Johnson, Cantrell Rally for D4 Victories
March 3, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
BATTLE CREEK – MacKenzie Johnson wanted to thank Vandercook Lake girls coach Todd Reichard for making her into a championship bowler. And she wanted to thank assistant Kenla Kelly, her “emotional coach.”
But after feeling her spirits dive with a 125 game to start match play at Saturday’s Division 4 Singles Finals, she needed a little more help.
“I said to myself, what would Dad say to me, because freshman year he passed away four days after this event,” Johnson said. “And he’d tell me to calm down and really just be myself, and if I was myself, I could beat anyone.
“I just became myself, I made my shots, I calmed down and I let my emotions go.”
Brad Johnson died after a fight with inoperable brain cancer March 9, 2016. Just under two years later, his daughter came back to average 186 over her final seven match play games at M-66 Bowl and win this season’s championship.
“He’d say he’s very proud,” Johnson said. “This is all he ever wanted for me, to give it my best, and today I gave it my all.”
Johnson defeated Beaverton senior Victoria Ivey 410-323 in their championship match, rolling a match play-best 231 in her final game.
On the boys side, Genesee senior Luke Cantrell claimed the title with a 356-354 win over Vandercook Lake senior Keegan Campbell.
Campbell led the match 204-157 after the first of the two-game series. But Cantrell improved 42 pins over his final 10 frames for a second straight close finish – he also won his semifinal by just 10 pins.
Cantrell closed his career with four Finals singles appearances and had finished runner-up to St. Charles’ three-time champion Kyle Tuttle in 2016.
“I struggled, but I picked myself up,” Cantrell said. “In the qualifying (I) shot a couple 170s that kinda hurt me. My coaches helped a lot. I made a couple ball changes, and controlled my speed a little bit more.
“(I) just throw the ball good and never give up. In the ninth frame I had a really good feeling, and it came my way I guess.”
Johnson rolled her team’s high regular game as the Jayhawks won the team championship match Friday against Brown City.
She’d clinched the singles victory by the 10th frame Saturday, but still banged through three strikes to finish the day.
“I couldn’t believe our team did it yesterday; we all did it as one. Today, I surprised myself by doing this,” Johnson said. “At any point I could’ve opened, and she could’ve got me. It wasn’t over until that third shot in the 10th frame.
“I never count myself out, but I never count myself in until it’s done, either.”
Click for full girls results and boys results.
Ravenna Girls Finish Comeback in Deciding Match to Claim 1st Finals Win
By
Nick Cooper
Special for MHSAA.com
February 28, 2025
MUSKEGON – Friday was a storybook ending for Ravenna’s Emma Herremans.
The Bulldogs’ lone senior bowler helped secure the program’s first Finals team championship.
Ravenna went the distance with Bad Axe in the deciding match, even trailing 2-1 before winning the final two games 172-150 and 186-179 to clinch.
“It feels amazing. I have to take a pause to just take everything in,” said Herremans.
Ravenna’s championship capped off an undefeated season and was the first Finals title for the school in any sport other than football.
“We just sat there, and our hearts were racing the entire time,” said Ravenna coach Jason Nutt.
En route to the championship, the top-seeded Bulldogs defeated No. 8 seed Jackson Lumen Christi and No. 5 seed Jonesville.
Bracket play featured multiple seeding upsets with No. 7 Homer sweeping second seed Burton Atherton in three games in a quarterfinal. Fifth seed Jonesville defeated No. 4 seed Allen Park Cabrini during the same round.
Ravenna posted the top score during qualifying, 2,899 pins, to outpace the field by 164.
After reaching the quarterfinals in 2024 and then winning the championship in 2025, Ravenna figures to assert itself as a statewide presence for years to come. Looking to the future, Nutt’s expectation for his program is one of optimism.
“It’s good to get one. We should continue to get strong,” he said.