Did you see that?

April 30, 2012

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

It's only the end of April. But a number of Michigan's contenders already are in championship form.

Check out our best of results, news and notes from the week that was April 23-28.

Boys Track

What a toss: Walled Lake Central junior Cullen Prena tossed the discus an incredible 187 feet, seven inches, to win the event at the Oxford Invitational by nearly 36 feet. In fact, the toss would've won every MHSAA Final dating back to 2003. Earlier in the week he broke the Oakland County record as well. He also won the shot put at Oxford. (Oakland Press)

Girls Track

South still on top: Reigning MHSAA Division 1 champion Grosse Pointe South earned a strong early win at the Michigan State Spartan Invitational ahead of a field that included annual powers Rockford and Williamston and a strong DeWitt team. Bay City Western won the boys meet. (Playmakers.com)

Baseball

Flint Final set: Goodrich’s Bob Foreback and Davison’s Timm Rye will bring more than 1,000 victories worth of experience into this season’s Greater Flint Area Baseball Tournament championship game when their teams face off on Memorial Day. The two will meet after emerging from the field this weekend. (Flint Journal)

How do you score that: Most telling lines from the Kalamazoo Gazette’s story about Comstock turning a triple play and three double plays in one game came from Comstock coach Rich Bailey: “We have not played particularly good defense. In fact, our defense has been a problem. The skill is there; the execution hasn’t been.” (Kalamazoo Gazette)

Girls Soccer

Poll position: Rochester Adams continued to affect the Division 1 rankings while moving up itself. Adams likely helped to knock rival Rochester out of this week’s honorable mentions with a 2-0 win Thursday. The Friday before, Adams downed then top-ranked Troy 4-1. The Highlanders have opened 7-0 and are ranked No. 3 in Division 1. (Oakland Press)

Boys Basketball

Flint Powers coach moves on: Tim Herman led the Flint Powers Catholic boys basketball program only seven seasons, but they were seven of the Chargers’ most memorable. Herman resigned his post last week after more than 100 wins and the team’s only MHSAA championship, in Class B in 2009. (Flint Journal)

Football

Michigan's finest take next step: At least nine former MHSAA athletes were drafted by NFL teams (by my count) over seven rounds Thursday through Saturday. They were:

  • DE Nick Perry (Detroit Martin Luther King/University of Southern California) Green Bay, first round
  • DT Mike Martin (Detroit Catholic Central/University of Michigan) Tennessee, third round
  • QB Kirk Cousins (Holland Christian/Michigan State University) Washington, fourth round
  • WR Keshawn Martin (Westland John Glenn/Michigan State University) Houston, fourth round
  • CB Chris Greenwood (Detroit Martin Luther King/Albion College) Detroit, fifth round
  • S Trenton Robinson (Bay City Central/Michigan State) San Francisco, sixth round
  • LB Audie Cole (Monroe/North Carolina State University) Minnesota, seventh round
  • RB Edwin Baker (Oak Park/Michigan State University) San Diego, seventh round
  • K John Potter (Grand Haven/Western Michigan University) New York Jets, seventh round

Editor's note: Did we miss something? Comment below and tell us about it. Is there an event coming up that we should make sure to note? Comment or e-mail [email protected].

Miller's Stunning 'Victory' Earns Father Gabriel Richard Chance at History

By Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com

March 22, 2024

EAST LANSING – The name given to the final play in Friday’s Division 2 Semifinal was fitting.

It was called “Victory” – and Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard ran it to perfection to stun Grand Rapids West Catholic.

Junior Charlotte Miller buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Irish a thrilling 35-33 win at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center.

“We put it in last year; the play is called ‘Victory,’” Father Gabriel Richard coach Tim Cain said. “We practice it a lot, and we ran that same play last year against Renaissance when they were undefeated and she hit that shot too to send it into overtime.

Miller, 13, pulls up for the clinching 3-pointer.“We have confidence in it, we have confidence in everything we do at practice and it worked out.”

With the Irish trailing 33-32 with 5.9 seconds left, Miller raced down the floor and received the pass from teammate Veronica Fredericks.

She made one move to the right, stepped to her left and launched the uncontested shot.

“I felt confident that I could make it,” Miller said. “I made it last year and I trusted my teammates that they would make the right pass, and I trusted all the work that we've put in for months and I believed in myself and I knew I could make it.”

Father Gabriel Richard trailed by four points with 10 seconds left when Vanessa Rodriguez was fouled attempting a 3-point shot.

She made all three free throws to cut the deficit to one point.

“We’ve been there before,” Cain said. “And their heads never go down. There is a no-quit mentality.”

The Irish will meet Detroit Edison in Saturday’s Division 2 championship game at 6:15 p.m. It’s an opportunity to both win a Final for the first time since 1993, when FGR won Class D, and finish the season undefeated.

“We put a lot of work in during the offseason, and we've been preparing for this moment,” said Rodriguez, who led the Irish with 13 points and added four assists.

Miller makes a move across the arc earlier in the game.“That was one of our goals as a team, and it's actually an unbelievable thought to even be in this position.”

The Irish (28-0) held West Catholic to its lowest scoring output of the season.

“We take a lot of pride in our defense, and when we’re cold, as long as we defend we have a chance,” Cain said. 

During a tightly-contested first half that saw neither team lead by more than five points, Father Gabriel Richard edged ahead 11-10 to finish the first quarter and West Catholic had the advantage in the second, 10-9, to forge a 20-20 tie at the half. 

West Catholic (26-2), which advanced to the Breslin for the third straight season, only had one made field goal over the last five minutes of the game and missed five consecutive free throws during the last 38 seconds.

“That was a tough one, obviously, because we felt like we had control of the game,” Falcons coach Jill VanderEnde said. “Obviously, we were trying to execute down the stretch like we have done 26 other times this season, and things just didn’t fall into place the way we had hoped.

“Kudos to number 13’s incredible shot at the end, and we will probably relive that last two minutes in our heads for a little while. But I know these seniors, and the girls gave it everything they had tonight and should be really proud that they got us to this point in the season. It was not easy getting back to the Breslin.”

Junior Elisha Dykstra scored a team-high nine points for West Catholic, while senior Reese Polega had five points, seven rebounds and three steals.

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Teammates topple Charlotte Miller after her game-winning shot for Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard on Friday at Breslin Center. (Middle) Miller, 13, pulls up for the clinching 3-pointer. (Below) Miller makes a move across the arc earlier in the game. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)