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.
Rockford Adds to Program Legends in Claiming 1st Finals Title Since 2003
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
March 14, 2026
EAST LANSING – When Kyle Clough took over the Rockford boys basketball program 10 years ago, he called his shot.
Clough had a state championship shirt printed, leaving little doubt about his aim for a program that had not won a Finals title since 2003. He didn’t put a timeframe on it however, with “20??” following the lofty declaration.
Now he can replace those question marks with a two and a six.
Clough’s Rams defeated East Lansing 54-50 on Saturday in the Division 1 Boys Basketball Final at the Breslin Center, putting their program back on top for the first time in more than 20 years.
“I was confident going into that interview, and I thought I needed to be in that place,” Clough said. “All of us remember 2003 and 2012 (when Rockford finished runner-up), and Steve Majerle and Ryan DeKuiper and Michael Redell – those guys are legendary in this state. So, when you get the job in a place like Rockford, you walk in and see the state championships everywhere, there is a pressure. There’s a pressure on these kids.
“We’ve kind of been knocking on the door here of making a run here these last couple years and fell short for one reason or another. This year, these guys were really determined. These guys are some of the greatest kids this school’s ever had. For them to be now in the great part of Rockford basketball history and Rockford athletic history makes me awfully proud.”
Rockford (25-3) now has two titles in program history, as it ended East Lansing’s bid for a championship repeat in a game that came down to the final seconds.
It wasn’t until Jace Opoku-Agyeman broke free for a lay-up with one second to play that it was wrapped up, and the orange half of the capacity crowd at Breslin erupted in celebration.
“At first, I looked at Josh (Bascom) and I was setting up my guy to go to the opposite hoop, then I saw Josh and he called me over to come get the ball,” Opoku-Agyeman said. “I saw the clock with three, four seconds left and I made the lay-up to (go) up two scores so we had the advantage.”
Opoku-Agyeman was one of three Rams in double figures, scoring 13 points. He was joined by the Bascom brothers, Josh (14) and Jake (11), at the tip of an incredibly balanced Rockford scoring effort.
Dylan Gross added eight, and Eli Wolfe had seven, including the go-ahead layup with 56 seconds remaining.
Wolfe, a sophomore guard who holds scholarship offers from multiple schools in the state, including Central Michigan, has spent much of this season dealing with injuries and will have surgery on his hips in the offseason.
“What he did for us this year is absolutely incredible,” Clough said. “Two torn labrums in his hips, he rolled his ankle in the Regional Semifinal against Saginaw, and he just wouldn’t take any time off. Even at times when we asked him to sit out during practice, he knew he had to be in there with his teammates. He’s one of the best guards in the whole state, period. This year he played incredibly limited. It’s an incredible commitment to his team. He could have stopped early, had the surgery and been back for AAU, but he loves these guys. And what he did deserves a lot of attention, because it was absolutely selfless and incredible.”
While Wolfe’s shot put the Rams ahead and Opoku-Agyeman’s sealed the game, it was their team defense in between that won the game.
Rockford would not let Mr. Basketball Award winner KJ Torbert get a look at the basket, running a second defender to him every time he got the ball. East Lansing called a pair of timeouts to try and set something up, but Rockford continued to force the ball out of Torbert’s hands or deny him all together.
Clough credited his coaching staff and a morning walkthrough for preparing his team to deny Torbert his chance.
Nearly 50 seconds passed after Wolfe's go-ahead basket, but eventually the Trojans (27-2) did find an open shot from the baseline. But it didn't fall.
“I said, ‘Somebody else is going to have to make a play,’” East Lansing coach Ray Mitchell said. “Obviously they’re doubling KJ, we tried to draw up a scheme to get the ball for an open shot, and actually we got an open shot, but couldn’t knock it down.”
Torbert did finish with 28 points on the day, adding five rebounds in his final game for East Lansing. He will continue his career at Bowling Green, where he’ll be a conference rival of Rockford’s Jake Bascom, who is headed to Central Michigan.
“What can you say about KJ Torbert?” Clough said. “Maybe one of the best players in this state in quite a while, and he stuck here with us in the state. As a coach in this state, I appreciate a guy so much like that. He’s got such a talent level that it brings that kind of a crowd like that into the Breslin Center.”
Kingston Thomas added 10 points for the Trojans, while Tyree Anthony had seven.
PHOTOS (Top) Rockford players raise their championship trophy after winning the Division 1 championship Saturday at Breslin Center. (Middle) Jake Bascom (24) and Drew Ferwerda (22) wall off East Lansing’s KJ Torbert under the basket. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)