Moment: Rouge, Betts Win 4th Straight
April 15, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Willie Betts remains the only athlete in Michigan high school history to play on four MHSAA championship basketball teams, a feat he completed as part of River Rouge's fourth-straight Class B title winner in 1964.
This time, Betts helped the Panthers to an 86-67 win over Lakeview in the Final.
Fred Hudson led the way for the Panthers, scoring 31 points. The victory also was the 100th in MHSAA Tournament play for legendary Rouge coach Lofton Greene. River Rouge finished the 1963-64 season 24-1, losing just once for the third-straight winter.
Moment: Beecher Practice Made Perfect
March 27, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The Flint Beecher boys basketball team had prepared for situations like what it faced with five seconds left in its March 24, 2016, Class C Semifinal against Detroit Loyola.
And after watching a 15-point lead dissolve into a two-point deficit during the second half, the Bucs called on a big-time player to come through with a big-time shot to save their championship aspirations.
Malik Ellison took a handoff from teammate Aquavius Burks on the wing, took a dribble left, jutted back right and dropped a 3-pointer from five feet behind the line to give Beecher a 60-59 win. Two days later, the Bucs won another Class C title.
Said Ellison after: “In practice we run that play all the time. (Coach) gives us a situation, like we’re down two and we’ve got to get a bucket. At first on my pump fake, I was like, should I pass? Then I saw (the defender) jump, got a little angle with my arm, and knew it was going in. I felt it.
“Every day I go in the gym, either the Y or I stay after practice, and it’s shots like that just for times like this. I just pulled it through today.”
Click to read Second Half's coverage – Beecher Survives on Last-Second Shot – and watch the game-winner below with coverage from the NFHS Network.