MHSAA Historian Picks 10 to Remember
August 9, 2016
By Rob Kaminski
MHSAA benchmarks editor
It sounded simple and fun, the theme for the MHSAA's spring issue of benchmarks: a history of MHSAA tournaments.
It certainly was the latter, but simple? Not so much.
There’s no way to do justice to nearly a century’s worth of history in some sports. Complicating matters was the abundance of information and photographs for some, and the scant amount of detailed data and images for others.
MHSAA historian Ron Pesch was given an equally challenging task: recount a “Top 10” list from his days covering various MHSAA Finals. He shares them here and, he adds, they are in no order of favorites.
The Shot: 1986 Class B Boys Basketball Final at Crisler Arena – Saginaw Buena Vista’s Chris Coles’ desperation shot, launched at the buzzer from well beyond half court, dropped through the hoop to give the Knights a 33-32 win over defending champion Flint Beecher in a rematch of the 1985 Class B title game. The shot was Coles’ first of the second half and his only points in the contest.
The Smurfs: 1986 Class A Football Final at the Pontiac Silverdome – The "Smurfs" – Muskegon Coach Dave Taylor's nickname for his small, quick swarming defensive linemen – limited heavily favored Sterling Heights Stevenson to four yards rushing and 73 yards of total offense in a 10-0 win. As a 1979 graduate of Muskegon High School, I was elated.
The Drive: 1989 Class B Football Final at the Pontiac Silverdome – I slid down from the press box into the stands at the Silverdome for the end of this one. With 2:20 remaining, the atmosphere was simply electric, as Farmington Hills Harrison’s lauded quarterback Mill Coleman took the reins with his team down 27-21 to DeWitt. The senior executed a flawless two-minute drill, guiding his team to the DeWitt 9 before scampering into the end zone for the tying points. Steve Hill added his fourth PAT for the lead, then secured the victory with an interception on the next series.
King Kool: 2005 Class B Boys Basketball Final, Breslin Center, East Lansing – David Kool was a flawless 20 for 20 from the free-throw line and scored 43 points as Grand Rapids South Christian downed Muskegon Heights 67-60.
The Parade: 2004 Individual Wrestling Finals, The Palace of Auburn Hills – In 2004, I traveled to Auburn Hills to watch the MHSAA Individual Wrestling Finals for the first time. The pageantry of the Grand March, the skills on display, the roar of the massive crowd, and the ensuing beauty and chaos of a wrestling extravaganza of this scale is truly a sight to see.
A Marathon: 2007 Division 3 Football Final, Ford Field, Detroit – East Grand Rapids and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s ended regulation tied 14-14, and this would turn into a five overtime battle that required an extra hour of play. No previous football playoff game, from Districts up, had ever gone beyond four overtimes. After exchanging field goals, touchdowns, extra points and two-point conversions, East Grand Rapids emerged with a 46-39 victory.
Tawana Towers: 1994 Class A Girls Basketball Final at Kellogg Arena, Battle Creek – Flint Northern, coached by Leteia Hughley and led by 6-4 freshman Tawana McDonald, defeated 1993 runner-up Detroit Martin Luther King, 46-32, for the Class A championship. McDonald batted down an MHSAA-record 10 shots, pulled down 13 rebounds and added five points and seven assists in a stellar performance.
Never Quit: 2008 Division 2 Football Semifinal, Spartan Stadium, East Lansing – Unbeaten, No. 1-ranked and heavily favored Muskegon trailed Davison by 22 late in the third quarter and 16 with less than five minutes to play. In perhaps the greatest comeback in playoff history, Muskegon recovered two onside kicks and scored 19 points in the final 4:31 to escape with a 38-35 victory and its third trip in five years to an MHSAA Final.
MHSAA Legends: 1998-2008 – For 10 years, the MHSAA showcased great teams from the past with their Legends of the Game series. From a historian’s perspective it was a chance to meet and learn more about folks I had often known only from the pages of microfilm. It was quite the treat to see years fall away as coaches, team managers and players reunited, in many cases for the first time after decades apart.
The MHSAA Record Books: Online, 1994 – One of my first efforts as state historian was to expand the record books beyond their primary focus on football, basketball, track & field and swimming & diving. With the arrival of the internet, an enhanced version of the record books was brought online. Coaches and fans were quick to respond with letters and e-mails, happily listing entries that had been “missed.” Soon, five category headings in a sport grew to 20, then to 50 and beyond.
Kids: 2004 Football Finals, Pontiac Silverdome – (OK, this is No. 11 ... consider it an extra point). For the first time, my sons joined me for my annual excursion to Metro Detroit for a Thanksgiving Day football weekend. They got to see the Silverdome before the move of the MHSAA Football Finals to beautiful Ford Field. Future Big Reds, they also got to see their future alma mater win another title.
PHOTOS: (Top) An MHSAA boys basketball tournament game is played at Olympia Stadium in Detroit. (Middle) Flint Northern's Tawana McDonald blocks a shot during the 1994 Class A Final.
Sullivan Returns to Court After Coaching, Sees Game In New Ways as Official
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
February 6, 2024
Gary Sullivan is getting a whole new perspective on basketball.
After 25 years of coaching the game on several levels – including the last six as the boys varsity coach at Blissfield Community Schools – Sullivan has replaced his school logo with stripes and a whistle. He’s enjoying his second basketball career, this time as a referee.
“I’m having a good time,” said Sullivan, who will retire this month as a teacher at Blissfield. “I’ve had fantastic experiences so far. I hope it stays that way.”
Sullivan is an Ohio native, having grown up just across the state line and attended Evergreen High School. After graduating from the University of Toledo, he landed a teaching job at Blissfield. Early on, he took a stab at officiating basketball.
“(Former Blissfield baseball coach) Larry Tuttle got me into it,” he said. “I did a few middle school and some junior varsity games. Then, when I became an athletic director pretty early in my career, I gave officiating up.”
He started coaching along the way, from youth sports to middle school basketball. He took over as the Blissfield varsity coach in 2016-17
After winning seven games over two seasons with an experienced roster, Blissfield rebounded with 12 wins in 2018-19 and 19 in 2019-20 – the most for Blissfield since 1992.
The Royals won Lenawee County Athletic Association and Division 2 District titles in 2021. The LCAA title was the first for the Royals since 2003, and the District championship was the first for the school since 2004. He won 60 games in all and earned two county Coach of the Year awards.
He stepped down as basketball coach two years ago.
It wasn’t long and he was being courted to help tackle the referee shortage in Michigan and across the country. His brother, Terry, is a basketball official in the Jackson area.
“When I was finished coaching, I started thinking about it again,” Sullivan said. “My brother does a ton of officiating in the Jackson area. He told me, ‘Just do it. It will be fun. What else are you going to do in the middle of the winter? You might as well referee.’ It gives you a chance to still be involved in the game.”
Initially, Sullivan figured he’d officiate a few middle school and junior varsity games. Once he got his feet wet and adjusted to life with the whistle, however, he was hooked.
“Last year was my first year – that was my intention, do middle school and some JV, maybe a couple of days a week,” he said. “Before I knew it, they were assigning me games left and right. The more I did it, the more I liked it. By the end of the year, they had the chance to assign a couple of varsity games. No one complained too awful bad, and they gave me a few more.”
With his basketball background, Sullivan found being a referee an outlet for his competitive nature.
“Being around basketball has made it much easier for me than someone who just comes in and, ‘Hey, I’ll try to do this,’ he said. “You are competing with yourself a little to make the right call and keep the game flowing along.”
There have been a few unexpected moments in the transition from coach to referee.
For one, Sullivan said, being on the court is a completely different perspective than being on the sidelines.
“It is so much faster when you have to run and follow that person than it is when you sit there and watch it,” Sullivan said. “When you have to run, get to your primary spot, then keep the peripheral vision going to watch everything, it's much faster, more difficult than I ever anticipated.”
Sullivan said certain aspects of the game are different, too.
“As a coach, I always anticipated what I thought was going to happen,” he said. “In your mind you know someone is going to travel, then as soon as they travel, you are yelling ‘Travel!’ As an official, it is better to be a second late and be correct than a second early and be wrong.
“To me, the toughest transition has been to slow down, wait for the actual play to let itself run its course. Make sure it really was a foul. Think about it. Don’t get in a rush to make the call.”
He’s grateful to other area officials who have helped him learn the tricks of the trade during either formal training sessions or by example. He’s had the chance to review some of his games on film, which has helped him dissect the game from a new angle. He’s also learned from coaching to block out fans and people from the crowd who might disagree with a call.
“I have not had a negative experience yet from a fan,” he said. “As a former coach, I put myself on double probation – I dished out enough that maybe I’m a little more tolerant than some other officials. That’s just my personality at this point.”
This year Sullivan has had a full schedule of middle school games plus about a dozen girls varsity basketball games and a handful of boys varsity games. The most recent was Friday in Ottawa Lake in front of a big crowd watching rivals Whiteford and Summerfield.
“That was a ton of fun – full house, competitive game. I was glad to be a part of it,” Sullivan said.
There’s another bonus to being an official. When the game is over, he can go home and sleep. No more late nights watching film or scouting for the upcoming opponent.
“My cats are much happier,” he said. “I’m not waking up at 4:30 in the morning and watching a film, then going back to bed. It’s fun. I’m enjoying it.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Official Gary Sullivan monitors the action while working a boys basketball game at Ottawa Lake Whiteford. (Middle) Sullivan directs his team from the sideline during his tenure as Blissfield’s boys basketball coach. (Top photo by Mike Doughty; middle photo courtesy of the Adrian Daily Telegram.)