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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.)

Softball Stars Finish as Record Breakers

August 6, 2014

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

This spring saw the final high school games for a number of Michigan's softball standouts – including a pair of hitters who now sit atop categories in the MHSAA record book.

Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart’s Sara Hansen finished with single-season records for runs scored and hits, the career hits record and the consecutive game hits record with 91 straight dating back to her freshman season. New Lothrop’s Morgan Rombach crushed the former single-season doubles record and also tied the career record for doubles set in 2010.

Hansen finished with 305 hits, and the game her hitting streak ended – the second of a doubleheader on April 22 – was the only game over her final three seasons that she didn't hit safely at least once. Hansen also finished second in MHSAA history with 252 runs after setting the single-season runs record of 82 in 2012. Her career batting average of .567 sits eighth on the MHSAA list, and she received the Miss Softball position player award as the top senior non-pitcher this spring. She will begin her softball career at Central Michigan University this fall.

Rombach finished this season with 35 doubles – including three doubles in four games this spring – to break the former single-season record of 27. 

Her 78 doubles tied the career mark set by North Branch’s Tonya Nicole Calkins, a 2010 graduate. Rombach will play next season at Mott Community College.

Read on for the rest of this week’s MHSAA record book additions, and click on each heading to see the entire record book for that sport.

Softball


  • Fenton’s 37-5 finish this spring was keyed in part by a number of strong hitters who are now listed. Ellie Cowger’s name was added eight times – for season runs (71), career runs (203), season hits (78), career hits (240), season doubles (16), season stolen bases (62), career stolen bases (213) and consecutive game hitting streak (35). The hitting streak is tied for third longest and her career stolen bases are tied for fourth in MHSAA history. Teammate Katey Cairnduff was added for 71 hits this season including 19 doubles, and she’s on the career doubles list with 34 with one more season to play. Emma Brant also was added for 73 hits this season. As a team, Fenton set an MHSAA record with 512 hits, ranked third with a .434 batting average and also posted high-ranking totals of 91 doubles, 321 RBI and 408 runs along with its 37 wins.

  • Caledonia’s 36-3 season saw a number of entries make the MHSAA record listings. The Fighting Scots set an MHSAA record with 107 team doubles – with Ashley Cross (21), McKenzie Butgereit (18) and Andrea Gerloski (17) all making the individual record listing. Caledonia’s wins, team hits (470) and team batting average (.424) also made lists, with the average ranking fourth all-time and the hits ranking sixth.


  • Holt’s Olivia Cottom also reached the single-season doubles list with 16 this spring. She hit .455 overall for the Rams.


  • Vicksburg’s Shaidan Knapp made the single-season runs list with 68 as a freshman. She finished her first varsity season with a .511 average, five home runs and 35 RBI.



Baseball


  • A pair of Jackson standouts graduated this spring with a number of totals that made MHSAA lists. Tyler Kyro finished his four-year career with 179 hits and 119 stolen bases, while Nathan Bethel had 47 doubles and scored 150 runs over four seasons. Bethel also made the single-season doubles list with 19 this year. As a team, Jackson made the team stolen bases list for the second straight season, this time with 171 to go with 196 steals in 2013. 



Boys Basketball


  • Ann Arbor Skyline’s 6-foot-9 Tristan Wilson finished his career this winter with 106 blocked shots, good to make that single-season list. He averaged 14.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 4.2 blocked shots per game in leading Skyline to a Class A Quarterfinal. He’s signed with Wayne State University for next season.



Girls Basketball

  • Teagan Reeves capped her four-season career at Three Rivers by making the career lists for free throws (346), rebounds (1,058) and blocked shots (355) after posting 322 rebounds and 117 blocks this winter. Her career free throws rank 17th, her rebounds rank 11th and her career blocks rank ninth. She finished third in the Miss Basketball vote this season and will play at Western Michigan University.



Boys Lacrosse


  • A number of top contributors put up record-list totals in leading Detroit Country Day to this season’s Division 2 championship. Emilio Sosa was added for eight goals in a game against Clarkston on May 6, plus 76 goals total this season and 82 points. Cooper Belanger made the single-season assists list with 46 and the points list with 85, while Jack Bergmann graduated with 117 career assists and 241 career points. As a team, Detroit Country Day totaled the most goals in the MHSAA boys record book, 295. 

PHOTOS: (Top) Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart's Sara Hansen, here in 2013, graduated with four MHSAA offensive records. (Middle) New Lothrop's Morgan Rombach set the single-season and tied the career doubles records this spring.