Munising Neighbors Share In Successes
February 28, 2017
By Dennis Grall
Special for Second Half
MUNISING – It would be hard to believe there are many more accomplished neighboring homes than those of Marissa Immel and Frankie Mattson in Munising.
Between them, the Munising High School seniors are both 4.0 students, share their class’ top spot academically, and will graduate with a combined 41 varsity athletic letters, a staggering 21 by Immel.
Both serve on a variety of clubs, with Immel on the MHSAA Student Advisory Council that requires her to travel some six hours each way to Lansing once a month. And they hope to lead the Mustangs downstate together to finish this basketball season, with the first step a Class C District opener Wednesday against Ishpeming.
“We’ve been able to push each other through the years to be the best we can be,” said Immel. “We really try to manage our time the best we can. We plan things out ahead of time.
“Sports mean a lot to me. It is something my family values. School comes first, then sports. It teaches a lot of life lessons, and it is really fun to participate and learn new things.”
The connection began before they were born.
Their mothers, Bette (Jahn) Immel and Carrie (Hamilla) Mattson, played on rival teams during high school, at Manistique and Munising, respectively. Immel was the girls basketball coach for grades 3-6 and her husband Dale was coach for grades 7-8, with Frankie’s dad Matt their high school basketball coach.
Both girls topped the 1,000-point scoring mark this season, and the passes that put them into that club came from each other. Mattson, a center, is approaching 1,000 career rebounds. Immel is the team’s point guard.
The athletic success they have shared is incredible. Their basketball team finished the regular season 20-0 and ranked No. 1 in the media’s Upper Peninsula Class A-B-C poll. Both were part of two U.P. Finals tennis titles, Mattson at No. 1 singles and Immel at No. 2 doubles. That tennis success was difficult because Munising has just two courts in town and all the meets are on the road.
They also helped the Mustangs collect four volleyball District titles and three Regional track & field titles, with both earning all-state in the latter.
Both girls played five varsity sports each year, Immel going one-up in letters by running cross country – as a freshman in 2013 she was individual runner-up at the U.P. Division 3 Final as Munising won the team title. Both girls also play golf.
With an enrollment of just more than 200 students, Munising allows athletes to play two sports in the same season to increase participation – but they must pick a sport as their priority for when both teams have events on the same day.
Mattson said the neighbors “hang out all the time. We go to open gyms; we lift weights together. I see Marissa as a support system, and that helps us get through everything we do.”
They go to meetings together – both are in Key Club and student council (Mattson is vice-president, Immel is treasurer) – and Immel is president of the school’s National Honor Society chapter while Mattson is secretary. Both have earned all-state recognition from the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan and both serve on the Alger Regional Community Foundation youth advisory council.
“We have meetings for our clubs, we practice every day. You’re only in high school once, so you might as well do what you can,” said Mattson.
Basketball is the favorite sport for both girls. “We have played together for so long (since first grade) that I know what she is thinking, and the same thing with her,” said Mattson. “It has helped our bond. I put all my trust in Marissa to run plays. It is so awesome that I can depend on her.”
The key to their basketball success, said Immel, is “our whole team came together and we support each other. We try to get everyone involved. Our whole team participates in our success.”
Mattson knew the pass from Immel set up her 1,000th point, but did not realize her pass to Immel for 1,000 did it until the crowd began celebrating. “It was awesome,” she said.
For point guards, like Immel, reaching 1,000 points does not happen as often because that position requires more passing than shooting. “We move it around a lot,” said Mattson. “She’s very gracious with her passes, and she shoots when she’s open.
“The key to basketball is we have all matured and we’re seniors. We’re here to show everyone what we have been working for the last couple of years.”
Having her father as head coach helps make all the success more special. “It is honestly awesome, knowing he is my support system at home and on the court,” she said.
They will bring the game home and talk about team and individual aspects and look at film together. “There is no harm talking about good things or bad things. There is no tension between us,” Mattson said.
Immel said “it is crazy to think that we’re almost done with all these sports. It will be different without having that much going on in our lives.”
Immel plans to join her sister Katie at Michigan State University and possibly study speech pathology. Mattson plans to attend either Michigan Tech or Central Michigan for an educational degree.
Another classmate, Bailey Downs, also has earned 20 varsity athletic letters.
Denny Grall retired in 2012 after 39 years at the Escanaba Daily Press and four at the Green Bay Press-Gazette, plus 15 months for WLST radio in Escanaba; he served as the Daily Press sports editor from 1970-80 and again from 1984-2012, and served as interim sports editor during most of the 2016-17 school year. Grall was inducted into the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 and serves as its executive secretary. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for the Upper Peninsula.
PHOTOS: (Top) Munising's Frankie Mattson (left) and Marissa Immel stand with posters celebrating their 1,000th career points scored this season. (Middle) Mattson works the post during a 2015-16 game against Newberry. (Below) Immel puts a shot up over the outstretched hands of a Rapid River defender. (Top photo courtesy of the Immel family, action photos by the Marquette Mining Journal.)
Countdown to Calvin: Girls Report Week 12
February 26, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The beginning of the MHSAA Girls Basketball Tournament is still a week away.
But taking a glance at some of the games played last week and other big-time matchups coming up over the next three days, we’ve clearly entered playoff mode.
Countdown to Calvin is powered by MI Student Aid and based on results and schedules posted for each school at MHSAA.com. To offer corrections or fill in scores we’re missing, email me at [email protected].
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. DeWitt 58, East Lansing 46 – The Panthers started last week with this Monday showdown, handing the last unbeaten team in Division 1 East Lansing its only loss and setting the teams up to share the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue title (although DeWitt then lost the next day for just the second time, to nonleague St. Johns.)
2. Maple City Glen Lake 38, Kingsley 36 – The Lakers avenged an eight-point loss Jan. 17 to move into a first place tie with the Stags in the Northwest Conference with one game left for both.
3. Midland Dow 48, Flint Carman-Ainsworth 41 – Dow, champion of the Saginaw Valley Red, reaffirmed its position as a Division 1 favorite by downing Blue title winner Carman-Ainsworth in a league crossover.
4. Ypsilanti Arbor Prep 48, Harper Woods Chandler Park 46 – Division 2 Chandler Park has fared well against many of the state’s best, making this a major victory for Division 3 contender Arbor Prep. These teams will meet again Thursday.
5. Sandusky 36, Brown City 34 – The Redskins avenged a five-point overtime loss to Brown City from Jan. 22 to create a three-team shared title in the Greater Thumb Conference East with these two and Harbor Beach.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
• East Grand Rapids (17-2) – The Pioneers have won 14 straight and ran away with the Ottawa-Kent Conference Gold title, finishing four wins better than the rest of the league. The title was the team’s first since 2011-12, and East Grand Rapids will try to build on it with a repeat District championship next week. Those two defeats both came in December to Coldwater, a league champion, and 14-win Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern.
• Saginaw Heritage (16-2) – The reigning Class A champion has navigated one of the toughest schedules in the state, with the two losses by a combined eight points to rival Midland Dow and Division 2 favorite Detroit Edison – and the latter with Miss Basketball candidate Moira Joiner injured. The Hawks didn’t win their league thanks to the Dow loss, but shouldn’t be sneaking up on anyone with wins this winter against Southfield Arts & Technology, Hartland, Flint Carman-Ainsworth, Harper Woods Chandler Park and Detroit Country Day.
DIVISION 2
• Detroit University Prep (16-1) – The Panthers swept the Michigan Metro Athletic Conference Black and didn’t suffer their first defeat until last week, falling to Division 1 Bloomfield Hills. There have been a few forfeit wins, but all of University Prep’s victories on the court have been by double digits – a substantial improvement from last season’s 9-10 finish.
• Otsego (16-2) – The Bulldogs have locked up their fourth straight league title, finishing a perfect run through the Wolverine Conference North on Friday to set up Thursday’s league crossover against unbeaten South champion Edwardsburg. Otsego fell to Marshall and then the Eddies back-to-back in their last game of December and first of January, respectively, but haven’t been defeated since with especially impressive wins over Comstock, Three Rivers and Plainwell twice.
DIVISION 3
• Kent City (16-2) – The Eagles are riding an 11-game winning streak and finished a perfect run through the Central State Activities Association Silver. They’ve won 35 straight league games and five consecutive league championships. Expectations for next month should be high for a few more reasons as well – among them, experience from last year’s Quarterfinal run and the fact the two losses this winter both came in December and by a combined six points to eventual league champs Detroit Martin Luther King and Comstock.
• Pewamo-Westphalia (16-1) – The Pirates have clinched a share of the Central Michigan Athletic Conference title and should complete a second straight perfect run through the league this week. All of that no doubt has been prep with an eye on returning to Calvin after finishing Class C runners-up in 2017 and making the Semifinals a year ago. The lone loss this winter came to Edison, and wins over Dow (by 20), Country Day (by 28) and another league champion New Lothrop (by 30) stack up well with the work of any team in this division.
DIVISION 4
• Mendon (14-2) – While it’s unlikely Mendon will catch unbeaten Centreville this week for a share of the Southwest 10 Conference title, the Hornets can boast they gave the Division 3 contender its second closest game falling by just four Feb. 8. It’s been an even more impressive winter considering Mendon finished 8-13 only a year ago.
• St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran (14-2) – Despite a one-point loss to second-place Three Oaks River Valley two weeks ago, Michigan Lutheran can lock up the outright Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference White title Thursday, their fifth straight league championship. The Titans also are looking to build on two straight District titles.
Can't-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – Saginaw Heritage (16-2) at East Lansing (18-1) – What better way to roll into the postseason than with a rematch of last year’s Class A title game.
Tuesday – Wayne Memorial (16-2) at Brighton (18-1) – Wayne reached the Kensington Lakes Activities Association overall championship game by defeating Hartland, which shared the West title with the Bulldogs.
Tuesday – Kent City (16-2) at Stanton Central Montcalm (18-0) – The Hornets are attempting to finish a second straight perfect regular season, and additionally finish this week with 13-win White Cloud.
Thursday – Royal Oak (18-1) at Southfield Arts & Technology (16-1) – The Warriors are first in the Oakland Activities Association Red thanks to a 60-47 win over Royal Oak in their first meeting Feb. 5.
Thursday – Fenton (16-2) at DeWitt (17-2) – The Tigers emerged as champions of a Flint Metro League with three teams 15-5 or better, and DeWitt will provide another sizable test heading into the postseason.
Second Half’s weekly “Countdown to Calvin” reports are powered by MI Student Aid, a part of the Student Financial Services Bureau located within the Michigan Department of Treasury. MI Student Aid encourages students to pursue postsecondary education by providing access to student financial resources and information, including various student financial assistance programs to help make college more affordable for Michigan students. MI Student Aid administers the state’s 529 savings programs (MET/MESP) and eight additional aid programs within its Student Scholarships and Grants division. Click for more information and connect with MI Student Aid on Facebook and Twitter @mistudentaid.
PHOTO: DeWitt's Madison Petersen works to get around an Okemos defender during a victory earlier this season. (Photo by TCP Photography.)