10 to Remember: 2013-14 Finals
July 10, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Every championship leaves a lasting impression with the athletes and coaches who achieved it and the communities that cheered them on.
That makes picking the 10 most notable finishes from this school year's MHSAA Finals a no-win scenario. But here's one person's carefully-considered opinion:
10. Unranked Eaton Rapids finishes No. 1 for the first time
The Greyhounds capped this year’s Girls Basketball Finals with a 51-38 win over Grand Rapids South Christian in the Class B title game that closed the weekend. But that statement alone barely scratches the surface of the story. The championship was the first for Eaton Rapids, which started five seniors and entered the tournament unranked but eliminated No. 6 Ypsilanti Arbor Prep, No. 8 Flint Powers Catholic and then the top-ranked Sailors during the season’s final week.
9. Western sweeps first Finals at Michigan State
The Baseball and Softball Finals moved to Michigan State University this spring, and the Bay City Western baseball and softball teams both took home championship trophies. The Warriors baseball team, after winning its first title in 2013, became the first in Class A or Division 1 to repeat in defeating Grosse Pointe South 6-2. The softball team won its first MHSAA championship by defeating Portage Central 4-2 after also making – and leading late – in the 2013 Final before losing by a run to Mattawan.
8. Sacred Heart overcomes, comes back for first title
Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart couldn’t have been favored by many in this season’s Class D Girls Basketball Final with one senior, making only its second championship game appearance and going up against Crystal Falls Forest Park and recently-crowned Miss Basketball Lexi Gussert. But the unranked Irish finished on a 14-3 run over the final three minutes to get past the top-ranked Trojans 56-53 and win their first MHSAA title.
7. Canton gymnastics finishes long championship journey
The Canton gymnastics team claimed its first MHSAA title by edging Grand Ledge by 2.4 points after finishing runner-up to the Comets each of the last three seasons. The Chiefs also had finished Finals runner-up in 1996 under coach John Cunningham, who took over the program in 1979 and has coached the sport since 1968. Grand Ledge had won 106 straight competitions including the last six MHSAA Finals.
6. Big Reds regain top spot in Class A hoops
With Mr. Basketball Deshaun Thrower and 2015 candidate Deyonta Davis setting the pace, Muskegon finished only the second perfect season in Class A in the last 24 seasons with a 91-67 Final win over Bloomfield Hills that earned the Big Reds their first MHSAA championship since 1937. Thrower had 21 points, and Davis had 26 and 13 rebounds.
5. Brother Rice sends Fracassa out as champion once more
The Warriors made coach Al Fracassa a back-to-back MHSAA football champion for the first time with a 38-21 victory over Muskegon in a rematch of the 2013 Division 2 Final. Brother Rice also finished 14-0 as Fracassa finished a career during which he built a 430-117-7 record dating to 1969. His wins rank first in MHSAA football history.
4. New Lothrop wrestlers end Hudson’s reign
The Hornets won their first MHSAA title since 2004 by edging Hudson 32-22 in the Division 4 Final at Kellogg Arena. New Lothrop’s title win also ended an MHSAA-record five-season championship run by the Tigers, who tied the Davison teams of 2002-06 for the longest string of consecutive titles.
3. Stars finish final title runs with 4
A pair of mid-Michigan athletes capped four-year varsity careers by joining the elite champions in their respective sports. Breckenridge runner Kirsten Olling became the fifth girl in MHSAA history to win four Lower Peninsula individual championships, claiming her latest and last in an LP Division 4 Final record 17:44.9. St. Johns senior Zac Hall became the third wrestler in three seasons and 18th in MHSAA history to finish with four individual championships. He defeated Greenville’s Alec Ward 12-2 in the Division 2 140-pound championship match to close this season 52-0 and his career 198-2.
2. St. Philip adds to all-time accolades
The Battle Creek St. Philip volleyball program ranks first in MHSAA Final appearances (27) and championships (19), but further cemented itself among the all-time elite by winning its eighth straight MHSAA title – good to tie Marysville’s 1997-2004 teams for the longest championship streak in MHSAA history. The Tigers did so this season by defeating Waterford Our Lady in three games in Class D, and despite graduating seven from its 2012 championship team.
1. Trenton wins one more for Turner
Trenton’s hockey team defeated Hartland 8-3 in the Division 2 Final to earn the program’s 14th MHSAA championship and first since 2010 – and send out coach Mike Turner with one more crowning achievement on the most notable career in MHSAA hockey history. Earlier this winter, Turner set the record for coaching wins. He finished 628-126-52 over 28 seasons stretching across two tenures.
PHOTO: Trenton hockey players celebrate during this season's Division 2 championship trophy.
Fremont Builds on Coach's Inspiration to Become League, District Champion
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
March 14, 2024
FREMONT – The Fremont girls basketball team entered this season with relatively low expectations.
Three straight sub-.500 seasons with double-digit losses and a new coach didn’t necessarily have the Packers considered as one of the top contenders in the West Michigan Conference.
Peter Zerfas, who won more than 300 games over 21 seasons as Fremont’s boys coach, was hired last April to help rejuvenate the struggling program.
“I think the girls might have been a little nervous of me at first, and didn’t really have that high of expectations,” Zerfas said. “But I told them on the first day of practice we could win the conference.”
Fremont hadn’t won an outright conference championship since 1978. Yes, 46 years ago, although the Packers did share the league title with Big Rapids in 2020.
So what did the players think when their new coach mentioned such a lofty goal?
“I thought we always had the potential to be good. and I thought we had the athletes to be good the past few years,” said senior Jessica Bennett, a four-year varsity player. “He said we were going to be conference champs this year, and when he said that no one really believed him. I sure didn't.
“I thought we could be good and win some more games, but it's hard to have faith in someone you don’t really know.”
Senior Katie Ackerman, a three-year player, also had her doubts.
“I thought that was a really big goal, and I didn't believe him at first,” she said.
The Packers opened the season with a loss to Spring Lake, but then reeled off 10 wins over their next 11 games.
They defeated Whitehall on the road Jan. 10 and moved to 4-0 in conference play, but the major turning point came two weeks later when they knocked off five-time reigning conference champion Ludington, 41-35.
Ludington had beaten the Packers 15 straight years.
“I could see in the locker room after that game that they believed we could win the conference,” Zerfas said.
Fremont averaged 64 points per game over the next nine and defeated Ludington again 42-38 on Feb. 27 in front of a large home crowd.
That victory gave the Packers an undefeated conference season.
“When we went to Whitehall and beat them, that's when I pretty much bought in I think,” Bennett said. “I thought it was a good test for us, and at that moment I bought in and thought we had the potential to be good.”
Fremont entered District play on a high, but lost second-leading scorer Mia Clemence to an ankle injury.
However, a win over Sparta put the Packers in the District Final against rival Grant.
After scoring only one point in the first quarter and falling behind 20-6, Fremont stormed back to earn a 49-40 win and its first District title since 2009.
Fremont advanced to a rematch with Spring Lake in Monday’s Division 3 Regional Semifinal, but saw the season end with a 58-27 defeat.
“They had beaten us by 20 or more twice and they were the better team, but my center was on crutches, our leading scorer had a broken thumb on her shooting hand and we had two girls with high temperatures before the game,” Zerfas said. “The girls battled and played their best, but it was the perfect storm with injuries and illnesses. And Spring Lake is really good and deserved to win.”
Still, Fremont ended with a 20-5 overall mark, the most wins in a season since 1978 when that team advanced to the Quarterfinals.
“I believe the success we had came from great senior leadership and them accepting me as a coach and what I wanted to teach them,” Zerfas said. “But most importantly, they worked hard and worked together. The season was a ton of fun, and I’m going to miss the pasta dinners, the team bonding and how close this team was.”
It was a memorable season for all.
“I expected us to be better than previous years, but I did not expect us to be as good and go as far as what we did,” Ackerman said. “It was a really cool experience, and he made basketball fun. It’s one of the best years I’ve ever had playing.”
Bennett credited her coach for bringing a different mindset to the program.
“It was about Coach coming in and completely changing the system and the culture from what we had done in the past,” she said. “We were going to push the ball up the floor, and we were going to play fast and shoot a lot. And the leadership on our team was good.
“It was very exciting to win the conference, and it’s easier to play really hard for a coach that believes in you and has faith in you.”
The community also embraced the team as wins began piling up. Sparse crowds to begin the season ballooned midway through, and an estimated 1,000 people from Fremont showed up for the District Final.
“Everywhere you went in town, people who loved basketball were talking about our team and how hard they worked and how fun they were to watch,” Zerfas said. “Our local media was talking about us, too, and for a little while we were the talk of the town.”
The future could remain bright for the Packers as they will return seven players next season. In addition, their junior varsity went 20-1.
Fremont’s middle school teams also are having success as they have combined for only one loss.
Dean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for five years after serving at the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years along with shorter stints at the Ionia Sentinel and WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Fremont’s girls basketball team finished 20-5 this season and won its first outright league title since 1978. (Middle) Packers captains Katie Ackerman (22) and Jessica Bennett with coach Peter Zerfas. (Photos courtesy of the Fremont girls basketball program.)