Next Coach, Same Success as Gobles Drives On

By Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com

March 9, 2021

GOBLES — One coach retired and one coach was hired, but both have one reason in common: family.

Southwest CorridorAfter 18 years leading the Gobles girls basketball team, John Curtis hung up his whistle.

“My two boys are the biggest reason,” Curtis said of Kellen, 13, and Gibson, 11.

“I just wanted to spend more time with them. Instead of being in a gym coaching on Tuesday and Friday, I would rather be with them studying or just having some Friday night fun.”

Greg Barber took over the position after coaching the junior varsity girls for five years.

That gives him more time to spend with his daughter, Amanda, a junior in her third year on varsity.

His other daughter, Erica, is an eighth grader who also plays basketball.

“I brought my daughters up through the youth program, so I was involved in that when they were in the third grade on up,” Barber said. “I just like coaching.”

One goal for the 8-3 Tigers is continued success in the MHSAA postseason which begins March 22 with District play.

Last year, Gobles won their District and then lost a 42-41 heartbreaker to Schoolcraft in a Division 3 Regional Semifinal. (Soon after, the season was put on hold and final rounds eventually canceled due to COVID-19.)

Gobles girls basketball 2Last year’s success was actually another factor that prompted Curtis’ retirement.

“I didn't want to be one of those coaches that retired when the program was struggling,” he said. 

“We have a great group of young ladies back and some solid young talent that helped in my decision as well.”

He said handing the coaching reins to Barber was easy.

“He has been in the program for a very long time as a youth and JV coach and has a great rapport with the team,” Curtis said.

“Having (current junior varsity) Coach V. (Marc VanHeukelum) around was a big help as well. He's been by my side forever, and they will keep the program at an elite level.”

Junior guard Amanda Barber, who joined the varsity midway through her freshman season, did not see much of a change when her father took over as coach.

“They have different coaching styles, I would say, but overall they both are good coaches so it’s not hard to be coached by one or the other,” she said.

Gobles girls basketball 3“Mr. Curtis is probably a little more in-your-face, and he’ll tell you how it is. My dad’s a little more laid back.”

The 5-foot-4 Barber leads the team in points, averaging 16 per game, and assists with three per game. Senior Karlee Henderson leads with seven rebounds per game.

“Amanda’s put hours and hours in the gym working on her game and her shooting,” he dad said. “Just countless hours of work.”

Other juniors on the team are Madi Brady, McKenzie Lisowski and Emily Baxter.

Other seniors are Keaghan Kelly, Abby Sandahl and Deven Thompson. The lone sophomore is Kaya Huizenga.

Moving Up, Staying Together

Kennadi Killeen made the jump from eighth grade hoops to varsity without playing a game of JV.

That took a bit of adjustment.

Gobles girls basketball 4“The game just got a lot faster and the girls got a lot bigger,” the freshman guard said. “You don’t have as much time between shots to think about everything, so you just have to know what you’re going to do before you do it.”

The pandemic restrictions limiting fans in the stands actually helped Killeen.

‘It did make the transition a lot easier because there weren’t a lot of people watching,” she said. “There weren’t as many people to be afraid of making a mistake in front of,” she added, laughing.

Killeen has worked her way into the starting lineup.

“She’s averaging five or six points a game and about five rebounds as a freshman, so she’s doing real well,” Barber said.

Deanna Wood is the other freshman on the team.

The coach said team unity is a key to their success.

“The junior class has played together since third grade so they’ve played the travel ball, some AAU stuff,” he said. “They’ve stuck together.

“It’s a very talented, athletic group. A couple young freshmen on the team this year have played a lot of basketball.”

Barber said working with the girls when he coached the JV team helped him with the move to varsity.

“I’ve coached them all through their JV years, so it was a pretty simple transition,” he said.

“They know what we do, they know what we want, they know what we like, so it went pretty smooth.”

Impressive numbers

In his 18 years as head coach, Curtis’ teams compiled a 304-107 record, won 10 conference, eight District and two Regional championships, making it to the Semifinals once.

Gobles girls basketball 5There are a few things Curtis will not miss.

“If I’m going to be 100 percent honest,” he said, “I won't miss dealing with all of the aspects off the court. The players and parents are changing just like society, which can make the job really tough.

“I've realized that as a coach you can't make everyone happy, and not too many people can see the entire picture these days.”

But since retiring, “the one thing I miss is those tough Friday night road games,” he said. “There is nothing better than going to an opponent's gym with a buzz in the gym and silencing their crowd with a win.

“I always took pride in how mentally tough my teams were, and that competitive feeling after those types of wins will be missed.”

Pam ShebestPam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.

PHOTOS: (Top) Gobles junior McKenzie Lisowski looks to break a trap against Allegan this season. (2) Gobles varsity girls basketball coach Greg Barber. (3) Tigers junior Amanda Barber makes her way through Coloma's defense. (4) Gobles freshman Kennadi Killeen. (5) Recently retired Gobles varsity coach John Curtis with sons Gibson and Kellen. (Action photos by Gala Rock. Head shots by Pam Shebest. Curtis photo courtesy of Curtis family.)

Freeland Finds Way to Season's Last Day

March 22, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

GRAND RAPIDS – Freeland was doubled up in rebounding, shot 14 fewer free throws and had one more turnover than Hamilton during Friday’s first Division 2 Semifinal at Van Noord Arena.

But the Falcons won out in experience and accuracy – and those made the differences in earning their first MHSAA championship game berth since winning the Class C title in 1998.

Hitting 60 percent of its shots during the second half, and nearly half of its 3-pointers for the game, Freeland was able to come back from a double-digit second-half deficit and down previously-unbeaten Hamilton 71-66.

The Falcons trailed from the 4-minute mark of the second quarter until 5:13 remained in the game. But they were never out, even as Hamilton 6-foot-2 sophomore A.J. Ediger went for 33 points and 17 rebounds while controlling the paint most of the game.

“We always said we would go as far as we can, go out with a bang,” said Alyssa Argyle, who with Autumn Kloha and Lily Beyer will finish her fourth varsity season in Saturday’s Division 2 Final.

“We’ve always had that mentality to finish out hard and not give up.”

That came in especially handy as the Falcons (24-2) played in their second Semifinal in three seasons.

Hamilton (25-1) was playing in its first ever, adding to the best two-year run in program history. And in addition to Ediger’s post power and a team 42-20 scoring advantage in the paint, the Hawkeyes made 9-of-13 shots from the floor during the second quarter to turn a one-point deficit into an eight-point halftime lead.

But that was nothing new for the Falcons. They also had trailed at halftime in both Regional games and the Quarterfinal.

“I can’t say enough about these three girls and this team,” Freeland coach Tom Zolinski said, referring to his four-year seniors. “They have won in their careers 92 games, which is unbelievable, and they just wouldn’t let it happen tonight.

“We fell down quite a bit. We were undersized. Everything was against us. The crowd was huge for them. And (we) did it.”

Hawkeyes senior guard Bria Schrotenboer put her team ahead 34-23 with a free throw 58 seconds into the third quarter. They led by at least 11 as late as 2:48 to go in the period.

But over the next 5½ minutes, Freeland rambled through a 24-11 run with junior Kadyn Blanchard sinking 10 points and Beyer seven.

“Obviously that little run there where they caught fire, that’s what we saw from them every single game we’ve seen,” Hamilton coach Dan VanHekken said. “We knew they’d been down a few games here at halftime and didn’t quit. They again replicated that tonight. They’ve got a lot of heart and didn’t give up. They don’t get rattled. … Their body language, they were not rattled.”

The teams traded leads one more time before Argyle put Freeland ahead for good with a 3-pointer with 4:30 left.

“We worked so hard in the fourth quarter. We came back, and we had our heart in the game,” Kloha said. “And we knew we were down in the first half, but at halftime we needed to pick it up and keep our heads up, and we came back. And we came back strong, and we stayed together as a team.”

Argyle also scored her 1,000th career point during the fourth quarter and finished with 17 on the night. Blanchard led with 23 points, seven rebounds and four steals, and Beyer added 13 points.

Schrotenboer added 13 points and six rebounds, and senior guard Riki Ediger had nine points, eight rebounds, eight assists and five steals.

Hamilton capped a three-year run with a combined 71-5 record, also making its first Quarterfinal in 2018.

“Especially just being a four-year senior, I’ve been playing with these girls a long time,” Schrotenboer said. “It’s sad to go out this way, but we had the best record Hamilton ever had, and I will remember that forever.”

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS: (Top) Freeland’s Autumn Kloha works to get past Hamilton’s Riki Ediger during Friday’s Division 2 Semifinal at Van Noord Arena. (Middle) Hamilton’s A.J. Ediger gets up a shot on the way to scoring 33 points.