Basketball Bonanza Airs Tuesday on FSD

July 14, 2014

It’s truly Christmas in July for high school basketball fans all day on Tuesday as FOX Sports Detroit loads its schedule with re-airs of MHSAA Basketball Finals action from this March.

Here’s the complete schedule:

  • 9 a.m. – Class D Girls Final  - Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart v. Crystal Falls Forest Park
  • 11 a.m. – Class A Girls Final – Bloomfield Hills Marian v. Canton
  • 1 p.m. – Class C Girls Final – Saginaw Nouvel v. St. Ignace
  • 3 p.m. – Class B Girls Final – Eaton Rapids v. Grand Rapids South Christian
  • 5 p.m. – Class D Boys Final – Southfield Christian v. Adrian Lenawee Christian
  • 7 p.m. – Class A Boys Final – Muskegon v. Bloomfield Hills
  • 9 p.m. – Class C Boys Final – Detroit Consortium v. Pewamo-Westphalia
  • 11 p.m. – Class B Boys Final – Milan v. Benton Harbor

Also, the fourth week of "Best Of 13-14” offerings will be featured on the MHSAA.tv Website this week.

For eight weeks over the Summer, the MHSAA.tv Website will spotlight some of the best tournament action from the 2013-14 school year, presenting four games each week.

Each contest will be easily identified with a “Best Of 13-14” thumbnail on the home page of the MHSAA.tv Website.  Here’s a look at the games which will be featured from July 14-21:

•  Temperance Bedford v. Bloomfield Hills Marian:  2013 Class A Girls Volleyball Semifinal. An absolute volleyball classic. Down 23-20 and facing elimination, Marian reeled off the last five points of this game, and led throughout the fifth and deciding game to head into the Finals.

•  DeWitt v. St. Clair:  2013 Division 3 Football Semifinal. Ben Heinritz scored twice for DeWitt and the Panthers' defense held on at the end of a 21-20 victory over St. Clair.

•  Farmington v. Sault Ste. Marie:  2014 Division 3 Ice Hockey Final. John Lethemon stopped 29 shots and Jason Petrad scored two first period goals to lead Farmington to a 2-1 win over the Blue Devils.

•  Grosse Pointe South v. Bay City Western:  2014 Division 1 Baseball Final. Sophomore Jason Clark pitched perfectly for five innings and ended up with a three-hitter in Western’s 6-2 victory over South. Western scored three times in the first inning for all the runs it would need.

DVD’s of the “Best Of 13-14” game videos, and Basketball Finals videos are available through the MHSAA.tv website.

Division 3 Final: Eaglets Fly Again

November 29, 2011

Five times since its most recent MHSAA football championship, Orchard Lake St. Mary returned to the championship game – and lost.

Saturday night there was no stopping the Eaglets – or their running attack – at the Division 3 Final at Ford Field.

St. Mary rushed for 478 yards – and after near-misses the last two seasons won its first championship since 2000 with a 45-7 win over top-ranked Mount Pleasant.

"I knew what it felt like to lose, so it gave me the fire and other teammates the fire to win,” St. Mary senior running back Spencer McInnis said. “It’s unexplainable. It’s awesome. It’s something I’ve wanted since I was a kid. I always knew I was going to go to St. Mary’s. It’s just a great feeling.”

The Eaglets (12-2) had fallen by eight and three to East Grand Rapids in the last two Finals, and in a five-overtime classic in 2007. They entered the playoffs ranked No. 4 by The Associated Press – but as champions of the Detroit Catholic League Central, which sent three teams to Ford Field this fall.

“It was great to win again,” said St. Mary coach George Porritt, who finished his 23rd season leading the program. “It’s a collective effort from these kids, and it’s been all year long.”

McInnis ran for 213 of the team’s 478 rushing yards, and took three of his 23 carries into the end zone. Junior brother Parker McInnis ran for 96 yards and a score, as did junior fullback Grant Niemiec. Senior James Ross added another running touchdown.

“We were in position to make some tackles, and it wasn’t a scheme thing or guys getting blocked. It’s just that their athletes made our guys miss, or we couldn’t tackle them,” Mount Pleasant coach Jason McIntyre said. “I’ve never seen backs that we couldn’t tackle one on one or two on one. A lot of teams will have one great back, and you can focus and rally there. But they had three and four.”

The Oilers’ usually-strong running game finished with just 122 yards, led by senior quarterback Ryan Elliott’s 40. He also had Mount Pleasant’s lone score. It was the team’s first Finals appearance – and only loss this fall as it finished 13-1.

Junior defensive back Cory Williams led the Oilers with nine tackles. Senior lineman Dylan Zerki led the Eaglets with 11, and Ross had 10.

Click for full stats and play-by-play.