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Class B: Goodrich to Greatness

March 17, 2012

EAST LANSING – Flint Powers Catholic stood in the way for a long time. Then Detroit Country Day. Last season, Dearborn Divine Child stopped Goodrich one game short of its first championship chance.

So although the Martians talked early this season about remaining hungry despite their recent success, it’s hard to believe losing that drive was ever a possibility.

Goodrich was on the edge of elite then. But Saturday’s 60-53 win over Grand Rapids Catholic Central gave the Martians both their first MHSAA title and a final boost into that group of teams considered the state's best regardless of class.

It didn’t come easy. But it seemed nearly inevitable after the team advanced to the Quarterfinals in 2010 and the Semifinals a season ago.

“When we went into that huddle, Coach was speaking and we’re like, just hold your heads high. We’re fighting. We want this,” Goodrich senior Frankie Joubran said. “Because what it comes down to is who wants it more. I guess it showed."

Saturday’s Final was Goodrich’s first. The Martians, ranked No. 1 in Class B heading into the tournament, finished 28-0.

But just because Goodrich knocked off the reigning champion in the Semifinal, beating Grand Rapids Catholic (24-4) was anything but a formality.

Cougars seniors Shellis Hampton and Tiesha Stokes were in their third championship game in four seasons, and going for the 100th win of their four-year varsity careers. Stokes had 19 points and 11 rebounds Saturday and Hampton had 12 points and six assists.

After trailing by two at halftime, the Cougars led 40-39 with a quarter to play.

“We had a lot of things that didn’t go our way,” Goodrich coach Jason Gray said. “But eventually, we had that last run in us.”

Grand Rapids Catholic increased its lead to five with 5:32 to play. But the Martians finished on a 9-2 run thanks to scoring from four players over the final 2:07.

“We were pretty even on a lot of things, but a couple of possessions we missed some rebounds, and I think that killed us,” Grand Rapids Catholic coach Colleen Lamoreaux-Tate said. “It’s so back and forth, back and forth, and we needed to get some rebounds. It’s a one possession game all the time.”

Joubran led Goodrich with 16 points and junior guard Aketra Sevillian added 13.

Seven seniors will graduate from a team that finished 51-1 over the last two seasons. And the Martians also had a deeper inspiration to finish on top this season.

Longtime administrator Al Martus remains a legend in Goodrich and was close to both Gray and some of the team’s leaders. He began battling pancreatic cancer a year ago and died over the summer.

Photos of Goodrich’s state champions hang in the hallway outside the gym. So does a large picture of Martus. And next to that is a blank spot soon to be occupied by the team he provided with so much.

“It was weird, but we didn’t talk about it a lot as a team. But it was always there,” Gray said. “I don’t know if we kept quiet because we didn’t want to end up in the same situation or feel bad again.

“He was a great man, a great boss to me, and great mentor to the girls. And I know he’d be very proud of the effort they put forth this year.”

Click for the box score. Watch the game and both teams' postgame press conferences at MHSAA.tv. 

PHOTOS: (Top) Goodrich celebrates its first MHSAA championship. (Photo courtesy of Terry McNamara Photography.)

Tony Coggins serves as PA announcer during a 2022 Division 3 volleyball match at Kellogg Arena.

In Memoriam: Tony Coggins (1971-2023)

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

October 24, 2023

The MHSAA and Holly school communities are grieving this week after the sudden loss of Tony Coggins, a shining light in his educational community and an enthusiastic supporter of school sports as a public address announcer for several of our largest championship events.

But while that cheerful tone has been quieted, it surely will not be forgotten by the many fortunate to enjoy an event in the presence of that voice and the joyfulness he brought into every arena, press box and classroom.

Coggins, 51, died Saturday. He is survived by his wife Kristy and children Emma and Bradlee, among several family and friends from his local and greater sports communities.

Tony CogginsHis career as a PA announcer began during his freshman year of high school in 1985, when his father Dale Coggins – Flushing’s athletic director at the time – couldn’t find anyone else to announce middle school football games. That was 39 years ago, and this fall Tony Coggins was in his 24th announcing at Holly, where he taught and served as an administrator in addition to his role as “Voice of the Holly Bronchos” for football, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, competitive cheer and swimming & diving over the years.

Coggins has been a mainstay among MHSAA Finals PA announcers over the last decade in football, basketball, softball and most recently volleyball. He lent his voice to college sports at University of Michigan as well. “Tony was a huge part of our Finals events. It’s hard to imagine it being the same without him,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said.

As part of the run-up to the MHSAA public address announcers clinic in 2018, Coggins said this about what drew him to the microphone:

“I have zero athletic ability whatsoever, which is interesting because my father was an all-state running back. But I enjoy being involved, and I've always been the one for history and statistics and knowing what's going on,” Coggins said. “This is a way for me to be involved. It's a way for me to use a talent I've been given; public speaking has always come pretty naturally for me.

“So I worked at my craft to get better. I got better from watching the people around me, from studying the people I like, and the people – if I saw someone I didn’t care for – I'd make a note and say to myself, ‘Don't do that.’ I take feedback from people very personally, and I mean that in a good way. If somebody takes the time to come up and say, ‘You did this well; I think you should change this,’ that means they care about the program also. We all have the same goal in mind, and that's to make the experience good for the high school student and the parents, the fans, that come there.”

Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, at St. John Vianney, 2415 Bagley Street in Flint. There will be visitation from 2-8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27, at the Swartz Funeral Home, 1225 West Hill Road, and at the church from 10 a.m. Saturday until the time of the Mass.