Photos: Top Shooters & Award Winners
March 26, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The MHSAA Girls & Boys Basketball Finals the last two weekends showed off many of the best teams and players who took the courts across Michigan this winter.
The championships also provided an opportunity to celebrate a few more accomplishments with the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan “Top Shooters Challenge” contests and MHSAA recognition for leaders past, present and future.
Below are photos from a number of events that took place during quarter breaks and halftimes at Van Noord Arena this past weekend and the Breslin Center two weeks ago.
Top Shooters: This season’s BCAM top shooters contests again recognized the sharpest from the free-throw line and 3-point arc. This past weekend at Calvin College, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern’s Madi Stevenson won the 3-point contest with Pontiac Notre Dame Prep’s Sarah Stuart runner-up, while Saline’s Ella Stemmer won the free throw contest and Manton’s Abby Brown was second.
At Breslin, Mio’s Drew Hess won the 3-point challenge with Kent City’s Eli Carlson second. Zeeland East’s Clayton Dykhouse and Owosso’s Carson Bornefeld tied for the free throw championship.
(See photo above, clockwise from left: Girls free throw finalists, boys free throw finalists, girls 3-point finalists and boys 3-point finalists.)
30th Scholar-Athlete Awards: Farm Bureau and the MHSAA presented 31 honorees with Scholar-Athlete Awards during Boys Finals weekend (one honoree was unable to attend). This year’s selections were honored at a banquet and then on the floor during halftime of the Division 3 Final.
Miss Basketball & Mr. Basketball: Detroit Edison’s Rickea Jackson was recognized on-court as the Miss Basketball Award winner during Saturday’s Division 3 game before leading the Pioneers that evening to their third straight MHSAA title. Mr. Basketball Award honoree Romeo Weems accepted the trophy at Breslin as this year’s top senior on the boys side.
WISL & Forsythe Awards: Adrian Madison athletic director Kris Isom was honored Saturday as this year’s recipient of the MHSAA Women In Sports Leadership Award. The week prior, retired Negaunee and Brimley superintendent Jim Derocher and retired Buchanan, Benton Harbor, Comstock and St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic athletic director Fred Smith accepted Charles E. Forsythe Awards. All three were presented by Grand Haven Area Public Schools assistant superintendent Scott Grimes, who serves as president of the MHSAA’s Representative Council.
Battle of the Fans: Representatives from all three finalists from this year’s BOTF VIII – champion North Muskegon with Saginaw Heritage and Buchanan – took to the Breslin floor during the Division 2 Semifinals to receive their banners.
Council Announces Schedule to Resume Sports
November 18, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association approved today an adjusted schedule to restart and conclude Fall Tournaments in football, girls volleyball and girls swimming & diving, and also to resume Winter sports after the three-week “pause” in activity ordered by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) scheduled to end Dec. 9.
The MDHHS announced Nov. 15 a three-week pause to various activities including school sports, effective Nov. 18, in hopes of halting the state’s rising infections due to COVID-19.
The volleyball and swimming & diving tournaments have one week remaining, with MHSAA Finals for both previously scheduled for Nov. 21. The 11 and 8-Player Football Playoffs also are nearing their conclusions, with the 8-player postseason two games from completion and 11-player down to its final three rounds. Winter practices for all but boys basketball, bowling, skiing and wrestling had begun for high school teams.
If allowed by the MDHHS, practice would resume for all three Fall sports Dec. 9, with tournaments scheduled as follows:
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Volleyball: Quarterfinals in all four divisions would be played Tuesday, Dec. 15, with Semifinals played Dec. 17-18 and Finals on Saturday, Dec. 19. Those final two rounds would be played at Battle Creek’s Kellogg Arena, as previously scheduled.
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Swimming & Diving: All three Lower Peninsula Finals would be conducted Tuesday, Dec. 22 (diving) and Wednesday, Dec. 23 (swimming) with three high schools each hosting one meet. This allows for a two-week practice window for all participating swimmers who previously met and entered qualification times, and for divers who previously qualified at Regional meets.
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Football: 11-Player Regional Finals and 8-Player Semifinals would be played Tuesday, Dec. 15, and Wednesday Dec. 16; 11-Player Semifinals and 8-Player Finals would be played Dec. 21-22, the 8-player championship games at Midland Community Stadium; 11-Player Finals will be played Monday, Dec. 28, and Tuesday Dec. 29 at Ford Field.
For Winter sports, the Council approved resuming practices on Dec. 9 if allowed by the MDHHS, with competition to begin Jan. 4.
“We understand where COVID numbers were trending, and that’s why we have been supportive of the order to pause,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “But these Fall sports deserve closure, and this strategy provides the best opportunities without further interruptions to a normal course of training and competition.
“A very small percentage of our teams remain active in our Fall tournaments, also limiting potential exposure to the virus across the state. Meanwhile, by waiting until January to begin Winter competition, the Council is allowing our teams to continue activity but also restricting the mixing of communities to further promote reducing COVID spread.”
The Council meets again Dec. 4 for its annual Fall Meeting, and at that time will consider possible tournament adjustments necessary due to the shortened Winter competition season.
The Representative Council is the 19-member legislative body of the MHSAA. All but five are elected by member schools. Four members are appointed by the Council to facilitate representation of females and minorities, and the 19th position is occupied by the Superintendent of Public Instruction or designee.
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 1.4 million spectators each year.