Sharp-Shooting Long Sisters Help Bring Newaygo to Breslin

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

May 27, 2021

Newaygo’s run to this season’s Division 2 Final included record-book performances by sisters Jaylee and Jaxi Long.

Jaylee Long – who has signed with Cornerstone University – made the career list for 3-pointers with 168 over 90 games and four seasons.

Jaxi Long, a junior, was added for 17 free throws against Howard City Tri County on March 24 and a .878 free throw percentage (79 of 90) for the season. Her season percentage is tied for 12th-highest all-time.

See below for more recent record book entries in girls basketball and boys soccer.

Girls Basketball

Plymouth continued this season to earn entries in the team records for 3-pointers, led by senior Ella Riley. The Wildcats were added for 15 3-pointers in a game against Dearborn Fordson on March 19 and 14 against Burton Bentley on Feb. 27, and also for attempting 479 over 20 games this season (making 143). Riley made the individual 3-pointer list with 72 this season, after sinking 75 as a junior, and for making 163 over 63 games for her career – she was on varsity all four seasons but missed her sophomore year with an injury. She will continue her career at Elmhurst University in Illinois.

Oscoda also was added for some major 3-point shooting performances this season. The Owls drilled 15 against both Rogers City on March 9 and Midland Calvary Baptist on March 13, and also 14 against Durand on Feb. 20.

Leland’s Olivia Lowe finished a four-season, 82-game varsity tenure this winter on a pair of career lists. She grabbed 1,077 rebounds during her career – also making the single-season list with 302 as a junior – and ranks eighth with 470 made free throws (in 643 attempts). She will continue at Hope College.

Boys Soccer

Big Rapids Crossroads Academy senior Joseph Gardei was the busiest keeper for one game in MHSAA history Oct. 1, when he stopped a record 48 shots on goal during an 8-1 loss to Clare. Gardei had only six field players available in front of him, while Clare played at full strength.

Mitchell Drabicki’s scoring surge over his four varsity seasons at Clinton saw him score two goals as a freshman in 2015 and 59 as a senior – those 59 ranking 10th all-time for a single season. He also made the career scoring list with 102 goals total.

Kirt Brown has been added to the record book list with a record of 369-214-49 after serving as Parchment’s varsity boys coach from 1990-2004 and taking over at Mattawan in 2006. He led Mattawan to the Division 1 Semifinals this past fall.

Nathan Isbrecht became the first player to be added to the MHSAA record book for scoring six goals in a game during the Fall 2020 season, as he did so in Watervliet’s 10-2 season-opening win over Parchment on Sept. 9. He is a junior.

Evan Mieden earned Carleton Airport’s first record book entry for boys soccer with a busy senior season. He made 349 saves in goal, which rank ninth-most on the single-season list.

Leslie earned its first record book entries in this sport Sept. 15 – and in a big way. Senior Tristan Feigner tallied eight goals, tied for third-most in one game. Senior Garrett Mays set the MHSAA record with 10 assists, including eight on Feighner’s goals.

PHOTO: Newaygo’s Jaylee Long brings the ball upcourt during her team’s Division 2 Semifinal win over Detroit Country Day in April. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)

Dunn Finishes Among Scoring Leaders

April 24, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Blake Dunn is one of the finest all-around athletes in Michigan, a four-sport star for Saugatuck who will go on to play baseball at Western Michigan University this fall.

But his most notable accomplishments may have come on the football field, and his name appears 19 times in the MHSAA record book for that sport.

Dunn, as quarterback this past fall, scored 323 points – third most in MHSAA history – to graduate with a four-season total of 827 points, which ranks second all-time for a career. He scored 42 total touchdowns as a senior to finish with 113, fourth on that career list, and his 101 career rushing touchdowns also rank fourth in that category. His 6,954 career rushing yards rank eighth all-time, and his streak of 26 straight 100-yard rushing games ranks third.

Dunn also made lists for kicking extra points, passing touchdowns, kickoff return touchdowns (four this past season tied for second-most) and for a 100-yard interception return.

As might be expected, Saugatuck as a team scored more than 500 points each of the last two seasons, finishing both 10-1. Its 53.5 ppg average this past fall ranks eighth all-time.

Click to see the football record book in full and read on for more of the latest additions for girls and boys basketball, hockey, softball, volleyball and wrestling.

Girls Basketball

Alma’s Maddy Seeley capped her high school career in 2014 with a record-setting performance in a 68-62 Regional loss to Freeland. Seeley made all 21 free throws she attempted, breaking the previous girls basketball record by one for consecutive free throws in one game. Those 21 free throws also are tied for third most in a game, as she scored 39 points total. Seeley currently plays at Northwood University.

New Lothrop teammates Monica Confer and Amber Sammons graduated in 2010 among the winningest players in MHSAA girls hoops history. The two four-season standouts finished with a career record of 97-11 and Class D titles in 2008 and 2009. Confer went on to play at Davenport and then Northwood University, while Sammons played at Schoolcraft and then Rochester College.

Boys Basketball

Trenton needed a big fourth quarter to come back against Wyandotte Roosevelt on Jan. 17 – and got one of the biggest in Michigan high school history. Trenton scored 42 points – tied for fifth most in a quarter – to edge Roosevelt 73-72 after trailing 50-31 heading into the final period. Joel Childers scored 13 points with four 3-pointers to lead the barrage.

Hockey

New Baltimore Anchor Bay senior Joey DeMarte played himself into the MHSAA records for scoring prowess twice within four days this winter. On Jan. 21, DeMarte score three goals within 37 seconds – at 8:06, 7:54 and 7:21 of the second period – in an 8-0 win over Utica to move into second place for fastest three goals by one player in one game. On Jan. 24, he had five goals during the second period of a 14-0 win over Port Huron to also rank second for most goals in a period.

Girls Soccer

Middleville Thornapple Kellogg keeper Aly Miller capped her career last spring on the MHSAA career shutouts list despite missing all of the 2014 season with an injury. She graduated with 39 shutouts over 60 games in 2013, 2015 and 2016, and was added for single-season shutouts for a second time with 13 a year ago. Middleville Thornapple Kellogg as a team made the list for fewest goals given up with seven in going 16-2-2 in 2016. Miller plays now at Webster University in Missouri.

Softball

Manistee then-junior Sydney Arendt joined the single-season doubles list last spring, knocking 18 in 36 games. She batted .537 overall last season.

Volleyball

Rockford setter Hailey Delacher upped her number of entries in the MHSAA record book to 12 in leading her team to a Class A runner-up finish in the fall. Delacher, who already had the record for most assists in one match (67 in 2015), added four more entries to the category as a junior while coming on especially strong during the playoffs – her season-high 54 came in the Semifinal, with 49 in a Quarterfinal, 46 in a Regional Final and 53 during the regular season. Her 1,635 assists this past season rank fourth since the start of rally scoring in 2004-05, and she moved into 10th on the career list with 3,802 assists and a season still to play.

Wyoming Godwin Heights enjoyed a strong senior season to end a record-book career for senior middle Mya Jordan in the fall. Jordan made the single-season kills list with a career-high 622, and with those also made the career kills list with 1,569 over four seasons. Senior teammate Tony Henry also made the record book with 128 aces for the season, including 11 in a three-set match against Wyoming Lee. Godwin Heights won its first league title in the fall in 17 years.

Wrestling

Grand Rapids Christian junior Desean Bryant became the first in MHSAA history to achieve a pin in six or fewer seconds at 112 pounds when he did so in a match during the Traverse City West Invitational on Dec. 28. That win was Bryant’s ninth straight to start the season.

PHOTO: Saugatuck’s Blake Dunn rushes toward an opening upfield during a game his junior season. (Photo courtesy of the Saugatuck athletic department.)