Roeper Standouts Climb Scoring Charts
April 17, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Birmingham Roeper’s first MHSAA boys soccer championship run included an expected number of key performances – especially from its top two scorers.
Sophomore Simon Roennecke this fall tied an MHSAA Finals record with four goals in the Division 4 championship game, and also made the MHSAA record book listings with 40 goals and 36 assists (and 76 points) – his assists ranking eighth for one season and the points 11th.
Teammate Max Whipple was added for a number of season and career milestones – 39 goals in 2013 and 46 this fall, 102 career goals, 49 career assists, 67 points this season and 151 over his four on varsity. Roeper as a team ranked second all-time for one season with 104 assists in 2014 and also made the team goals list with 107.
Click the “Boys Soccer” heading below to see those record listings in full, and read on for more recent additions to records for other sports.
Boys Soccer
- Cassopolis’ Dylan Armstrong became the latest of 20 who have had at least five assists in a game. He helped on five goals in his team’s 8-0 win over Watervliet Grace Christian on Sept. 25. Armstrong also scored in the victory.
Girls Basketball
- Here’s the highest-scoring individual performance we know of at this point from this winter; Kentwood Grand River Prep’s Mariah McCully scored 51 points in her team’s 79-52 win over Fruitport Calvary Christian on Dec. 8. She had three 3-pointers and only four free throws (making all four attempts); the rest of her points were scored on 19 two-point field goals. She scored 17 points in the first quarter.
- Edwardsburg sophomore Savannah Dixon placed herself among the top shooters in girls hoops history with two seasons to play, making 69 3-pointers this winter. She had a high of seven in a 56-45 victory over South Haven on Jan. 30.
- East Jackson fell in a Dec. 12 game to Grass Lake, 68-55, but Kassidy Blough had a headlining performance. She made 18 of 20 free-throw attempts to make the list for most successes from the stripe in a game. She scored 24 points total.
Boys Basketball
- East Jordan junior Jordan Weber is on his way to finishing as one of the top perimeter shooters in MHSAA history. Weber made 91 3-pointers (13th most) in 262 attempts this season – when he also went over 1,000 points for his career – and has 205 3-pointers after three varsity seasons to rank 21st on the career list. He averaged 26.7 points per game this winter as East Jordan finished 17-6.
- Troy Athens’ John Van Hoef was added to the career rebounding list with a four-season total of 822 and despite grabbing only 42 as a freshman. The 6-foot-5 post player averaged 12.8 rebounds per game this season and 11.8 per game as a junior. He also scored 15.2 points per game this winter.
Football
- Longtime Battle Creek Harper Creek coach Ed Greenman retired from the sideline after the fall and leading his team to a sixth straight playoff appearance. He finished with a 203-108 record over 30 seasons and despite starting 0-18 over his first two. He took nine teams to at least 10 wins, with his 2011 squad finishing 12-1.
- Holt’s Trent Stone achieved record-list numbers in back-to-back games this fall. On Sept. 12 he ran for seven touchdowns in his team’s 69-28 win over Lansing Eastern (total he carried the ball 21 times for 301 yards). The next week, Sept. 19, Stone ran 47 times – this time for 180 yards, in a 42-41 overtime loss to Lansing Everett. The seven touchdowns and 47 carries both made record book lists, the seven scores tying for second most rushing in one game.
Softball
- Pinconning finished last season as one of the top power-hitting teams in MHSAA history on the way to a 27-10-1 record. The Spartans hit 37 home runs – fourth-most for one season – and despite no player hitting more than eight (Gabby Yanoski and Katlyn Blake tied for the team lead with that total). Pinconning also made the records list with 64 doubles, including 15 by Millie Talaga.
PHOTO: Birmingham Roeper's Simon Roennecke looks for space during his record-setting performance in this season's MHSAA Division 4 Final.
Schoolcraft Ace Could Score & Much More
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 10, 2021
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Gabi Saxman’s Schoolcraft career will be remembered in part because she scored more than 1,000 points over four seasons.
But 5-foot-6 point guard made the MHSAA record book in two other categories, with 477 assists and 436 steals over those 96 games before graduating last spring.
She is continuing her career at Western Michigan University this winter, as her former teammates and high school basketball teams all over Michigan kick off their seasons this week.
Below is a look at recent additions to MHSAA record books in girls basketball, hockey and girls soccer. Click on the headings to view those record books in full.
Girls Basketball
Last Feb. 20 was unforgettable for Grass Lake and especially Gabrielle Lutchka. She set an MHSAA record for 3-pointers with 16 to finish the evening with 56 points, which ranks eighth all-time for single-game scoring. As a team, Grass Lake made the record book with 17 3-pointers that night against Manchester. Teammates Abrie Cabana also was added for an achievement last winter, finishing with a .880 free-throw percentage. Lutchka is a junior and Cabana a senior this school year.
Genesee senior Hayle March tied for 12th-most assists in a game Jan 23, 2020, when she dished 14 during her team’s 61-35 win over Mayville. She also had 12 points, five rebounds and five steals in the victory.
Kasey DeSmit played a significant part in Hudsonville’s 73-28 record from 2015-18, making the career record book in two categories. She sank 187 3-pointers and tallied 474 assists over those 101 games. She now plays at Hope College.
Gracie Nowak filled her senior season at Morrice last winter with a number of highlights, perhaps the biggest individually the 18 steals she totaled in a Jan. 17, 2020, win over Webberville. That total ranks as the fourth-highest for single-game steals in MHSAA history.
Kent City continued to dominate the 3-point shooting lists in 2019-20, with the team connecting on 16 in multiple games and a season-high 17 against Ravenna on March 2. Junior Jenna Harrison finished the season with 86 3-pointers over 24 games, and junior Kenzie Bowers had nine of her team’s 16 in a game against Hesperia. Bowers has signed with Illinois State.
Kelynn Kujat completed her Frankenmuth career last season among top 3-point shooters all-time, drilling 187 over four seasons and 89 games. She previously had made the record book with 66 3-pointers as a sophomore.
Nearly 40 years later, Teresa Hudak’s rebounding excellence has reached the record book. The Rogers City standout three times grabbed 26 or more rebounds in a game – with a high twice of 29. She had 342 rebounds as a junior in 1981 and then 385 as a senior the following fall, with the latter total ranking 11th all-time.
Hockey
Sean Hogan enjoyed an exciting start to calendar year 1995, making the MHSAA record book twice. He scored four goals in the first period of Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes’ 7-5 win over White Lake Lakeland on Jan. 14, and seven for the game in Our Lady’s 15-4 win over Algonac that Feb. 5. Hogan went on to play at Iona College and has coached multiple American Collegiate Hockey Association programs.
Girls Soccer
Nearly 25 years later, Marie Spaccarotella has made it into the record book for her 102 career goals over four seasons for Livonia Churchill from 1993-96. She went on to play forward at University of Michigan, starting 32 games and scoring 21 goals over four seasons.
PHOTO: Gabi Saxman brings the ball upcourt for Schoolcraft during a game last season. (Photo courtesy of JoeInsider.com.)