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Breslin Bound: Boys Report Week 6

January 21, 2014

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

This week will mark halftime of another boys basketball season – and the point when teams that surprised early are showing with sustained success that they'll continue to have a say on how the rest of the winter unfolds. 

The top team in this week's list of last week's most impressive definitely fits that description. 

1. Ypsilanti Lincoln (8-0, Class A) – The Railsplitters equaled last season’s win total with arguably their best of a strong start, 60-53 on Friday over rival Ypsilanti.

2. Jackson Lumen Christi (9-0, Class B) – The Titans have risen from solid to elite the last few seasons and have survived four games this winter decided by six or fewer points. 

3. Kalamazoo Central (8-1, Class A) – The Maroons are looking to be back among the Class A contenders with their only loss to improving Lansing Sexton; Kalamazoo Central already has a two-game lead in the Big 16 West.

4. Leroy Pine River (8-0, Class C) – The Bucks did suffer their first loss Monday (in a nonleague game), but still appear on track to repeat as Highland Conference champions. 

5. Detroit Cass Tech (7-1, Class A) – The Technicians aren’t always mentioned in conversations on Detroit’s best, but have been so far this season and beat reigning Class C champion Flint Beecher 75-47 on Saturday.

6. Hillsdale (8-1, Class C) – The Hornets haven’t fallen since opening night to powerhouse Pewamo-Westphalia and face co-Lenawee County Athletic Association leader Dundee on Friday. 

7. Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart (6-1, Class D) – The Irish haven’t lost since opening night and beat a solid Muskegon Catholic Central team by a point Saturday.

8. Howell (7-2, Class A) – The Highlanders look like one of the best teams from Livingston County riding five straight wins including their most recent, a five-pointer over Belleville. 

9. Lansing Sexton (4-5, Class B) – The Big Reds have won four of their last six including impressive nonleague victories over Kalamazoo Central and River Rouge.

10. Buchanan (6-1, Class B) – We saw the Bucks in person Friday as they continued a winning streak that began after falling by just a bucket on opening night.

PHOTO: Detroit Cass Tech, here against Harper Woods Chandler Park earlier this season, has opened 7-1. (Photo courtesy of the Detroit Public School League.)

Erik O. Furseth

In Memoriam: Erik O. Furseth (1930-2022)

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

March 1, 2022

For 50 years, Erik O. Furseth’s voice chimed throughout MHSAA and Michigan State University athletic events. That voice surely will continue to live in the memories of the many who cherished listening to him, as he died Monday evening at the age of 91.

Furseth began as the public-address voice of MHSAA Boys Basketball Finals in 1968 and continued well into his 80s as those games moved from Jenison Field House to other locations across the Lower Peninsula and eventually settled into Breslin Center. He also was the longtime MHSAA football championship game voice going back to their days at the Pontiac Silverdome and provided the narration for MHSAA Baseball Finals for a decade. He announced his last MHSAA event in 2018.

An MSU basketball player during the early 1950s, the Cleveland Heights, Ohio, native played in the Spartans’ first Big Ten game in 1951. A forestry student initially, Furseth switched to communications. He later became a legendary rock-n-roll radio DJ in Lansing, and for a decade hosted Saturday night dances at the Lansing Civic Center that drew 1,000 teenagers a night – and a surprise performance by a young Stevie Wonder.

Furseth’s voice continued to be known particularly by Spartan fans as the homecourt voice for MSU basketball from 1968-2002 and MSU football from 1971-98. For more, see this feature from the MHSAA Basketball Finals programs written in 2013.

Furseth moved from East Lansing to Traverse City about 25 years ago. Click for his obituary and funeral arrangements.