Second-Half Surge Sends Tri-unity Christian to 3rd-Straight Final
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 23, 2023
EAST LANSING — The Defenders will once again have a chance to do just that.
In what has become a usual rite of March during longtime head coach Mark Keeler’s 36-year tenure, the Wyoming Tri-unity Christian Defenders are once again headed for the Division 4 boys basketball championship game following a 54-37 win over Frankfort in a Semifinal on Thursday.
Making its third-straight appearance in a Final and 11th in school history, Tri-unity Christian will attempt to repeat as champion when it faces Munising in the 10 a.m. title game Saturday.
Junior Owen Rosendall scored 13 points and senior Roy Fogg added 11 on Thursday to lead Tri-unity Christian (22-6), which will go for its sixth Finals win.
“At the beginning of the year, we had some ups and downs in the season,” Rosendall said. “But we stuck to it and kept working.”
Tri-unity Christian got it done mainly by dominating the board, collecting a 41-22 rebounding advantage.
“I think our quickness on the boards outdid their size,” Keeler said. “I was really happy with how explosive we were on the boards.”
The discrepancy even surprised Frankfort head coach Dan Loney, who said rebounding has been a strength of his team all year.
“Going into the game, I would not have guessed they would have outrebounded us like that,” Loney said. “It’s one thing we’ve done well all year. I think honestly a lot of that came from their guard play. When their guards got to the rim (and) our bigs stepped over to help, their bigs were there to get their missed layups.”
Sophomore Carter Kerby led all scorers with 21 points to pace Frankfort (18-9).
“It was a fun season for sure. We look forward to the future,” Loney said.
Tri-unity Christian separated itself in the third quarter after Frankfort cut the lead to 29-26 with 4:40 to go in the period.
From there, Tri-unity Christian ended the third on an 11-1 run to take a 40-27 lead into the fourth quarter.
“We have a little more depth, and it helped,” Keeler said. “We were really trying to push the ball, and we were really trying to pressure them on defense. I think we wore them down a little bit.”
The Defenders continued to grow the lead in the fourth, taking a 48-32 advantage with 4:17 remaining after a 3-pointer by Rosendall and a basket by Akais Giplaye.
Tri-Unity Christian forced Frankfort into 12 turnovers and 38.9-percent shooting from the field while committing only six turnovers itself.
“We played great defense,” Keeler said. “That is what I was really happy about. We made them work for everything they had.”
Tri-unity Christian got off to a good start, taking a 16-8 lead after the first quarter before Frankfort settled in during the second.
Frankfort outscored Tri-unity Christian 13-9 in the second quarter to cut its deficit to 25-21 by halftime.
PHOTOS (Top) Tri-unity’s Jordan VanKlompenberg (3) puts up a shot over the outstretched arm of Frankfort’s Xander Sauer on Thursday. (Middle) Emmerson Farmer (0) gets a hand up high as Owen Rosendall puts up a jumper.
Breslin Bound: Boys Report Week 11
February 20, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
This boys basketball season still has some surprises in store.
The latest proof? Check out last week’s results from the Detroit area, especially the top two listed below to kick off this week’s Breslin Bound boys report powered by MI Student Aid.
We're two weeks from the start of District tournaments, so stay tuned as a number of teams attempt to clinch league titles this week and give us our last glimpses of what we might be able to expect once the playoffs begin.
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Detroit Cass Tech 59, Detroit Martin Luther King 47 – The Technicians are 16-3, so this can’t be considered a complete shocker, but beating perennial power King gave Cass Tech its first Detroit PSL tournament championship reportedly in at least 20 years.
2. Southfield Arts & Technology 64, Clarkston 60 – The first-year Warriors got off to a rough start but are 7-3 over their last 10 games and earned a season highlight handing Clarkston its only loss.
3. Belleville 69, Romulus 66 – Belleville avenged its one-point loss to Romulus on Jan. 20 to earn a shared Western Wayne Athletic Conference Blue title with the Eagles.
4. Southfield Christian 73, Cornerstone Health & Technology 55 – Southfield Christian has rounded in Class D championship shape, showing it again against a potential Class C contender in Cornerstone.
5. East Lansing 66, Holt 61 – The Trojans remain one of only three undefeated teams in Class A despite losing a key scorer to injury and beating the Rams twice by only a combined nine points on the way to clinching a share of the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue title.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each class making sparks:
CLASS A
Parma Western (14-3) – The Panthers have improved from 8-13 two seasons ago and 12-9 last winter to lead the Interstate 8 Athletic Conference with two league games to play. What’s more, Parma Western also is a one-point loss and another defeat in overtime from 16-1.
Portage Central (14-2) – After improving by 10 wins from 2014-15 to last winter, Portage Central can close out an outright championship in the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference West after sharing it with two others last season. The Mustangs earned a share this time by beating Portage Northern on Friday.
CLASS B
Hudsonville Unity Christian (14-3) – A 2-3 start was tough, but the Crusaders are unbeaten since the calendar turned to 2017. They clinched the Ottawa-Kent Conference Green title after finishing second and 16-9 overall a year ago.
Wyoming Godwin Heights (17-0) – Few teams in any sport have been as consistent as Godwin Heights this decade. The Wolverines are closing in on a sixth straight season of at least 20 wins and definitely look good to make a deep tournament run after reaching the Regional Semifinals last winter. They can clinch the O-K Silver title Tuesday against Wyoming Lee.
CLASS C
Morley Stanwood (14-2) – A 44-43 win over Kent City avenged an earlier loss and gave the Mohawks a share of the Central State Activities Association Silver title. Morley Stanwood finished second in the league to Kent City last season, but only 9-11 overall.
Riverview Gabriel Richard (15-1) – A two-point loss to Marine City Cardinal Mooney two weeks ago has been the only slip-up as Gabriel Richard won its division of the Detroit Catholic League and its first-round game in the C-D Tournament. The league title was the Pioneers’ fifth straight; next, they’ll try to improve on last season’s Regional Final appearance.
CLASS D
Owendale-Gagetown (14-2) – A 49-45 win over Burton Faith on Thursday gave Owendale-Gagetown a share of the Inner State Athletic Conference title. The Bulldogs started this season 1-2 but have rebounded nicely after making the move from the Michigan Summit League.
Sterling Heights Parkway Christian (11-4) – The Eagles have climbed from second last season to first in the Michigan Independent Athletic Conference Red with three league games left. They bounced back from back-to-back losses to beat second-place Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest 74-72 on Friday.
Can't-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – Ottawa Lake Whiteford (15-2) at Sand Creek (15-0) – Sand Creek’s 17-point win last month was Whiteford’s only Tri-Country Conference loss; a win this time would clinch Sand Creek the league title.
Tuesday – Walled Lake Northern (13-4) at Walled Lake Western (13-4) – These neighbors split during the regular season as Western won the Kensington Lakes Activities Association North title; they meet this time in the Lakes playoffs.
Tuesday – Powers North Central (16-0) at Munising (15-2) – The Jets have pushed their MHSAA record and the longest active winning streak in the nation to 71 straight, but Munising could provide one of the toughest challenges so far.
Tuesday – Mount Pleasant (9-6) at Saginaw (14-3) – It got some headlines when the Oilers handed Saginaw its lone Saginaw Valley League North loss Jan. 20; the Trojans no doubt have circled this rematch.
Friday – Rochester Hills Stoney Creek (14-3) at Oxford (14-2) – Depending on how the rest of this week unfolds, Stoney Creek could clinch the Oakland Activities Association Blue title, or Oxford could move into a first-place tie.
PHOTO: Wyoming Godwin Heights, here against Belding, is three wins from a perfect regular-season finish and remains one of two undefeated teams in Class B. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.