St Francis Standouts Net Record Entries
April 18, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Traverse City St. Francis missed tying for a Lower Peninsula Division 4 championship in girls tennis by a point in 2016, but continued adding big winners to the MHSAA record book.
Amanda Bandrowski capped her high school career as a Division 4 semifinalist at No. 1 singles and on the career wins list with a record of 117-10 – tied for 11th-most victories – and with 26 wins by a score of 6-0, 6-0 over her four seasons. She’s now playing at Hope College.
Anne Bandrowski, then a sophomore who finished runner-up at No. 3 singles, was added to the record book with a 35-3 record last spring, and senior Rosemary Wilson was added with a 34-4 record after winning the No. 4 singles title.
Click to see the MHSAA girls tennis record book in full, and read on for the latest additions in baseball, boys and girls basketball, football, softball and volleyball.
Baseball
Austin Yager was hit by pitches three times during the first game of a doubleheader last season against Lake Fenton. The Durand now-senior tied for second-most times being hit by a pitch in a game, and also had a single in his only other plate appearance in the 11-2 win.
Wyoming Lee’s Jose Cruz, Jr., also was hit by pitches three times in a March 28, 2016, game against Byron Center Zion Christian. Cruz ended up scoring two runs and driving in two runs in the 9-7 loss despite not getting a hit; one of his hit-by-pitches came with the bases loaded. Cruz was a junior at the time.
Boys Basketball
Bear Lake just missed an MHSAA record in its 81-62 win over Custer Mason County Eastern on Feb. 10. The Lakers scored 46 points during the third quarter – tied for second-most ever for one quarter and just two shy of tying the record set in 1966. Bear Lake also made 18 3-pointers in the game, good to make that record book single-game list as well. With Mason County Eastern’s four 3-pointers that game, they combined to make the list for most 3s for two teams in one game; Bear Lake also made 12 in a March 2 game against Walkerville, which had 10 to give the two teams 22 total and another listing.
Girls Basketball
Kaylee Benge finished her high school career this winter among the top 3-point shooters in MHSAA history, totaling 156 on 477 attempts during her four seasons for Sand Creek. She made a career-high 57 in 170 attempts this season while averaging 14.7 points per game.
North Muskegon senior Mya Duncan this season tied the third-longest consecutive free throw streak, making 37 straight over nine games beginning Dec. 20 and ending Jan. 27. As a junior, Duncan made the record book with 16 straight free throws in one game.
Bethany Baldwin went over 1,000 career points this winter as only a junior at Watersmeet, so it’s not entirely a surprise that she’s also put up multiple 50-point games. She had 52 in a Jan. 19 win over Republic-Michigamme and then 56 in a Class D District loss to Wakefield-Marenisco on Feb. 27. The 56 rank seventh for one game in MHSAA history.
Football
Milan’s Trace Lindeman capped his career in the fall among the leading rushers in MHSAA history with 5,483 yards over 42 games the last four seasons. His yardage ranks 13th on that career list, and his 75 rushing touchdowns rank ninth while also qualifying him for the overall career points (450) and touchdown lists.
Softball
Linden’s now-junior Elizabeth Rakowski earned an entry in the record book as a sophomore last spring with a 27-game hitting streak from March 30-May 23. The all-league outfielder finished the season with a .476 average over 36 games.
Volleyball
Brooke Binkley had 60 assists in DeWitt’s 3-2 Regional Final loss to Portage Central on Nov. 10, those assists good for seventh most in one match since the beginning of rally scoring in 2004-05. Binkley, a junior, finished this season with 1,376 assists to also make the single-season list.
PHOTO: St. Francis' Rosemary Wilson returns a volley during her Division 4 championship match last spring. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Bay City Central's Smith Caps Career Among Top Rebounders, Shot Blockers
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 13, 2022
Bay City Central senior Alecsis Smith capped a highlight-filled career this winter with 12 girls basketball record book entries including some of the top rebounding performances of all time.
The 6-foot-2 standout three times made the single-season rebounds list with a high of 362 as a freshman, and her 1,276 total over four seasons and 79 games rank fifth on the career list. Her 31 rebounds against Midland that freshman season are tied for seventh on the single-game list for that statistic.
She also made the career free throws list with 377, the single-season blocked shots list with 129 this past winter and the career blocks list with 349, which rank 13th all-time. She’ll continue her career at Delta College.
See below for more recent additions to the girls basketball record book.
Girls Basketball
Three teams were entered for big 3-point shooting nights this winter. Midland Dow made 17 against Lapeer on Jan. 11, and four days earlier Belleville drained 14 3-pointers against Dearborn Fordson. On Dec. 21, Mackinaw City also drilled 14 3-pointers against Alba.
On Dec. 17, Larissa Gibson became Otisville LakeVille Memorial’s first to earn an entry in the girls basketball record book. The sophomore grabbed 28 rebounds in a win over Mayville.
Theryn Hallock joined an elite group of scorers with 50 points for Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central against Greenville on Feb. 22. She’ll be continuing next season at Michigan State.
Au Gres-Sims’ Emily Freehling also made the single-game rebounds list this winter, grabbing 29 in a Feb. 18 win over Hale. She’s a junior this school year.
Howell junior Molly Deurloo this winter joined the list of top free-throw shooters, posting the eighth-highest percentage for a single season at .885. She made 46 of 52 attempts over 22 games.
Parma Western’s Reece Hitt tied for the 10th-most 3-pointers in a game Feb. 11 against Battle Creek Pennfield, draining 10 of her 14 attempts. The Western senior finished with 38 points total. Plymouth senior Morgan Miller also earned her way onto that list with nine 3-pointers on 23 attempts Feb. 24 during a win over Westland John Glenn. She scored 29 points total.
Essexville Garber senior Lauren Walker posted a career-high 152 steals this season to make the single-season list in that category. That total also pushed her into a tie for 18th on the career steals list with 438 over four seasons and 77 games. She’ll play soccer at the college level, at Central Michigan.
Krista Ridgeway was a defensive force for St. Clair Shores Lakeview against Royal Oak Shrine Catholic on Feb. 24. Along with 21 points, the senior guard had 16 steals – tying for 11th-most in one game – in the 52-24 victory.
Jaxi Long finished a highlight-filled career this winter that included helping Newaygo to the Division 2 championship game in 2021. She made the record book for 69 3-pointers as a senior and 180 over four seasons and 93 games. She also was added for connecting on 89.8 percent of her free-throw attempts this winter – good for fifth-best all-time – after making the list with an .878 percentage as a junior.
Saline finished a combined 35-8 over the last two seasons, and strong shooting helped drive the success. The 2020-21 team that finished 18-2 connected on 74.4 percent of its free-throw attempts – good for second-best success rate all-time. This past season’s team made the team lists for 3-pointers made and attempted, with 156 makes in 602 tries, and senior Sophie Canen was added for her 65 3-pointers this winter. She will continue at Hope College.
PHOTO Bay City Central’s Alecsis Smith puts up a shot in the post. (Photo courtesy of the Bay City Central athletic department.)