10 to Remember: Winter 2012-13
April 4, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
This winter in Michigan will be remembered by some as lasting seemingly forever. But at least we had plenty to enjoy over the five weeks from the end of February through March.
Below are 10 stories from this winter's Finals that we're likely to recall for years to come. They aren't necessarily the 10 most exciting moments, but rather 10 stories of particular significance covering every sport the MHSAA sponsors during this mostly-indoor season.
A few that just missed the list: Livonia Stevenson winning that hockey town's first hockey title, St. Ignace's first perfect girls basketball finish, Flint Beecher's last-second success in the Class C Boys Basketball Final, East Grand Rapids' four-point win in Division 3 swimming and diving and the emergence of Troy's Christina Shabet as the MHSAA's top gymnast.
There are plenty of others we could mention as well. Feel free to post about them after checking out our 10.
Saline Seniors Leave Mark
One of the most impressive swimming and diving classes in MHSAA history finished its high school career March 9 in Holland the same way it began four seasons ago. Saline won its fourth-straight Lower Peninsula Division 1 championship anchored by seniors David Boland, Josh Ehrman, Michael Bundas and Adam Whitener, who combined hold four Division 1 Finals individual and two relay records. Ehrman finished his prep career with the all-class/division records in the 200-yard individual medley and 100 breaststroke, and those four hold the all-class/division record in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:30.01 – good also for third in the national record book. Click to read more.
Fowlerville’s Coon Finishes with 4
Only 16 others had accomplished what Fowlerville’s Adam Coon achieved to finish his MHSAA wrestling career. And none had done so wrestling at the heaviest weights. On March 2 at The Palace of Auburn Hills, Coon became the 17th athlete to win four MHSAA wrestling individual titles by picking up his second at 285 pounds after also winning two at 215. He finished his career with a record of 211-3 and won 194 straight matches dating to his freshman season. Click to read more.
Comets Shine for 6th Consecutive Gymnastics Win
Despite graduating the Division 1 all-around champion (again) and facing a talented Canton team (again), Grand Ledge won the team title again – for the sixth-straight time, the longest streak in MHSAA gymnastics history. On March 8 at Canton High School, the Comets scored 149.350 points – fifth-most in MHSAA Finals history. What are the chances for seven in a row? They’ll have a strong start: junior Presley Allison won the Division 2 all-around title the next day, and freshman Rachel Hogan won the Division 1 floor competition. Click to read more.
Hudson Completes Drive for 5
The Tigers won three of the final four matches to edge Hesperia 32-24 in the Division 4 Team Wrestling Final on Feb. 23 at Kellogg Arena and earn their fifth-straight MHSAA title – tying the 2002-06 Davison teams for the longest such streak since the Team Finals began in 1988. Hudson was loaded with 11 Individual Finals qualifiers, including three who went on to win their weights the following weekend. Click to read more.
This Time, It’s Romulus’ Turn
Romulus advanced to Boys Basketball Finals weekend at Breslin Center for the fourth time in six seasons, and on March 23 left with its first MHSAA championship since 1986. The Eagles had just fallen short a number of times during the recent run, but controlled from the tip in downing Detroit Southeastern 61-49 to claim the Class A title. Romulus finished this season 27-1. Click to read more.
Grand Haven Wins Repeat Class A Final
Only a few things about Grand Haven were the same this season as in 2011-12, including one significant advantage – 6-foot-5 center Abby Cole. After putting up 23 points, 19 rebounds and 12 blocks in a Semifinal win over Westland John Glenn, she tallied 11 points, seven rebounds and eight blocks in a 60-54 overtime win over Grosse Pointe South on March 16 at the Breslin Center to give the Buccaneers two straight Class A title wins – both over the Blue Devils. Click to read more.
Puck Stops Here as Brighton Marches On
The Bulldogs claimed their second-straight Division 1 hockey championship March 9 at Compuware Arena with what has become a characteristic defensive stand, this time in a 2-1 win over 10-time champ Detroit Catholic Central. Brighton goalie James Milletics stopped 37 of 38 shots against him, and his team finished a 12-game winning streak during which it gave up only 12 goals total. Click to read more.
No Stopping Carlson’s Cheer Dynasty
All four MHSAA cheer champions March 2-3 at the Grand Rapids DeltaPlex were repeat winners from 2012, but Carlson faced an intriguing set of circumstances. Although coach Danielle Jokela basically had served as a co-coach with Christine Wilson through four titles over the previous five seasons, this was her first time leading the team solo with Wilson now coaching Brighton. And the Marauders pulled out a third-straight title despite losing all-stater Annie Hajec to an injury during the Regional the weekend before. Click to read more.
Trojans Skiers Second No Longer
Traverse City Central’s girls skiing team had finished MHSAA runner-up five straight seasons before hoisting its first championship trophy since 2005 on Feb. 25 at Boyne Mountain. The Trojans finished with 81 points, 11 better than runner-up Walled Lake Central. Shannon Weaver was the individual runner-up in both the slalom and giant slalom to lead the effort. Click to read more.
Vandercook Lake Wins Battle of Bowling Powers
After facing each other and splitting the last two Division 4 titles, it seemed fate that Vandercook Lake and Sandusky should meet again in the 10th year of the MHSAA tournament on March 1 at Sunnybrook Golf and Bowl. The teams were separated by only six pins with three frames to roll before Vandercook Lake pulled away for a 1,322-1,166 win. The Jayhawks' Malloree Ambs won the individual title the next day. Click to read more.
Breslin Bound: 2022-23 Girls Report Week 10
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 6, 2023
Championship time is quickly approaching this girls basketball season.
We’re still three weeks out from the start of District play. But league contenders are clashing all over the state, with a handful of conferences finishing up their schedules this week and several favorites facing off soon with titles on the line. We make mention of a number of those below.
“Breslin Bound” is powered by MI Student Aid and based on results and schedules posted for each school at MHSAA.com.
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. West Bloomfield 59, Detroit Edison 49 Last season, West Bloomfield (15-2) became the first in-state team to defeat Edison (12-3) since 2018 – and the Lakers have become the only one to do so again this winter.
2. Maple City Glen Lake 51, Traverse City St. Francis 45 The Lakers (13-2) are up to No. 2 in Division 4 MPR, while St. Francis (12-2) sits No. 4 in Division 3.
3. Holt 55, DeWitt 53 The Rams (14-2) sit alone atop the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue after sending the Panthers (13-2) into second in a matchup of top Division 1 teams statewide.
4. Hancock 50, Calumet 47 The Bulldogs (13-1) maintained their one-game lead in the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference West with their second win this season over third-place Calumet (11-3). Both are among the top seven statewide in Division 3 MPR.
5. Detroit Edison 44, Farmington Hills Mercy 42 The Pioneers bounced back from the West Bloomfield loss with a pair of close wins, this one over Mercy (14-2) followed by a one-pointer over Grand Rapids Catholic Central on Saturday.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
Muskegon Reeths-Puffer (11-5) After a 2-4 start with those losses to top Division 1 and 2 teams statewide, Reeths-Puffer is 9-3 and tied for first in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Green with Muskegon after edging the Big Reds 56-52 on Friday. That avenged a 14-point loss to Muskegon on Jan. 6, and the Rockets have since gone on an eight-game winning streak. They also opened last week with a 42-39 victory over 11-win Ludington.
Wayne Memorial (13-4) The Zebras further solidified their standing atop the Kensington Lakes Activities Association East standings with last week’s 75-57 win over second-place Belleville. That followed up a 44-41 win over the Tigers on Jan. 6, and total Wayne has won 12 straight since a 1-3 start that included two-point losses to Division 1 contenders Detroit Renaissance and Hudsonville and a third defeat to Illinois power Chicago Whitney Young.
DIVISION 2
Goodrich (14-1) The Martians are locked in another battle atop the Flint Metro League Stars with Lake Fenton and trail the Blue Devils by a game after a 50-44 loss Jan. 20. That’s Goodrich’s only defeat, and they’ll attempt to avenge it in the league finale Feb. 17. In the meantime, the Martians can continue their statewide push upward with 13-win Flushing coming up Wednesday and 15-win Ovid-Elsie next week as well.
Redford Westfield Prep (11-6) The Warriors take on many of the state’s best, evidenced by their No. 8 MPR despite six losses. Westfield has won seven of its last eight games, the lone defeat during that streak 55-53 to still-undefeated Flint Carman-Ainsworth on Jan. 16 – and with perhaps its most notable instate win of the season 46-45 in double overtime Jan. 12 over reigning Division 3 champion Ypsilanti Arbor Prep.
DIVISION 3
McBain (13-4) The Highland Conference race could go down to the finish, especially after McBain avenged its earlier 17-point loss to second-place Evart with a 51-35 win last week. McBain also has a six-point loss to league leader Lake City from Jan. 20, but can avenge that in the regular-season finale Feb. 23. The Ramblers additionally have a pair of victories over 12-win Beal City and a solid early loss to still-undefeated Division 2 Escanaba.
Ovid-Elsie (15-2) The Marauders haven’t slowed down a bit after last season’s 21-2 finish with league and District titles, the latter in Division 2. This season in Division 3, Ovid-Elsie is up to No. 6 in MPR with a 14-game winning streak since suffering its lone losses early to Pewamo-Westphalia (10-5) and Dansville (15-1). The Marauders handed Mackinaw City its first defeat Saturday, 59-55 on a neutral court, and also has a victory over 14-win Ithaca plus a two-game lead in the Mid-Michigan Activities Conference.
DIVISION 4
Fowler (11-6) Coming off back-to-back Division 4 championships, Fowler put together a schedule featuring solid-to-strong teams from Divisions 1-4 and sit No. 3 in Division 4 MPR. The losses have come to Midland Dow, Haslett, Lansing Catholic, Kent City and league rivals Dansville and Portland St. Patrick, and the Eagles avenged the Shamrocks defeat 51-44 last week. Fowler will need help to catch Dansville in the Central Michigan Athletic Conference, down two games from the league leader, but will try to get one back from the Aggies on Feb. 14.
Norway (16-1) The Knights are leading the large-school division of the Skyline Central Conference with the likely deciding matchup coming at Bark River-Harris next week. Norway has lost only to Niagara (Wis.), by five two weeks ago, and handed Carney-Nadeau (13-2) one of its losses among other strong work – and after ending last season’s 11-10 run with a 15-point District loss to the Wolves.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – Coldwater (15-1) at Jackson Northwest (15-1) – The Mounties lead Coldwater by a win in the Interstate 8 Athletic Conference thanks to a 50-46 win in their first meeting Jan. 10.
Tuesday – Utica Ford (14-1) at Grosse Pointe North (13-2) – North has clinched a share of the Macomb Area Conference Red title heading into tonight’s league finale, while Ford won by a large margin in the MAC White.
Thursday – Houghton (13-1) at Hancock (13-1) – As noted above, Hancock leads the West-PAC West by a game – but will face second-place Houghton twice over the next two weeks.
Friday – Standish-Sterling (15-1) at Hemlock (13-3) – Hemlock owns the lead in the Tri-Valley Conference West 10-1 thanks to a 62-31 doubling up in the first meeting Jan. 6. But that remains the Panthers’ lone loss, and they’ve since handed TVC 10-2 co-leader Saginaw Valley Lutheran one of its two defeats.
Friday – Saline (15-2) at Temperance Bedford (16-1) – Saline is first and Bedford second in the Southeastern Conference Red thanks to Saline’s 41-22 win in their first meeting Jan. 27.
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PHOTOS (Top) A trio of Fowler defenders surround a Bath player driving to the basket during a 49-27 win earlier this season; they meet again Thursday. (Middle) Maddie Bradford of Maple City Glen Lake contests a shot by Maggie Napont of Traverse City St. Francis during the Lakers' 51-45 win over the Gladiators last week. (Top photo by Click by Christine McCallister. Middle photo by Rick Sack/TC Rick Photo.)