Holland's Lake Leaves Scoring Legacy
June 6, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Holland’s Demetrius Lake finished his career this winter as one of the most prolific scorers in Michigan high school history, with 17 entries in the MHSAA record book highlighting his scoring and shooting prowess.
Lake’s 2,069 points over 76 games and four seasons (27.2 ppg) joined a list of those who have reached that milestone, and his 36.2 ppg game this winter rank ninth on a much shorter list of those who have averaged at least 36 for one season. He’s listed six times for scoring at least 20 points in a quarter, with the high 24 (tied for 11th most) in a 2016 games against Holland Christian
His 230 career 3-pointers rank 11th as well, and twice he made more than 20 free throws in a game with his 21 against Zeeland East on Jan. 13 tied for ninth most. He made 20 straight against Holland Christian on Feb. 3, the third-longest in-game streak, and his 221 free throws in 262 attempts this winter were the fourth-most makes. His 541 in 670 attempts over four seasons also rank fourth, and he made the season (.844 this winter) and career (.807) free-throwing shooting percentage lists.
The 5-foot-11 point guard will begin his college career next season at Schoolcraft Community College.
Click the "Boys Basketball" heading below to see where all of Lake's record book entries rank, and read on for more recent additions in boys and girls basketball, hockey, boys soccer and wrestling.
Boys Basketball
Nearly 50 years after accomplishing his record book achievement, Peck’s Harvey Krosnicki has been added for grabbing 30 rebounds in an 83-70 win over Marine City Holy Cross on Feb. 11, 1969. The 6-foot-4 Krosnicki also scored 41 points in the win as he began the final weeks of an outstanding high school career that saw him earn local and statewide honors.
Hunter Greer scored 22 of his 34 points during the fourth quarter of Allendale’s 62-55 Class B District win over Coopersville on March 5. He made 13 free throws during that final period. He will continue his career at Grace Bible College.
Burton Faith sophomore Ezra Giraud had 124 steals over 22 games this past season to rank eighth on the single-season steals list and help his team to a 15-7 finish. He had a game high of 12, which tied for sixth most on that list.
Girls Basketball
Former Ludington star Mandy Stowe already was included for her 2,160 points from 1993-96, which still rank 17th most all-time more than two decades after she finished her career. She was added for three more achievements – 315 career free throws (in 479 attempts), 337 rebounds as a junior and 1,167 career rebounds, which rank 15th on that list. Stowe went on play at University of Michigan and University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, and then professionally in Europe.
Lansing Christian’s Grace Haley also is now included for excellent free throw shooting over four varsity seasons – her 316 free throws in 465 attempts through this winter made the career list in the category. The 5-8 guard will continue her career at Bethel College in Indiana.
Ice Hockey
Calumet downed Negaunee 8-0 on Feb. 9, putting the game out of reach with three goals over 37 seconds during the second period – the fifth-fastest three goals scored back-to-back-to-back by one team in MHSAA history. Brent Loukus tallied the first at 7:53 in the period, followed by Rory Anderson at 8:13 and Matt Yeo at 8:30.
Boys Soccer
Capac senior keeper Jacob Witt had a busy night in net with 30 or more saves in two games this past fall – 35 against Imlay City on Sept. 12 (tied for eighth-most in one game) and 30 against Richmond on Oct. 12. He finished the fall with 350 saves, seventh on the single-season list.
Wrestling
Gaylord standout Dominic LaJoie capped his outstanding career this winter with his third individual championship – and multiple MHSAA records. LaJoie was 52-0 as a senior to finish 200-4 overall, and his 43 technical falls as a junior, 94 over his career and 236 two-point near falls all top those categories, while his 879 career takedowns rank fourth. LaJoie will continue his career at Cornell University.
Former Niles Brandywine standout Chanc Ravish was added for his 194 wins (against 31 losses) from 2010-13, as well as for his 129 career pins. Brandywine’s Joel Perry was added for 119 career pins from 2005-08, and Warren Watson for his 58 wins during the 2008-09 season. Ravish went on to wrestle at Wabash College and Calumet College of St. Joseph, both in Indiana.
PHOTO: Holland’s Demetrius Lake attempts a free throw during the 2015-16 season. (Photo courtesy of Holland High School.)
Achievements New and Old Uncovered
December 11, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Sometimes it takes a year or two for records and appropriate documentation to find their way to the MHSAA office in East Lansing.
Sometimes it takes a little bit longer – or in the case of former Ionia receiver Adam Kerr, more than two decades and only after a chance uncovering in a school yearbook.
Kerr’s MHSAA record for receptions in one game set in 1992 is part of an impressive group of football achievements that have been added over the last week. You’ll also find the names Tyree Jackson, Drake Harris, Joel Schipper and Alex VanDeVusse much more prevalent, plus recent additions for boys tennis, baseball, girls basketball, softball and boys soccer. (Click the headings below to see the record books for those sports in full. More record book submissions will be added in weeks to come.)
Baseball
A pair of Homer standouts finished their careers over the last two seasons with a number of entries. Alex White, a senior in 2014, finished with 178 runs, 187 hits and 118 stolen bases. Nate Sitkiewicz, a graduate this spring, finished with 181 hits, 49 doubles, 160 RBI, 37 times hit by pitches, a .479 career batting average and four career grand slams; he also made the single-season list with 17 hits by pitches as a junior. Teammates Brock Ridgeway (29 HBP from 2013-15) and Dylan Thomas (1.61 ERA from 2011-14) also were added, as was the team for its 37 wins, 307 RBI, .387 average, 45 hits by pitches and 1.52 ERA in 2014 and its 55 hits by pitches this spring. Sitkiewicz now plays at Spring Arbor University, and White plays football at Kalamazoo College. Thomas plays at Jackson College, and Ridgeway is a senior this school year.
Girls Basketball
Taylor Richards played five seasons of varsity basketball for Fruitport Calvary Christian – allowable because of the school’s small enrollment. But even though those eighth-grade statistics don’t count for these purposes, her totals from her final four seasons placed her all over the MHSAA record book. She qualified with 2,043 career points (22.7 per game) from 2012-15, 468 free throws (ranking eighth) and 1,261 rebounds (ranking seventh). She also made the single-season rebound list three times, with a high of 363 as a junior, and the single-game list with 26 in a win over North Muskegon on Feb. 2. Richards also was part of two of the highest-scoring games in MHSAA history, an 89-72 win over Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian on Jan. 20 and an 89-71 loss to Holton a week later. The 6-foot-1 forward is a freshman on Cornerstone University’s team.
Football
The heroes of Grand Rapids Christian’s 2012 Division 3 title run have their places in the MHSAA record book. Receiver Drake Harris, a junior that fall who ended up not playing a down as a senior because of an injury, set the single-season record of 2,015 receiving yards and also is listed for 243 yards in a game, 3,133 career receiving yards (fourth), 91 receptions in 2012 (fifth for one season), 148 career receptions, 25 touchdown catches in 2012 (second for one season) and 37 career touchdown catches (tied for sixth-most). Quarterback Alex VanDeVusse also is listed seven times: for 413 yards passing in one game, a Semifinal win in 2012 over Zeeland West; for 3,837 yards that season (third-most for one year), 5,043 career passing yards, 359 pass attempts and 205 completions in 2012, 41 touchdown passes that season (tied for fifth) and 56 for his career. Kicker Joel Schipper set records with 173 career extra points, over three seasons, and including a record 145 consecutive. He also is listed for 14 field goals in 2012, tied for seventh-most in a season, 19 over his career, and 72 extra points in 2012. Harris now plays receiver at Michigan, Schipper plays both football and baseball at Grand Valley State and VanDeVusse plays baseball at Davenport.
Muskegon Mona Shores quarterback Tyree Jackson graduated this spring as one of the most accomplished passers in MHSAA history after taking the Sailors to the Division 2 Final in his final season. Jackson made the MHSAA records for 2,338 yards passing in fall 2014, but his career numbers stick out most – his 8,028 yards in 42 games over four seasons rank fourth, his 845 attempts are fifth, his 475 completions sixth and his 85 touchdown passes rank third on that career list. Jackson now is a freshman quarterback at the University of Buffalo.
Research for the school’s Hall of Fame unearthed an MHSAA record for receiver Adam Kerr set in 1992. Kerr had an MHSAA-best 18 receptions for 307 yards (fifth-most for one game) in a 43-37 win over Belding on Oct. 23 of that year. The Bulldogs finished 4-5 that fall.
Muskegon’s Miguel Flores drilled 42 and 53-yard field goals in a 2014 Semifinal win over Zeeland West; the 53-yarder made the MHSAA records. Click to see both via hudl.com. Flores went on to play soccer this fall at Muskegon Community College.
Boys Soccer
Hunter Edwards became the latest of a number of players tied for third-most assists in one game when he had five for Grand Ledge in a 9-0 win over Lansing Waverly on Aug. 26. Edwards, a senior defender, earned all-league honors in the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue this fall.
Softball
Romeo blasted past the single-season team record for home runs this spring, bashing 59 in 35 games to break the previous record by eight. Romeo’s Madison Jones made a huge impact as only a sophomore, tying the MHSAA single-season record for home runs with 18 in helping her team to a fifth straight District title. Now-senior Morgan Gardner made the records with 12 home runs including three in a May 26 game against Croswell-Lexington. She’s signed with Central Michigan.
Boys Tennis
Otsego’s Luke Ford capped a four-year career at No. 1 singles this fall that saw him rise from 20 wins as a freshman to a 37-1 record and MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 championship as a senior. Ford also finished his career with 38 wins by scores of 6-0, 6-0, third most in MHSAA history.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central’s back-to-back LP Division 2 championships the last two years (this fall shared with Portage Central) were driven by a number of players who made the MHSAA records for wins in a season. Freshman Jacob Wiltjer won the No. 4 singles championship this fall and made the singles list with a 36-2 record. Tim Spurlin and Jack Ziegler (29-7) won No. 3 doubles and Justin James and Aidan Rynbrandt (29-8) won No. 2 doubles, and both made the records for doubles wins, while No. 4 champion Peyton Herbert and Mike Battiste made it with a 35-1 record. Forest Hills Central won three of four doubles flights at the 2014 Final, and all four doubles pairs made the wins list: No. 1 champion Nico Finelli and Joey McClure at 28-9, No. 2 Andrew Fox and Carson Schmidt at 33-3, No. 3 Humzah Azeem and Ryan Conner also at 33-3 and No. 4 Joey Preston and Reed Aleck at 31-4.
PHOTO: Muskegon Mona Shores’ quarterback Tyree Jackson celebrates a touchdown with teammates during the 2014 Division 2 Final at Ford Field.