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All Saints Celebrates on Big Screen

July 31, 2014

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Forty years ago, Bay City All Saints brought its hometown the first of two straight MHSAA boys basketball championships – which continue to stand as the only ones won by a Bay City school.

As part of the Class of 1974’s 40-year reunion this weekend, organizers will show the broadcast of that 71-59 victory over Detroit Servite in the Class C Final, on Friday at the downtown State Theater.

The team was coached by Russell “Lefty” Franz, who sits 14th in MHSAA boys basketball coaching history with 545 wins (545-215) at All Saints, Bay City St. Stanislaus and Pinconning achieved from 1953-1991. All Saints repeated as Class C champion under Franz in 1975 with a 79-69 win over Cassopolis.

The Bay City Times caught up today with three starters from that team who are expected to return for the showing of the game. Click to read more.

Rooting for Haske

Northern Michigan basketball fans and supporters from all over are cheering on Traverse City St. Francis  boys basketball coach Keith Haske, who is battling throat cancer and seeking treatment in Houston, according to a report by the Petoskey News.

Haske has coached three boys teams to MHSAA Class C runner-up finishes – St. Francis in 2012 and Charlevoix in 2004 and 2001, and also coached at St. Johns prior to taking the Rayders job in 1998. He also coached the Charlevoix girls team to a Class C runner-up finish in 2004.

Click to read more about Haske and how to donate to his treatment.

Thanks, Gary Hice

The MHSAA welcomed 43 new athletic directors to East Lansing today for training as they take over their schools’ athletic departments.

An athletic director we’ll certainly miss is Petoskey’s Gary Hice.

Hice – an MHSAA Allen W. Bush Award winner in 2002 for his contributions to high school athletics – has retired after 30 years as his school’s athletic director.

Click to read more, again from the Petoskey News, about Hice’s service to his school and community.

PHOTO: The Bay City All Saints Class of 1974 reunion this weekend will include a showing of the boys basketball team’s Class C championship game win over Detroit Servite.

D1 Final: 'We wanted this matchup'

February 25, 2012

BATTLE CREEK – A week after the 2011 wrestling season ended, Detroit Catholic Central coach Mitch Hancock brought his team’s Division 1 runner-up trophy into the Shamrocks’ wrestling room.

He had one of his seniors paint “1 point” underneath it. The message was clear.

After losing by a point to Oxford in last season’s championship match, DCC was going to do everything possible to make that point up this winter. They did that Saturday – and a whole lot more.

The top-seeded Shamrocks’ avenged that Oxford loss by taking down the Wildcats 47-9 in easily the most lop-sided of Final matches at Kellogg Arena.

“Our goal was to dominate the whole weekend, and we came out here and did it,” DCC 189-pound senior Kevin Beazley said. “We were excited (to face Oxford). We wanted this matchup. That’s what we were hoping for. We wanted to take care of business.”

The championship was DCC’s ninth and second in three seasons. And as for that dominance, consider:

  • The Shamrocks (25-3) outscored their three Finals weekend opponents by a combined score of 172-21.
  • They won 18 matches by pin – for 108 of those points.
  • Beazley wrestled for a combined 1 minute, 42 seconds in his three wins.
  • Sophomore 130-pounder Ken Bade won two matches by pin and the third by technical fall.

“To win by the score of 47-9, I think makes a statement,” Hancock said. “To win 11 out of 14 matches, I think is pretty impressive.”

It’s tough to argue that. But Oxford’s advancement to the Final was impressive in its own right.

Oxford entered Finals weekend as just the No. 6 seed and with half its line-up new coming off last season’s championship. The coach running the show, Brandon Rank, also was in his first season as the head guy after earning a promotion from assistant.

The Wildcats (20-6) knocked out No. 2 seed Brighton and No. 3 seed Davison at Kellogg, after also beating two top-10 teams to win the Regional. Rank said it best: no one expected Oxford to make it to the championship match except for those wearing the team’s navy blue and gold.

“I’m proud of my kids, the way they battled. The two dual meets to get here showed we belonged here,” Rank said. “It was obvious. We belonged here.”

Click for match-by-match results from the Final, Semifinals and Quarterfinals. See more photos at High School Sports Scene.