Bellaire, McBain Follow Longtime Leaders

March 22, 2016

By Dennis Chase
Special for Second Half

TRAVERSE CITY – Stan Sexton and Bruce Koopman have been down this road before.

When Bellaire rallied to edge Buckley last Wednesday, it was the Eagles’ sixth MHSAA Class D Regional basketball championship since 2000 under Sexton.

When McBain knocked off Tawas that same night, it was the Ramblers’ sixth Class C Regional title since 2002 under Koopman.

Now, the two coaches are one win away from leading their programs to a fourth Final Four appearance at Michigan State’s Breslin Center.

In tonight’s Quarterfinals, Bellaire (24-1) faces Fulton (18-6) at Traverse City West while McBain (25-0) takes on Ishpeming Westwood (12-12) at Petoskey.

It should come as no surprise that McBain and Bellaire are still in the mix this last week of the season.

The Ramblers graduated just two seniors off a 22-3 squad that lost in the Quarterfinals to Boyne City last March.

“Having gone through those wars last year and having that experience back has paid huge dividends,” Koopman said.

Sexton can say the same. He returned a solid nucleus from a 19-4 team that lost in the Districts to Boyne Falls.

“We had a good team last year,” Sexton said, “but we could get rattled in tight games. We’ve really developed some poise and confidence this season.”

That was evident Wednesday when the Eagles withstood the pressure to pull out a hard-fought 61-57 victory over Buckley.

“That’s coach’s favorite word - poise, poise, poise,” junior Gabe Meriwether said after the victory. “He wants us to be calm and collected (on the court), to play stable and confident basketball. That’s what we did, and that’s why we won.”

McBain had it a little easier, downing Tawas 63-36 with point guard Garett Gugle leading the way with 19 points. He hit five 3-pointers.

Now, Gugle said, the Ramblers need to stay focused. And the sting from last season’s Quarterfinal loss should act as motivation, he said.

“At this point, everyone is even,” Gugle said. “They’re (Westwood) undefeated in the postseason, we’re undefeated.”

Playing on the big stage in March has become a tradition for both Bellaire and McBain.

The Ramblers won the 2002 Class C title with a lineup that included current Ferris State basketball coach Andy Bronkema, former NFL defensive end Dan Bazuin, and Trent Mulder, an all-Great Lakes Interscholastic Athletic Conference pitcher at Northwood.

This, however, is Koopman’s first team to reach the Quarterfinals undefeated. The 2002 squad lost two games – to eventual Class D champ Wyoming Tri-unity Christian and to Class A Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern – in a holiday tournament at Cornerstone University. Those losses, Koopman said, turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

“We never lost after that,” Koopman said. “That taught us we had to be tougher, more physical. Had we not played in that tournament, I don’t think we would have won (the Class C title).”

So how does this team compare to the 2002 squad?

“I don’t know if you can compare teams because there are so many variables,” he said. “I can tell you this, if this team wins another game or two, regardless if they win it all, they deserve to be mentioned in the top two or three during my time here.”

Bellaire came as close as a team can come to winning an MHSAA crown in 2005, only to be denied by Detroit Rogers 71-68 on a miraculous four-point play with 1.6 seconds left in overtime. The Eagles, led by brothers Brandon and Michael McClary, reached the Final Four three times in a four-year span. The McClarys went on to play at Olivet College where Michael became the school’s all-time leading scorer.

The players on this Bellaire team still remember those days.

“When we were younger we looked up to the McClarys when those teams were making their Breslin runs,” senior leader Hayden Niepoth said. “We saw that, and now we want to copy it.”

“They’ll ask, ‘Are we as good as the team of ’05?’” Sexton added. “We (coaches) have to say we don’t have any McClarys on this team, but we have some very good basketball players. We have that important trait the ’05 team had – we’re a team. We play together, we support each other.”

Sexton, who was inducted into the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan Hall of Fame in 2011, is in his 27th season as the varsity coach. He did a three-year stint from 1978-81, stepped down and then took the job again in 1992. During that span, he’s posted a 493-139 record, a 78 percent win mark.

Koopman is finishing his 22nd season as McBain’s varsity coach. He’s also won 78 percent of his games, compiling a 407-116 record.

To make it even sweeter, Sexton, 74, and Koopman, 50, are coaching at the same schools they attended.

Sexton’s backstory, though, is quite different than most. He did not play sports in high school. And he certainly wasn’t thinking of a coaching career until Bellaire’s head basketball coach Ed Stoneburner approached him one day at school.

“I was teaching fourth grade at the time,” Sexton recalled. “Ed came up and said, ‘I need a fifth and sixth grade basketball coach.’ I said, ‘I don’t know anything about it.’ He said, ‘That’s all right. We’ll teach you.’”

That was in 1971. To this day, Stoneburner’s influence is part of Sexton’s philosophy.

“What I really took from him was to play this game aggressively,” Sexton said. “Play it hard, play it with intensity. That’s what we preach and I think it shows, especially in our defense.”

Sexton also watched and learned from some of the area’s best coaches – Maple City Glen Lake’s Don Miller, Leland’s Larry Glass, Traverse City’s Jim Anderson and Central Lake’s Gary Johnson, among others.

“I’d pay my two or three dollars to get in, and I’d watch these guys coach,” Sexton said.

He would also pore over the boxscores that were published in the newspaper in those days. One line that caught his attention – team fouls.

“I noticed Glen Lake would always have 8, 9, 10 fouls and the other team would have 18, 19, 20 – with guys fouling out,” Sexton said. “Fouling is poor defense. When you’re sending people to the line you’re giving them a 70 percent chance (to score). That’s what impressed me about Glen Lake. You could see the discipline in Don’s teams.”

Sexton, who also coached girl’ varsity basketball for two years and the baseball team for nearly 20, is aided by a veteran coaching staff that includes Paul Koepke, Jeff Smith and George Mason. All three have been with him for years.

“Great coaches,” he said. “They bring a lot to the game.”

Koopman, meanwhile, played basketball at McBain under Hall of Fame coach Bruce Brumels in the early 1980s. After graduating, he spent a year working in a factory in Cadillac before enrolling at Central Michigan University.

Four years later in 1989, it was Brumels, then the principal, who hired Koopman as a teacher.

“I was very fortunate,” he said. “Everything fell into place.”

Koopman coached junior varsity basketball for five years under Steve Anderson before taking over the boys varsity program in 1994. In addition, he coached girls basketball from 1990-98 and again from 2003-07. He stepped down soon after the girls season switched to the winter. At that time, he also took on the boys JV coaching duties to go with the varsity.

Koopman cites two reasons for his program’s continued success – community support and great players.

“Let’s be honest,” he said. “Great players make good coaches.”

Perhaps another reason is that McBain starts initiating interest in basketball early on. Right after Koopman was hired, the school instituted a co-ed basketball program for elementary students in grades 3-6. It runs seven consecutive Saturdays, starting in January.

“We had close to 140 kids involved this year,” Koopman said.

The elementary program dovetails into the middle school, the feeder program for the high school. Interest has remained strong. Koopman said 29 players tried out for JV basketball this season.

Koopman – who was mentored by Brumels, Anderson and former girls coach Dale Marie DeZeeuw – brings an “old school” approach to coaching. His practices start with defensive drills, followed by rebounding drills.

 “We have some practices where that’s all we do,” Gugle said.

After that comes the offensive drills, where once again discipline is required.

“I’m all about patience, working the ball and looking for that good shot,” Koopman said.

His players get the point.

“He likes the basics,” Gugle said. “Nothing fancy.”

Craig Sterk, a 6-foot-7 junior who “plays everywhere,” leads the Ramblers, averaging 15.2 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. Cole Powell, a 6-3 senior, and Logan Eling, a 5-10 junior, average better than 14 points per outing. Powell is in his fourth year on varsity.

“We have experience, balance and depth,” Koopman said. “We defend pretty well. We rebound pretty well.”

Gugle is in his second season running the point. That experience is invaluable, Koopman said.

“That’s another reason we’re better,” he said. “Whatever teams throw at us doesn’t faze him. He handles it and get us into our offense. He doesn’t look to score, but (Wednesday night) they were leaving him open and he was popping ‘em.”

It’s been an exciting winter for Koopman. His oldest daughter, Michaela, played on the girls varsity team, which advanced to the Regional Finals. His son, Jarrett, is a sophomore on the boys varsity.

The Ramblers were taken to the wire twice during the regular season – both in games outside the Highland Conference. A Jimmy Schneider 3-pointer at the buzzer beat Big Rapids, a Class B quarterfinalist, on the road early in the season. Then a Sterk 3-pointer in the waning seconds forced overtime in a late season win at Frankfort.

Bellaire’s only setback came early in the season to a red-hot East Jordan team, which won the Lake Michigan Conference.

The Eagles ran the table in the Ski Valley, handing Johannesburg-Lewiston its only two regular-season losses. Bellaire also downed Onaway, a Class D quarterfinalist, twice. The Eagles’ tournament resume includes wins over Boyne Falls, Frankfort and Buckley.

“It means a lot (to win a Regional),” Niepoth said. “But we’re not done. We don’t want to just get to the quarters, we want to get to the Breslin, and we want to win at the Breslin. That’s our goal. We just have to keep working and getting better every day.”

Meriwether and Niepoth are the catalysts for the Eagles, averaging 18 and 14 points per game, respectively. Niepoth is also the team’s defensive stopper and assists leader.

“He plays both ends of the court,” Sexton said.

Jamal Lockhart provided some big plays in the win over Buckley, scoring 14 in the low post.

But that’s history now. It’s all about the present and tonight’s Quarterfinals.

“Anybody can beat anybody at this stage,” Meriwether said. “It’s survive and advance.”

Dennis Chase worked 32 years as a sportswriter at the Traverse City Record-Eagle, including as sports editor from 2000-14. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.

PHOTOS: (Top) Gabe Meriwether dunks for Bellaire against Fife Lake Forest Area, while McBain’s Cole Powell works for position in the post against Tawas. (Middle) McBain coach Bruce Koopman, far left, stands with his team after its Regional championship win. (Below) Bellaire’s Hayden Niepoth drives to the hoop against Mancelona. (Bellaire photos courtesy of Michael Smith and The Antrim Review; McBain photos courtesy of Marc Vieau and The Cadillac News.)

Bedford Boys Hoops Off to Best Start in Decade Under Alum Bollin

By Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com

January 24, 2023

TEMPERANCE – The Bedford Mules are kicking up a special boys basketball season in southeast Michigan.

Southeast & BorderTemperance Bedford is off to a 10-1 start, the best for the school in a decade. Third-year coach Jordan Bollin is happy to bring a winner to his alma mater.

“Bedford has had good teams here and there and good players and coaches, but it never seemed to be anything that was sustained,” Bollin said. “I knew it was going to be a challenge.”

Bollin played varsity basketball at Bedford, graduating in 2006. He went into coaching almost immediately after high school and was named head coach at Dundee in 2015. After 68 wins in five seasons, Bollin was named head coach at Bedford.

“I talked it over with my wife, with the athletic director, with (assistant coach) Mark Hubbard,” Bollin said. “I always, in the back of my mind, thought that I would want to come back to Bedford and coach one day. I wanted to do it while I was still relatively a young coach who still had the passion for all of this. It’s the right time.

“I felt like, leaving Dundee, I had an opportunity to build something myself.”

Wrestling has been the winter sports king at Bedford for decades as the Mules spent years at the top of Class A/Division 1 wrestling circles. The boys basketball team has enjoyed its moments, such as a three-year span when it went 18-6, 18-5 and 14-8 across 2012-2014, but there have been down years, too. Various coaches have tried their hand at the helm, including former NBA player Dennis Hopson.

Bollin himself played for coach Bill Ryan, who led the boys team for seven years but has found ultra-success with Bedford’s girls basketball program.

Bollin knew that when he took over the varsity, he wanted to incorporate the entire program.

“No program is one coach,” he said.

He brought multiple assistants with him from Dundee, including longtime Monroe County coach Hubbard, a Bedford graduate, and former head coach in the county himself. The two have formed a bond.

“We talk every day on the phone before practice,” Bollin said. “We go to lunch once or twice a week. He’s a mentor and someone I talk to all the time.”

Bedford has posted wins over a variety of teams this season, from Southeastern Conference teams like Dexter and Monroe to Ottawa Lake Whiteford, Adrian Lenawee Christian and Stockbridge. Ten of the Mules’ final 11 games are against SEC schools, including two against 8-3 Saline.

Bedford coach Jordan Bollin.Bollin knows the toughest is yet to come.

“We get Ann Arbor Huron at home,” he said. “We lost to them by three on the road. We had the ball, down two in the final seconds and had the ball and were called for a travel. It was close.”

Six-foot-7 Andrew Hollinger is the team’s top scorer and rebounder. Four years ago, he played five games on the varsity, then was a starter in Bollin’s first season. He’s now closing in on 1,000 career points and is one of the best rebounders in southeast Michigan.

“He’s phenomenal,” Bollin said. “He plays so hard, and he’s a great kid. He’s a 4.0 student and very humble. You’ll never hear him talk about himself; it’s always about the team.”

While he’s proven to be a great scorer and free throw shooter this season, Hollinger is also a relentless rebounder.

“I’ve always been one of the tallest out on the court, so I know that I can really use that to my advantage in order to rebound,” he said. “Once the shot goes up, I try to chase down the ball or box someone out in order to give my team the chance to get the ball back.”

Bollin said Hollinger’s intensity shows.

“I use him as an example to the other kids all of the time,” Bollin said.

Twice this season Hollinger has set the school record for most consecutive free throws made in a game. He went 15-for-15 once and 16-for-16 another time. Hollinger averaged a double-double last year at 18.2 points and 10.8 rebounds and has topped those numbers through 11 games this season.

Hollinger brings the Mules up court.Hollinger is one of eight seniors on the roster. Like Bollin, he’s a homegrown talent, having made his way up from the Bedford Community Education program in the fourth grade to middle school, JV and varsity.

“I fell in love with basketball when I played in the local community ed program,” he said.

Hollinger said all of the seniors had a feeling this was going to be a great season.

“I think the success from our team comes from how hard we play every game and how much experience we have,” he said. “We knew coming into the season that we were in pretty much every game the season before and just had to find a way to start winning games.”

Bedford won six games during the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 season and four a year ago – losing several games that came down to the final minute. Bollin has matched the win total in those first two years at Bedford in two months.

Ironically, Bollin said, it was the 2020-21 season during which most of this year’s seniors learned to play varsity basketball.

“We had so many games where we had players out for COVID that we had to bring a lot of them up to the varsity to play,” he said. “A lot of the seniors this year got a ton of playing time that year.”

The other current seniors include Griffin Wolf, Tommy Huss, Jimmy Fackelman, Simon Eighmey, Caleb Kochendoerfer, Evan Campbell, and Leo Wagenhauser. They are complimented by a couple sophomores and juniors plus freshman Carsen Behnke.

Hollinger is hopeful the first-half success will continue.

“We all believed in each other in the offseason, and that belief still continues through the start of the season,” he said, deflecting any attention from himself. “I love how basketball is a team game and how you need the whole team to be playing hard in order to win. It’s not just about one person, but it’s about everyone.”

Bollin said he could sense this summer that this season had the makings of being something special.

“I thought we’d have a nice season, but, no, I wasn’t expecting 10-1,” he said. “But, in the summer, I knew when everyone was there and together, we were tough to beat.”

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) Bedford’s Andrew Hollinger works for an opening while surrounded by Monroe defenders last season. (Middle) Bedford boys basketball coach Jordan Bollin. (Below) Hollinger brings the Mules up court during a 63-43 win Friday. (Action photos by Tom Hawley and Mike Doughty, respectively, and courtesy of the Monroe News.)