Did You See That? (April 29-May 5)

May 7, 2013

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The resignation of one of Michigan's winningest boys basketball coaches made arguably the biggest headlines during a week that also saw sad news about two more coaches who will be remembered fondly in their respective communities. 

But before we get to those, here's also a look at the story of another coach making his way back from a challenging situation: 

Good Read of the Week

DeWitt welcomed back by his teams: Last Monday's Holland Calvary vs. Holland Freedom Christian baseball doubleheader at Fifth Third Ballpark was more than just a chance to play some big games on a bigger-than-usual stage. The teams also welcomed coach Lanny DeWitt, who coaches basketball at Calvary and baseball and Freedom Christian and is recovering from a stroke suffered March 20. (Holland Sentinel)

Boys Basketball/Volleyball

Keener leaves for Arizona: Detroit Country Day boys basketball coach Kurt Keener – whose 678 victories are second in MHSAA history only to legendary River Rouge coach Lofton Greene – announced he was leaving Country Day after 35 years Friday to move to Arizona, where he will coach a high school team in Scottsdale. Keener led Country Day this winter to its ninth MHSAA boys hoops title. (Oakland Press)

Mona Shores hires veteran leaders: Muskegon Mona Shores announced Wednesday that it hired former Muskegon Community College athletic director and men’s basketball coach Gene Gifford to take over its boys hoops program, and former Fruitport coach Dan Potts to take over the volleyball program. Potts led Fruitport to the 2005 MHSAA Class B championship. (Muskegon Chronicle)

Girls Basketball

Detroit mourns Knott: The Detroit Public School League and its basketball community are mourning the death of recently-retired Detroit Cody girls hoops coach Charles Knott, who was reportedly shot and killed Tuesday. Knott – hired at Cody in 1988 – was a graduate of Detroit Southeastern and also coached softball during his tenure.  (Detroit News)

Softball

D2 powers split: Division 2 No. 4 Coloma and honorable mention Portland split a doubleheader Wednesday. Portland won the first 1-0 before Coloma handed the Raiders their first loss this season, 2-1. (Ionia Sentinel-Standard)

Stevenson surges: Sterling Heights Stevenson moved up to No. 1 in Division 1 this week in part because of a split Saturday against previously top-ranked and now No. 5-Mattawan. (Kalamazoo Gazette)

Boys Golf

Lansing Catholic dominates: The Cougars, keyed by senior Jacob Johnson and junior Brent Marshall, won Friday’s Capital Area Activities Conference Open by nine strokes over East Lansing. The event matches the teams from all four divisions of the CAAC, which currently includes four top 10-ranked teams including Division 2 No. 1 Haslett and Lansing Catholic – which is No. 1 in Division 3.  (Lansing State Journal)

Lakeview cards record: Battle Creek Lakeview shot a 290 during the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Association Championships last week at Island Hills Golf Club in Centreville, breaking the previous team record of 295 shot in 2010. Lakeview is ranked No. 5 in Division 1. (Battle Creek Enquirer)

Girls Track and Field

Bark River-Harris reigns in Central U.P.: The Broncos – who finished ninth at last season’s MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 3 Final – clinched their second Central Upper Peninsula Conference title in three seasons Tuesday by edging Rapid River by nine points and Eben Junction Superior Central by 43. Superior Central was runner-up at that MHSAA Division 3 Final last spring.  (Escanaba Daily Press)

Boys Track and Field

Algonac tops at Muskrat Classic: Algonac not only won the Division 2 portion of its annual invitational, but scored 100 points to top all of the Division 1 schools as well. (Port Huron Times-Herald)

Baseball

Hessbrook throws third no-hitter: Ithaca’s Logan Hessbrook threw not only his third no-hitter of the season Thursday, but his second straight as the Yellowjackets downed St. Charles 15-0 and then 4-0 in a doubleheader. He had seven strikeouts in seven innings. (Saginaw News)

DCC gains big split: Unranked Detroit Catholic Central earned a 9-8 win over No. 3 Birmingham Brother Rice on Thursday before falling 4-1 in the second game. (Mlive Detroit)

Football

Williams heads to Ypsilanti: Lamanzer Williams – who played at the University of Minnesota and also has served as football coach at Kalamazoo Central and Inkster – has resigned as Holland High football coach after one season to become athletic director at the new Ypsilanti Community High School. (AnnArbor.com)

Grand Rapids mourns Julian: Former Grand Rapids West Catholic and Grand Rapids Community College football coach Fred Julian died Saturday after a battle against prostate cancer. The Detroit Pershing grad taught and coached at West Catholic for 16 seasons and also played professionally for the old American Football League’s New York Titans. (Grand Rapids Press)

Wrestling

Boyer nears end at Pennfield: Larry Boyer, who led Battle Creek Pennfield's wrestling team to a 1992 MHSAA title, will retire from the school after this spring and 36 years including the last 13 as athletic director. He also has coached football and track and field. (Battle Creek Enquirer)

Today in the MHSAA: 2/20/19

February 20, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Basketball and skiing dominated headlines from Tuesday as the league championship train continued to rumble through the Lower Peninsula.

1. Skiing: Harbor Springs’ girls won their 11th straight Lake Michigan Conference championship, while Great Northern Alpine’s boys finished a sweep for their title – Petoskey News-Review

2. Girls Basketball: Hamilton claimed its third straight Ottawa-Kent Conference Green title with a big win over second-place Byron Center – Holland Sentinel

3. Boys Basketball: Quincy clinched its third straight Big 8 Conference title with a big win over Bronson – Coldwater Daily Reporter

4. Boys Basketball: Big Rapids Crossroads won its first outright West Michigan D League title since 2011 with a 55-44 win over Bear Lake – Big Rapids News

5. Boys Basketball: Oxford claimed a share of the Oakland Activities Association Blue title by finishing a season sweep of second-place Pontiac – Oakland Press

6. Girls Basketball: Cadillac clinched the Big North Conference title with a 49-39 win over Traverse City West – Cadillac News

7. Boys Basketball: Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern clinched a share of the O-K White title with a big win over rival Forest Hills Central – WOOD TV

8. Boys Basketball: Pellston won a share of the Ski Valley Conference title in defeating Onaway 92-66 – Petoskey News-Review

9. Skiing: Petoskey’s boys and Traverse City Central’s girls finished Big North Conference title runs – Petoskey News-Review

10. Boys Basketball: Muskegon clinched a share of the O-K Black title with a big win over Mona Shores – Local Sports Journal

Also of note …

Bowling: Sturgis’ boys downed Bronson’s 25-5 in a matchup of top-ranked teams in Divisions 2 and 4, respectively – Sturgis Journal

Boys Basketball: Petersburg-Summerfield locked up the outright Tri-County Conference title with a 55-33 win over Sand Creek – Monroe News

Girls Basketball: Fruitport Calvary Christian finished an outright Alliance League title run with a 52-40 win over Kentwood Grand River Prep – Local Sports Journal

Girls Basketball: Coleman downed Breckenridge 49-40 as Jaden Berthume became the first 1,000-point scorer in Comets history – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Boys Basketball: Britton-Deerfield came back to defeat Addison in overtime with Zac Clark scoring his 1,000th point during the win – Adrian Daily Telegram

Boys Basketball: Hale defeated Posen 70-56, but Posen’s Jared Sharpe reached 1,000 career points – Alpena News

Girls Basketball: Matti Rayman went over 1,000 career points as Otsego defeated Comstock 62-50 – WWMT

Girls Basketball: Caitlyn Bruff went over 1,000 career points in New Lothrop’s 50-34 win over Birch Run – Flint Journal

Boys Basketball: From Monday, Ypsilanti Lincoln clinched the Southeastern Conference White title with a 73-65 win over Jackson – Detroit News

Boys Basketball: From Monday, Sturgis downed Edwardsburg 49-40 to claim the Wolverine Conference South championship – JoeInsider.com