Boyne Falls Star Rises on Record Lists
April 28, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Marcus Matelski finished his brilliant high school basketball career at Boyne Falls this winter among the all-time leaders in MHSAA history in both points and steals.
Matelski’s scoring listings include 24 points in the first quarter of a game against Traverse City Christian on Feb. 1 and 2,421 points for his career – good for ninth-most in MHSAA history and at an average of 28.2 per game. His 425 free throws rank 14th on that career list, and his 80.6-percent success rate from the line sits 12th.
His steal numbers are similarly impressive – he had 12 or more steals in three games this season to rank among the top-five for one contest, and his 146 steals set the single-season record. Matelski’s career steals total of 341 sits fourth, although that will drop one spot when Gage Kreski's record career total at St. Ignace is added next week. Matelski, who will next play at Northern Michigan University, also made the career rebounds list with 838 over 86 games.
Click the “Boys Basketball” heading below for more on the 6-foot-2 guard’s accomplishments and other recent additions to records lists for his sport, and on the other headings for the latest to be added for baseball, girls basketball, hockey and volleyball.
Baseball
Tyler Waldrop earned a spot on the single-season ERA list for the second straight, improving on his 0.69 ERA as a junior with a 0.50 last spring as a senior as he finished 10-1. His ERA paced Grand Ledge’s team mark of 1.33 as the Comets finished 31-6-1. Waldrop pitches now at Wayne State University.
Boys Basketball
Shawn Pardee made the MHSAA records in two categories during a 99-85 overtime win over Carrollton on Jan. 25. He scored 20 points during the fourth quarter, making the single-quarter scoring list. Eight that quarter came on free throws, and he made the single-game free throw list with 21 in 23 attempts. He finished the game with 48 points. Millington as a team made the single-game free throw list with 36 that game (in 45 attempts). The Cardinals also made team records listings with 367 free throws this season (in 477 attempts, for a 77 percent success rate), free throws made (415) and attempted (549) in 2014-15 and free throws made (410) and attempted (581) in 2013-14. The 415 makes tied for third-most in a season and the 410 rank fifth, while the 581 attempts rank sixth for one winter.
Joe Duncan’s 25 points in a quarter for Cedarville against Rudyard on Feb. 11, 2015, tied for eighth-most in MHSAA history and included a tied record with 21 of those points coming on seven 3-pointers – he is one of two players to make that many shots from beyond the arc in a quarter. He played this season at Alpena Community College.
Girls Basketball
North Muskegon had a tough season this winter, but Mya Duncan was sharp in helping the Norsemen to their first victory, Jan. 29 against Scottville Mason County Central. Duncan made all 16 of her free-throw attempts to make the MHSAA records listings for most free throws made in a game and most consecutive in one game. She finished with 24 points in the 57-52 win.
Pellston senior Hanah Carter found the basket enough to earn two basketball record listings in separate games. She scored 46 points against Mancelona in a 74-53 win on Dec. 18 to make the single-game points list, and drilled 16 of 22 free throws against Mackinaw City on Nov. 30 to make the single-game free throws list as well.
Ellie Mackay’s strong free throw shooting has placed her near the top of multiple MHSAA lists. The Novi sophomore made 17 straight free throws in a 39-26 win over Livonia Stevenson on Feb. 9 – the 17 straight are tied for fourth-most consecutive in one game. She then made 22 of 27 attempts in a 53-46 overtime win over Walled Lake Western on Feb. 19; her made free throws in that game are second-most on the single-game list for that statistic.
Football
Clinton Township Chippewa Valley quarterback Pat Briningstool capped his high school career in the fall with 10 listings in the MHSAA football records. In his final season he threw for 2,375 yards over 10 games, completing 187 of 293 passes including 25 for touchdowns. For his career, he completed 301 of 492 passes over 22 games for 4,226 yards and 52 scores (including 27 as a junior). Teammate Stefan Clairborne made the career receptions list with 102 over four seasons, and kicker Dane Haggarty was added for single-season extra points as a sophomore and junior and for 140 in 145 tries over 33 games from 2013-15 – his total makes rank 11th on that career list and included 80 straight. Previous accomplishments were added for Matt Schweiger (four touchdown catches in a game in 2006, a 97-yard kickoff return for a score in 2005) and KyeRell Williams (a 95-yard kickoff return touchdown in 2008). Briningstool has signed to continue his career this fall at Emporia State University in Kansas, and Claiborne signed with Western Michigan.
Bart Williams quarterbacked Grand Blanc to a 15-8 record over the 2011-12 seasons, posting passing numbers among the best in MHSAA history. His 6,302 passing yards rank 14th despite coming in only 24 games, with his 792 career attempts 11th and 454 completions 10th (while his single-season numbers in both categories rank at least among the top six in each category). He threw 73 touchdown passes, which rank tied for 13th for a career, and his 37 in 13 games as a junior are tied for 14th. Jordan Fields, his leading receiver in 2011, made MHSAA records lists with 67 catches and 1,088 receiving yards in a season. Williams now plays at Grand Valley State University and threw 45 touchdown passes last season; Fields went on to play at Central Michigan University.
Ice Hockey
Cooper Jenkins became the first player to make the career assists list since 1993, finishing his four-season Pinckney career in 2015 with 132 assists in 109 games after tallying 44 and 45, respectively, over his final two seasons.
Volleyball
Hanah Carter also finished her varsity volleyball career with 945 assists in the fall – and 3,029 over her three years to make the MHSAA career assists list. The senior setter earned Class D all-state honorable mention after her final high school season.
PHOTOS: Marcus Matelski scores some of his more than 2,000 points during a four-season varsity career. (Photos by Rachel Lange.)
P-W's Smith Breaks Away for Records
April 1, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Jared Smith has a season to play for the Pewamo-Westphalia football team.
But he had an incredible season to remember as a junior last fall in literally carrying the Pirates’ offense to Ford Field.
Smith set MHSAA records with 3,250 yards rushing (on 315 carries; 10.3 yards per carry), total touchdowns in a season with 53 and rushing touchdowns in a season as all 53 came on the ground. His 22 2-point conversions helped give him a season total of 364 points, good for second on the MHSAA list for that category. He also earned a records entry with six rushing touchdowns in a playoff win over Carson City-Crystal on Oct. 30.
The 6-foot, 195-pound running back also ran for more than 2,100 yards as a sophomore and should push into the career rushing leaders by the time this fall is complete – especially if P-W replicates its team finish of 2015, when it was runner-up in Division 7 after a 22-16 loss to Ishpeming in the MHSAA Final.
See below for more recent record entries for football, boys soccer, softball and volleyball, and click each sport heading to see that record book in full.
Football
Of 186 passes Jondell Jones completed for Bangor over 28 high school games the last four seasons, 57 went for touchdowns including a high of 21 in eight games as a sophomore. Jones started the final two games of his freshman season and then through senior year last fall.
Quarterback Tony Poljan and receiver Tony Palmer played leading roles in Lansing Catholic’s combined record of 30-8 over the last three seasons and trip to the Division 5 championship game in 2014. Poljan finished his career in the fall placing in the MHSAA records with 390 completions, 682 attempts, 6,179 yards and 59 touchdowns passing over mostly three seasons as quarterback. Palmer ranked with 134 receptions, 2,036 yards and 21 touchdowns receiving over his three seasons. Poljan will play next at Central Michigan University, and Palmer has signed with Northern Michigan University. Also added for Lansing Catholic was Jack Swain for a 99-yard scoring run against Albion in 2010, and Demond Winston, Bob Fata and Brent Nakfoor for tackles for losses during seasons in the mid-1980s. Winston went on to play for Vanderbilt and then the New Orleans Saints, while Fata played collegiately at Michigan State.
Boys Soccer
Simon Roennecke was limited to only nine games in the fall for Birmingham Roeper. But he still tallied 29 goals and two assists to join the career goals list with 98 and move up the career assists (56) and points (154) lists with a season to play. His 154 career points are tied for 17th-most in MHSAA history.
Softball
Midland’s softball team made the doubles listing with 64 in 2015 on the way to a Regional title, and Maya Kipfmiller led the way with 17 doubles to make the individual record book. Kipfmiller was a sophomore last season, hitting .504 as an outfielder and first baseman and pitching to a 1.17 ERA according to a report by the Saginaw News.
Katie Kish finished a fine four-year varsity career for Grosse Pointe South last spring ranking 13th in MHSAA history with a career batting average of .547. She hit .605 as a senior, with her 66 stolen bases tying for 10th in one season, her 78 hits tying for 14th and her 208 career hits and 39 career doubles also making records lists. She’s continuing her softball career at Hillsdale College.
Coleman’s run to a Division 4 Quarterfinal last season saw the Comets score nearly 10 runs per game – 408 total, led by junior Carley Starnes’ 68. Both totals made MHSAA records lists, as did Cassidy Tucker’s seven RBI in a 20-5 win over Merrill. Coleman finished the season 33-8.
Volleyball
Meredith Norris bettered one of her MHSAA records and continued climbing toward a few others, while Corunna teammate Skylar Napier also put list-worthy touches on her high school career in the fall. Norris’ 56 kills against Goodrich on Nov. 7 set an MHSAA record by three over the 53 kills she had against Goodrich nearly a year to the day prior. Norris also made the single-season kills list for the third time with 836 and ranks seventh on the career kills list with 2,287 and a season to play. Napier finished on the career assists list with 2,912 over three seasons and on the single-match assists list three times including with a last-season high 52 in that Goodrich match.
South Lyon’s Hannah Barton tied for the sixth-most assists during the rally scoring era in a Nov. 10 match against Farmington Hills Mercy. She had 59 over five games, only eight shy of the record, in her team's 3-2 loss.
Saginaw Swan Valley’s run to a record 58 wins and a Class B Regional Final berth in the fall was keyed by a number of strong individual performances. Lauren Huebner made the MHSAA records with 32 kills in a three-game match against Chesaning, 813 kills for the season and 2,109 for her four-year varsity career; the single-season kills rank 15th and the career kills 10th during the rally scoring era. Senior Larissa Crook is listed with 16 aces in a match against Saginaw, 51 assists in a four-game match against Belding, and 129 aces and 1,439 assists both for one season last fall – her assists rank 11th on that list. Senior Noelle Champagne also made the single-match aces list with 15 against Saginaw.
PHOTO: Pewamo-Westphalia's Jared Smith looks for an opening during last season's Division 7 Final against Ishpeming at Ford Field.