Cranbrook Makes Championship Dream Come True
By
Tim Robinson
Special for MHSAA.com
March 27, 2021
PLYMOUTH -- Six years is a long time, by any standard.
For Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, six years between hockey championships felt like an eternity.
The drought ended Saturday, when the Cranes ended Calumet's bid for an unbeaten season with a 4-1 victory in the Division 3 Final at USA Hockey Arena.
"We did this for ourselves and for the seniors in past years who couldn't get here," senior Alex Ceritano said. "This was for them."
Cranes coach John LaFontaine won his first title in his second season as head coach, but deferred credit to his four captains -- Ceritano, Leyton Stenman, Jack Wineman and Isaac Cheli.
"This was a group of outstanding leaders," LaFontaine said. "I'll be honest. I had to do nothing. These guys took care of everything."
The Cranes took care of Calumet, too, allowing the Copper Kings only 10 shots for the game, including just one in the third period.
'They boxed them out, a lot of times," Cranbrook goalie Julian Zyvagin said. "They blocked a lot of shots before they got to me, and they made them dump the puck."
Meanwhile, the Cranbrook offense got going in the second half of the first period.
Nathan Hooker got things started with a power-play goal with 4:44 left in the period. Wineman scored on a breakaway with exactly two minutes left in the period to give Cranbrook a 2-0 lead over the stunned Copper Kings (17-1-1), who rarely trailed in a game this season.
"We were only behind in one game this year, for about 10 minutes," Copper Kings coach Dan Giachino said. "But we kept working. That's all you can do."
Cheli essentially put the game out of reach with a goal early in the second period. Tom Erkkila scored for the Copper Kings, but Ty Esterlione tacked on an insurance goal midway through the third period to seal the victory.
It was Cranbrook's ninth Division 3 crown.
It was Calumet's first trip to the Finals since 2018. The Copper Kings were among teams affected when last year's tournament was cancelled, turning back after having completed most of the 12-hour journey from Copper Country.
That they made the trip this year was a tribute to the work ethic by a team that lost 11 seniors last season.
"We have two-thirds of a new team this year," Giachino said. "Getting here was a tribute to our 10 seniors."
The chemistry which lifted Calumet back to the Finals also was evident on a Cranbrook team that lost in the Regional Finals last season.
"Our JV players from last year came in and impressed everyone," Ceritano said, "We came together so well. There were no problems at all this season."
Wineman, along with his teammates, savored the accomplishment afterward.
"It's been my dream since my freshman year," he said. "I came here (weighing) 90 pounds and I was 5-foot (tall). I've had great company, great teammates these last four years.
"We've been building toward this the last four years. I'm so happy my dream came true."
Click for the full box score.
PHOTOS: (Top) Cranbrook Kingswood players celebrate after clinching the Division 3 title Saturday at USA Hockey Arena. (Middle) Calumet goalie Aksel Loukus works to keep the puck out of his net during a scramble. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photo.)
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MHSAA Winter Sports Start with Extended Basketball Schedules, New Wrestling Weights
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 13, 2022
The addition of two games to basketball regular-season schedules and a new series of wrestling weight classes are likely the most noticeable Winter 2022-23 changes as an estimated 65,000 athletes statewide take part in 13 sports for which the Michigan High School Athletic Association sponsors postseason tournaments.
Girls gymnastics and boys ice hockey teams were able to begin practice Oct. 31, with the rest of those sports beginning in November – including also girls and boys basketball, girls and boys bowling, girls competitive cheer, girls and boys skiing, Upper Peninsula girls and boys and Lower Peninsula boys swimming & diving, and girls and boys wrestling.
A variety of changes are in effect for winter sports this season, including a several that will be noteworthy and noticeable to teams and spectators alike.
Basketball remains the most-participated winter sport for MHSAA member schools with 33,000 athletes taking part last season, and for the first time, basketball teams may play up to 22 regular-season games. This increase from the previous 20-game schedule allows more games for teams at every high school level – varsity, junior varsity and freshman.
Another significant change has been made in wrestling, as the majority of boys wrestling weight classes have been adjusted for this season in anticipation of a national change coming in 2023-24. The updated boys weight classes are 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 144, 150, 157, 165, 175, 190, 215 and 285 pounds. Only 215 and 285 remain from the previous lineup. There is also one change to girls weight classes, with the 255 class replaced by 235 to also align with national high school standards.
A series of notable changes will affect how competition takes place at the MHSAA Tournament levels. In hockey, in addition to a new classification process that spread cooperative and single-school programs evenly throughout the three playoff divisions, the MHSAA Tournament will employ two changes. The Michigan Power Ratings (MPR) will be used to seed the entire Regional round, not just the top two teams, and prior to the start of Semifinals, a seeding committee will reseed the remaining four teams in each division with the top seed in each then facing the No. 4 seed, and the No. 2 seed facing No. 3.
Bowling also will see an MHSAA Tournament change, as the Team Regional format will mirror the long-standing Team Final with teams playing eight Baker games and two regular games at both levels. And as also applied during the fall girls season, there is a new qualification process for divers seeking to advance to Lower Peninsula Boys Swimming & Diving Finals. In each of the three divisions, each Regional will be guaranteed 10 qualifiers for the Finals, with six more “floating” qualifier entries to be distributed to the Regionals that have one of the previous year’s top six returning Finals divers in their fields. If a team changes division from the previous season, any floating top-six spots are added to the six already allowed in the school’s new division.
A gymnastics rules change provides an opportunity for additional scoring during the floor exercise. A dance passage requirement was added in place of the former dance series requirement to encourage creativity and a more artistic use of dance. The dance passage requires gymnasts to include two Group 1 elements – one a leap with legs in cross or side split position, the other a superior element.
In competitive cheer, the penalty for going over the time limit in each round was adjusted to one penalty point for every second over the time limit, not to exceed 15 points. The new time limit rule is more lenient than the past penalty, which subtracted points based on ranges of time over the limit.
The 2022-23 Winter campaign culminates with postseason tournaments, as the championship schedule begins with the Upper Peninsula Girls & Boys Swimming & Diving Finals on Feb. 18 and wraps up with the Boys Basketball Finals on March 25. Here is a complete list of winter tournament dates:
Boys Basketball
Districts – March 6, 8, 10
Regionals – March 13, 15
Quarterfinals – March 21
Semifinals – March 23-24
Finals – March 25
Girls Basketball
Districts – Feb. 27, March 1, 3
Regionals – March 7, 9
Quarterfinals – March 14
Semifinals – March 16-17
Finals – March 18
Bowling
Regionals – Feb. 24-25
Finals – March 3-4
Competitive Cheer
District – Feb. 17-18
Regionals – Feb. 25
Finals – March 2-3
Gymnastics
Regionals – March 4
Finals – March 10-11
Ice Hockey
Regionals – Feb. 20-March 1
Quarterfinals – March 4
Semifinals – March 9-10
Finals – March 11
Skiing
Regionals – Feb. 13-17
Finals – Feb. 27
Swimming & Diving
Upper Peninsula Girls/Boys Finals – Feb. 18
Lower Peninsula Boys Diving Regionals – March 2
Lower Peninsula Boys Finals – March 10-11
Wrestling – Team
Districts – Feb. 8-9
Regionals – Feb. 15
Finals – Feb. 24-25
Wrestling – Individual
Districts – Feb. 11
Regionals – Feb. 18
Finals – March 3-4
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.3 million spectators each year.