Stripes Worn Well (Muskegon Chronicle)

March 1, 2012

Tim Flahive has battled diabetes for all but a few years of his life. But he's also filled half of those years with high school sports as a longtime official based in the Muskegon area.

The Muskegon Chronicle's Mark Opfermann tells the story of Flahive's final basketball game last week -- and makes us appreciate even more the significant role our officials fill to no fanfare.

A powerful excerpt:

He left the court with no fanfare, took off his whistle and shed a few tears.

But Flahive's story isn’t just about sports and an official leaving the hobby he loves. It’s about courage, getting back up and pressing on.

So, I guess it’s a lot like sports after all. But it’s a whole lot more about life.

That’s because when Flahive took the court last week, he did it with half of his left foot missing.

Click to read on.

Today in the MHSAA: 2/23/26

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

February 23, 2026

1. GIRLS SWIMMING & DIVING Marquette won its fifth-straight MHSAA Final behind four first places from Kaytlin Roell – MHSAA.com

2. BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING The Sentinels ran their Finals championship streak to seven – MHSAA.com

3. BOWLING The Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central girls won their first Regional championship in this sport and also had the singles champion at their Division 4 events – Monroe News

4. BOYS BASKETBALL Flint Elite downed Flint Hamady 55-51 in the Genesee Area Conference championship game – WJRT

5. BOYS BASKETBALL St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran clinched the Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference championship with a 55-54 win over St. Joseph Our Lady of the Lake – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

6. INDIVIDUAL WRESTLING Gavin Woodcox set a Mancelona wins record in advancing from his Division 4 Regional – Traverse City Record-Eagle

7. BOWLING The Division 1 No. 2 Macomb Dakota girls made a late move to get past No. 5 Macomb L’Anse Creuse North and win their Division 1 Team Regional – Macomb Daily

8. COMPETITIVE CHEER Allen Park Cabrini advanced to Regionals for the first time during Division 4 District competition – Southgate News-Herald

9. ICE HOCKEY No. 5 Calumet advanced to a Division 3 Regional Final with a 4-3 win over No. 10 Painesdale Jeffers – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

10. BOWLING Twins Delaney Vanier and Jameson Vanier won Regional titles in Division 2 – Flint Journal

Also of note …

BASKETBALL Petoskey’s girls defeated Alpena  to win the Big North Conference title outright, and Harbor Springs Harbor Light Christian’s boys won the Northern Lakes Conference with a 63-60 win over Burt Lake Northern Michigan Christian – Petoskey News-Review

BOYS BASKETBALL Central Montcalm downed White Cloud to clinch the outright title in the Central State Activities Association White – Greenville Daily News

BOYS BASKETBALL Fruitport capped a repeat Ottawa-Kent Conference Silver title run with a 65-42 win over Grandville Calvin Christian – Grand Haven Tribune

BOYS BASKETBALL Hillman clinched the North Star League Little Dipper co-championship with Posen with a win over Au Gres-Sims – Alpena News

GIRLS BASKETBALL Reed City’s Morgan Hammond reached 1,000 career points during a win over Howard City Tri County – Big Rapids Pioneer