#TBT: Making Hoops History

October 9, 2014

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

With nearly 90 years of our own to recall, we enjoy history quite a bit at the Michigan High School Athletic Association. 

And we also enjoy when those who have been part of our events send us a souvenir like this 1939 Boys Basketball Regional program from March 9-11, 1939, at what became known as Western Michigan University. 

Regionals for Class A, C and D were played at the then-Western State Teachers College, with Kalamazoo St. Augustine, Watervliet and Burr Oak emerging as champions, respectively. 

Also participating were Battle Creek, Holland, Benton Harbor and Kalamazoo Central in Class A; Bangor, Decatur, Eau Claire, Constantine and Kellogg in Class C; and Augusta and St. Joseph Catholic in Class D. 

Of note:

  • The cover of the program included a list of Regional champions at the site dating to 1920. The MHSAA began in 1925 from a previous body.

  • "Rules Changes to Watch" listed on the inside pages included the lane violation and a rule for overtime in which the first team scoring two points was declared the winner. 

  • The back cover showed an artist's sketch of the football/track and field and baseball stadiums then under construction at a cost of $270,000. 

Below is the inside pages in full, including filled-in brackets for all three tournaments. 

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.