Hoops on Film: 1973 Class C Boys Final
June 22, 2015
By John Johnson
MHSAA communications director
Straight out of the dusty tin canisters where they’ve sat for a long time, some of the classic basketball championship games of years past will be featured for 10 weeks this summer on MHSAA.tv’s Hoops On Film Series.
From the late 1940’s to the mid 1970’s the Michigan High School Athletic Association shot portions of the action at its basketball finals on 16mm film. The films were loaned out, primarily to the participating schools, to help them relive the moments of playing in a championship game.
While many of the old films have wandered astray over time, about 60 games still exist in the MHSAA archives. Anyone in possession of such a film is encouraged to contact John Johnson at the MHSAA Office ([email protected]) to discuss having the film converted to a digital format.
Some of the films only have portions of the second half and the postgame awards; some have most of the action. None of the films have sound. They range in length from 10 minutes to about an hour. A new film will be posted online each Monday beginning June 22, through the week of August 17.
Click below for the first installment of the Hoops On Film series and to check out the game recap courtesy of MHSAA Historian Ron Pesch of Muskegon.
Detroit East Catholic 50, Saginaw St. Stephen 49 – 1973 Class C Boys Final - With four ticks remaining on the clock, Larry Merchant's 18-foot jumper from left of the key gave underdog Detroit East Catholic a 50-49 win over top-ranked Saginaw St. Stephen in Class C. Merchant, who scored 10 of his 14 points in the first half, gave the Chargers a 48-47 lead with just over a minute to play, but a pair of free throws by Elijah Coates pushed St. Stephen out front 49-48 with 45 seconds left.
Today in the MHSAA: 6/5/23
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 5, 2023
2. TRACK & FIELD/GIRLS TENNIS The busiest Saturday of the MHSAA school sports calendar again saw Finals for 14 divisions of track & field and four of Lower Peninsula girls tennis provide this time 19 team champions, with a tie in Upper Peninsula Division 3 girls track. We covered all 18 events – MHSAA.com
2. BASEBALL Unranked Lake Orion enjoyed the most major upset of the weekend, downing top-ranked Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 3-2 in a Division 1 District Final – Cold Weather Bats
3. GIRLS SOCCER No. 3 Rochester Hills Stoney Creek delivered top-ranked Rochester High its lone loss, 3-1, in a Division 1 District Final – Oakland Press
4. BASEBALL Unranked Midland Dow also did its part to shake up Division 1 with a 2-1 upset of No. 2 Bay City Western in a District Final – Midland Daily News
5. SOFTBALL Division 2 top-ranked Gaylord won a matchup of favorites, 13-1 over No. 2 Escanaba before finishing the District title run with a 10-0 win over Cheboygan – Petoskey News-Review
6. GIRLS LACROSSE Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern/Eastern repeated as a Division 1 Regional champ with a 14-11 win over Rockford – FOX 17
7. BASEBALL No. 12 Birmingham Seaholm edged No. 4 Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice 4-3 in a Division 1 District Final – Oakland Press
8. BASEBALL Unranked Grandville also repeated as a District champ with a 5-3 upset of No. 9 Jenison in Division 1 – Grand Rapids Press
9. SOFTBALL/BASEBALL The Lansing Waverly softball team and Mason baseball team celebrated their first District championships – Lansing State Journal
10. SOFTBALL Royal Oak also was a first-time District champion with its 20-9 clinching win over Berkley – Oakland Press