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.)
Inspired by Home, Eager to Give Back, Spencer Hosts Hoop City Alumni Games
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
July 2, 2026
Eddie Spencer now lives more than 1,100 miles away in Dallas, but his thoughts are never far from his hometown of Muskegon Heights.
It was there in “the Heights” where Spencer learned the game of basketball, developing into a 6-foot-5 forward who could shoot and handle the ball – leading Heights to the Class C Semifinals as a junior in 2002 and the Class B Final as a senior in 2003.
Spencer, 41, said the biggest lessons he learned from basketball had nothing to do with shooting or rebounding.
“Playing basketball taught me how to work hard, stay focused and, really, how to be a man,” said Spencer, who went on to become a three-year starter at Central Michigan, graduating in 2008.
“I wanted to find a way to give something back.”
Spencer’s desire to return some love to his hometown led to the Hoop City Alumni basketball tournament, which is set for its third year at Muskegon High School’s historic Redmond-Potter Gymnasium on Aug. 22 with five alumni games – highlighted by the finale, featuring Muskegon vs. Muskegon Heights.
The last two years, the RPG was standing-room-only with more than 2,000 fans for the finale, with Muskegon fans in their trademark cardinal red and Heights fans proudly in their orange and black.
“Honestly, when I walked out of the locker room that first year and saw all of the excitement and pride in that gym, it brought tears to my eyes,” said Spencer. “It really brought back that old feeling of Heights vs. Muskegon, like back in high school.”
A rivalry like no other
Few rivalries in the state can match the history and the intensity of Muskegon vs. Muskegon Heights.
The Big Reds and Tigers played each other in football 55 years in a row from 1922-76, with the most competitive years and largest crowds occurring during the 1940s and 1950s.
In more recent years, the rivalry was on the basketball court, including a run of nine years from 2003 to 2011 when the two schools played the final game of the Muskegon Area Sports Hall of Fame Holiday Classic, with Heights winning six of those nine matchups. The rivalry came to an end in 2011 after a period of upheaval and enrollment losses at Heights.
Now, thanks to the efforts of Spencer and his crew (notably Muskegon head coach and athletic director Keith Guy and 2014 Mr. Basketball Award winner DeShaun Thrower from Muskegon) the rivalry has resumed each August at the alumni game.
“It definitely divides the community for a couple of hours,” said Spencer, who also ran cross country at Heights. “There is already a huge buzz about this year’s event and tons of trolling and trash talking.”
Spencer played several years of professional basketball, including overseas, after graduating from CMU. He then returned home and coached basketball for several years at Muskegon Heights under Guy before the latter moved on to lead the Big Reds.
Spencer moved to Dallas eight years ago and has coached AAU basketball and served as a personal trainer, in addition to his work in the mortgage industry. About five years ago, he helped a friend organize an alumni basketball game in the Dallas area – and he knew immediately that he had to do the same back home.
“The first thing I thought was that we have to do this with Muskegon and Muskegon Heights,” said Spencer, who noted that the games also feature alumni cheerleaders.
The event is not designed for recent high school graduates, with most of the teams’ players in their 30s and 40s.
This year’s tournament will begin with Mona Shores vs. Muskegon Orchard View alumni at 2 p.m. and a Muskegon-area girls game (East vs. West) at 3 p.m.
North Muskegon squares off against Muskegon Reeths-Puffer at 4 p.m., followed by the addition this year of ex-standouts from Grand Rapids against Kalamazoo at 5 p.m. – all leading up to the Heights vs. Muskegon finale at 6 p.m.
Spencer expects attendance to be strong all day (admission is $10), but acknowledges the crowds and atmosphere move to a whole different level for the final game. This year’s tournament also will be live-streamed so people can pay to watch the games from anywhere in the world, with those details still being worked out.
Beyond basketball
Spencer knows that beyond the basketball and beneath the banter, the Hoop City Alumni event is really a celebration of two proud communities.
It has become the weekend when many make plans to come back home to Muskegon, not only to relive the glory days, but to celebrate the post-basketball accomplishments of those prep greats – including some who have gone on to become doctors, lawyers, business leaders, coaches and school principals.
“We are really utilizing the game of basketball to help the community,” said Spencer, whose daughter, Nya, graduated from Muskegon High. “When people feel pride in their community, they want to make it better. We want all the kids, especially, to be there and to see how playing sports can be the start of great things for them.”
The Hoop City games have evolved into a full weekend of events, starting with a Friday back-to-school event with backpacks and school supplies giveaways at Rowan Park in downtown Muskegon Heights, pre- and postgame adult gatherings Friday and Saturday night and a picnic Sunday.
But make no mistake, basketball is the centerpiece.
Heights won the inaugural alumni game in 2024, and Muskegon prevailed at the buzzer last year, making this year’s event (which has been dubbed “The Trilogy”) the rubber match, at least for now, in the latest installment of the decades-old rivalry.
This year’s game will be hard-pressed to match the drama and emotion of last summer’s contest.
In a back-and-forth affair, it was Thrower who forced a turnover at the defensive end and then hit the game-winning shot at the buzzer for Muskegon, leading to a raucous scene as Big Reds fans stormed the court.
It was a highly-emotional moment for Thrower, who was playing his first competitive game in years after a foot injury, and it came just a few months after the death of his mother, Nina Morgan Thrower.
“The way the whole event went and the way it ended, it felt like a movie, for sure,” said Thrower, who has worked alongside Spencer to grow the showcase.
“I know that my mom was with me on that day, in that moment.”
PHOTOS (Top) At left, Muskegon Heights’ Eddie Spencer (1) defends during the 2003 Class B Final against Grand Rapids South Christian; at right, Spencer (far right) stands for a photo at last year’s Hoop City alumni event with former coach Keith Guy and past Muskegon High standout DeShaun Thrower. (Middle) Spencer, far left, poses with the rest of the Muskegon Heights and Muskegon High alumni teams after last season’s Hoop City matchup. (Below) This season’s Hoop City poster advertises five alumni games. (Hoop City photos provided by Eddie Spencer.)