#TBT: Sticks’ Record 50 Still Stands
April 10, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Last month marked the 58th anniversary of the longest-standing individual record in MHSAA Basketball Finals history.
In 1956, Battle Creek Lakeview center Bob “Sticks” Bolton scored 50 points in a Quarterfinal against Kalamazoo State High School. His points remain the most scored during the final round of the tournament – Quarterfinal-Semifinal-Final.
What follows are edited excerpts from a piece in the MHSAA archives written by former Battle Creek Enquirer reporter Allen Palmeri:
The date was March 21, 1956, and seating capacity in the Hastings High School gymnasium had been expanded to 2,000 this Wednesday night in anticipation of a marvelous Class B Quarterfinal basketball game between two sizzling teams.
New bleachers beckoned behind both goals as Battle Creek Lakeview, 18-2 with a 16-game winning streak, prepared to battle Kalamazoo State High, 19-2 with a 17-game winning streak.
The bleachers weren’t sufficient. About 2,500 fans were able to shoehorn their way in, ringing the court and leaving others in the school’s hallways and out on the sidewalk as one of the most spectacular individual efforts in MHSAA Boys Basketball Tournament history was about to unfold.
In one corner was Lakeview center Bob “Sticks” Bolton, a 6-9 rod of fury. In the other corner was State High’s mountain range of a front line, with peaks standing 6-6, 6-6 and 6-5.
“We looked forward to the game with quite confidence, because we really respected them for the tremendous team they had,” Bolton recalled in 1996. “We knew it was going to be a battle royale because of their size.”
The game within a game of one-on-three was no contest as Bolton simply pulverized the peaks. He poured in 50 points in a 90-73 Lakeview victory, setting a final round record for single game scoring that has withstood decades of assaults by the likes of Ralph Simpson, Spencer Haywood, Earvin Johnson, Jay and Sam Vincent, Antoine Joubert, Jay Smith, Mark Brown and Chris Webber.
***
(He scored) 12, 20, 10 and 8 points through four quarters against State High. He was particularly impressive in the second quarter, when he wound up scoring 20 of his team’s 21 points. Overall, he sank 17 of 27 shots from the field and 16 of 20 from the free throw line.
Though State High took the brunt of Bolton’s blows during the tournament, his effort throughout Lakeview’s run was just as spectacular. ... When Marshall tried to stall away the district opener, Bolton had to settle for 18 points in 40-20 victory. In an 80-58 win over Albion for the district championship, he punched in with a 34-point effort.
In carrying Lakeview to its first regional title, Bolton went ballistic, pumping in 42 points against Three Rivers and a school-record 46 points against an East Lansing team coached by Gus Ganakas. He then went out and topped that in the quarterfinal.
In the semifinals two days later, Bolton was whistled to the sideline with 25 points with a little over half the game played, fouling out in a 74-69 loss to eventual champion Stephenson. Opposing center Mel Peterson, who went on to play for Wheaton College and the NBA’s Baltimore Bullets, had scored 21 points when Bolton fouled out.
Though the memory of that game is painful, he fondly recalls his five-game scoring spree as “lifting my game to a higher level as the competition got tougher and tougher. Praise the Lord for that!”
***
Bolton went on to play collegiately at Western Michigan University, where he cracked the 1,000-point barrier, set a school rebounding record and outscored future NBA Hall of Famer Nate Thurmond on two of three occasions. After his college career, in a semi-pro championship game, he managed to outplay another Hall of Fame center, Walt Bellamy.
But his passion for basketball was never the same after high school. His dedication, vigor and enthusiasm gradually shifted towards the ministry.
At the time of this writing, Bolton served in Marquette, as pastor and administrator of Bethesda Baptist Church and Bethesda Baptist School. He died in 2008.
PHOTO: Bob "Sticks" Bolton dropped 46 points on East Lansing in a 1956 Class A Regional championship game. He followed that with a record 50 points in the Quarterfinal.
D4 Preview: New Era, Familiar Contenders
March 13, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Division 4 has replaced Class D this year as the boys basketball tournament classification for Michigan’s smallest high schools, and some familiar teams from the previous era will return to the Breslin Center on Thursday to help usher in a new one.
Reigning Class D champion Southfield Christian and Wyoming Tri-unity Christian have won eight MHSAA Finals in this sport between them. Dollar Bay joins Southfield Christian as a returnee from last season, making the Semifinals for the second straight, and Frankfort is making the trip to East Lansing for the second time this decade.
Division 4 Semifinals – Thursday
Dollar Bay (21-4) vs. Southfield Christian (19-6), 5:30 p.m.
Frankfort (20-5) vs. Wyoming Tri-unity Christian (22-3), 7:30 p.m.
Division 4 Final – Saturday, 10 a.m.
Tickets cost $10 per pair of Semifinals and $10 per two-game Finals session (Divisions 4 and 1). All Semifinals will be streamed live on MHSAA.tv and viewable on a pay-per-view basis. The Divisions 2, 3 and 4 championship games will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Detroit’s primary channel, while the Division 1 Final will be shown live on Fox Sports Detroit PLUS. All four championship games will be streamed live on FoxSportsDetroit.com and the FOX Sports app. Free radio broadcasts of all weekend games will be available on MHSAANetwork.com.
Below is a glance at all four semifinalists. Click on the name of the school to see that team’s full schedule and results from this season. (Statistics are through teams' Regional Finals.)
DOLLAR BAY
Record/rank: 21-4, unranked
League finish: Second in Copper Mountain Conference Copper
Coach: Jason Kentala, 12th season (105-120)
Championship history: Has never appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 67-64 over No. 6 Pellston in Quarterfinal, 65-56 over No. 10 Munising in Regional Semifinal, 70-55 over Chassell in District Semifinal.
Players to watch: Ashton Janke, 6-3 fr. F (16.4 ppg, 8.4 rpg); Connor LeClaire, 6-0 soph. F (13.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg).
Outlook: Dollar Bay graduated an all-stater and brings only one starter back this weekend from last season’s Semifinal team, but is on a roll with 14 wins over its last 15 games. The lone loss during that string came to CMC Copper champ Chassell, and Dollar Bay avenged it six nights later at the District. Senior guard Brendan LeClaire (9.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 3.5 apg) is that one returning starter from a year ago, and sophomore guard Davin Hill adds another 12.4 ppg. The Blue Bolts are hitting on 32 percent of their 3-point shots this winter, a big plus as some of these players get their second looks at the Breslin rims.
FRANKFORT
Record/rank: 20-5, unranked
League finish: Second in Northwest Conference
Coach: Dan Loney, first season (20-5)
Championship history: Has never appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 53-51 (OT) over honorable mention Big Rapids Crossroads, 41-38 (Regional Final), 62-59 (OT) and 63-58 over Leland.
Players to watch: Will Newbold, 6-0 sr. G (14.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 4.1 apg); Jack Stefanski, 6-3 soph. G (14 ppg, 17.9 rpg).
Outlook: Frankfort is making its third trip to the Semifinals and first since 2014. This time the team is led by Loney, formerly an assistant for four seasons before taking over the program. Frankfort finished behind only Division 3 No. 4 Maple City Glen Lake in the Northwest Conference and has navigated two overtime wins and a third by three points during the postseason – the two overtime victories put the team at 4-0 this season in games that went past regulation. This is also the second straight season the Panthers have reached 20 wins, and four starters plus the top scorer off the bench are all seniors.
SOUTHFIELD CHRISTIAN
Record/rank: 19-6, No. 3
League finish: First in Michigan Independent Athletic Conference Blue
Coach: Josh Baker, eighth season (179-30)
Championship history: Class D champions 2018, 2014, 2013 and 2012.
Best wins: 55-30 over honorable mention Adrian Lenawee Christian in Regional Final, 79-53 (District Semifinal), 61-51 and 69-52 over Novi Christian.
Players to watch: Jon Sanders, 6-1 sr. G (16.5 ppg, 56 3-pointers); Da’Jion Humphrey, 6-2 jr. G (16.4 ppg, 45 3-pointers, 6.5 rpg, 1.0 bpg).
Outlook: Reigning Class D champion Southfield Christian is making its third straight appearance in the Semifinals, with Humphrey and Sanders both starters on last season’s title winner and junior forward Rahmon Scruggs (7.4 ppg) the top sub during the 2018 Final. Junior guard Noah Rheker adds another 11.6 ppg and had made 45 3-pointers heading into this week as well. The Eagles started this winter 2-5 facing mostly Division 1 and 2 schools; they also have wins this season over West Bloomfield and Detroit Country Day, and their only loss since Jan. 5 came to Division 2 contender River Rouge.
WYOMING TRI-UNITY CHRISTIAN
Record/rank: 22-3, No. 5
League finish: Second in Alliance League
Coach: Mark Keeler, 32nd season (599-188)
Championship history: Four Class D titles (most recent 2011), four runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 62-31 over No. 2 Bellevue in Quarterfinal, 68-56 over No. 4 Marcellus Howardsville Christian in Regional Semifinal, 58-40 over No. 9 Martin in District Final, 62-53 over Muskegon Heights Academy in Regional Final.
Players to watch: Bennett Sinner, 6-0 sr. F (12.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 3.8 spg); Brayden Ophoff, 5-10 sr. G (11.5 ppg, 42 3-3-pointers).
Outlook: Tri-unity has made at least the Quarterfinals four of the last five seasons and the Semifinals now for the first time since 2016. This Defenders team has the program’s best record since finishing Class D runner-up and going 25-3 in 2013. Tri-unity hasn’t lost since Jan. 22, and two of the defeats came to Division 3 No. 2 Pewamo-Westphalia and honorable mention Potter’s House Christian. Sinner earned an all-state honorable mention last season. Freshman guard Brady Titus adds another 12 ppg.
PHOTO: Southfield Christian’s Jon Sanders drives to the basket during his team’s Regional Final win over Adrian Lenawee Christian. (Photo courtesy of C&G Newspapers.)