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.
Block Party: 2025 Girls Volleyball Week 4 Report
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
September 16, 2025
A significant reason we've been able to begin reporting on the weekly progress of Michigan's volleyball teams this fall was the addition of Michigan Power Ratings as a contributor to the sport's MHSAA Tournament format for the 2024 season.
MPR is used to seed the top two teams in every District, and requires all to report their schedules and scores throughout the regular season. Those ratings take into account not only a team's success but also its strength of schedule, and MPR is constantly updating as matches finish and results are published to the MHSAA website.
Check out the Michigan Power Ratings (MPR) page for more details, but also note that rankings referred to below instead reflect the latest polls posted by the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association (MIVCA).
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart d. Fowler (25-19, 26-24, 11-25, 25-13) The Irish (11-3-3) were ranked No. 8 last week but have jumped two spots after defeating the formerly top-ranked Eagles (9-3-1).
2. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern d. Byron Center (25-16, 25-17) This Huskies win arguably sticks out most from a Makayla Kohn Memorial Tournament run that also included victories over Forest Hills Central, Traverse City St. Francis, Edwardsburg and host Caledonia, with the 5-0 day sending FHN to 16-5-0 overall.
3. Hudsonville d. Grand Rapids Christian (25-22, 26-28, 25-17, 20-25, 15-12) West Michigan is powerful as usual, and these are two of the best again with Hudsonville (9-2-0) an honorable mention in Division 1 last week and Grand Rapids Christian (7-4-0) No. 2 in Division 2.
4. Northville d. Bloomfield Hills (25-22, 25-20) Although Northville lost to White Lake Lakeland on Saturday, downing Division 1 No. 3 Bloomfield Hills and also Division 2 No. 3 North Branch at the Motor City Power Series showed what the Mustangs (4-2-0) can do.
5. Battle Creek Lakeview d. Plainwell (25-23, 26-24) Lakeview (14-3-4) finished 3-0-3 at its invitational, with sweeps of Portage Northern and Pontiac Notre Dame Prep its other wins.
Watch List
With an eye toward November, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
Bloomfield Hills Marian (23-1-0) Although No. 2 Marian did absorb its first loss of the season last week in three sets against No. 3 Bloomfield Hills, it also has a win over Bloomfield Hills this season and its opponents have won 62 percent of their matches this fall – making the entirety of Marian’s work even more impressive. The Mustangs also have wins over No. 5 Utica Eisenhower and No. 10 Brighton with their first meeting with No. 4 Farmington Hills Mercy set for Wednesday.
Grand Haven (21-3-0) The No. 6 Buccaneers opened this season with a loss to Brighton and have fallen only twice more, to top-ranked Rockford and No. 8 Forest Hills Northern. They also have a win over Forest Hills Northern and this weekend went 6-0 at their Grand Haven Invitational, defeating honorable mention Zeeland East in the championship match after losing the first set. The Bucs also have victories over honorable mention South Lyon East, Grand Rapids Christian and Division 2 No. 6 Grand Rapids Catholic Central.
DIVISION 2
Imlay City (17-4-0) The No. 5-ranked Spartans are coming off a 3-1 Motor City Power Series weekend, with wins over Division 1 Saline and Lake Orion and Division 2 Goodrich and the loss in three sets to South Lyon East. Their only other losses were to Brighton, Utica Eisenhower and Division 3 top-ranked Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central, and they’ve also defeated Division 2 No. 7 Frankenmuth as they’ve powered up their schedule again this fall.
Tecumseh (19-1-0) A two-set loss to Division 3 No. 2 Roscommon is all that’s stood between the reigning Division 2 runner-up and perfection this season, with wins over honorable mention Parma Western and Division 3 No. 4 Kingsley among factors in Tecumseh’s No. 9 ranking this week. The Southeastern Conference power is coming off of a 6-0 run at the Mason invitational during which it didn’t lose a set.
DIVISION 3
Kingsley (21-4-0) After last season’s run to the Division 2 Regional Finals, Kingsley is ranked No. 4 in Division 3 and powering through its schedule with its only losses twice to Roscommon (see below), once to Tecumseh (see above) and to Flat Rock. The Stags finished 5-0 at their invitational over the weekend, highlighted by a two-set win over No. 9 McBain that included a 31-29 opener. Kingsley also has a win over Essexville Garber, which ended its season a year ago, an earlier three-set win over McBain and two-set victories over Division 3 honorable mention Manton and Division 4 No. 9 Onekama.
Roscommon (23-1-0) The Bucks have gone from losing their District opener in 2022 to reaching the Regional Finals the following season and Quarterfinals last fall, and they’re on the move again. Roscommon’s only loss this fall came in three sets to No. 7 Traverse City St. Francis on Sept. 4, and they have the wins over Kingsley noted above plus two more over McBain and Tecumseh. The Bucks won all five of their matches at Saturday’s Grayling Invitational comfortably.
DIVISION 4
Crystal Falls Forest Park (14-1-0) After reaching the Division 4 Semifinals in 2022 and 2023, Forest Park was stopped by Hancock in a Regional Final last season. The Trojans avenged that loss Saturday with a 25-17, 25-17 win over the Bulldogs in the championship match of The Rock Invitational at Gladstone. Only Division 3 No. 10 Saginaw Valley Lutheran has put up even 20 points against Forest Park this fall – once in the Trojans’ two-set win at the season opening Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart Invitational, and then one more time when Forest Park fell to Valley Lutheran in that tournament’s semifinals.
Suttons Bay (11-0-0) After finishing 17-13 a year ago, Suttons Bay has almost equaled that win total over this season’s first month. The Norsemen won the McBain Northern Michigan Christian Invitational to start this fall and most recently have four-set wins over Buckley and Frankfort, defeating the latter Monday after losing the first set. Onekama next week and Traverse City St. Francis next month will be among biggest tests as Suttons Bay continued to build on its fast start.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these matches and tournaments coming up:
Wednesday – Farmington Hills Mercy (5-1-1) at Bloomfield Hills Marian (23-1-0) – These rivals met three times last season, with Mercy sweeping all three matches.
Thursday – Calumet (4-3) at Hancock (12-2-2) – The Copper Kings swept both matches between these Western Peninsula Athletic Conference rivals last season.
Saturday – Cristi Curtis Memorial Invitation at Byron Center – The Division 1 honorable mention Bulldogs (14-3) will welcome a solid field that includes Division 2 honorable mention Edwardsburg (12-6), Fruitport (11-4-1), Mattawan (8-8) and Grand Rapids West Catholic.
Saturday – Battle by the Bay at Essexville Garber – The Dukes (12-6-2) will host Clare, Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart (11-3-3) and Beal City (14-2).
Monday – Flat Rock (16-4) at Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central (12-1-1) – The Rams haven’t gotten a lot of attention during their successful start, but could earn it with another impressive showing.
PHOTO A Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart setter passes to a teammate during the Irish's match against Carson City-Crystal earlier this month. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)