Meet Mr. Basketball

March 20, 2012

This season's Mr. Basketball stood tall over the rest of the competition -- although not by much over a future Michigan State teammate.

Bay City Western center Matt Costello edged Lansing Sexton guard Denzel Valentine to win the 32nd Mr. Basketball award. It is given annually to the top senior player in the state by the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan and the Detroit Free Press.

Here's Costello's story, from the Free Press' Mick McCabe:

Bay City Western's Matt Costello shares Mr. Basketball award with all who helped him

Today in the MHSAA: 2/2/16

February 2, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Statewide sports action Monday was light, so we’ll focus on a series of stories published today that should pull at your heart strings and put life’s little obstacles in proper perspective.

Good Reads

Mason’s Brendan Brown is fighting for his life, against a form of cancer that has led to the amputation of a leg and soon will mean the removal of parts of his lungs. The Bulldogs junior is fighting, and also continuing a high school bowling career that is inspiring opponents and those in his community – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Also at Mason, Storm Miller might be the strongest athlete at his high school and finished third in a national weight-lifting competition last summer. He’s relying on strength now to fight a rare form of cancer that also initially was found in a leg – Lansing State Journal

Molly Holmes hasn't joined her siblings on the Leroy Pine River wrestling team yet – wait until next year – but she plays junior varsity basketball and is one of 13 kids in a family that loves sports – a family that adopted her after five foster placements and a fight to survive no child should experience – Cadillac News