10 to Remember: Winter 2014-15
April 2, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
As one might imagine, six straight weekends of MHSAA Finals produce enough highlights to distract us from our seemingly endless Michigan winters.
As explained to preface “10 to Remember” many times before, all championships are lifetime memories for those who achieved them. Those listed below are just one person’s thoughts on which moments from this season will continue to be discussed most in the seasons to come.
10. Brother Rice Rides Team Effort to Repeat
Birmingham Brother Rice repeated as Lower Peninsula Division 1 swimming and diving champion, and did so by winning by more than 100 points for the second consecutive season. But what made this Warriors finish so impressive was that it didn’t include a single individual championship – they won the opening and closing relays of the meet and took seven second-place individual finishes along the way.
9. Kearsley Sweeps Bowling Championships … Again
Flint Kearsley varsity bowlers are guaranteed one other title this season – MHSAA champions. Both the girls and boys teams won team titles in Division 2, just as they had in 2014. The Kearsley girls again defeated Bay City Western in the championship match, this time by a mere 30 pins, 1,242-1,212. The Kearsley boys also earned their title by defeating Bay City Western, and by only seven pins – 1,351-1,344.
8. Rockford/Sparta Owns the Weekend
Rockford hosted the MHSAA Gymnastics Finals, making the cliché “bringing home the title” a short trip – twice. The Rams, a co-op with Sparta, won the team competition by 1.750 points over reigning champion Canton; Rockford’s only other MHSAA gymnastics championship also was the first in any sport in school history, in the Lower Peninsula in 1989. Juniors Madi Myers and Morgan Korf led the effort with the third and fourth-highest all-around scores of the Team Final – and Korf came back the next day with a stunning move to take the Division 1 individual championship. She had finished 18th in Division 1 as a sophomore.
7. Breckenridge Returns to Cheer Elite
In its second season back as a competitive program, Breckenridge added to its stature as one of the most powerful competitive cheer programs in MHSAA history by claiming the Division 4 championship by nearly 24 points over runner-up Pewamo-Westphalia. Breckenridge has won eight MHSAA titles in cheer, but didn’t have a team for six seasons because of low participation until bringing back the program for 2013-14.
6. Cowboys Lasso First Basketball Title
First Detroit Western International won its first Detroit Public School League championship since 1922. Then it made its first MHSAA Semifinals since 1974. The Cowboys capped this season with its first MHSAA Final victory, a nail-biter 62-59 over Saginaw Arthur Hill in Class A. Western also defeated Detroit Catholic League A-B champion Detroit U-D Jesuit in the Semifinal, and finished the season 26-0.
No team traveled farther to the MHSAA Basketball Finals than the Calumet girls – and it can be argued that no team came from farther away in expectation to become an MHSAA champion. The unranked Copper Kings traveled more than 500 miles to arrive at the Breslin Center, then defeated top-ranked Laingsburg in a Class C Semifinal and perennial power Flint Hamady in the championship game to claim its first MHSAA title in the sport.
4. Skatzka, Olson Become Latest of the Greatest
Richmond’s Devin Skatzka and Davison’s Lincoln Olson pushed the list of MHSAA four-time individual champions to 21 by finishing their careers with big victories. Olson actually was the 20th, winning his match at 135 pounds by technical fall in Division 1. Skatzka then became No. 21 with four MHSAA titles, with a technical fall in the 160-pound match in Division 3.
3. Brighton Claims First Title in Final Match
Few Finals in any sport this winter carried the drama of Brighton’s 31-25 win over Hartland in Division 1 wrestling. Bulldogs 112-pounder Lee Grabowski entered the final match carrying his team’s three-point lead but facing the scenario that if he lost even by decision, and the team score went to 28-28, Brighton would lose the tie-breaker. Oh, and Grabowski was facing an opponent he’d lost to twice in league competition earlier in the winter. Grabowski won a 4-2 decision this time, and Brighton won its first team title.
2. Godwin Heights, Powers North Central Cap 3-Season Surges
Wyoming Godwin Heights and Powers North Central made the MHSAA record book by adding to a pair of the most successful three-season runs in boys basketball history – and capping them with championships. Godwin Heights won its first MHSAA title, downing Detroit Henry Ford 85-68 in the Class B Final, to finish the last three seasons a combined 74-5. North Central, meanwhile, downed Morenci 67-47 in Class D to win its first title since 1984 and cap a three-season 75-5 run.
1. Record Comeback Sends Saints Home as Champs
St. Ignace trailed undefeated Pittsford by 20 points two minutes into the Class D Final when it launched a comeback equaled by only one other team in MHSAA girls basketball history. The Saints tied the score with 35 seconds to play in regulation and continued the rally in the extra period to claim a 64-60 title-clinching victory. Detroit Cass Tech, in the 1987 Class A Final, also had come back from 20 down in the third quarter to win. The championship was St. Ignace’s fifth in girls basketball.
PHOTO: St. Ignace basketball players celebrate after the Saints tied the largest comeback in MHSAA Finals history on the way to claiming the Class D title. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
1st & Goal: 2025 Week 2 Preview
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
September 4, 2025
When Ishpeming travels to Crystal Falls Forest Park tonight, it will be the first time the Upper Peninsula powers have met since 2022 – and a matchup of two of the first MHSAA Finals champions, as Forest Park won the first Class D title in 1975 and Ishpeming claimed the first championship in Class C that fall.
Meanwhile, much farther south, we’ll look to our first meeting this season of 2024 champions as Jackson Lumen Christi hosts Pontiac Notre Dame Prep.
Those are just a pair of Week 2 matchups that pop off the page, but there are plenty of note as we start another September. Nearly 75 percent of those mentioned below will be broadcast on the NFHS Network, along with several more, and scores for every game across the state will be posted on the MHSAA Scores page as they conclude.
Bay & Thumb
Ottawa Lake Whiteford (1-0) vs. Harbor Beach (1-0), Saturday at Davison WATCH
This Saturday showdown pits a pair of playoff teams from a year ago that were both expected to face tough matchups in Week 1 – and won their games 56 and 34 points. Harbor Beach has strung together 15 straight regular-season victories and downed Cass City 42-8 after the defeating the Red Hawks by just two points in 2024. Whiteford opened with a 56-0 shutout of a Blissfield team it edged by just seven last season.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Warren De La Salle Collegiate (1-0) at Davison (1-0), Saginaw Swan Valley (1-0) at Frankenmuth (0-1) WATCH, Goodrich (1-0) at Lapeer (0-1), Midland Dow (1-0) at Saginaw Heritage (0-1) WATCH.
Greater Detroit
Detroit Catholic Central (1-0) at Toledo Central Catholic (0-1)
This matchup ended up deciding the Catholic High School League Central championship last year as DCC won their Week 2 meeting 21-7 and carried the league lead through the rest of the regular season. The Shamrocks received some of the greatest attention of any team statewide this preseason and justified it with a 41-7 win over Clinton Township Chippewa Valley last week. Central Catholic, an eventual Ohio state runner-up last fall, took reigning MHSAA Division 1 champ Detroit Cass Tech to the end last week while losing 28-27.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Harper Woods (1-0) at Clarkston (1-0) WATCH, Oxford (1-0) at Birmingham Groves (1-0) WATCH, Grandville (1-0) at Detroit Cass Tech (1-0) WATCH, Port Huron Northern (1-0) at Madison Heights Lamphere (1-0) WATCH.
Mid-Michigan
Williamston (1-0) at Hastings (1-0)
Williamston made some noise starting the season with a 46-14 win over Lansing Catholic, which finished Division 6 runner-up last fall. Hastings will provide a second opportunity for the Hornets to avenge a 2024 loss, as they fell to the Saxons 16-12 a year ago during a 1-5 start that still turned into a playoff berth. Hastings – a District finalist the last four seasons – won its opener last week 31-29 over Middleville Thornapple Kellogg with a field goal as time expired.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Reed City (0-1) at Belding (1-0), Mason (1-0) at DeWitt (1-0) WATCH, New Lothrop (1-0) at Durand (1-0) WATCH, Portland (1-0) at Lansing Sexton (0-1) WATCH.
Northern Lower Peninsula
Traverse City St. Francis (1-0) at Ogemaw Heights (1-0) WATCH
We knew Ogemaw Heights was leveling up with its 2023 win over St. Francis, and although the teams didn’t play each other last year the Falcons are a combined 19-4 over the last three, including a pair of District Final losses. They opened with a big win last week over Flint Hamady, while St. Francis set the tone with a 30-6 victory over Maple City Glen Lake, which like the Gladiators was a league champion last season.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Gaylord (1-0) at Kingsley (1-0) WATCH, Harbor Springs (1-0) at Mancelona (1-0) WATCH, Frankfort (1-0) at Maple City Glen Lake (0-1) WATCH, Kalkaska (1-0) at Oscoda (1-0) WATCH.
Southeast & Border
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (1-0) at Jackson Lumen Christi (0-1) WATCH
After two games last week across the state featured teams that finished at Ford Field last year, here’s the first between reigning champions as Division 5 Notre Dame Prep looks to add to last season’s 28-24 win over eventual Division 6 title winner Lumen Christi. That proved to be the Titans’ only loss of 2024, and although they opened this season falling 20-16 at Lombard Montini Catholic of Illinois, they’ll surely be amped to attempt to avenge last year’s defeat.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Clinton (0-1) at Adrian Madison (1-0) WATCH, Ypsilanti Lincoln (1-0) at Ypsilanti Community (1-0), Hudson (1-0) at Ida (1-0) WATCH, Traverse City Central (1-0) at Parma Western (1-0).
Southwest Corridor
Hudsonville Unity Christian (1-0) at Schoolcraft (1-0) WATCH
Schoolcraft reached the Division 7 Semifinals last season and has loaded its nonleague schedule with Unity joined by annual matchups against Centreville and Constantine and a Week 9 meeting with Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep. Three of those four opponents won at least eight games last season, and Unity began building on last year’s 10-1 run with a 55-14 win over Whitehall last week.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Plainwell (1-0) at Galesburg-Augusta (1-0), White Pigeon (1-0) at Hartford (1-0), Ithaca (1-0) at Lawton (1-0) WATCH, Edwardsburg (1-0) at St. Joseph (0-1) WATCH.
Upper Peninsula
Bark River-Harris (1-0) at Iron Mountain (1-0) WATCH
As one of the smallest among the best, Bark River-Harris doesn’t always make the conversation when we talk about contenders from the Upper Peninsula – but it should. The Broncos have reached the playoffs eight of the last 11 seasons and last week already avenged a loss from 2024. But Iron Mountain has been a nemesis. The Mountaineers have won all 10 meetings since the teams began playing each other annually in 2018, with a couple of playoff matchups in there as well.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Cadillac (0-1) at Escanaba (1-0) WATCH, Ishpeming Westwood (0-1) at Calumet (1-0) WATCH, Kingsford (0-1) at Houghton (0-1) WATCH, Negaunee (1-0) at Gladstone (0-1) WATCH.
West Michigan
Rockford (0-1) at Muskegon (0-1)
The last time these two both started the season 0-1 was 2015, and this matchup could tell mean a lot moving forward this fall. Granted, a second loss won’t end anyone’s season – but a win will really help. Muskegon has Byron Center, Mona Shores and Cincinnati Moeller among others left on the schedule, and Rockford will see three 2024 playoff teams during league play plus a fourth that upset the Rams last year. Rockford downed the Big Reds in last season’s meeting 28-21 and 27-7 in 2023.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Byron Center (0-1) at East Kentwood (1-0) WATCH, Portage Central (1-0) at Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central (1-0) WATCH, Vicksburg (1-0) at Grand Rapids Northview (1-0) WATCH, Coopersville (0-1) at Grand Rapids West Catholic (0-1).
8-Player
Portland St. Patrick (1-0) at Morrice (1-0)
Morrice’s only loss last season on the way to the Division 2 championship game came in Week 4 against St. Patrick, and the Orioles avenged that 17-point defeat with a 28-22 Regional Semifinal win over the Shamrocks. The rivals are 2-2 against each other since becoming league foes again in 2022, and as usual both are coming off big opening-night wins – Morrice 49-0 over St. Charles and St. Patrick 62-12 over Merrill.
Keep an eye on these THURSDAY Mendon (1-0) at Britton Deerfield (1-0) WATCH. FRIDAY Ishpeming (0-1) at Crystal Falls Forest Park (0-1) WATCH, Newberry (1-0) at Ontonagon (1-0) WATCH, Norway (1-0) at Powers North Central (1-0) WATCH.
MHSAA.com's weekly “1st & Goal” previews and reviews are powered by MI Student Aid, a division within the Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP). MI Student Aid encourages students to pursue postsecondary education by providing access to student financial resources and information. MI Student Aid administers the state’s scholarship and grant programs that help make college Accessible, Affordable and Attainable for you. Click to connect with MI Student Aid and find more information on Facebook and Twitter @mistudentaid.
PHOTO A Goodrich defender chases down Frankenmuth's quarterback during the Martians' Week 1 win. (Photo by Terry Lyons.)