Former MHSAA Coach Lands in NHL
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
April 5, 2013
This week in the year 2000, Jon Cooper had just finished his first season coaching at any level, having guided the Lansing Catholic hockey team to its first Regional championship in 25 seasons.
It would be the only season Cooper – a local lawyer and former player at Hofstra – would coach the Cougars. But it also was the start of a nearly unimaginable rise that saw him hired to coach the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning two weeks ago.
As the saying goes, it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Cooper always was friendly and helpful to this then just-starting local media member, and despite his lone season coaching the Cougars quickly built a local fan base that continues to cheer him on from afar.
An NHL.com piece last week led with the high school angle. Click here to check it out. He took over a team 16-18-2 and near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, but Cooper surely will have plenty rooting him on from the MHSAA hockey ranks as he works to bring the franchise back to the playoffs – and we’ll work to catch up with him this summer during his first NHL offseason.
Grand Haven athletics 'Exemplary'
The Grand Haven High School athletic department received this year’s Exemplary Athletic Program Award from the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association during its annual conference last month in Traverse City.
The program was established in 1998 to recognize outstanding athletic programs and give high school administrators a vehicle by which to self-assess their practices and measure improvements.
Characteristics of “exemplary” programs include district-wide commitment, excellence in advancing the growth of well-rounded participants and serving the needs of all involved including parents and staff, and sustained success in teaching the values of high school athletics.
Click for more details on award criteria and a list of previous winners, and additional coverage by Grand Rapids’ WZZM.
Volleyball teams 'dug' deep
Michigan high school volleyball teams playing "Dig Pink" matches combined to raise more than $50,500 for cancer research last fall to rank sixth nationally, according to the Side-Out Foundation, a non-profit organization that heads up the “Dig Pink” initiative.
Class D Engadine raised the most among MHSAA schools – $5,200 – with Kent City, Bronson, Grand Ledge, Allendale, Stevensville Lakeshore, Monroe, Waterford Mott, Coldwater and Grand Blanc also contributing to the grand total. Also, Grand Ledge’s Katie Everts received a Side-Out Ambassador Program award, one of 10 handed out to individuals nationally.
Total, more than $1.1 million was raised nationwide.
Name that trophy
Few if any schools in Michigan have done more work in researching and identifying the trophies in its case than Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, which will celebrate its 100th season of boys basketball in 2013-14.
It's rare the Eaglets historians can’t determine what a trophy celebrated. In this case, hopefully you can help.
We believe it’s a basketball trophy from the 1930s – but haven’t been able to pin down a season or a level of the MHSAA tournament. A few things that make this one unique are the plaque presentation, as opposed to a standard trophy, and the large MHSAA seal in the center. Any ideas? Email me at [email protected].
Giving back to those who gave
Those from the U.S. 23/I-94 area surely remember the tornado that tore through Dexter a little more than a year ago, on March 15, 2012.
Dexter track coaches Bob and Katie Jazwinski are remembering those who helped them rebuild after their home was destroyed by the storm.
In a Second Half report last year, Bob Jazwinski said he’d seen athletes and coaches from Adrian, Ann Arbor Pioneer, Pinckney, Chelsea, Ann Arbor Skyline, Whitmore Lake and the USA junior hockey team among the many who flocked to the community to lend a hand in the cleanup.
The Jazwinskis began repaying the favor three weeks ago on the storm's one-year anniversary with the Dexter F 3.1 Tornado Run/Walk that benefited non-profit organizations that had donated for storm recovery the year before.
Click to read the March 30, 2012 story about Adrian athletes’ contributions to the clean-up.
Last call for basketball
We got off to a late start on entering basketball schedules for this winter – but thanks to some incredibly helpful school, official and fan inputters, we were able to catch up quickly and finish with a nearly-complete list of results and standings for this season.
Still, there are some schools with incomplete schedules or a few scores missing. And before everyone forgets completely about this season, we’re hoping for a little help in finishing this enormous task.
Please check out your team’s page on MHSAA.com and help us fill in missing scores and fix inaccuracies. The latter could include just about anything – an incorrect game date, incorrect opponent or score, team missing from league standings, etc. For corrections, please email me directly at [email protected]. (Note: If a game was cancelled, don’t just delete it – contact me and I’ll add “cancelled” to avoid confusion.)
Why is this important? Two big reasons. First, MHSAA.com publishes the most complete statewide scoreboard with results from every corner of Michigan. And we have the most complete archive of basketball seasons available, currently dating to 2009-10. Help us fill in the blanks, and they’ll be saved for everyone’s benefit for years to come.
I thank you in advance for any help you are able to provide.
PHOTOS: (Top) Jon Cooper's bio appeared in the Lansing Catholic hockey team's yearbook for the 1999-2000 season. (Middle) Grand Haven athletic director Robin Bye (second from right) poses with Gull Lake athletic director and MIAAA Exemplary Committee co-char Marc Troop, Grand Haven athletic secretary Rita Way and Ann Arbor Greenhills athletic director and MIAAA Exemplary Committee co-chair Meg Seng after the Buccaneers received this year's award. (Bottom) Orchard Lake St. Mary's is hoping to identify the championship recognized by this trophy, believed to be from the 1930s.
Baldwin's Back in Title Mix with High-Scoring Pair, Guided by Past Star Home Again
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
January 14, 2026
BALDWIN – Baldwin’s basketball team is off to its best start in years, thanks to a 1-2 backcourt punch that most teams can’t handle.
Senior Chase Dockery and junior Pierre “Pip” Johnson are lighting up the scoreboard for the Panthers, who are off to a 9-1 start at the regular-season halfway point and heading into Friday’s West Michigan D League showdown at Bear Lake.
“We realized this summer how special we could be,” said Dockery, a 6-foot-4 guard/forward who is averaging 19 points and 11 rebounds per game.
“Our secret is the way that we communicate and move the ball. We know that we can make a run this year.”
Baldwin, a small village in Lake County located on M-37, roughly between Grand Rapids and Traverse City, is known as a camping, fishing and hunting paradise for three seasons – with basketball taking center stage in the winter.
The community’s obsession with hoops is apparent when you check out the banners in Baldwin’s classic, old-school gym. One small section contains football, baseball and track banners, while the entire opposite wall is covered with boys basketball banners, highlighted by the Panthers’ Class D runner-up finish in 1959.
“Basketball is everything here; it’s all that we’ve got,” explained Johnson, the team’s leading scorer at 20 points per game.
Orchestrating the basketball resurgence is second-year coach Brandon Childress, one of the top athletes to ever come out of Baldwin and a first-team Class D all-state selection in both football and basketball during his senior year of 2014-2015. He also was named the state’s Division 4 Player of the Year in basketball as a senior.
Childress went on to play football, first at Central Michigan and later at Ferris State, then decided to return to his hometown to coach and also to work as Baldwin’s full-time college access and Promise Zone coordinator – helping kids prepare to go on to college and beyond.
“I come to school in the morning, and I’m a mentor and a coach to all of these kids all day long,” said Childress, 28, who also coaches baseball and football, the latter as an assistant to his younger brother, Braeden, the Panthers’ head varsity coach.
The old gym was rocking last Friday night, when Mesick rolled into town for a conference showdown.
Johnson, a lightning-quick, 6-0 point guard, was unstoppable driving to the basket, finishing with a game-high 28 points in the Panthers’ 61-50 win.
“My role is to be aggressive and to be able to go get a basket when we really need one,” said Johnson, who also averages six rebounds, three assists and three steals per game.
When Johnson does miss a shot, or is forced to give it up, Dockery is often there for a bucket.
The lanky lefty, who is equally comfortable shooting from behind the arc or battling inside, is a four-year varsity starter who leads the team in rebounding and also averages 2.7 steals and two assists per game. He was a key part of the Panthers’ conference and District championships as a freshman.
Baldwin finished 13-11 last year in its first under Childress, who took over from JJ Eads, who coached for five years and remains the school’s athletic director.
The Panthers returned all but one player from last year’s team, led by Johnson, a first-team all-conference choice, and Dockery, who was second-team all-league.
Childress said his team has already seen a variety of gimmick defenses designed to stop the Johnson and Dockery duo (with more to come), and he knows the key to his team making a postseason run will be the play of the supporting cast.
“With Pierre and Chance driving the basketball and drawing a lot of attention, our other guys will get open looks and we need them to knock those down,” said Childress, who made the Mid-American Conference all-academic team at CMU in 2016.
Junior Kyrce Cook (nine points) and sophomore Desafiar Lyons (eight points) both stepped up and took advantage of their opportunities against Mesick. Another key player is 6-4 senior Marcus Martin, who is returning from an injury and just getting back up to speed.
Baldwin’s only loss came against Blanchard Montabella (65-57) in the opening game of the Morley Stanwood Holiday Tournament on Jan. 2. The Panthers missed a staggering 13 free throws in the fourth quarter, but it was the team’s reaction to the loss which made an impression on their young coach.
“When we got back to Baldwin, they begged me to open the gym so that they could shoot free throws,” said Childress. “They shot free throws for two hours, then we went back the next day and played a much better game.”
Dockery and Johnson were the ringleaders of the night free-throw shooting session, and Childress said it’s their leadership and character which could push this team to the next level.
“Chance and Pip are both great individuals, nice kids and very good in the classroom,” said Childress. “They make my job a lot easier, because they hold everybody to a high standard.”
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.
PHOTOS (Top) Baldwin’s Chance Dockery elevates to put up a shot against White Cloud during a 63-41 win Dec. 2. (Middle) Pierre Johnson grabs a rebound against Oscoda during a 52-41 victory on Jan. 3. (Photos courtesy of the Baldwin boys basketball program.)