Keyser's Final Mission: Lead Bucs Into Title Mix
January 9, 2019
By Tom Kendra
Special for Second Half
Alli Keyser wore a big smile coming out of the locker room Tuesday night, as if she just had completed a career night.
In reality, the Grand Haven senior point guard was coming off one of her worst statistical nights in memory, scoring seven points (on 3-of-16 shooting) with six assists and four steals.
But the smile was a direct result of the Buccaneers’ 44-30 win over neighboring and Ottawa-Kent Conference Red rival Holland West Ottawa, which upped their record to a perfect 7-0 on the season.
“At this point in my career, I am just happy when we win,” explained the 5-7 Keyser, who started all 22 games for Haven as a freshman and has been the team’s starting point guard since. “I was off tonight, but other people stepped up and made up for it, which is great. We are going to need all of us to play well if we want to make a run.”
Keyser’s individual legacy at Grand Haven is already well-established.
Keyser, who committed to play basketball at Northwood University the summer before her junior year, broke her high school’s all-time steals record last month, besting the total achieved by 2003 graduate Julie Henderson. Keyser is also on pace to break Henderson’s all-time assists record.
As for scoring, Keyser recently moved past Abby Cole into fifth all-time in school history. If Keyser averages about 11 points per game the rest of the season, she will pass a “who’s who” of former Buccaneers greats – specifically Alex Law, Maggie Dwyer, Allison Miller and Emma Veach – and leave as the school’s all-time leading scorer as well.
“The ironic thing is that Ally is going to leave here with all of these individual records, but she is the definition of a true team player,” said 21st-year Grand Haven coach Katie Kowalczyk-Fulmer. “She is the consummate point guard, always looking to set up her teammates and help them get better. She is an incredibly talented player, but she’s a better leader.”
Keyser has two specific goals for her senior year: win an O-K Red title and then make a long tournament run.
Grand Haven won back-to-back Class A championships in 2012 and 2013, but since then the Bucs have not been able to advance out of Districts – running into roadblocks of Muskegon Mona Shores (led by 2017 Miss Basketball Jordan Walker) and more recently Muskegon High.
This could be the year the Bucs break through, but it won’t be easy with two of the most athletic teams in the state standing in their way.
In the conference, Haven has finished second behind East Kentwood the past two years. The Falcons are loaded once again led by backcourt stars Mauriya Barnes and Alexis McCully.
In Districts, the Bucs lost by one point to Muskegon last year, and the Big Reds appear to be even better this winter with senior point guard and Michigan State commit Alyza Winston. As fate would have it, Grand Haven will play Muskegon on the opening night of the Class A District at Muskegon Reeths-Puffer.
“We have a chance with this group to do some special things,” said Kowalczyk-Fulmer, who is assisted by Katie Erickson and Norm Greene. “The problem is we have to beat some great teams to achieve our goals. Right now, we really have to get a lot better in order to do that. Fortunately, the season is a marathon and not a sprint.”
All three of those teams – Grand Haven, East Kentwood and Muskegon – are likely to be ranked in the top five when the first state Associated Press girls basketball rankings are released next week.
As has been the case for the past four years, the Bucs’ offense is keyed by Keyser.
Keyser, who also happens to be the leader and playmaker for Grand Haven’s soccer team, possesses the speed, ball-handling ability and poise to get the ball up the court against pressure from the likes of East Kentwood and Muskegon.
From there, the Buccaneers can hurt teams with their size inside. Seniors Esther Byington (6-3) and Kelly Olthof (6-1), who both missed most of their junior seasons with injuries, are back and healthy and are a formidable 1-2 punch on the interior. Both will play basketball next year at the Division II college level, Byington at Northern Michigan and Olthof at Lake Superior State.
Haven’s imposing post presence opens up plenty of 3-point shooting opportunities for junior Jolee Houle and senior Anna Strom.
Houle was on fire Tuesday night, burying five 3-pointers en route to a game-high 21 points. Olthof had a strong game inside with 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting, with a team-high nine rebounds.
“That’s my main job as a point guard, is to get everyone involved and then get it to the hot hand,” explained Keyser, who has been first-team all-conference the past three years and honorable mention all-state last winter. “It really doesn’t matter who it is. We’ve had games where most of our scoring came from the inside, and other games where it’s been outside shooting. We just have to be able to do both, and then we’re tough to stop.”
It’s when Grand Haven gets stagnant or starts struggling that Keyser takes over.
She has been remarkably consistent throughout her four-year varsity career, averaging 15.2 points per game her freshman season and 16.1 points this winter, along with 5.1 steals and five assists per game.
While Keyser’s speed, court vision and shooting touch always have been there, the biggest change in her game over the past four years is from a leadership perspective.
“I have become much more vocal,” said Keyser, who plans to major in business management at Northwood. “I was quiet as a freshman and sophomore and didn’t want to overstep my bounds. Now I’m more comfortable speaking up.”
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.
PHOTO: (Top) Grand Haven’s Alli Keyser pushes the ball upcourt, a frequent occurrence during her four seasons as a starter. (Middle) Keyser makes a strong move to the basket. (Photos by Tim Reilly.)
Dowagiac Superintendent Continues Connection to Hoops as MHSAA Game Official
By
Scott Hassinger
Special for MHSAA.com
January 8, 2025
DOWAGIAC – It was about three years ago that Greg Blomgren, a former high school boys basketball coach, realized he needed to find a niche that allowed him to stay connected with the game he grew up loving.
Blomgren, who took over as Dowagiac Community Schools' superintendent July 1, has found the perfect way to fill that void as a registered basketball official for the Michigan High School Athletic Association.
Now in his fourth season working varsity boys and girls games in the Southwestern Michigan area within a 45-mile radius of his home in Sister Lakes, Blomgren enjoys the opportunities officiating has provided him to help bridge the gap between coaches and game officials and continue improving the game of basketball.
“Having been a coach in the past, I am able to better understand things from the coaches' perspective, and that is an advantage for me. I really believe that all coaches should officiate and all officials should coach,” Blomgren said. “It brings about a better level of communication and understanding because you've experienced both sides.
“Back when I was coaching, I know I was sometimes tough on officials. My appreciation of officials grew though in my latter years of coaching. I just really enjoy being part of this game again.”
In January 2021, Blomgren contacted Kalamazoo Officials Association assigners Rob King and Chuck Rawsthorne regarding the process to become a registered MHSAA basketball official. The KOA is responsible for assignors for primarily the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference, Wolverine Conference and the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
After completing his training and necessary exams, Blomgren was assigned four games during his first week that January. He officiated mostly freshman and junior varsity contests in 2021 but was assigned one varsity girls game between Lawton and Vicksburg that season.
"I was really nervous calling my first varsity game, but it went pretty well," Blomgren recalled.
Blomgren steadily increased his officiating schedule to 35 games his second season, then 85-90 games during the 2023-24 campaign at various levels. Since taking the superintendent's job in Dowagiac, Blomgren has reduced his schedule for this season to around 55 games.
"I'm really thankful to Rob and Chuck. They have both done a great job working with me and finding a schedule that works with mostly varsity games that take place later in the evening," Blomgren said.
Blomgren is a 1991 graduate of Des Moines Lincoln High School (Iowa) where he played multiple sports, with a passion for basketball, at the largest school in the state.
He also grew up during the explosion era of the AAU basketball circuit. From age 11 through his high school years, Blomgren had the opportunity to compete on several Iowa state title teams in national tournaments.
"Those teams were a fun and rewarding experience. We went to nationals and faced some competitive teams, including the Michigan Super Friends, a team with future Michigan and NBA standouts Chris Webber and Jalen Rose," Blomgren said. “There were other star players on other teams from various states we faced like Grant Hill, Penny Hardaway, Eric Montross and Damon Bailey.”
After graduating high school, Blomgren attended the University of Nebraska-Kearney before transferring to Grandview College, an NAIA school, in Des Moines where he earned a bachelor's degree in biology in 1996.
Upon moving to Milwaukee in 1997, Blomgren began substitute teaching and got into coaching basketball at the middle school level. He returned to school around that time and completed his teaching certification from Wisconsin University-Parkside.
Blomgren began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Kenosha St. Joseph (Wisconsin) followed by a similar job at nearby Wilmont High School. Shortly after those two stops, Blomgren landed his first head coaching job at Clear Lake High School in Iowa, where he spent two years.
Blomgren and his wife Angie, a Niles native and daughter of former Niles Brandywine band director Jay Crouch, moved to Michigan after Greg was hired as a science teacher and replaced Al Westendorp as Dowagiac's varsity boys basketball coach. Blomgren served as Dowagiac's boys coach from 2002-09 and spent three years as the head girls basketball coach as well.
Blomgren accepted the position of Dean of Students in St. Joseph, where he replaced Greg Schaffer as the Bears' varsity boys coach and served from 2009-16. Blomgren resigned after the 2015-16 campaign to concentrate on his administrative duties as the assistant high school principal before eventually taking over as the district's high school principal.
"Eventually I had to resign from coaching. There are too many evening activities that you have to be present at and supervise, so I stepped down," Blomgren said. "People don't understand the amount of time you must spend to do it right with practice planning, scouting, watching film and all the time you spend in the offseason trying to give the kids the best opportunity to compete. It’s more time spent than what you become accustomed to seeing from coaches on Tuesday and Friday nights. I don't think I'll ever return to coaching. Right now, it just doesn't fit my schedule."
Blomgren and his wife have three grown children – daughters Alyssa (24) and Avery (20) and 22-year old son Andy, along with one granddaughter Aria.
Blomgren is enjoying his new role as Dowagiac's superintendent and is pleased with the positive things that have taken place during his first few months leading the school district.
"The time we spent here a few years back when I was at Dowagiac helped us develop a lot of good relationships," Blomgren said. “There's a lot of pride that people take in small towns like ours. I knew the people here, and I believe they thought I was someone who could bring some of that culture back to the district. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to do that and make this a district everyone is proud to be a part of.”
The MHSAA has seen a decline in recent years in the number of registered game officials, due in part to poor sportsmanship particularly among adult spectators. But the organization has worked hard in recent years to change that, and participation is on the rise once again.
As an administrator and basketball official, Blomgren sees himself playing a major role in promoting good sportsmanship.
"Good sportsmanship in a school district depends on the leadership in the building. A good athletic director will make sportsmanship a top priority. He or she will make sure their school is going to represent themselves and the school district appropriately," Blomgren said. “If you do that it sets an expectation and tone with the parents, players and people in the community.
“Good sportsmanship is something I believe needs to constantly be improved upon in every district. The $7 you pay at the gate doesn't give you the right to say whatever you want after you walk into the gym. That isn't what high school athletics are about. When I was coaching in St. Joe and Dowagiac, it was always about how we conducted ourselves on the court rather than the number of wins or losses.”
Even in today's age of high technology, Blomgren believes high school athletes still desire to work hard and succeed as a team.
"Kids today want to be good, but they need to realize the time and effort you must put in to be successful," he said. “Schools that win consistently are the ones where everyone on the team shows up and puts in the work both during (the season) and in the offseason. The successful programs have good feeder programs with at least three or four good players in each class who have played a lot of games with one another. Those factors are what breeds success.”
Scott Hassinger is a contributing sportswriter for Leader Publications and previously served as the sports editor for the Three Rivers Commercial-News from 1994-2022. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS (Top) At left, Dowagiac superintendent Greg Blomgren addresses an audience during his first day in the position, July 1. At right, Blomgren officiates a girls basketball in December between host Cassopolis and White Pigeon. (Middle) Dowagiac assistant superintendent Michael Dunn, left, and Blomgren present Dowagiac Middle School science teacher Pat Lyle with a pin for 30 years of service. (Below) Blomgren, far right, is pictured with members of the Dowagiac Board of Education before the start of the 2024 Homecoming Parade. (Basketball photo by Scott Hassinger. All others provided by Dowagiac Community Schools.)