Moment: Orioles' Winner Unforgettable
March 24, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Ludington’s Joshua Laman couldn’t have picked a better time to drill his first 3-pointer of the 2016-17 season.
Today’s #MHSAAMoments highlight relives a shot we said the Orioles, and River Rouge, likely would never forget.
On March 24, 2017, Laman made his first 3-pointer that winter to send Ludington – playing in its first Semifinal in this sport since 1971 – to its first MHSAA boys basketball championship game since 1953 with a 51-50 win over the Panthers.
Ludington coach Thad Shank after: “He’s thinking that when I get back in that locker room, he’s going to look Coach Shank in the eye and say, ‘Told you coach I should be shooting these 3s all year long.’ I know that’s what he’s thinking.”
Click to read Second Half's coverage – Stunner Sends Ludington to Saturday – and watch the shot below with coverage from the NFHS Network.
Moment: Rouge Runs Title Streak to 5
April 16, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
After setting the Lower Peninsula record the season before, River Rouge completed the streak that remains the standard for boys basketball programs with a fifth-straight MHSAA Finals title in 1965.
The Panthers won Class B for the fifth-consecutive season by downing South Haven 87-65. Rouge led only 54-52 after three quarters, but scored 33 points during the final period to seal the clincher.
The 87 total points also broke a Rouge Class B Final record set the year before (86) and remained the record (tied in 2003 by Grand Rapids South Christian) until Class was replaced by Division for basketball tournament classification in 2019.
Frank Price led with 28 points. Sam Campbell added 16. Rouge finished the season 24-2. (Side note: Price's daughter Franthea led Rouge to its first MHSAA girls basketball title, in 1984.)
Only Crystal Falls (now Forest Park), with six straight championships from 1938-44, has won more consecutive MHSAA titles in boys basketball, and that streak came during a time when separate tournaments were conducted by peninsula. Crystal Falls’ streak skips the 1943 season, when Finals weren’t played because of World War II.
