![](/sites/default/files/imported/NewsSig2H.jpg)
Skip the lines: Get Finals Tickets Here
February 28, 2012
Avoid lines at the ticket window by ordering and downloading your MHSAA Finals E-tickets for cheer, individual wrestling, girls and boys basketball from our partner vendor web sites.
Hockey, Cheer and Girls Basketball Finals are on sale now, with Boys Basketball Finals tickets going on sale at 10 a.m. March 5. See below on how to order each:
- Girls Basketball Finals tickets are on sale either online or via phone. Tickets can be ordered online by clicking this Breslin Center Box Office link or over the phone by calling (800) 968-2737. Tickets cost $8, with a $3 service charge applied to each order. All girls basketball seats are general admission. The Girls Basketball Semifinals are March 15-16, with all Four Finals on March 17.
- Boys Basketball Finals tickets go on sale via the Breslin Center Box Office on March 5. Tickets can be ordered online by clicking this Breslin Center Box Office link or over the phone by calling (800) 968-2737. As with girls basketball, tickets cost $8, with a $3 service charge applied to each order. However, Boys Basketball Semifinals and Finals seats are reserved in Breslin’s lower bowl, with general admission for the upper deck. The Boys Basketball Semifinals are March 22-23, with all four Finals on March 24.
- Cheer tickets are available via online vendor TicketLeap. They cost $7 – plus a 97-cent processing fee per ticket – for each of the four sessions, with a separate ticket required for entry to each. The Division 1 Final is 6 p.m. Friday at the Grand Rapids Delta Plex, with Division 2 at 10 a.m. Saturday and followed that day by Division 4 at 2 p.m. and Division 3 at 6 p.m. Cheer online ticket sales end at 4 p.m. Friday. The paper E-ticket must be presented at the gate.
- Hockey tickets are available via online vendor TicketLeap. They cost $6 per Semifinal session and $7 per Final session, plus the 97-cent processing fee per ticket. Each division’s Semifinals and each of the three Finals count as separate sessions. The Division 2 Semifinals begin at 5 p.m. March 8 at Plymouth’s Compuware Arena, with the Division 3 Semifinals at noon March 9 and Division 1 at 6 p.m. that day. The Division 2 Final is at 10 a.m. March 10, followed by Division 3 at 2 p.m. and Division 1 at 6 p.m. The paper E-ticket must be presented at the gate. Hockey online ticket sales end two hours before each session.
![](/sites/default/files/imported/Photos/200116_NFHSCoach_2H.jpg)
Armada's Fredette Receives NFHS Honor
January 16, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Longtime Armada tennis coach David Fredette has been named one of 23 National Coaches of the Year for 2018-19 by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NHFS) Coaches Association.
Fredette was selected first at the state level and then from among the eight sections that make up the NFHS – Michigan is part of Section 4 with Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin.
The following brief bio includes an excerpt from Fredette’s coaching philosophy, which nominees were asked to submit after being identified as candidates for the awards.
David Fredette began Armada’s tennis program in 1966 and coached the boys team through the 2018 season. He led more than half his teams over the years to the MHSAA Finals, and 17 to top-10 finishes at the championship meet – including four straight from 2009-12. He also was a major contributor during the early days of the Michigan High School Tennis Coaches Association, and began serving on its board in 1982. Four times he was selected MHSTeCA state Coach of the Year: in Class C-D in 1982, Class B in 1992, and as one of two selections in Division 4 in both 1998 and 2018. Fredette was inducted into the MHSTeCA Hall of Fame in 1988. Armada’s tennis courts are named for him.
Fredette played tennis at Dowagiac High School and then Benton Harbor Community College. He also coached basketball and football during his time at Armada.
“Athletics give students a chance to become student-athletes, which means athletics teach athletes discipline, a strong work ethic, and cooperation with others. Athletics teach athletes how to not only compete, but how to handle both winning and losing. … I know that students who play sports upon graduation are more prepared to face the challenges that life presents them. While I always expected my players to work hard, I wanted my athletes to enjoy the experiences on and off the courts. My former players tell me how much they enjoyed competing, but also how much fun they had on the trips we went on together, whether it was to play top competition across the state of Michigan or on the Florida trips I took my boys teams on over Easter vacation from 1989 through 2001 to practice and bond as a team. Athletes learn how to compete, but they also gain friendships that last a lifetime, if only in their memories.”
Four more Michigan coaches earned honors in Section 4. Brighton girls swimming & diving coach Jason Black led the Bulldogs to a Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals runner-up finish in Fall 2018, its best placing in program history. Dexter boys swimming & diving coach Michael McHugh was selected for the second-straight year as a Section 4 winner after leading his team to its fourth-straight Lower Peninsula Division 2 championship last winter. Battle Creek St. Philip volleyball coach Vicky Groat at one point guided the Tigers to nine Class D championships in 10 seasons from 2005-14 and is the sixth-winningest coach in MHSAA volleyball history with a record of 1,154-262-93. Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart co-coach Judy Hehs helped lead that program to its second-straight Lower Peninsula Division 4 championship this past fall, its sixth title in eight seasons, in her final tournament before retirement. She previously was named NFHS Coaches Association National Coach of the Year for girls tennis in 2016.
The NFHS has been recognizing coaches through an awards program since 1982. Winners of NFHS awards must be active coaches during the year for which they receive their award.