best," he said. "We rebounded great, hit some 3s, worked the ball inside and the defense was really good."
PHOTOS (Top) Unity Christian’s Owen VanderWaal (12) makes his move toward the basket during Friday’s Division 2 Semifinal against University Prep. (Middle) Maurice Jackson (21) considers his options from just outside the arc. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Munising Makes History with Semifinal Win, Earns Chance to Write More
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 23, 2023
EAST LANSING — Before Thursday’s Division 4 Semifinal, the Munising boys basketball team already had matched school history.
By the time the game was over, these Mustangs had made their own.
For the first time, Munising will play for a state championship in basketball following a 55-44 win over Marine City Cardinal Mooney.
Munising was making its first trip to the Semifinals since 1954, when the team was led by Chuck Nebel, the grandfather of this season’s Mustangs leading scorer – senior guard Kane Nebel.
Needless to say, it’s been a run that has the Munising community buzzing.
“I think somebody told the last person that left to turn off the lights,” Munising head coach Terry Kienitz joked about the amount of fans that made the trip to Breslin Center from the town of about 2,000 residents.
Nebel was the biggest reason why his squad will go a step farther than his grandfather’s.
He finished with a game-high 21 points, and more importantly, took charge at a time when Munising was staggering.
The Mustangs (26-1) held a 27-13 lead at halftime, but saw Cardinal Mooney come out inspired in the second half, cutting the lead to 33-31 with 1:29 left in the third.
That’s when Nebel took over.
Over the final 1:29 of the third and the first 4:30 of the fourth quarter, Nebel scored 12 consecutive points for his team, helping the Mustangs push their lead back to 45-35 with 3:30 remaining in the game.
Nebel had two runners in the lane, back-to-back 3-pointers and made a pair of three throws to comprise his run.
“That’s the goal, is to be a three-level scorer if you can,” Nebel said. “Getting to the bucket and getting down range is what makes people toughest to guard.”
Cardinal Mooney head coach Mike McAndrews acknowledged that seemed to be a turning point.
“We certainly thought the momentum in the basketball game had shifted to our favor,” McAndrews said. “We made a run, cut it to two, made some plays and we were digging in defensively. Credit to their kids. They made some really tough baskets in order to sustain our run. We could never get back to that two, three, four-point mark again.”
From there, Munising took care of the ball well enough and made free throws to prevent any sort of a rally down the stretch from Cardinal Mooney.
“It is so great to give back to the community and bring that home,” Kienitz said of the Semifinal win. “Now, we are in uncharted territory.”
Sophomore Carson Kienitz scored 12 points, and sophomore Trevor Nolan added 11 for Munising.
Senior Trent Rice scored 19 points to lead Cardinal Mooney (16-12), which made quite a run in the tournament after going 11-11 during the regular season.
“I’m certainly proud of my group of guys,” McAndrews said. “Apparently midnight struck on Cinderella.”
Munising held a 15-11 lead after the first quarter and controlled the second quarter, opening on a 10-0 run to take a 25-11 lead with 2:12 until halftime.
PHOTOS (Top) Munising’s Trevor Nolan (5) protects the ball while Cardinal Mooney’s Dominic Cattivera defends. (Middle) The Mustangs’ Cully Trzeciak (14) works to get up a shot over Ryan Trombley.