Hoops Finals Tickets on Sale Monday
March 1, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Tickets for the Michigan High School Athletic Association Girls and Boys Basketball Finals will go on sale Monday, March 2, from the Breslin Center Ticket Office.
Both can be ordered online by clicking the "Online Orders" link on either the “Girls Basketball” or “Boys Basketball” pages at the MHSAA Web Site. They also can be ordered over the phone by calling (800) 467-8283. Tickets will be sold to walk-up customers from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. on March 2 at the Breslin Center, and then sold to walk-up customers at Jenison Field House beginning March 3 until the first day of each respective tournament.
Girls Semifinals tickets cost $8 per session, with a $3 service charge then applied to each order. Finals tickets cost $10 per session with the $3 service charge then applied (only one service charge is applied if Semifinals and Finals tickets are purchased together). All girls basketball tickets are for general admission. The Girls Basketball Semifinals are March 19-20, with all four Finals on March 21.
Boys Semifinals tickets also cost $8 per session plus the $3 service charge and $10 per Finals session plus the service charge. Boys Basketball Semifinals and Finals tickets are reserved in Breslin Center’s lower bowl, with general admission for the upper deck. The Boys Basketball Semifinals are March 26-27, with all four Finals on March 28.
For both the Girls and Boys Semifinals, each session includes both games for one class. There are two Finals sessions; the Class D and A championship games are one session, and the second includes the Class C and B championship games. An all-Finals ticket good for attendance of all four championship games also is available at a cost of $20.
Tri-unity Christian Finishes Season-Long Mission to Return to Top of D4
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 16, 2024
EAST LANSING — Wyoming Tri-unity Christian may have the nickname Defenders, but for the last year “Avengers” might have been more appropriate.
Ever since losing the 2023 Boys Basketball Division 4 Final by two points to Munising, Tri-unity Christian was on a mission to get back on top of the division it had ruled the previous year.
“That was our motivation for the whole year,” Tri-unity Christian senior Owen Rosendall said. “We all thought about the (loss) every other day. It was living rent-free in our heads.”
Consider that loss avenged, and now the Defenders will get to spend the next year trying to be defenders of another Division 4 title following a 79-59 win over Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart on Saturday at Breslin Center.
In winning its sixth Finals title under coach legendary Mark Keeler, Tri-unity Christian put up a brilliant offensive display that carved up what’s been a great Sacred Heart defense all year.
Tri-unity Christian shot 60.9 percent from the field (28 of 46) overall and 41.2 percent from 3-point range (7 of 17).
The big difference was the second quarter, which saw Tri-unity Christian score 22 points and turn a 17-14 lead after the first quarter into a 39-25 lead at halftime.
The Defenders went 14 of 24 from the field overall and 4 of 10 from 3-point range during the first half.
Tri-unity Christian kept up the pressure in the third quarter, taking a 53-34 lead with 4:11 to go in the third and a 64-43 advantage into a fourth quarter that was more of a coronation than anything.
Senior Jordan VanKlompenberg led five players in double figures with 19 points. Rosendall scored 14 points, junior Keaton Blanker had 11 points and 12 assists, senior Akais Giplaye scored 11 points and senior Wesley Kaman added 10 points to lead the Defenders’ balanced attack.
“I think we had a little bit of an advantage with length,” Keeler said. “That really freed us up a little bit. They stayed with their man-to-man, so we were in a lot of rhythm. We got to run a lot of offensive sets we hadn’t done in all these games because right away other teams will go to zones. It was fun executing and see some of (the plays) work.”
Sacred Heart (26-3) advanced to the Final for the first time since 2006 and was seeking its first title since winning the Class C crown in 1975, but couldn’t solve Tri-unity Christian for a second time this year.
Tri-unity Christian defeated Sacred Heart 71-41 in its second game of the season.
Saturday was only the third time this winter an opponent scored more than 60 points on the Irish.
“When you look at their size and length on the perimeter, we just kind of sensed that they were going to be able to get shots that they wanted,” Sacred Heart head coach Justin Sherlock said. “I thought our guys did a good job contesting.”
Junior Grady Pieratt scored 21 points and sophomore Noah Zeien had 14 to lead the way for Sacred Heart, a good omen since those two along with junior guard Brody Cherry will be a part of a good core of returnees next year.
“There is a lot of youth on our team,” Sherlock said. “Now we know how to do it.”
PHOTOS (Top) Wyoming Tri-unity Christian players begin to celebrate clinching the Division 4 championship Saturday at Breslin Center. (Middle) Akais Giplaye (20) begins a move to the basket with Sacred Heart’s Aidan Halliday defending. (Below) The Defenders’ Wesley Kaman (5) works to get up a shot over Noah Zeien. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)