Standouts Swat to New Blocks Records
May 5, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
By nature of sports, we usually celebrate those who score the most points.
But this basketball season allowed us to marvel at two of the best ever at keeping opponents from getting to the hoop.
Kalamazoo Central senior Asia Robeson became the leading shot-blocker in MHSAA girls basketball history this winter, finishing an incredible four-year career with 723. On the boys side, Muskegon junior Deyonta Davis set the MHSAA boys single-season record with 199 blocks in helping the Big Reds to their first Class A title since 1937.
The 6-foot-4 Robeson and former Grandville standout Alyssa DeHaan (718 blocks from 2002-05) are the only female players in MHSAA girls history to block more than 600 shots. Robeson’s 228 blocks as a junior rank third for one season and her 227 as a sophomore are fourth. She was a Miss Basketball Award finalist and will continue her career this fall at Auburn University.
Davis, a 6-9 center, had 16 blocks in a game twice and also made the single-season rebounds list with 380 – averaging 13.6 per game – and scored 15 points per game.
Click for the entire boys basketball record listing, and see below for more recent entries to the girls basketball and other sports’ listings.
Girls Basketball
- Novi Franklin Road Christian’s Kristen Massey finished her high school career this winter as one of the leading scorers in girls basketball history with 2,032 points – she’s one of 27 to score at least 2,000, and this total doesn't include the 190 she scored on the school’s varsity as an eighth grader. She’s also the most frequently successful free throw shooter, tying for the career free throw record of 697 (on 926 attempts; .752 percentage) after following her season record of 213 in 2012-13 with 209 more in 2013-14. She made 52 more as an eighth-grader, but again, those were not counted toward her high school career total.
Football
- Two Ottawa Lake Whiteford players were added for seasons filled with interception return touchdowns, but 20 years apart. Troy Goetz had four scoring returns in 1987 and sits second on that MHSAA list, with Josh DuPree among those tied for third after bringing three opponents’ passes all the way back in 2007.
- Former Almont kicker Peter Deppe moved into the second spot on career extra points with 159 (in 170 attempts) he drilled during a four-year varsity career from 2010-13. He also is on the single-season list with 63 in 65 attempts as a sophomore. He currently punts for Northern Illinois University.
- Hazel Park’s Tom Stephens returned a punt 96 yards for a touchdown against Warren Fitzgerald on Sept. 13, 1963, to tie him for eighth-longest in that category. His points contributed to Hazel Park’s 24-19 opening-night win.
Hockey
- Two of the longest games in MHSAA history were played this season. Joining the 103-plus minute Traverse City West win on Feb. 24 in the record book is a 91-minute, 15-second Grand Rapids Catholic Central win over Flint Powers Catholic in a Division 3 Quarterfinal on March 5. GRCC scored the go-ahead goal 15 seconds into the sixth overtime to clinch a 2-1 victory. The win came eight years and one day after GRCC beat Mattawan in six overtimes in what before this season stood as the fourth-longest game.
Boys Soccer
- Tyler Deese gave Corunna its winning goal in an 8-0 win over Portland on Sept. 17 only eight seconds into the first half – making it the second-fastest goal scored from the start of a game in MHSAA boys soccer history.
Softball
- Morgan Rombach opened May with a record-setting performance that earned her two lines in the home runs listings. The New Lothrop standout hit three home runs in a win over Burton Bentley, in her first, second and fourth at bats. She is one of 18 tied for second on the single-game home runs list and one of a larger group of players who have hit at least two in consecutive at bats. She also had a single in her third at bat of the game.
Volleyball
- Corunna freshman Meredith Norris kicked off her varsity career with plenty of points this fall. The 6-2 hitter made the MHSAA record book with 697 kills, 30th all-time for a single season, and also made the single-match list twice with 34 and 33 kills.
PHOTOS: Muskegon’s Deyonta Davis, far right, defends the rim during Muskegon’s Class A Final win over Bloomfield Hills. (Inset) Kalamazoo Central’s Asia Robeson blocks a shot. (Photos courtesy of HighSchoolSportsScene.com and Auburn University, respectively.)
Vassar Star Leaves Multi-Sport Legacy
April 20, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Vassar’s Tyler Humbert finished outstanding football and basketball careers during the 2015-16 school year, making the MHSAA record books in both sports.
Humpert quarterbacked the Vulcans’ football team to one of its most successful seasons in school history in 2015, an 8-2 finish with a return to the playoffs after two seasons away. He made the MHSAA records with 445 passing yards in a 56-21 win over Cass City in Week 6, and for 2,197 passing yards and 153 completions total over those 10 games.
In addition to his football contributions, the 6-foot-7 Humpert finished a four-season basketball career in 2016 with 733 rebounds over 86 games, good to make the MHSAA career list in that category. He averaged 8.5 per game over his career in addition to 10.3 ppg. He currently plays football at Saginaw Valley State University.
Click to see the football and boys basketball record books in full and the headings below to see all listings for more sports with recent additions: baseball, girls basketball, football, boys and girls soccer, softball and volleyball.
Baseball
Birmingham Groves finished 31-10 this season, making the MHSAA record book with a team total of 48 times hit by pitches. Twelve players were hit by a pitch at least once, with a team individual high of 12 HBPs.
Girls Basketball
Fruitport Calvary Christian and Muskegon Heights Academy combined on Feb. 12, 2015, for the seventh-highest scoring game in MHSAA history. Calvary Christian won 103-63, and those 166 combined points also ranked as the highest-scoring game since 2008.
Football
Gaylord St. Mary became the first team in MHSAA history to intercept seven passes in one game, doing so in a 30-6 win over Bay City All Saints on Sept. 1. Four players contributed to the total: Brady Hunter had three interceptions, Alex Cherry had two, and Andrew Greif and Drew Long each had one.
Boys Soccer
Lincoln Alcona junior Conner McCoy upped his MHSAA single-season saves record this past fall while also making the single-game saves list twice. McCoy, who formerly set the single-season record with 391 as a sophomore in 2015, had 401 saves in 24 games this season. Along the way, McCoy had 35 saves in a District win over Saginaw Nouvel and 34 in a loss to Tawas early in the regular season.
Girls Soccer
Kylie Lanser earned McBain Northern Michigan Christian’s first entry into the girls soccer record book with 30 goals in 18 games as a senior last spring. She had a game high of four.
Softball
Schoolcraft’s Lydia Goble amassed nine record book listings over her first two seasons, placing her name in five categories. Most notably, she had eight RBI in a game as a freshman in 2015, tying for eighth most on that list, and her 73 RBI in 35 games last spring as a sophomore rank 10th all-time for one season. Goble plays shortstop and also is listed for 17 doubles and 12 triples as a freshman and 13 home runs a year ago.
Volleyball
Adair Cutler and Paige Porter joined the Lansing Christian varsity during their freshman seasons and finished their careers in the fall among the state’s top offensive achievers. Porter had 589 kills in her final campaign to make the single-season list and 1,464 kills to make the career list in that category. Adair made the single-match assists list three times (with a high of 54 in a 3-2 Regional Semifinal win on Nov. 8) and the career list with 3,300 – which ranks 17th since the start of rally scoring in 2004-05. Cutler also made the single-match aces list with 10 three times, the season aces list twice (with a high of 156 as a junior) and finished with 396 career aces, which rank seventh all-time. Cutler has committed to continue her volleyball career at Hope College, and Porter has signed with Spring Arbor.
Reese Weslow’s 31 kills in a five-set win over Lowell were enough to make the single-match list and helped Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central secure first place in the Ottawa-Kent Conference White. Weslow is a senior.
The Schuitema sisters have owned the setter spot at Grant this entire decade, and both now have entries in the MHSAA record book as well. Both were added for single-match assists – current senior Sierra Schuitema with a high of 57, and 2014 graduate Summer Schuitema with a high of 46. Sierra made the single-season list in that category with 1,302 this past fall, and both made the career assists list with 3,987 over four seasons for Sierra and 2,524 over three seasons for Summer. Summer also made the single-match aces list with 12 in 2012 and both made the single-season aces list – Summer with a high of 151 in 2012 and Sierra with a high of 115 in 2015. They couldn’t get closer on the aces career list; Sierra had 388 and Summer 387. Sierra’s career assists rank fifth since the start of rally scoring, and the sisters rank eighth and ninth, respectively, in career aces. Summer Schuitema plays for Campbell University in North Carolina. Sierra has signed with Cedarville University in Ohio.
PHOTO: Vassar’s Tyler Humpert looks for an open receiver during the Vulcans’ 2015 playoff game against Ithaca. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)