Bowers Leaves Record-Caliber Mark on Kent City Hoops
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
August 4, 2021
Senior Kenzie Bowers added a pair of record book entries this past winter as she continued to help Kent City join the girls basketball elite.
Bowers scored 46 points in a win over Lakeview on Feb. 10 this winter, and also was added for 14 assists against Ravenna during a 2019-20 victory. The assists are tied for 12th-most in one game. Bowers also had earned a record book entry as a junior for drilling nine 3-pointers in a game.
Kent City reached the Division 3 championship game in April, falling just two points shy against Grass Lake in the finale. Bowers will continue her career at Illinois State.
See below for more recent record book entries for girls basketball, baseball, boys lacrosse and girls soccer.
Baseball
Nearly 50 years later, Jim Kniivila has reached the record book. The four-year Holt pitcher finished with a 0.21 ERA over 66 innings in 1973, ranking today as the eighth-lowest ERA for a single season. He went on to play at Michigan State.
Jacob Freeman capped his Gaylord career in 2016 by making the Division 2 all-state first team – and by earning a spot in the MHSAA record book with 47 stolen bases. He also hit .403 that spring.
Girls Basketball
Houghton’s Stella Wickstrom posted major rebounding performances as only a sophomore last winter. The 6-foot forward grabbed at least 25 rebounds in three games – with that many against Calumet on Feb. 15 and Iron Mountain on March 1, and a season-high 27 against Baraga on Feb. 8.
Ella Stemmer put up big numbers over her four-season, 88-game Saline varsity career – including some of the most impressive ever from the free throw line. She made the career list with 419 free throws in 506 attempts, with her 90.9-percent success this winter tying for second-highest for one season and her 82.8 career percentage ranking fifth. She’ll continue her career at Lehigh.
Comstock Park then-senior McKenna Bent connected on 10 3-pointers in two games during the 2019-20 season, against Holland that Dec. 13 and Sparta on Feb. 7. She finished with 40 and 41 points, respectively, in those games. She’s continuing her career at Saginaw Valley State.
Boys Lacrosse
Xander Roisen saved 32 shots for Pinckney in a 16-2 loss to Canton on April 23, setting an MHSAA record for most saves in one game (but to be broken three later; see below). Roisen was a senior this spring.
Warren Cousino senior Donovan Cece took over the record for saves in a game with 35 in his team’s 12-0 loss to Clinton Township Chippewa Valley on May 14.
JJ Hawkins had another of the busiest days for a goalie March 27. He made 21 saves in Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central’s 13-4 loss to Dearborn Divine Child. Hawkins was a freshman this spring.
Girls Soccer
Lily Usher tied for the seventh-most saves in a game when she made 35 in Owosso’s 6-0 loss to Goodrich on May 5. The Martians took a total of 56 shots, including those not on goal. Usher was a sophomore this spring.
PHOTO: Kent City's Kenzie Bowers gets to the basket during the Division 3 championship game against Grass Lake in April.
Rangers Net Historic Accomplishments
April 27, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Special for Second Half
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central’s boys tennis team finished fourth in Lower Peninsula Division 2 in the fall, led by a single star and a powerful doubles lineup whose accomplishments have been added to the MHSAA record book.
No. 1 singles champion Connor Genschaw was added to the records for his 34-4 finish, while Jack Ziegler and Peyton Herbert were runners-up at No. 2 doubles and added at 31-9 in separate entries (they went 25-6 together and 6-3 with other partners). Aidan Rynbrandt and Jacob Wiltjer were added for going 31-9 at No. 1 doubles, while Mike Battiste was part of the No. 3 pair and went 28-11 and the No. 4 pair of Tyler George and Ali Azeem made the list at 27-13.
Herbert (97-15), Battiste (94-17), Ziegler (90-22) and Rynbrandt (90-23) finished on the doubles career wins list as well. Reed Aleck, a senior in 2016-17, also was added to the career list at 80-22 after he and Justin James went 27-6 that fall.
Click to see the boys tennis record book in full, and see below for more recent entries in ice hockey, boys lacrosse, softball and wrestling. Click on the sport headings to view those record listings in their entirety.
Ice Hockey
Royal Oak Shrine Unified’s 9-3 win over Allen Park Cabrini on Jan. 20, 2017, saw a pair of MHSAA records set. Shrine’s Josef Mehall scored two goals five seconds apart during the second period – setting the record for the fastest two goals both by an individual and team – and Shrine added a third during the same minute to give it three goals over 34 seconds, which ranks fifth on that list. Mehall added an assist on that third goal, which was scored by Jamison Terbrack. Both were seniors; Mehall played junior hockey this season for the Maine Wild.
Calumet scored four goals over 1:24 against Negaunee on Feb. 8, becoming the second-fastest team to score four goals in one game. The Copper Kings did so with their first of the period 5:03 in and their fourth at 6:27. Brent Loukus, Dean Loukus, Rylan Anderson and Tyler Johnson scored during the string. Calumet went on to win 9-0.
Canton sent 104 shots on goal against Ann Arbor Huron during an 8-2 win Jan. 17, ranking as the second most shots on goal in a game. Huron senior Ethan St. Pierre set the MHSAA saves record in turning away 96 of those shots.
Boys Lacrosse
Tecumseh’s Dylan Day continued to move up the career lists in 2017, adding eight record book entries. He joined the career points list with 220 (148 goals and 72 assists) over the last two seasons and with this season yet to play and also was added for goals, assists and points (7/9/16) in a win over Temperance Bedford last May 24. Now-senior teammate Justin Weasel was added for eight goals in that game, and senior Drake Ringer was added for 42 assists last season. Now-junior goalie Kobe Jennings was added four times for saves in a game with a high of 20, and also earned the first entry for season shutouts with four. As a team, Tecumseh’s 266 goals were added, as were its 26 against Bedford in that 26-5 win.
Softball
Grosse Pointe South shortstop Grace Foster powered her way to a few more entries in the record book last season, hitting 11 home runs over 31 games – including two in an inning against Romulus after also hitting two consecutively in a game against St. Clair Shores Lakeview. The then-junior also made the records with six RBI in an inning and eight in that game against Romulus, and seven more in a game against Detroit Renaissance.
Flint Powers Catholic’s McKenna King hit 23 doubles in 2017 to make the single-season list in that category. The Chargers’ then-freshman tied for 12th most in one season.
Another freshman in 2017, Frankfort’s Haley Myers, made record lists with 18 doubles and 74 runs scored – the runs tied for 11th most. Now-senior teammate Olivia Tomaszewski also was added for 18 doubles and now-junior Natalie Bigley was added for 70 runs. Myers, now a sophomore, also was added for hitting back-to-back home runs against Lake City this April 12.
Elizabeth Evers became one of the first to be added for an accomplishment this spring. The Sterling Heights senior drove in six runs in her team’s 15-14 win over Clawson on March 23.
Wrestling
Otisville-LakeVille became the ninth on a list of teams that have scored 84 points in a dual match. The Falcons put up the perfect 84-0 score against Manistique on Jan. 13.
Gavin Morgan joined the list of record holders for fastest pins during his Mount Morris team’s invitational on Jan. 20. He pinned his Capac opponent at 160 pounds in four seconds. Morgan is a sophomore.
PHOTO: Forest Hills Central’s Connor Genschaw returns a volleyball during the LPD2 Finals last fall. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)