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Eaton Rapids Adds to History-Making Run

March 14, 2014

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

EAST LANSING – Bailey Baker plans to graduate from Eaton Rapids this spring with 16 varsity letters won in four sports. Like others on her basketball team, she’s had plenty of success on others as well.

But there’s something special about what the Greyhounds have accomplished this week during the longest run in school hoops history.

Eaton Rapids played in its first Class B Semifinal on Friday, and will try for its first MHSAA championship Saturday night after downing reigning runner-up and No. 9-ranked Flint Powers Catholic 46-36 at the Breslin Center.

The Greyhounds – an honorable mention in the final Associated Press Class B poll – have eliminated three top-10 teams during the tournament, including also No. 6 Ypsilanti Arbor Prep in the Quarterfinal and No. 9 Olivet in the District Final. And they continued another impressive postseason streak as well – they’ve beaten all of their playoff opponents by at least 10 points.

 “We all have side sports, but this is the one we’re all together,” said Baker, who also next weekend will receive an MHSAA Scholar-Athlete Award. “We’ve wanted this forever, and to finally have this opportunity is amazing.

“Win or lose, it’s going to be my favorite high school memory.”

Eaton Rapids can make this historical run even sweeter by getting past top-ranked and undefeated Grand Rapids South Christian in the Final at 6 p.m. Saturday.

It’s unwise to count the Greyhounds (22-5) out.

They’ve had strong teams during coach Willis Whitmyer’s 15 seasons, but the best usually ran into frequent championship contenders DeWitt, Portland or others down the road.

Eaton Rapids also is playing with some emotional edge. All five starters are seniors, and there are eight total.  Whitmyer said longtime assistant Richard Stoken will be leaving the program after 13 seasons, and Whitmyer said he’s also not sure if he’ll be back next winter.

“We’ve had five teams I thought could’ve gotten here in my tenure, but we found some way to screw it up or the other team took it from us,” Whitmyer said. “This is huge for us. It’s huge for the community. They’re wrapped up in it, and they should be. They’re a huge part of it.”

The latest stunning performance began with a 14-2 run during Friday’s first five minutes. The Greyhounds carried an eight-point lead into the final three minutes of the first half.

But Powers was not to go that quietly, especially with a lineup filled with contributors from last season’s championship game run. The Chargers (23-3) gained a one-point lead heading into the final minute of the third quarter.

It was short-lived. Eaton Rapids senior center Allie Ditmer scored at the buzzer to give the Greyhounds back the advantage, and they never trailed again.

“We battled back, but I think we started to run out of gas a little bit. I think battling back took a toll on us,” Powers coach Thom Staudacher said.

“It definitely hurts. We’re usually on the other end of the stick.”

Eaton Rapids kept Powers’ trio of senior leading scorers to 19 points, down from their combined average of 33 per game. The Greyhounds also outrebounded the Chargers 38-22, thanks in large part to Dittmer’s 14 boards to go with a game-high 15 points.

Baker provided another little surprise as well. A 54-percent free-throw shooter, she connected on 11 of 12 attempts for the majority of her 13 total points.

“Just being a senior, and with how much we wanted it this year, rather than getting me more nervous it made me more calm,” Baker said of going to the line. “I should be taking those free throws. I’m a senior now. I need to have that leadership.”

Powers will graduate six seniors who helped return the program to the state’s elite. Sara Ruhstorfer and sophomore Francesca Coury led Friday with eight points, while senior Michela Coury had 10 rebounds.

Click for a full box score and video from the press conference.

PHOTOS: (Top) Eaton Rapids’ Bailey Baker pushes past Powers’ Michela Coury during Friday’s Semifinal. (Middle) Coury makes her way to the basket despite being defended closely.

HIGHLIGHTS: (1) Flint Powers trailed Eaton Rapids from the beginning of the game until Ally Haran makes a midcourt steal and converts it into a basket to tie the score at 26-26. (2) After her team fell behind in the final minute of the third quarter, Eaton Rapids' Allie Dittmer scores at the buzzer to put the Greyhounds on top to stay against Flint Powers.

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.