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.)
Preview: Titles to be Decided by Rematch, Matchup of 1st-Title Hopefuls
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 6, 2025
Saturday’s MHSAA Girls Lacrosse Finals at University of Michigan will begin with a rematch of the 2024 title decider and conclude with a matchup of teams making their first championship game appearances in more than a decade.
Detroit Country Day will take on Grand Rapids Catholic Central at 11 a.m. with the Division 2 title on the line and after the Cougars won last year’s season finale 10-9.
Hartland and South Lyon United will follow in the Division 1 Final at 2 p.m., with the winner claiming the champion's trophy in this sport for the first time.
Below is a glance at all four teams playing at U-M. Rankings as part of “best wins” are based on the Michigan Power Rating formula. Tickets cost $11 and are good for both games, and may be purchased online only at GoFan.
Both games will be broadcast and available with subscription from MHSAA.tv.
Division 1
HARTLAND
Record/MPR: 20-5, No. 7
League finish: Second in Kensington Lakes Activities Association West
Coach: Ryan Skomial, first season (16-4)
Championship history: Division 1 runner-up 2012.
Best wins: 7-6 over No. 4 Rockford in Semifinal, 8-7 over No. 3 Lake Orion in Regional Final, 19-7 over No. 8 Holt in Regional Semifinal, 8-6 over No. 10 White Lake Lakeland in Regional Quarterfinal, 8-2 over No. 6 Birmingham United, 8-2 and 9-6 over No. 9 Bloomfield Hills.
Players to watch: Amanda Norton, jr. M; Ella Ebright, sr. A; Claire Pielack, jr. G.
Outlook: Still one of the state’s all-time leading scorers 12 years after graduating, Skomial has returned to Hartland this season after helping lead Brighton to the last three Division 1 championships – including as head coach in 2022 – and now has Hartland playing in a Final for the first time since her junior season. After losing three one-goal games during the regular season, the Eagles have won two straight in two of the biggest games in program history.
SOUTH LYON UNITED
Record/MPR: 20-0, No. 1
League finish: First in Lakes Valley Conference
Coach: Deanna Radcliffe, ninth season (143-26)
Championship history: Division 1 runner-up 2008.
Best wins: 12-6 over No. 5 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood in Semifinal, 12-9 (Regional Final) and 8-7 (OT) over No. 2 Brighton, 13-4 and 9-5 over No. 10 White Lake Lakeland, 15-6 over No. 9 Bloomfield Hills, 15-8 over No. 3 Lake Orion, 10-3 over No. 8 Holt, 15-7 over No. 6 Birmingham United.
Players to watch: Shaelyn Perry, jr. M (46 goals, 21 assists); Reagan Shields, soph. A (50 goals, 33 assists); Madison Lukas, soph. A/M (35 goals, 8 assists); Alyssa Jakubiec, jr. A (31 goals, 16 assists).
Outlook: Radcliffe – who is in her second tenure at South Lyon after also coaching at Hartland from 2013-22 – has the Lions undefeated just like when she took them into the 2008 championship game. Since opening the season with a one-goal win over Brighton, South Lyon United’s closest game has been three goals in their Regional Final rematch with the Bulldogs. Junior attacks Gabriela Lucchesi (27 goals, 20 assists) and Gianna Lucchesi (25/17), senior mid Courtney Putnam (23/17) and sophomore defender Cate Cumberland (14/9) also are among top scorers.
Division 2
DETROIT COUNTRY DAY
Record/MPR: 16-3, No. 1
League finish: Does not play in a conference.
Coach: Liz Nussbaum, second season (33-7-1)
Championship history: Division 2 champion 2023, three runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 19-8 over No. 9 Saline in Semifinal, 11-10 over No. 2 East Grand Rapids, 21-3 over No. 6 Haslett, 9-6 and 18-6 over No. 3 Grand Rapids Catholic Central, 17-11 and 12-6 over Division 1 No. 2 Brighton, 19-7 over Division 1 No. 5 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 19-5 over Division 1 No. 7 Hartland, 19-5 over Division 1 No. 6 Birmingham United.
Players to watch: Mary Pavlou, sr. A (76 goals, 13 assists); Charlotte Cook, fr. M (46 goals, 17 assists); Georgia Pavlou, sr. A (54 goals, 40 assists); Campbell Lindner, jr. G (7.08 goals-against average, .490 save %).
Outlook: Country Day will play in its fourth-straight championship game, having added runner-up finishes last spring and in 2022 to its title in 2023. All three of the Yellowjackets’ losses this spring came to opponents from Indiana or Illinois. Mary and George Pavlou are finishing up all-state careers and Cook looks to be one of the next class of standouts. Sophomore mid Jackie Calso (32 goals, 11 assists) is among leading scorers as well.
GRAND RAPIDS CATHOLIC CENTRAL
Record/MPR: 16-5, No. 3
League finish: Second in Ottawa-Kent Conference Tier 1
Coach: Joe Curcuru, second season (39-5)
Championship history: Division 2 champion 2024 and 2011.
Best wins: 19-3 over No. 6 Haslett in Semifinal, 8-7 over No. 2 East Grand Rapids in Regional Final, 15-3 (Regional Quarterfinal) and 10-9 (2OT) over No. 10 Spring Lake, 12-7 and 11-7 over No. 7 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, 8-6 and 13-7 over Division 1 No. 4 Rockford, 12-5 over Division 1 No. 6 Birmingham United.
Players to watch: Catherine Marshall, sr. M (88 goals, 28 assists), Lily Engstrom, jr. M (86 goals, 32 assists), Alexandra Unzens, fr. A (14 goals, 6 assists); Samaya Dean, sr. G (6.55 goals-against average, .525 save %).
Outlook: The Cougars avenged a pair of regular-season losses to East Grand Rapids in the Regional Final on the way to earning this opportunity to repeat, and can complete it by avenging 9-6 and 18-6 defeats to Country Day from the season’s first five weeks. Marshall and Engstrom are one of the most potent 1-2 scoring pairs in the state and with Dean have been starring for multiple seasons. Seniors Ameila Sharpe (14 goals) and Claire Sullivan (12) also are among leading scorers from the attack spots. Catholic Central’s only other loss this season came to three-time reigning Division 1 champion Brighton.
PHOTO Grand Rapids Catholic Central players raise their sticks together during last season’s Division 2 championship win.