Did you see that?
April 30, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
It's only the end of April. But a number of Michigan's contenders already are in championship form.
Check out our best of results, news and notes from the week that was April 23-28.
Boys Track
What a toss: Walled Lake Central junior Cullen Prena tossed the discus an incredible 187 feet, seven inches, to win the event at the Oxford Invitational by nearly 36 feet. In fact, the toss would've won every MHSAA Final dating back to 2003. Earlier in the week he broke the Oakland County record as well. He also won the shot put at Oxford. (Oakland Press)
Girls Track
South still on top: Reigning MHSAA Division 1 champion Grosse Pointe South earned a strong early win at the Michigan State Spartan Invitational ahead of a field that included annual powers Rockford and Williamston and a strong DeWitt team. Bay City Western won the boys meet. (Playmakers.com)
Baseball
Flint Final set: Goodrich’s Bob Foreback and Davison’s Timm Rye will bring more than 1,000 victories worth of experience into this season’s Greater Flint Area Baseball Tournament championship game when their teams face off on Memorial Day. The two will meet after emerging from the field this weekend. (Flint Journal)
How do you score that: Most telling lines from the Kalamazoo Gazette’s story about Comstock turning a triple play and three double plays in one game came from Comstock coach Rich Bailey: “We have not played particularly good defense. In fact, our defense has been a problem. The skill is there; the execution hasn’t been.” (Kalamazoo Gazette)
Girls Soccer
Poll position: Rochester Adams continued to affect the Division 1 rankings while moving up itself. Adams likely helped to knock rival Rochester out of this week’s honorable mentions with a 2-0 win Thursday. The Friday before, Adams downed then top-ranked Troy 4-1. The Highlanders have opened 7-0 and are ranked No. 3 in Division 1. (Oakland Press)
Boys Basketball
Flint Powers coach moves on: Tim Herman led the Flint Powers Catholic boys basketball program only seven seasons, but they were seven of the Chargers’ most memorable. Herman resigned his post last week after more than 100 wins and the team’s only MHSAA championship, in Class B in 2009. (Flint Journal)
Football
Michigan's finest take next step: At least nine former MHSAA athletes were drafted by NFL teams (by my count) over seven rounds Thursday through Saturday. They were:
- DE Nick Perry (Detroit Martin Luther King/University of Southern California) Green Bay, first round
- DT Mike Martin (Detroit Catholic Central/University of Michigan) Tennessee, third round
- QB Kirk Cousins (Holland Christian/Michigan State University) Washington, fourth round
- WR Keshawn Martin (Westland John Glenn/Michigan State University) Houston, fourth round
- CB Chris Greenwood (Detroit Martin Luther King/Albion College) Detroit, fifth round
- S Trenton Robinson (Bay City Central/Michigan State) San Francisco, sixth round
- LB Audie Cole (Monroe/North Carolina State University) Minnesota, seventh round
- RB Edwin Baker (Oak Park/Michigan State University) San Diego, seventh round
- K John Potter (Grand Haven/Western Michigan University) New York Jets, seventh round
Editor's note: Did we miss something? Comment below and tell us about it. Is there an event coming up that we should make sure to note? Comment or e-mail [email protected].
Unity Finishes D3 Run With 11th Title, Without Giving up Postseason Goal
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
June 16, 2023
EAST LANSING – Dynasty.
Hudsonville Unity Christian has been to the Division 3 Girls Soccer Finals 15 times and reached at least the Semifinals 19 seasons.
Friday’s 3-0 championship win over Grosse Ile – which was making its first Finals appearance – was the 11th for legendary coach Randy Heethuis, who also finished his 34thseason with 620 victories. Counting his tenure as the school’s boys coach, Heethuis has racked up 1,122 victories.
During this playoff run the Crusaders outscored their six opponents by a combined 35-0. For the season, the Unity Christian defense allowed just eight goals – against great competition – and never more than one in a game.
The championship was the program’s first since 2016.
“We lost in a shootout last year in the Finals (against Williamston), and the year before we lost in the Semifinals, so it has been a while,’’ said Heethuis, recalling the 3-2 back-and-forth loss to the Hornets a year ago.
“We had Brianna (Rose), a starting center back, and she’s kind of the anchor of the defense. Morgan’s (Scholten) is a three-year starter in goal. The two outside backs, Ella Bosscher and Kirstin Dekock … they were fantastic. They just came on so strong as the year went on. They continued to beat people to the ball and kept the ball out of our end.
“That was a very defensive-mind Grosse Ile team, but we didn’t give them any looks.’’
Dominant.
Officially Unity Christian’s winning goal was scored by junior forward Stella DeSmit, who also chipped in an assist.
“It’s just great. Not everyone gets to do this,’’ said DeSmit. “It’s kind of a once-in-a-lifetime. It’s the 11th for the program, but it’s the first for us. It has been a long drought. We all work hard, but I don’t think our defense gets enough credit for how much they do for us. They carry us back there. Working through our defense and making passes up to our forwards. It’s just not the forwards – it’s our whole team.
With a lineup sprinkled with Division I and II college talent, the Crusaders improved to 21-1-2 with the win. Grosse Ile finished 17-3-4.
Unity Christian dominated play in the early going, but Cailey O’Farrell was great in goal for Grosse Ile, keeping the Crusaders off the scoreboard nearly the entire first half. Her 11 saves for the game included stops with her face and stomach and made the MHSAA record book list for the most in a championship game.
Unity Christian finally broke through with two minutes, 54 seconds left in the first half on DeSmit’s goal off an assist from Emily Timmer.
The Crusaders made it 2-0 when Rose, a senior, headed in a corner kick at the 30:13 mark.
Senior forward Jenna Schreiber scored at the 24:42 mark off an assist from DeSmit to give Unity a commanding 3-0 lead.
“We just keep talking together and working together,’’ said Scholten. “It comes down to communication. We beat the other team to the ball. The first goal takes the pressure off, but we keep working towards the next goal. The depth of our team allows us to keep coming and wear the other team down.’’
PHOTOS (Top) Hudsonville Unity Christian’s Emily Timmer (20) controls possession Friday, with Grosse Ile’s Ella Gatti defending. (Middle) Jessie Postma (9) sets up for a free kick. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)