We Need Your Help with Hoops

January 17, 2013

We’re quickly making major headway in catching up our basketball scores and schedules for this winter, just in time for league races to get rolling. 

But we'd be grateful for your help filling in a number of results we've missed during the season’s first half.

Lending a hand is easy. Just visit MHSAA.com and click on the “Scores and Schedules” link here or on the top left side of the home page. That will take you to the day’s scoreboard – but also let you search for games on any day this season, or for any school that is a member of the MHSAA. (See below).

To find games that have been played but for which we don't have scores, merely search for any series of dates and click the box that reads "Only show contests with no score." 

You also can search for a specific school by clicking on “Schools” in the main menu bar. Once on a school’s page, a list of sports it sponsors and links to each schedule appear on the left side.

You must be registered with MHSAA.com to enter a score. But registration is simple and takes just a few seconds, and requires only a working e-mail address to get you started. Click here to get signed up

We’re busily adding missing games to incomplete schedules and correcting standings for leagues not properly listed. But with a little assistance filling in scores, we can again have the most complete basketball scores and schedules available. These pages also will update automatically with scores and future opponents once District tournaments begin.

See a team schedule or league standings that look complete but still aren't quite right? Email editor Geoff Kimmerly at [email protected] and let him know what needs to be fixed. 

Fowler Takes Final Steps to 'Finish' Best in Division 4 for 3rd Time in 5 Seasons

By Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com

March 22, 2025

EAST LANSING – Fowler’s Katie Spicer recalled all season the disappointment of losing in the Division 4 Semifinals to finish the past two.

She didn’t want to relive that emotion to close her final year in an Eagles uniform.

Spicer and her teammates ended their season on top again after downing Ewen-Trout Creek 53-29 Saturday morning in the Division 4 Final at the Breslin Center.

It was the third Division 4 title over the last five years for Fowler (27-2).

“That feeling of getting so close and not being able to finish, it hurts a lot,” said Spicer, who led Fowler with 17 points on 5 of 9 shooting.

The Eagles’ Neelah O’Rourke (12) gets up a shot from the post.“Obviously it felt great that we made it here, but it hurt falling short. So we used that a lot as motivation throughout the whole year. It helped a lot.”  

It was another dominating performance for the Eagles, who won every MHSAA Tournament game by more than 21 points.

“These seniors have been locked in,” Fowler head coach Nathan Goerge said. “We talked about some preseason goals, and I had open communication about what we wanted. And the message all season has been ‘Finish’ because we knew where we got last year, and the girls didn’t like that feeling of losing in the Semis.

“Every time they broke a huddle, every time they left a locker room, it was always ‘finish’ and I'm just so happy that they were able to do that this year.”

Fowler forced eight turnovers during the first quarter, but led only 14-8 as Ewen-Trout Creek junior guard Emma Besonen scored all of her team’s points, including burying two deep 3-pointers.

Fowler went ahead by double digits (19-8) in the second quarter when Spicer lofted a perfect pass down court to Neelah O’Rourke for a lay-in.

A driving lay-up by freshman Bree Besonen during the waning seconds of the first half closed the gap to 23-16. The Besonen sisters combined to score 14 of the Panthers’ first-half points.

Fowler scored the first six points of the third quarter to push the lead to 29-16. Paige Thelen’s offensive rebound and put-back during the closing seconds gave the Eagles a commanding 42-19 advantage as they outscored E-TC 19-3 during the period.  

“Very proud of the girls, especially in the second half,” Goerge said. “We had some defensive lapses in the first half, and to their credit they had some good looks and made some shots.

“The girls really picked it up and played our style of Fowler girls basketball, and I thought that was the difference in the second half. We played with so much more energy and did a fantastic job.”

Senior Elizabeth Hufnagel added 10 points, five rebounds and three steals for Fowler, while Brooke Weber also had 10 points.

E-TC’s Bree Besonen (20) works to get to the basket with Fowler’s Selena Stump defending.“Coming back here and winning it my senior year is a great feeling,” Weber said. “I think our ability to run and stay focused and locked in really helped us. This is amazing.”

The Panthers (27-2) played in their first championship game since the Class D Final in 1985 and had no seniors on their roster. 

“They have a place in history at our school, and I’m super proud of them,” Ewen-Trout Creek head coach Jacky Besonen said. “Fowler is very balanced, they are very physical and strong and their defense caused some problems for us tonight.

“I was crying during the ceremony, but they were not tears of sadness. They were tears of joy that I’ve been holding in for days because I’m just so happy that they got to experience this being here at the state championships. I told them many times that you are living a dream that a lot of little girls hope to get to.”

Emma Besonen led the Panthers with 13 points, including three 3-pointers, while Bree Besonen had nine points and Irelynd McGeshick finished with seven points and 11 rebounds. 

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Fowler’s Elizabeth Hufnagel drives toward the lane during her team’s Division 4 Final win over Ewen-Trout Creek on Saturday. (Middle) The Eagles’ Neelah O’Rourke (12) gets up a shot from the post. (Below) E-TC’s Bree Besonen (20) works to get to the basket with Fowler’s Selena Stump defending. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)