Steven Ramirez (right) is joined by his coach as he displays his state title trophy at the Michigan Golden Gloves Championships after defeating Siderio Mitchell. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
Titles were on the line Saturday evening at the 2026 Michigan Golden Gloves State Championships that took place before a large and pumped-up crowd at the Sturrus Sports and Fitness Center on the campus of Aquinas College.
Boxers from the east side of Michigan (Team East) battled it out with boxers from the west side of Michigan (Team West) for state titles, and for Elite Open division boxers, the opportunity to represent the state of Michigan at the National Golden Gloves tournament that is scheduled for May 11-16 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The Elite Open division provided boxing fans with several top-notch matches highlighted by the 143-pound division final between Steven Ramirez and Siderio Mitchell, teammates at the Michigan Golden Gloves Association St. Mary’s Gym (MGGA) in downtown Grand Rapids.
Ramirez and Mitchell battled it out for the West Michigan title last month with Ramirez coming out ahead in a rugged, three-round battle. The results were very similar this time as the two warriors gave the crowd plenty to cheer about during another three-round slugfest.
Mitchell started strong in the opening round, however, Ramirez pressed on the accelerator in round two and kept up the pressure into round three. That full speed ahead strategy paid off as Ramirez again came out ahead in the end.
“I had to put the pressure on,” Ramirez said. “He was going on the outside moving fast on his feet, but I knew I had to put the pressure on and not let him breathe. I had to make it my fight, my style, or otherwise I was not going to get the win.”
The win resulted in a first-ever state championship for Ramirez and a trip to the big stage at the Golden Gloves National tournament.
Emily Martinez outlasted Sarah Batenburg to win the 132-pound female open title. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
Another rematch from the West Michigan finals came about in the 132-pound female Elite Open division. That was where multi-time champion Sarah Batenburg of MGGA squared off against Emily Martinez of Eli J Boxing in Holland.
Batenburg won a decision against Martinez in the West Michigan finals. In the rematch at the state finals, Martinez took the lessons she learned in the first match between the two and made them pay off as she won a close decision for her first-ever state title.
“The last time I fought her it was my first open fight,” Martinez said, “so I kind of came in inexperienced, not really knowing what to expect, jumping from two-minute rounds to three, so I paced myself and I thought too much. I knew this time going in, I’m like, this time you can’t waste time like that, you need to go. It’s like if your exhausted and you can’t breathe at the end, then you can’t breathe, but you need to do whatever or you’re not going to nationals.”
In the 132-pound Elite Open division another MGGA boxer earned his first-ever trip to nationals. Jason Wells had come close twice in the past, but this year he broke through and won a state championship. In one of the top fights of the evening, Wells held off Carter Brown of Flint to earn the trip to nationals.
Jason Wells won the 132-pound open title to earn a trip to nationals. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
“This feels really good,” Wells said. “All the hard work paid off. This is great to have a moment like this and I earned it.”
Wells kept the pressure up during the fight and scored points by often going to the body.
“I was just listening to my team,” Wells said. “That’s (body shots) something that I wanted to do better this time. Last match I came up short, so they said touch that body, don’t worry about that head, so I wasn’t worried about that head, I was touching the body and it made the night easier.”
East Kentwood alum James-Tolliver gets title
For amount of punches thrown, the 176-pound Elite Open match between Ontess James-Tolliver of Blue Gym in Grand Rapids and Floyd Santiago of MGGA was one of the best. Both boxers unloaded with punches throughout three rounds of non-stop action. In the end, James-Tolliver had racked up enough points to claim the title. An East Kentwood High School graduate, James-Tolliver is in his second year of boxing after having won the 176-pound Elite Novice division title last year.
In the middle weight classes of the Elite Open division, Evan Jackson of the Kalamazoo Boxing Club won a decision against King Gildersleeve of Flint at 154 pounds. At 165 pounds, Joshua Riley Jr. of Flint outpointed Kyree Wiggins of Flint for the title.
In the upper weights, Maurice Davis of Champsden Boxing in Kalamazoo put on a punishing display of power in his win against Jonathan Jeshurun of Oakland County with the referee stopping the contest in the first round. Davis, a former Olympic Trials boxer, also won his West Michigan title when the referee stopped the bout in the first round.
In Elite Novice action, Strey Hakala of Blues Gym won the title at 165 pounds where his constant pressure against Jesse Garcia-Ramirez paid off with a win by decision. The state title was a first for Hakala who serves in the United State Army.
“I’m extremely grateful,” said Hakala. “I can’t take any of the credit. I give all the credit to my coaches. Dino (Newville), Blues Gym and the Man upstairs. He always comes first. I’m just grateful to be here and get this title.”
Strey Hakala won the title in the 165-pound Elite Novice Division. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
Hakala originally got into boxing several years ago at Blues Gym. Newville, his coach, played a huge role in Hakala joining the Army and Hakala wanted to come back and train at Blues Gym for his first experience at a sanctioned boxing tournament.
“I wanted to come back and win it (the title) for the guy who inspired me to join the service,” Hakala said.
A pair of Kalamazoo area boxers won Elite Novice titles for the West team at the finals with Marcos Guzman taking the title at 110 pounds and DeKent Murray winning at 154 pounds.
Team East boxers winning state titles in the Elite Novice division included Jared Argueta (121 pounds), Joshua Wilson (143 pounds) and Ivory Griffin Jr. (198-plus).
Uncontested Novice champions included Luciano Ramirez (132 pounds) of Warriors Quest, Avery Stevens (176 pounds) fighting unattached, Caleb Rivera (187 pounds) of Grand Valley State, Ahmari Jobe (198) of MGGA and Johana Lugo of United Boxing Club in the female 143-pound division.
Uncontested Open champions included Kyree Westerfield of PK Boxing at 110 pounds, Zoe Hicks of Team Glass at 112 pounds in the female division, Gage Stafford of Flint at 121 pounds, Asha Lake of Team Glass at 143 pounds in the female division and Solomon Jagun of Flint at 187 pounds.
By Cris Greer WKTV Managing Editor/Sports Director greer@wktv.org
WKTV Friday Night Highlights Hosts Bill Rohn and Jordan Shimmell (7-time Michigan champion) walk you through exciting highlights and interviews from the West Michigan Finals of the Golden Gloves Championships held March 13, 14 and 15 at Aquinas College.
This WKTV Sports special program features some of the best bouts of the West Michigan Finals and three boxer interviews. You’ll want to watch every second of this show!
COMING SOON: Look for our next FNH Golden Gloves show PART 2 featuring bouts and interviews from the Michigan Championships on April 10 and 11 at Aquinas College!
Although it ended a day sooner than was the goal, the South Christian girls basketball team had plenty to be proud of during the 2025-26 basketball season.
Ranked among the top teams in the state of Michigan in Division 2 throughout the season, the Sailors put together a 27-0 record before falling six points short of eventual state champion Goodrich in the Division 2 state semifinals in what was a matchup of undefeated teams.
While the loss was disappointing, it could not overshadow all the team accomplished during the season.
“It was such a fun journey this season was,” said South Christian Coach Erika Brown. “From November to March, I watched a group of talented girls come together and grow into a very strong unit. They loved each other, fought for each other and held each other accountable. To go undefeated, until our semifinal matchup with Goodrich, was such a hard task to accomplish. It required near excellence day in and day out. This team, led by outstanding senior leaders, was up to the task. I am incredibly proud of this team.”
South Christian accomplished plenty during the season, including winning the rugged OK Gold Conference with a perfect record. Winning the conference title meant the Sailors had to twice turn back Grand Rapids West Catholic, a team that was also ranked in the top 10 in the state all season. South also had to turn back the Falcons in the Division 2 state quarterfinals to earn a spot in the final four.
Along with winning the conference, the Sailors posted some impressive non-conference wins. The highlight win came in the regular-season finale when South defeated Rockford, ranked No. 1 in the state in Division 1, 52-50. South was one of only two teams in the state that defeated Rockford as eventual Division 1 state champion Muskegon stopped the Rams twice. South Christian also earned a win against Division 1 top-20 team DeWitt during the season.
While the wins were impressive, what stuck out the most from the season for Brown was the relationships with the players.
“Being able to walk alongside my players for the past five months was what made this season special to me,” Brown said. “I could say the games that were exciting and close, where we came out victorious, but to be honest, what stuck out the most to me this season and what I will remember the most was team film sessions, locker room devotions and chats as a team, team dinners, the bus rides, the millions of emotions that came with such a high pressure season, and walking away from a long season feeling accomplished.”
Deep and versatile
The Sailors had a deep and versatile team this year. Leading the way for the squad were a quartet of players who earned all-conference honors.
South Christian’s Sophia Prins. (Photo Courtesy, Eric Walstra)
Sophia Prins led on both ends of the floor
Senior point guard Sophia Prins was a major catalyst for the squad. A captain and leader on both ends of the floor, Prins averaged 13.3 points per game with three assists while shooting 30% from three-point range. Prins also added 3.5 rebounds per game and two steals per contest.
South Christian’s Lizzie Wolthuis. (Photo Courtesy, Eric Walstra)
Lizzie Wolthuis a standout as well
Fellow senior Lizzie Wolthuis was also a team captain and another player who was a standout on both ends of the court. Wolthuis, a shooting guard, averaged 11.7 points per game as she had a 44% field-goal percentage and was 36.4 % from the three-point arc.
South Christian’s Meredith Helmus. (Photo Courtesy, Eric Walstra)
Meredith Helmus made 56% from the field
Junior Meredith Helmus saw time at both point guard and shooting guard. Helmus averaged 10 points per game on 56% shooting from the field and dished out 3.5 assists per game.
A defensive standout as well, Helmus pulled down 3.2 rebounds and added two steals per game while routinely guarding the best guard on the opposing team.
Abby Prins made 38.9% from the arc
South Christian’s Abby Prins. (Photo Courtesy, Eric Walstra)
Sophomore Abby Prins gave the team great versatility with her ability to play shooting guard or wing. Prins averaged 11.7 points per game, making 38.9% from three-point range and 77% from the free-throw line. Able to defend guards and post players, Prins also pulled down 4.4 rebounds per game, dished out three assists and added 1.7 steals per game.
Finishing her third year as coach of the Sailors after being an assistant the previous four years, Brown sees the Sailors continuing their success next season despite graduating some key players.
“The future looks bright,” Brown said. “We were young this season. We have big shoes to fill, but I believe the younger girls have learned so much from our senior leaders this season they will be prepared to come back strong. They will continue to grow and develop and I am excited to walk alongside them next season.”
With time winding down and its double-digit lead gone, it could’ve been easy for the South Christian girls basketball team to play it safe in a Division 2 state quarterfinal game against Grand Rapids West Catholic.
Instead, the Sailors kept their foot on the pedal and continued shooting open shots from beyond the three-point arc. The aggressive approach worked like a charm on St. Patrick’s Day as the Sailors went on to defeat the green clad Falcons 61-48 Tuesday at Hudsonville Unity Christian High School.
With the win, they head to the Division 2 state semifinals Friday evening at the Breslin Center on the campus of Michigan State University, facing Goodrich at 7:30 p.m. in a battle of teams with identical 27-0 records.
South Christian players celebrate after defeating West Catholic in a Division 2 state quarterfinal game at Unity Christian. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
Up 51-38 halfway through the fourth quarter, the Sailors were zeroing in on the win when West Catholic made one last run. In less than 30 seconds the Falcons strung together six points to cut the South lead to 51-44 with under four minutes remaining.
At that point, when many basketball teams might decide to back off and play conservatively to protect the lead, the Sailors answered by attacking. Senior Sophia Prins stepped up first and nailed a three to get the margin back to double digits. After a stop on the defensive end, freshman Kinley Regnery then came down the floor and drained another three-ball putting the Sailors up 57-44 with 3:12 left and putting an end to the West Catholic run.
“That is just who we are,” said South Christian Coach Erika Brown. “To ask them to slow down would put us in a weird feel. We just know that’s us and we like to run. We just have to be smart. If it’s not there, first and foremost, we look to then kick it out and run offense. I wasn’t going to stop them. The horses were running today.”
The game was a tight struggle most of the way as the two teams were meeting for the third time this season, with South having won the two regular-season meetings between the state-ranked powerhouses.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Brown said. “First, playing a team three times and second, playing the second-best team in the conference. We knew it was going to be a battle from start to finish. We really talked about staying composed and not getting rattled. We are at the point in the season where discipline matters and we have to rise to the challenge.”
South Christian was up 16-12 at the end of the first quarter and had a slim 18-17 lead late in the first half. The Sailors, however, closed out the first half with a flurry as they went on a 9-2 run in the final minutes to take a 27-19 lead into halftime. A three-point shot from Regnery was a key part of the Sailor run.
Up 33-26 midway through the third quarter, the Sailors went on another major run. South outscored West 12-4 on the run to build a 45-30 lead late in the third.
“I thought we played hard,” West Catholic Coach Derek Paiz said. “We didn’t make enough plays tonight. When you play a team as great as South Christian is there is little margin for error. There was a drought in the second quarter when we didn’t score, they went on a run.
“We went from being down one to being down by eight and that same thing happened in the third quarter. We tried to limit the three-point shot and we didn’t do a good job of that. I don’t know how many they hit, I know it was at least six plus. Credit to South Christian, they are a great team.”
South Christian finished the game hitting seven treys, with Regnery leading the way with three and Lizzie Wolthuis and Sophia Prins adding a pair each.
The win was especially gratifying for the Sailors as South fell to West Catholic in last year’s state quarterfinal game that was also played at Unity Christian.
“I have to give this one to my senior leaders,” Brown said. “The girls that have been on this journey for four years. Being on the varsity as freshman and getting to that point last year. Now this year as seniors, no, they didn’t want this to be the end. They were there, they felt it and there was just a fire lit. The real special thing about this group, the senior leaders that we have, the younger girls respect and really follow them and that’s a really huge part of who we are.”
South Christian’s Abby Prins (15) looks for an opening against West Catholic. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
South Christian was paced by a balanced offensive attack. Sophia Prins led the way with 14 points, while Lexi Vermaas and Regnery added 12 points apiece, Meredith Helmus, nine.
“Normally, you see that kind of talent and depth at a Division 1 school,” Paiz said. “They (South Christian) are very talented. Probably the most talented roster in the whole state. They don’t lose much when they sub one through eight.”
West Catholic, which finished the season with a 20-6 record, was led by sophomore Kenley Slanger with 19 points and junior Alexis Asekomah, 13.
Local boxer Aneudy “Junior” Rios (left) claimed another title at the West Michigan Golden Gloves Finals Sunday, defeating Jason Wells in the 132-pound Elite Open Division. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
It was championship Sunday at the 2026 West Michigan Golden Gloves and there was plenty of non-stop action as West Michigan titles were up for grabs before an enthusiastic crowd at the Sturrus Sports and Fitness Center on the campus of Aquinas College.
Three days of rugged boxing came to an end with both the winners and runners-up in each weight class now moving on to the Michigan Golden Gloves State Championships that are scheduled for April 10 and 11 when boxing resumes at the Aquinas College facility.
The fight of the day took place in the 143-pound Elite Open Division which came as no surprise as the Division was similar to a World Cup Soccer group of death. A total of six outstanding boxers were in the 143-pound class and after three days of grueling boxing, Stephen Ramirez, fighting unattached, came out with the win.
Ramirez, who defeated Gohan Estavez Marte of Wyoming’s PK Boxing on Friday and then came back to defeat Michael Guzman on Saturday, squared off against defending champion Siderio Mitchell of Michigan Golden Gloves Association (MGGA) in Sunday’s final. In a bout that featured non-stop action from beginning to the final flurry, Ramirez came away winning a decision.
Siderio Mitchell (left) and Stephen Ramirez size each other up during their 143-pound Elite Open match at the West Michigan Golden Gloves. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
“Siderio is a tough guy,” Ramirez said. “He’s fast. I’ve sparred with him so I knew it was going to be tough, but man was it a war. He’s got speed, he’s got power, he’s got everything, but at the end of the day I got the win. I did just enough.”
Going up against a talented boxer like Mitchell, Ramirez knew he had to stick to the game plan of putting on maximum pressure and attacking.
“The strategy was just get in the pocket and throw more punches and it worked,” Ramirez said. “He was feeling the pressure.”
Ramirez won a novice championship in 2024, but this was his first open title at the Golden Gloves.
“I’m very proud of this,” Ramirez said. “This is a big win for me.”
A win made all the more meaningful after going through three grueling fights in three days in a division littered with former state champions.
“As soon as I saw the card at 143, I knew it was going to be tough,” Ramirez said, “but I knew I had it in me. I was sure of myself and with my trainer that we could change up the game plan.”
A former champion reclaimed a title in the 132-pound Elite Open division. That was where Aneudy “Junior” Rios won an action-packed, three-round decision against Jason Wells of MGGA. The match was close throughout as Wells utilized his quickness and counterpunching skills against Rios who sustained a steady offensive barrage throughout the fight.
“This fight for sure was to stay busy and keep up the pressure,” Rios said, “because the fighter I was fighting against is strong and he’s fast. I know him pretty well, but I knew if I stick to the game plan I would definitely take the win.”
Along with dealing with the skilled Wells in the ring, Rios also had to deal with his conditioning as he dropped 20 pounds to get to the weight limit for the division.
“I did enough to win, but I didn’t look as good as I wanted to look,” Rios said, “but I’ll get there. Just having to drop 20 pounds in two weeks takes a lot out of you.”
Making the win even more meaningful for Rios was the fact that it was his first win in a while.
“This feels really great,” Rios said. “I came off of a losing streak. I’ve lost like five straight fights. After losing that many fights that just made me hungrier, so coming into this tournament, I was definitely coming stronger for sure. So it was a great feeling to actually get a W.”
In the female 132-pound Elite Open Division, former champion Sarah Batenburg of MGGA added another trophy to her collection as she claimed a decision against Emily Martinez of the Eli J Boxing Club.
In the upper weights of the Elite Open Division, Evan Jackson of the Kalamazoo Boxing Club won a decision against Kolbe Lewis of TCB Boxing of Muskegon Heights at 154 pounds. At 165 pounds, Joseph McDaye of Kalamazoo Westside Boxing Club turned back Nate Dotson of Lansing Crown Boxing when the referee stopped the contest in the second round. In the 198-pound plus Division Maurice Davis of Champsden Boxing Club earned the win against Jeremiah Crawford of the Muskegon Boxing Club when the referee stopped the contest in the first round.
At 165 pounds, Floyd Santiago of MGGA won by a disqualification. Uncontested Open champions included Kyree Westerfield of PK Boxing at 110 pounds, Zoe Hicks of Team Glass at 112 pounds in the female Division, Asha Lake of Team Glass at 143 pounds in the female Division and Zamyla Thurman-Houston of Team Glass in the 165-pound female Division.
In the opening bouts in the novice divisions, Jose Jimanez-Gonzalez of PK Boxing of Wyoming kicked things off by winning a decision against a familiar foe in Samuel Fryer of MGGA in a bout filled with plenty of action in the 145-pound Junior Novice Division.
“It feels pretty nice,” Jimanez-Gonzalez said. “I feel even better because this is actually a rematch. I had lost to this guy the first time I fought. I was proud that I got the rematch and won it. This is a big accomplishment for me.”
A change in strategy helped Jimanez-Gonzalez earn the win the second time around.
“The first time I fought him it was a rough start,” Jimanez-Gonzalez said. “I didn’t know how he was fighting or anything, but once I got to fight him the first time I looked back, I studied the video and I knew what I needed to do. He fights with a high guard so the body was one of my most important targets in there. I could tell that he was getting hurt cause through each round he was getting slower and slower.”
Jose Jimanez-Gonzalez (right) looks for an opening against Samuel Fryer during action at the West Michigan Golden Gloves Sunday. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
In the Elite Novice Division, Ashton Kamps of the Grand Valley State University Boxing Club came away with a title in his first-ever Golden Gloves competition. Kamps, a Grand Valley student from Coopersville, won the 165-pound title in the Elite Novice Division when he claimed a decision over Strey Hakala of Blues Gym.
Kamps, who has been boxing for three years, improved his record to 6-2 with the win. Competing in the Golden Gloves for the first time, however, was a special milestone in his young boxing career.
“It’s been cool, really cool,” Kamps said. “I fought in other tournaments, but nothing like this. Obviously, everyone knows about the Golden Gloves, it’s been around forever. It means a lot more, when random people ask ‘Are you Golden Gloves’ and I used to say nah, nah, but now I can say yeah, which is cool.”
Ashton Kamps (right) keeps up the pressure against Strey Hakal during action at 165 pounds in the Elite Novice Division. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
A second Grand Valley State University boxer, Caleb Rivera, also brought home a title as he was an uncontested champion at 187 pounds in the Elite Novice Division.
Also winning uncontested championships in the Elite Novice Division were Ahmari Jobe of MGGA at 198 pounds and Johana Lugo of United Boxing Club in the female 143-pound Division.
Boxers from Kalamazoo Boxing claimed a pair of Elite Novice titles. DeKent Murray won the 154-pound title when he edged Troy Taylor of PK Boxing in an action-filled bout from start to finish. In the 198-pound plus Division Nathan Morehouse won a decision against Randy Brock Jr. who was fighting unattached.
Rounding out the Elite Novice champions were Tyrone Harris Jr. of Lansing Crown Boxing who defeated Marcos Guzman of Kalamazoo Westside when the referee stopped the contest in the second round. Luciano Ramirez of Warriors Quest won a decision against Mohannad Barati of MGGA at 132 pounds, while DreAun Ellis of Built on Stone Boxing Club of Battle Creek won a decision against Brennan Bolen of United Boxing Club at 143 pounds in an action-packed matchup.
Michael Guzman (right) looks for an opening against Anthony Bridgeforth during their 143-pound Elite Open match at the West Michigan Golden Gloves, 2026. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
The opening night of the 2026 West Michigan Golden Gloves kicked off with a flurry Friday as 12 high-action bouts gave the crowd at the Sturrus Sports and Fitness Center on the campus of Aquinas College plenty to get pumped up about.
The first of three days of boxing saw a number of newcomers have breakthrough moments and also featured some familiar names giving the large crowd plenty of the action they came to witness.
The main event of the card came at the end in what were actually three main events in the loaded 143-pound Elite Open division.
In the first of the three 143-pound matches Stephen Ramirez, boxing unattached, squared off against Gohan Estavez Marte of Wyoming’s PK Boxing. In a bout that featured plenty of non-stop action, a bloodied, but game Ramirez claimed a decision in a fight that went the distance.
“He (Estavez Marte) is a hard hitter,” Ramirez said. “I started off working the outside, but that was not working out so I decided to go inside on him. I pressured him on the inside and I think that was what made the difference.”
The action continued at a furious pace in the next 143-pound Elite Open match between veteran Michigan Golden Gloves Association (MGGA) boxer Michael Guzman and Armand Bridgeforth who boxes unattached.
Both boxers came out throwing plenty of punches at a quick pace. Guzman, however, began to gain momentum throughout the match. That momentum paid off in the third round as he continued pushing the pace and racking up shots to the body and the head. Guzman eventually recorded a standing eight count on Bridgeforth as he went on to win a decision.
In another bout at 154 pounds in the Elite Novice Division, DeKent Murray of Kalamazoo Boxing was the winner when the referee stopped the contest in the second round of his bout with Larry Carter of Blue Gym of Grand Rapids.
Guzman’s plan coming in to the match was to wear out his opponent and eventually put away the win.
The final match of the evening was a battle between Michael’s brother Mike Guzman and Michael Carbajal of PK Boxing.
In one of the most competitive bouts of the evening, the Guzman brothers made it a perfect night as Mike defeated Carbajal by a decision.
Mike Guzman (right) squares off against Michael Carbajal (left) during their 143-pound Elite Open match at the West Michigan Golden Gloves 2026. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
Both fighters threw plenty of punches throughout the fight and there were no surprises as the two boxers were meeting for the fifth time over the course of their careers.
“I’m 4-1 against him now,” Mike Guzman said. “I knew I had to continue to box him. He is a brawler and I knew that is what he wanted to do so I concentrated on boxing.”
Both Guzman’s, along with Ramirez, had little time to recuperate from their matches as all three boxers competed in Saturday’s semifinals along with defending champion Siderio Mitchell who had the bye.
The evenings action was kicked off by some strong efforts from PK Boxing fighters in the first three bouts on the card. In the first match of the evening, Gino Corona of PK Boxing won in the third round when the referee stopped the 132-pound Junior Novice contest with Jamison Perry of MGGA.
Gino Corona of PK Boxing receives instructions from Golden Gloves referee Buster Mathis Jr. during action at the West Michigan Golden Gloves at Aquinas College, 2026. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
Corona, who is 16 years old and a student at Grand Rapids Union High School, was making his competitive boxing debut. After a slow start, Corona gained confidence as the match wore on and eventually had all the momentum in the fight before it was stopped in the third round.
“I felt a lot of adrenaline for sure,” Corona said. “I was really pumped up and I really felt all that adrenaline in the first round. After a while I felt like I loosened up some.”
In the second bout, another high school student, Jose Jimanez-Gonzalez of Grand Rapids University Prep High School, picked up a win.
Jimanez-Gonzalez also had a relatively slow start including a standing eight-count being called on him in the opening round. That standing eight seemed to ignite a fire in Jimanez-Gonzalez who battled back and piled up the punches in the later stages of the bout.
“When I received that standing eight count I said to myself, `I can’t let this happen,’” Jimanez-Gonzalez said. “I had to keep fighting back and countering. It was a tough fight. He backed me up against the wall but I fought back.”
PK Boxing picked up another win in the third bout of the evening when Jourell Constant won a decision against My’Khi Jackson-Sims of TCB Boxing of Muskegon Heights in a 154-pound Junior Novice bout.
Also picking up a win in the Junior Novice division was Gustavo Pedraza of United Boxing Club who won a decision against Carlos Soto-Brooks of Muskegon Boxing Club at 165 pounds.
In the Elite Novice Division, Shadiez Butler of PK Boxing defeated Shaad Smith of TCB Boxing when the referee stopped the contest one minute into round two of the bout at 154 pounds.
Shadiez Butler won his match at 154 pounds in the Elite Novice Division at West Michigan Golden Gloves at Aquinas College, 2026. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
Also in the Elite Novice Division were three more bouts. At 132 pounds Luciano Ramirez of Warriors Quest won a decision against Trevor Lewis of Blues Gym. At 143 pounds Brennan Bolen of United Boxing Club won his bout against Patient Byiringiro of Blues Gym when the referee stopped the contest in the second round. At 165 pounds, Strey Hakala of Blues Gym won a decision in a tight battle against Corbin Trickery of United Boxing Club.
Boxing resumed Saturday night with the semifinals and Sunday afternoon with the West Michigan finals.
It may still be basketball season in some corners of Michigan, but it’s always time for boxing and one of the highlights of the local boxing scene, the Golden Gloves state tournament, is set for the opening bell to ring on Friday.
The 94th annual Michigan Golden Gloves Championships runs this Friday, Saturday and Sunday as boxers compete for West Michigan Golden Gloves titles. This year’s tournament will be held for the second consecutive year on the campus of Aquinas College as will the State Championships that will take place at the same location next month. The location on campus, located at 1580 Fulton St. SE, is the Sturrus Sports and Fitness Center located at the front of the campus.
While many boxers wait until fight night to register, pre-registration has been taking place and a large group of boxers are expected to take part.
Golden Gloves state champion Siderio Mitchell 2025. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
“We are still getting entries coming in,” said Tournament Director Brian Lentz. “We still get 20 to 30 percent of the boxers waiting to enter on the day boxing begins, but the signups are going all right.”
The West Michigan Golden Gloves draws boxers from a wide swath of West Michigan and that is the case once again this year.
“We have entries coming in from all over West Michigan,” Lentz said. “We will have boxers from Lansing, Muskegon, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Niles, Hastings, Edwardsburg, Bangor, Sturgis, Shelby and from all over the Grand Rapids area.”
Mike Guzman. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
A number of familiar faces return to this year’s tournament led by Siderio Mitchell who is a returning state champion.
“Both Guzman brothers, Mike and Michael have registered,” Lentz said. “Zoe Hicks is a past national champion who has entered and will be in the 113-pound female division. Junior Rios has also entered again. These are all past champions who have entered so far.”
Golden Gloves State Champions Jordan Shimmell (left) and Junior Rios co-hosting on WKTV’s Friday Night Highlights Golden Gloves edition last year with Bob Serulla (not pictured). Rios will be competing again this year as well as announcing ringside for WKTV.
Lentz, who runs the PK Boxing gym in Wyoming, has a stable of boxers slated to compete in this year’s tournament.
“I have nine or 10 boxers so far and that’s a pretty good number,” Lentz said. “I think it’s the largest group we’ve had in a single year. We are probably the number two gym in terms of number of boxers at this year’s tournament. MGGA (Michigan Golden Gloves Association) is probably number one as they have a couple more boxers entered than we do. Kalamazoo also has quite a few kids this year so far.”
Lentz and his PK boxers are led by a couple of familiar names and a promising newcomer.
“We have Michael Carbajal and Gohan Estevez-Marte back this year,” Lentz said. “We also have a 110-pounder, Kyrie Westerfield, he’s pretty good. He just turned 18 so this will be his first year.”
Wyoming Lee alum Michael Carbajal. (Courtesy Photo)
The West Michigan Championships draw boxers in from Lansing to the West. The East Michigan Championships will be held at The Real Flint Golf Club in Flint on March 27 and 28 for boxers East of Lansing. The champions and runners-up from the West Michigan and East Michigan Golden Gloves will square for a spot on the Michigan team for the National Golden Gloves tournament. This year’s National Golden Gloves Tournament is scheduled to take place in Tulsa, Oklahoma from May 11 through May 15.
The Golden Gloves is split into different divisions. There is a novice division, for beginning boxers that have had fewer than 10 fights, and an open division for more experienced boxers. There also is a female division.
Along with the big names, the tournament is the birthplace of boxing dreams for young boxers making their first appearances in the ring as several match bouts will take place with young boxers getting their first taste of the ring.
Local boxer Junior Rios in the ring. (WKTV, Greg Chrapek)
The opening night of this year’s Golden Gloves takes place Friday, March 13. The doors open at 6 p.m. and boxing begins at 7. Action continues Saturday, March 14 with the finals set for Sunday, March 15 at 2 p.m.
The Michigan State Championships are scheduled for Friday and Saturday April 10 and 11 at Aquinas College. Bouts begin at 7 p.m. each day with the doors opening at 6.
Behind the scoring of Lizzie Wolthuis and Sophia Prins, with 18 apiece, South Christian grabbed a 67-38 win over host Otsego Wednesday in a Division 2 Regional championship.
The win gave the Sailors a perfect 26-0 record.
Each team had a basket early in the game, but then Otsego missed several layups, allowing South Christian to establish a significant lead with a 9-0 run, bringing the score to 12-2. Otsego’s lone senior, Audrey Lingbeek, responded with a three-pointer to close the quarter.
Seniors Wolthuis and Sophia Prins contributed five points each in the opening period.
The Sailors intensified their interior defense in the second quarter, forcing multiple turnovers and limiting Otsego’s opportunities for second-chance points. This defensive effort translated to increased scoring on offense.
Their defense was so strong the entire game that Otsego never had consecutive baskets without an answer from South in between them.
South Christian’s Avery Lutke had several key blocked shots. (WKTV/Pat Moll)
“We focus on that and have the saying that defense starts the offense and we like to play fast,” South Christian Coach Erika Brown said.
South Christian outscored Otsego 15-11 in the second quarter to take a 27-16 lead into the locker room. Otsego managed just four field goals and five free throws in the half, led by Lingbeek who scored nine points on three treys.
Sophia Prins maintained her strong performance with six additional points, totaling eleven, while sophomore Abby Prins contributed eight points in the quarter, including two three-pointers.
In the second half, South Christian extended its lead to 18 points, 39-21, before encountering foul trouble with players Lexi Vermaas, Meredith Helmus, Abby Prins and Isla Ogle receiving multiple fouls.
“That was surprising to me, and we know that it can happen again, but the team pulled together, overcame it, and learned from it,” Brown said.
Lexi Vermaas gets her hand on a pass from Otsego’s Mya Engbers.(WKTV/Pat Moll)
These fouls sent Otsego to the free-throw line, helping them close the gap to 46-30 after three quarters. Lizzie Wolthuis buried two more three-pointers in the quarter, bringing her point total to 12, while Sophia Prins added three and Abby Prins contributed five, resulting in totals of 14 and 13, respectively. Lingbeek drained her fourth three-pointer for Otsego, finishing with 12 points through three, while Mya Engbers added eight for a total of 10 points.
South Christian’s Wolthuis and Sophia Prins led with 18 apiece
In the final quarter, South Christian further demonstrated its strength, outscoring Otsego 21-8. Wolthuis recorded two additional three-pointers, ending with 18 points, tying Sophia Prins as top scorers. Abby Prins finished with 13 points.
The South Christian girls basketball team holds up its Division 2 Regional trophy. (WKTV/Pat Moll)
Lingbeek led Otsego with 14 points, followed by Engbers with 12.
South Christian next travels to Hudsonville Unity Christian for a D-2 quarterfinal matchup with OK Gold rival Grand Rapids West Catholic, who defeated Grand Rapids Catholic Central 64-31 in regional play. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 17. The teams met twice in the regular season, with South Christian securing victories both times: 73-62 at home and 50-44 away.
“As you get farther and farther in the tournament, you need to remain focused and disciplined,” Brown said. “You can not let things rattle you as things are not going to go your way all the time. At the end of the game, hopefully we are the last one standing.”
If the Sailors can win three more games, they will be the last ones standing at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center on Saturday, March 21, with a championship trophy in their hands.
By Cris Greer WKTV Managing Editor/Sports Director greer@wktv.org
Check out these new and exciting local Girls Basketball MHSAA Playoff clips from our latest Friday Night Highlights show.
Just like football season, every week we’ll bring you much of the local high school basketball home stadium action from your local varsity teams, highlight some top performers and their stats, give final scores, and show a snapshot of the latest conference standings in an exciting Friday Night Highlights show.
Bill Rohn — who served as a trial lawyer for 40 years at the Varnum law firm in Grand Rapids — calls himself a “newspaper junkie.“ Bill edited his high school and college newspapers. He also has covered sports for Midwestern newspapers such as The Grand Rapids Press, The South Bend Tribune, and The Niles Daily Star. He is a co-host of WKTV Friday Night Highlights. Bill holds a B.A. degree in Political Science from GVSU and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Notre Dame.
Whoever thought that one player can’t single-handedly beat five opponents probably missed the artistry of Northview’s Cam Ryans in Thursday’s regional basketball final against East Kentwood.
Ryans, a 6-4 senior and Mr. Basketball candidate was spectacular, nailing a three-point buzzer-beater to cap a 30-point performance as the Wildcats defeated the Falcons 52-50 before a sellout crowd Thursday at Caledonia.
Spectacular? Absolutely.
Just ask hundreds of Northview fans who stormed the court after Cam’s game winner. The victory sends the winners to a March 10 Division 1 quarterfinal matchup against Rockford.
Scoring only two points in the first half — after which Northview trailed 24-15 — Ryans owned the ball and personally outscored the Falcons 28-26 following intermission.
Ryans completed his masterpiece, grabbing an inbound pass with four seconds remaining, then dribbling twice before sinking a three-pointer from 10 feet beyond the free throw line as time expired.
Spectacular? 30 total points. 28 in the second half. 19 in the fourth quarter. And three steals in a game that Northview never led until a Ryans’ bucket put the winners ahead 49-48 with 28 seconds left. EK responded with a bucket by Andrew Kenyi to recapture the lead with 16 seconds remaining, setting the stage for Ryans’ game ending heroics.
It was a sold out crowd Thursday night at Caledonia as Northview beat East Kentwood 52-50 to win a Division 1 regional title. (WKTV/Bill Rohn)
So what did Northview’s sharpshooter, who has committed to play at Western Michigan University following graduation, think of his performance?
“I couldn’t let my teammates down,” Ryans said. “This is what I practice for and I put in long hours getting ready for that. Every day — day after day — I get ready for that. I dream of it.“
Noting Ryans’ low scoring during the first half, Wildcat Coach Brandoen Guyton evidently knew just what to say during the break.
“I just told him at halftime to go out there in the second half and ‘just be Cam,’ said Guyton in the middle of a celebrating mob following the final buzzer. “I told him to just be who he is. And that’s just what he did.”
Guyton also praised his team’s defense.
“We knew we needed defense to win it, and the kids came through in the second half,” Guyton explained. “Northview clogged the middle of the lane throughout the third and fourth quarters. The Wildcats also produced numerous turnovers, blunting a balanced EK scoring attack that led to Falcon leads of 19-10 after the first quarter, 24-15 at halftime, and 37-31 entering the final eight minutes.
EK’s early success was led by CJ Reynolds, Jeremiah Cook and Jaxon Tabor, whose combined 16 points led the Falcons’ first half effort.
East Kentwood’s Jaxon Tabor stretches for a rebound. (WKTV/Bill Rohn)
Ryans simply took over in the second half. Occasionally dishing off to teammates, he led the winners on a 13-2 scoring run in the middle of the third, cutting EK’s margin to 32-29 with 1:52 to play in the quarter.
East Kentwood hung onto its shrinking lead with solid guard play from CJ Reynolds and two buckets by 6-8 Andrew Kenyi, but Ryans was dominant in the fourth quarter, scoring again and again while also grabbing two steals to cut the Falcon lead to 46-43 with 90 seconds to play.
Northview got help on the scoreboard from Izzy Haitbu, with 10 points, plus five more from Brayden Williams.
East Kentwood, which finished a great season at 22-3, got 13 points from Reynolds, nine from Jeremiah Cook, and eight from Kenyi. The team had only one senior on its roster, so Coach Mike Thomas’ squad may be poised for another outstanding season next year.
The Falcons react to Northview buzzer-beater. (WKTV/Bill Rohn)
By Cris Greer WKTV Managing Editor/Sports Director greer@wktv.org
Check out these new and exciting local Boys Basketball MHSAA Playoff clips from our latest Friday Night Highlights show.
Just like football season, every week we’ll bring you much of the local high school basketball home stadium action from your local varsity teams, highlight some top performers and their stats, give final scores, and show a snapshot of the latest conference standings in an exciting Friday Night Highlights show.
Look for our fast-paced local highlights show every Monday night! Thanks for tuning in.
By Cris Greer WKTV Managing Editor/Sports Director greer@wktv.org
Check out these new and exciting basketball clips from our latest Friday Night Highlights show.
Just like football season, every week we’ll bring you much of the local high school basketball home stadium action from your local varsity teams, highlight some top performers and their stats, give final scores, and show a snapshot of the latest conference standings in an exciting Friday Night Highlights show.
Look for our fast-paced local highlights show every Monday night! Thanks for tuning in.
WKTV Game of the Week
Year after year, our high-tech WKTV Truck Game of the Week includes two play-by-play announcers, an occasional field announcer and various camera angles with slow motion replays to capture all those great plays for your viewing pleasure.
You can count on our very experienced, exciting game announcers for both football and basketball to guide you through your local team’s games. If you are interested in volunteering at WKTV Sports for our Truck or Studio productions, please email me at greer@wktv.org
Game of the Week airs every Friday night on WKTV Comcast Channel 25 & AT&T U-Verse Channel 99 at 11 p.m. with a rebroadcast on Saturday at 11 a.m. You also can watch these games on our WKTV YouTube Channel.
South Christian junior Max Zichterman (1) scored six points and hit a game-tying three-point shot with a minute remaining in a loss to Coopersville. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
By Greg Chrapek WKTV Contributor greer@wktv.org
Leading up to the boys basketball state tournament, the South Christian Sailors got in a pair of good tune-up games with road trips to Coopersville and Wyoming.
The Sailors, who are ranked in the top five in the state in Division 2 in the Michigan High School Activities Association power rankings, dropped a 45-43 decision at Coopersville last Monday, posted a 72-47 win at Wyoming last Tuesday and then wrapped up the regular season with a 73-27 win against Middleville Friday.
Monday’s game against Coopersville was a perfect state tournament tune-up as it was not only a road game, but a road game against a Division 1 opponent with a 15-6 overall record.
The game was a tight, defensive struggle that came down to the end. South Christian tied the contest at 43-43 with a minute remaining in the game when junior Max Zichterman hit a three-point shot. Coopersville then scored the eventual game-winning bucket on a shot by Clayton Bosch with 20 seconds remaining. South Christian had a final opportunity to claim a win, but a three-point shot at the buzzer missed its mark giving the host Broncos the 45-43 win.
“They (Coopersville) are just a really, really good team,” said South Christian Coach Taylor Johnson. “Coopersville is really well coached and they run a system probably unlike anyone in the state and they were just better. They were better defensively and really, really good in the passing lanes. They create so many turnovers and hecticness and we were just not there today.”
The game was close from start to finish with South leading 10-7 at the end of the first quarter and up 22-17 at halftime. Coopersville gained momentum early in the third quarter when the Broncos went on an 18-5 run to take a 37-33 lead heading into the fourth.
The Broncos led most of the final quarter until South tied the game at 43-all on Zichterman’s three-point shot.
South Christian junior guard Austin Burgess (10) sets up the offense against Coopersville. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
While the Sailors came up a bucket short, the game was an excellent primer for the state tournament. The contest also was an excellent learning opportunity for an overall young Sailor team that counts just four seniors on the roster and has four combined freshman and sophomores on the varsity.
“I think there is always value in losing,” Johnson said. “You can learn a lot from losing. I’d rather lose now then a week from now. This was a game that we needed to kind of humble ourselves a little bit. To get back to work and to get better. This is a young group, we are still growing and we haven’t been in these situations much.”
South Christian senior JJ Modderman (22) totaled 11 points in the game against Coopersville. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
Despite the setback, the Sailors have been putting together an impressive season. A win Friday against Middleville in the home finale would give the Sailors an 11-1 conference mark and a share of the league championship with Northview, a team that is ranked 11th in the state in Division 1. South also entered the Coopersville game riding a nine-game winning streak that began after a 43-41 overtime loss against Northview on Jan. 9. South Christian turned the tables on Northview when it defeated the Wildcats 50-47 in overtime at Northview on Feb. 6.
“I think it’s been a great year because it’s such a new group, a young group, such a different group,” Johnson said. “We don’t have a 20-point scorer, we have seven guys that average over five, six points. I really like our team. I believe in our team. I think we are still growing. As much as we have been able to win, I still think we haven’t seen our potential. We just have to continue to get better and we have to do it fast with the tournament right around the corner.”
The young Sailors have made steady progress since the season began.
“I think we have made the most improvement by just believing in our culture and letting our culture take what we need to do in order to win games,” said Johnson, “and that’s defense, which again our defense has been pretty good. We share the ball, being an unselfish team and knowing it can be a different guy every night. We’ve had six different guys score 20 points this season so that makes us hard to scout and a fun team to coach.”
Senior Caleb Krosschell led with 13 points and senior JJ Modderman added 11 points and six rebounds. Junior Max Zichterman added six points followed by senior Josh Fles with five points.
In South’s 72-47 win against Wyoming the Sailors were led by Caleb Krosschell with 16 points, followed by Max Zichterman, 11 points and 11 rebounds, and JJ Modderman, 11 points and nine rebounds.
South Christian wrapped up the regular season by defeating Middleville 73-27. Zichterman with 15 points, while Josh Fles added 11 points, and JJ Modderman, 10.
The Sailors ended the regular season with a 19-3 overall record and shared the conference championship with Northview with an 11-1 OK Gold mark.
They begin district tournament play Wednesday against West Michigan Aviation Academy at 7 p.m. in a Division 2 district semifinal game at Godwin Heights.
By Cris Greer WKTV Managing Editor/Sports Director greer@wktv.org
Check out these new and exciting basketball clips from our latest Friday Night Highlights show.
Just like football season, every week we’ll bring you much of the local high school basketball home stadium action from your local varsity teams, highlight some top performers and their stats, give final scores, and show a snapshot of the latest conference standings in an exciting Friday Night Highlights show.
Look for our fast-paced local highlights show every Monday night! Thanks for tuning in.
WKTV Game of the Week
Year after year, our high-tech WKTV Truck Game of the Week includes two play-by-play announcers, an occasional field announcer and various camera angles with slow motion replays to capture all those great plays for your viewing pleasure.
You can count on our very experienced, exciting game announcers for both football and basketball to guide you through your local team’s games. If you are interested in volunteering at WKTV Sports for our Truck or Studio productions, please email me at greer@wktv.org
Game of the Week airs every Friday night on WKTV Comcast Channel 25 & AT&T U-Verse Channel 99 at 11 p.m. with a rebroadcast on Saturday at 11 a.m. You also can watch these games on our WKTV YouTube Channel.
By Cris Greer WKTV Managing Editor/Sports Director greer@wktv.org
Check out these new and exciting basketball clips from our latest Friday Night Highlights show.
Just like football season, every week we’ll bring you much of the local high school basketball home stadium action from your local varsity teams, highlight some top performers and their stats, give final scores, and show a snapshot of the latest conference standings in an exciting Friday Night Highlights show.
Look for our fast-paced local highlights show every Monday night! Thanks for tuning in.
WKTV Game of the Week
Year after year, our high-tech WKTV Truck Game of the Week includes two play-by-play announcers, an occasional field announcer and various camera angles with slow motion replays to capture all those great plays for your viewing pleasure.
You can count on our very experienced, exciting game announcers for both football and basketball to guide you through your local team’s games. If you are interested in volunteering at WKTV Sports for our Truck or Studio productions, please email me at greer@wktv.org
Game of the Week airs every Friday night on WKTV Comcast Channel 25 & AT&T U-Verse Channel 99 at 11 p.m. with a rebroadcast on Saturday at 11 a.m. You also can watch these games on our WKTV YouTube Channel.
Greg Chrapek — Greg began writing about West Michigan high school sports back in 1988 and retired from the Advance Newspapers/MLive in 2019. He also contributed to various publications during his career, including The Hoop Scoop, Spartanmagazine.com and High School Sports Scene Magazine. He had a passion for officiating games for youth, junior high and high school football and basketball and girls lacrosse until health issues sent him to the sideline.
When it comes to hard work, twin brothers Antonio and Higinio Rolon-Rosado are always ready to put in the hours, be it in the classroom, on the football field or in the weight room.
Seniors at Godwin Heights who have been playing varsity sports since early in their high school careers, the twins are putting the finishing touches on a high school experience that has seem them excel in the classroom and in sports.
They played football together during their athletic careers at Godwin. As seniors, the hard work they and their teammates put into football paid off with a winning season and a trip to the playoffs.
Antonio was a big part of the Wolverine offense line as a three-year starter at center, while Higinio played linebacker for the Godwin defense.
Godwin Heights Football Coach Brandon Kimble says twins will be hard to replace
“Antonio and Higinio are two of my favorite players I have ever coached,” said Kimble, also the Athletic Director at Godwin Heights. “They are extremely hard workers on and off the field, and have been that way since they entered high school. They both have great character and use it daily in our building.
“They go over and beyond to help coaches and players in any way they can. They show up early and they leave late. I have a lot of work to do this off season, finding athletes that will replace them in our program. What they brought on the field will be hard to replace, but what will be harder is finding leaders that will lead like them.”
This past football season was a big highlight for the twins as the Wolverines turned in a 7-3 record and reached the playoffs for the first time since 2020.
“This football season was very memorable,” Higinio said. “We accomplished something that hadn’t been done in a long while at Godwin.”
An offensive lineman for the Wolverines, the wins and playoff experience were not the only things that stick out for Antonio who also is an accomplished weightlifter.
Godwin Heights twin Antonio Rolon-Rosado. (Courtesy Photo)
“To make and host a playoff game, going 7-3 this season, was a blessing,” Antonio said. “Also, some personal accomplishments were only allowing one or two sacks my whole high school career. Also being able to bench press 315 pounds and squat 450 pounds, before the season started, even though this is not a big accomplishment to some, it means a lot based on how much time I spent practicing. Also trying to help my teammates become better at football.”
When it came to football, it was not just the excitement of game night and the winning that made the sport special for the brothers.
“It (football) wasn’t just a team, it was a family,” Higinio said. “I spent my summers and school with my teammates, even being closer with than some of my actual family.”
Football a coping mechanism
Football was more than just a game for Antonio as it helped him cope with the loss of his father.
“Football is my favorite sport because it has helped me break away from reality,” Antonio said. “It has become my way of therapy in a way. Seeing my father pass away (May 16, 2020), I was lost and in a really bad spot in my life honestly. Later, down the road I came across football and gave it a try. This was the best decision I have made, helping me with my grief and bad things happening in my life. Football has turned into even more than a therapy. I really wanted to do something with football. Putting the next five years of my life into football is trying to be the best at my position.”
Being teammates on the football team also was extra special.
“Getting to play all four years with my brother is something not everyone gets to experience and glad we ended it with a great season,” Higinio said.
Football was Antonio’s primary sport at Godwin Heights although he also is active in Esports.
Higinio is a multi-sport athlete at Godwin Heights … he also wrestles and plays baseball, and is looking to get into powerlifting.
Currently in wrestling season, Higinio has a 12-8 record and recently placed third at 150-pounds at the Fennville tournament.
“I started wrestling in sixth grade when I asked what sports I could do in middle school,” Higinio explained. “Wrestling was the only sport allowed at the time for sixth grade so I joined.”
Higinio began playing football a couple years later.
“For football, I did join for a bit in eighth grade,” Higinio said, “but what got me hooked was when I was practicing for soccer in the summer and I saw the football team conditioning and practicing, it looked way more intense. I then thought about joining to be a kicker, but liked the more contact part of the sport. I did baseball on and off, but what got me to like baseball was my teammates and friends who were on the team. It’s more of a fun sport for me.”
The physical element of football also peaked Antonio’s interest in the sport.
“Something that got me hooked into football is the contact and being able to show my strength and show people what I can do” Antonio said. “And when I put my cleats on and get on the field it’s like I am experiencing the joys of life for the first time.”
Classroom Standouts
While the twins made an impact as athletes at Godwin Heights, they have been standouts in the classroom as well. Higinio has a 4.0 GPA, while Antonio has a 3.5. Higinio also is in the running to be the valedictorian at Godwin this school year.
Higinio said that his dual-enrollment classes that are related to 3D modeling are his favorite ones and is planning on a career in engineering, while also looking to be a weightlifting coach on the side.
Antonio lists interactive classes as his favorite and includes weight training and broadcasting among his favorites. Antonio also said he would like to do something in the sports realm including coaching football or a strength coach.
Sports Fans
“The college football team I am a fan of is the Michigan Wolverines and the NFL team is the Detroit Lions,” Antonio said. “Some players I admire are Jason Kelce, Creed Humphrey and Frank Ragnow. All of these players play center and I study off of these people to get better and make my own style of play. Jason Kelce is the one I watch the most and try to take the most from.”
Higinio is more of a pro football fan.
“I don’t follow any college players, but the pro would be Aidan Hutchinson,” Higinio said. “How dominant he is at his position and how he came off an injury to still be a top player in his position, and Cam Skattebo, how he made it to the NFL while still being shorter than many others, not just making it but being a good rookie.”
Away from school and sports, Antonio likes to lift weights and play video games, while Higinio also likes lifting weights and getting healthy and doing anything active.
The brothers also have a wide range of musical likes.
Musical Tastes
“I like R & B and Pop,” Higinio said, “some rap favorite singers and Bruno Mars, Tyler the Creator, The Weekend and PartyNextDoor.”
“I like all kinds of music,” Antonio said, “but two artists I like are Rod Wave and Lloyd.”
Favorite Foods
Higinio likes anything that contains chicken or beef and eggs with his favorite being chicken Alfredo. Antonio lists Hispanic food as his favorite.
Movies, Binge-watching
Antonio lists One Piece as his favorite series, while Stranger Things and Percy Jackson top the list for Higinio.
With their high school athletic careers winding down, the brothers point to memories unrelated to the wins and scores as being among the memories that stick out.
“How close I was with all of my teammates through all the sports,” Higinio said. “They were the ones that made the sport more fun and what had me willing to push myself more. Also, some of my graduated teammates coming to support us in the offseason and during season.”
Antonio also put the emphasis on personal relationships.
“Some of the most special things about my time at Godwin were the people,” Antonio explained, “and the friendships I made and playing sports and all of the opportunities Godwin has given me.”
By Cris Greer WKTV Managing Editor/Sports Director greer@wktv.org
Check out these new and exciting basketball clips from our latest Friday Night Highlights show.
Just like football season, every week we’ll bring you much of the local high school basketball home stadium action from your local varsity teams, highlight some top performers and their stats, give final scores, and show a snapshot of the latest conference standings in an exciting Friday Night Highlights show.
Look for our fast-paced local highlights show every Monday night! Thanks for tuning in.
WKTV Game of the Week
Year after year, our high-tech WKTV Truck Game of the Week includes two play-by-play announcers, an occasional field announcer and various camera angles with slow motion replays to capture all those great plays for your viewing pleasure.
You can count on our very experienced, exciting game announcers for both football and basketball to guide you through your local team’s games. If you are interested in volunteering at WKTV Sports for our Truck or Studio productions, please email me at greer@wktv.org
Game of the Week airs every Friday night on WKTV Comcast Channel 25 & AT&T U-Verse Channel 99 at 11 p.m. with a rebroadcast on Saturday at 11 a.m. You also can watch these games on our WKTV YouTube Channel.
Grandville at East Kentwood Boys Basketball (WKTV Friday Night Highlights/1-30-26/Gerrit Nickel)
Bill Rohn — who served as a trial lawyer for 40 years at the Varnum law firm in Grand Rapids — calls himself a “newspaper junkie.“ Bill edited his high school and college newspapers. He also has covered sports for Midwestern newspapers such as The Grand Rapids Press, The South Bend Tribune, and The Niles Daily Star. He is a co-host of WKTV Friday Night Highlights. Bill holds a B.A. degree in Political Science from GVSU and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Notre Dame.
By Bill Rohn Wyoming-Kentwood News Today Contributor Friday Night Highlights Host greer@wktv.org
The East Kentwood boys team remained unbeaten in the OK Red, finishing the month of January with weekend wins over Grandville and Grand Haven.
The Falcons, 13-1 overall and ranked second in numerous statewide polls, continued their winning ways with a come-from-behind 54-52 win Friday over a tough Bulldog squad. After that, EK’s players went home, got some sleep, and returned to their gym 16 hours later to outpace Grand Haven, 73-44.
“We owed Grandville because they beat us twice last year,” said EK Coach Mike Thomas following Friday’s win over the Bulldogs.
Early on, it looked as though Grandville might make it three in a row over the Falcons. The Bulldogs confronted EK with a flexible zone defense, causing Thomas’ kids to miss from the outside. EK hit only two of 15 first quarter shots, which helped the Bulldogs to a 10-4 lead.
Grandville continued its pressure behind the shooting of Anthony Richardson and Brendan VanderHart, taking a 31-19 halftime lead following a 14-point run late in the second quarter.
But the Falcons weren’t finished.
“At halftime, I told the kids I thought we were OK on defense,” Thomas said. “Grandville was getting buckets on turnovers and getting the ball quickly down the floor, so we worked on that. I just told them to settle down at halftime.”
Richardson also told his team to keep “pushing“ the ball down the court. And in the second half, EK solved the Grandville zone. A third-quarter surge, led by RJ Chapman‘s nine points and 6-9 Andrew Kenyi’s rebounding and scoring, pulled Kentwood close. Grandville led 44-40 entering the fourth quarter.
“Winning is hard, but we’ve got some very good athletes and the idea was to keep the pressure on against that zone in the second half,” Thomas explained.
East Kentwood’s push produced a 46-44 lead with six minutes to play, and then a 54-52 lead with five seconds remaining. The visitors then missed a last-second shot, following an intentionally missed free throw, sealing the Falcon win.
Kenyi led the Falcons with 15 points, followed by Chapman, 13. Grandville’s Carter Wade nailed four three-pointers and totaled 13 points. Teammate Anthony Richardson led Grandville with 15.
East Kentwood’s Andrew Kenyi from an earlier game. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
The Saturday matinee: Grand Haven at East Kentwood Early play included a sluggish first half, which saw EK lead 30-26 at halftime. The Falcons then turned it on in the third quarter, outracing Grand Haven 22-5, for a 52-31 lead.
Fourth quarter play featured more of the same, as the Falcons cruised to a 73-44 win and clean 5-0 conference record. Kenyi led the winning effort with 16 points, while Samuel Makaug energized a small crowd with nine points and two slam dunks in a row.
Grandville dropped to 2-2 in OK Red play and 10-3 overall, while Grand Haven fell to 1-4 in the Red, 12-5 overall.
East Kentwood now prepares for a Feb. 3 home rematch with Rockford, currently only one game behind the Falcons in conference play. Earlier this season, the Falcons beat the host Rams in overtime by one.
Tri-unity Christian at Lee Boys Basketball. (WKTV Friday Night Highlights/Jake Westbrook)
Bill Rohn — who served as a trial lawyer for 40 years at the Varnum law firm in Grand Rapids — calls himself a “newspaper junkie.“ Bill edited his high school and college newspapers. He also has covered sports for Midwestern newspapers such as The Grand Rapids Press, The South Bend Tribune, and The Niles Daily Star. He is a co-host of WKTV Friday Night Highlights. Bill holds a B.A. degree in Political Science from GVSU and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Notre Dame.
By Bill Rohn WKTV Contributor Friday Night Highlights Host greer@wktv.org
Tri-unity’s Jake VanKlompenberg hit a 5-foot shot as the final buzzer sounded, then completely disappeared beneath a mob of screaming teammates as the Defenders beat Lee 51-49 Wednesday night.
The contest, played at Lee and delayed one night by cold weather, featured a battle of teams who were both unbeaten in the Alliance League when play began.
And a capacity crowd got its money’s worth.
Facing a 49-49 tie, Tri-unity rebounded a missed Lee shot with 28 seconds to play, then moved down court before calling time out with 11 seconds left. When play resumed, a stingy Lee defense appeared to leave the Defenders with no room to shoot, but VanKlompenberg had other plans. The junior, who was held scoreless in the first half, wiggled free to the left of the basket, twisted in midair, and found the net as the horn sounded, triggering an 11-player Tri-unity pileup as the winners celebrated.
“Somebody was going to get the last shot, and fortunately it was us,” said an extremely pleased Defenders Coach Brent Voorhees following the game, adding, “Jake works very hard and he made an absolutely great shot to win it.”
Tri-Unity improved to 7-0 in Alliance League play and 11-1 overall. Lee, now 10-3 overall, fell to 5-1 in conference action.
Lee’s Braylon Huff and JR Metcalf defend against Tri-unity’s Cody Osbun and Caleb Hofmann. (WKTV/Bill Rohn)
The loss aside, the Legends were not without heroes of their own, including Dere’on Brown, who hit five three-point shots during the game. The teams were tied 11-11 at the end of the first quarter before Tri-unity took a 25-18 halftime lead.
Not to be outdone, Lee’s big Lzekiel “Zeke“ Scott hit two three-pointers en route to a 12 point third quarter, cutting the Defenders’ margin to 42-40 when fourth quarter play began. Lee then took a 49-46 lead with less than a minute to play on Brown’s fifth three-pointer and a bucket by Scott before Nolan DeMots tied the score at 49 on a three pointer, setting the stage for VanKlompenberg’s heroics.
“Wyoming Lee is very well coached and their kids made a ton of big shots in key moments,” said Voorhees, whose team will seek a third straight state championship when tournament play begins in March. “This game was a good confidence builder for our group, to be able to win a tough conference game on the road.”
Tri-unity got 15 points apiece from Caleb Hoffman and Clayton Rowlader, plus solid rebounding from Cody Osborne and Brayden Nelson, who had 10 and eight rebounds, respectively.
Lee’s Zeke Scott led all scorers with 19 points. Dere’on Brown finished with 16 for Coach Gerard Oray’s Legends.
The two teams will go at it again in a February 13 game to be played at Tri-Unity.
The Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association has approved an expansion of personal branding activities (PBA) – also commonly referred to as Name-Image-Likeness (NIL) – allowing student-athletes at MHSAA member schools, effective immediately, to potentially benefit from such opportunities.
The MHSAA previously allowed some PBA opportunities, including the abilities for student-athletes to conduct camps, clinics and private lessons. The expanded policy allows student-athletes to capitalize on PBA through several more options as long as those activities are individual opportunities for individual students – while not disrupting competitive equity that would result from the creations of group activities including collectives and other pay-for-play opportunities now the norm at the collegiate level.
The topic of PBA/NIL had been discussed at length with membership over the last three years during MHSAA Update meetings and various other conferences with schools and their administrators. The Council had debated the possibility of these rule changes since the Michigan Legislature proposed amending state law to allow for student-athletes’ use of NIL in 2023, and also after closely monitoring similar developments in surrounding states.
“We have said from the start of this conversation that the MHSAA could be comfortable with a policy that provides individual branding opportunities for individual student-athletes, and this rule change provides those while excluding the possibility of collectives, and boosters and school people getting involved in those activities,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “This is the essence of what NIL was supposed to allow in the first place, and we’re confident we’ve crafted language that allows true NIL opportunities without affecting competitive equity among our member schools.”
Additional activities allowed by the new PBA policy include social media endorsements and promotions, personal appearances, photo sessions or autograph signings; modeling, advertising, merchandise, sports cards or apparel sales; and the use of a student’s name, image or likeness in marketing materials.
PBA activities must be consistent with MHSAA rules and school policies. A student-athlete may not capitalize on PBA based on athletic performances, awards/recognition, team participation or competition outcomes. A student-athlete also may not involve school names, logos, mascots, trademarks or other obvious identifiers, uniforms or other intellectual property, and PBA activity may not occur during school attendance or any MHSAA event (including practice) and cannot take place on school property or be promoted on school media channels.
Schools, including coaches and other employees, are not allowed to solicit, arrange, negotiate or promote PBA activities on behalf of their student-athletes. Doing so may put that school’s MHSAA membership in jeopardy, in addition to rendering that student-athlete ineligible for MHSAA athletics.“
“The MHSAA will guard the competitive equity we have promoted for more than 100 years, and take with the utmost seriousness any attempts to break or blur this rule,” Uyl said. “We have provided clear language and sufficient guidance on what is allowed to assist our schools as they navigate this ever-changing landscape.”
PBA associated with products, services, individuals, companies or industries deemed inappropriate, unsafe or inconsistent with the values and goals of interscholastic athletics, as determined by the MHSAA – for example gaming or gambling, alcoholic beverages and banned substances – are also prohibited.
All PBA activities must be disclosed to the MHSAA within seven days of an opportunity or contract for disclosure and approval. Schools may choose to have stricter rules regarding PBA if they choose to do so.
For more details on what is and what is not allowed, and frequently asked questions about PBA in regards to MHSAA regulations, visit the MHSAA Name, Image, Likeness page at https://www.mhsaa.com/name-image-likeness.
The Representative Council is the legislative body of the MHSAA. All but five members are elected by member schools. Four members are appointed by the Council to facilitate representation of females and minorities, and the 19th position is occupied by the Superintendent of Public Instruction or designee.
By Cris Greer WKTV Managing Editor/Sports Director greer@wktv.org
Check out these new and exciting basketball clips from our latest Friday Night Highlights show.
Just like football season, every week we’ll bring you much of the local high school basketball home stadium action from your local varsity teams, highlight some top performers and their stats, give final scores, and show a snapshot of the latest conference standings in an exciting Friday Night Highlights show.
Look for our fast-paced local highlights show every Monday night! Thanks for tuning in.
WKTV Game of the Week
Year after year, our high-tech WKTV Truck Game of the Week includes two play-by-play announcers, an occasional field announcer and various camera angles with slow motion replays to capture all those great plays for your viewing pleasure.
You can count on our very experienced, exciting game announcers for both football and basketball to guide you through your local team’s games. If you are interested in volunteering at WKTV Sports for our Truck or Studio productions, please email me at greer@wktv.org
Game of the Week airs every Friday night on WKTV Comcast Channel 25 & AT&T U-Verse Channel 99 at 11 p.m. with a rebroadcast on Saturday at 11 a.m. You also can watch these games on our WKTV YouTube Channel.
After back-to-back Division 4 state championships, the Tri-unity Defenders are doing what they do best — winning.
Over the previous two seasons, the Defenders compiled an impressive 51-7 record, and the 2025–2026 campaign is starting no differently, as Tri-unity sits at 9–1 with a perfect 5–0 mark in the Alliance League.
The winning tradition has continued, but with new faces. Following the long and legendary career of Coach Mark Keeler, which concluded after last season, Brent Voorhees has taken over the reins after spending the previous six years as Keeler’s assistant. Keeler finished his four-decade career as No. 3 on the MHSAA Coach Records list with 721 wins, including seven state titles.
Former Tri-unity Coach Mark Keeler accepts the Division 4 state title boys basketball trophy from MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl in 2025. (Photo Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Cody Osbun lone returning starter
On the court, Tri-unity graduated eight players from last year’s roster, leaving junior Cody Osbun as the lone returning starter.
“Cody is the heartbeat of our team,” Voorhees said. “He is a captain, our hardest worker, and our most vocal leader on the floor. I am excited about his future as he continues to grow on and off the court.”
Osbun has made his mark on both ends of the floor, averaging 14 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals per game.
Tri-unity Christian’s Cody Osbun averages 14 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals per game. (Photo Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Osbun isn’t alone in the scoring column, as multiple Defenders are finding double figures. Seniors Brayden Nelson (12 points per game, 7 rebounds per game) and Clayton Rowlader (10 ppg) are making their presence felt, while junior Caleb Hofmann also contributes 12 points per game.
The team motto for the Defenders is “Together,” and that’s exactly how they play. A different scoring leader emerges nearly every night, and the trademark of any Tri-unity squad — stifling defense — remains firmly in place.
The junior trio of Osbun, Hofmann, and Jacob VanKlompenberg forms the young core of the Defenders.
“They all buy into our defense-first mentality,” Voorhees said. “All three of them are contributing in big ways on the court. They have all had their best offensive games when they focus on their defense. It’s been fun to watch.”
Tri-unity also added senior transfer Nolan DeMots this fall.
“He is an extremely mature young man, and he has had a tremendous impact on our program from the second he joined our group,” Voorhees said.
“He is one of our best shooters and on-ball defenders, and he plays with a great amount of basketball IQ.”
The Defenders will have a challenging road ahead if they hope to repeat as Alliance League champions, with two meetings against a much-improved Lee squad as well as matchups with Potter’s House and other contenders.
“We are excited to keep growing through the back half of the season,” Voorhees said. “Our motto this year is ‘Together.’ We break every huddle and finish every practice with this phrase, and we truly live it out in the way we treat each other and play for each other. All 12 guys have had a positive impact on our team.
By Cris Greer WKTV Managing Editor/Sports Director greer@wktv.org
Check out these new and exciting basketball clips from our latest Friday Night Highlights show.
Just like football season, every week we’ll bring you much of the local high school basketball home stadium action from your local varsity teams, highlight some top performers and their stats, give final scores, and show a snapshot of the latest conference standings in an exciting Friday Night Highlights show.
Look for our fast-paced local highlights show every Monday night! Thanks for tuning in.
WKTV Game of the Week
Year after year, our high-tech WKTV Truck Game of the Week includes two play-by-play announcers, an occasional field announcer and various camera angles with slow motion replays to capture all those great plays for your viewing pleasure.
You can count on our very experienced, exciting game announcers for both football and basketball to guide you through your local team’s games. If you are interested in volunteering at WKTV Sports for our Truck or Studio productions, please email me at greer@wktv.org
Game of the Week airs every Friday night on WKTV Comcast Channel 25 & AT&T U-Verse Channel 99 at 11 p.m. with a rebroadcast on Saturday at 11 a.m. You also can watch these games on our WKTV YouTube Channel.
Grand River Prep at Lee Boys Basketball. (WKTV Friday Night Highlights/Jake Westbrook)
Bill Rohn — who served as a trial lawyer for 40 years at the Varnum law firm in Grand Rapids — calls himself a “newspaper junkie.“ He edited his high school and college newspapers, and has covered sports for The Grand Rapids Press, The South Bend Tribune, and The Niles Daily Star. He is a co-host of WKTV Friday Night Highlights, and holds a bachelor’s degree from GVSU and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Notre Dame.
“Well, I told them it was time to get back to playing our brand of basketball.”
Those were the halftime instructions of Lee Coach Gerard Oray after his team had underperformed against Grand River Prep on Tuesday. And that’s what Lee’s players did, outscoring the Titans 46-17 in the second half en route to an 83-49 win.
The victory, which improved Lee‘s season record to 9-2, was especially sweet because the Legends played without starters Dere’on Brown and Jaden Potts, who missed the game with concussions. Lee also was coming off a loss only 24 hours earlier to Lansing Eastern.
“I was worried about whether we had time to overcome that,” Oray said.
At halftime, it looked as though Oray’s concern might be justified. Lee started fast, taking a 20-12 first quarter lead, but the Titans came back quickly and led 24-23 following solid defensive play and seven second quarter points from Malachi McKnight, who had 13 points in the first two quarters.
The Legends found their rhythm and led 37-32 at halftime following two late buckets by JR Metcalf, but Lee’s coaches were still not satisfied.
“We needed to play our game, moving the ball around, playing harder, and staying together as a team,” Oray explained.
Lee got the message, scoring 27 third quarter points compared to nine by the Titans, before adding 20 more in the final stanza. The Legends also rattled Grand River with a ball-hawking defensive effort.Lee’s offense benefited from a balanced attack, featuring 13 different scorers. Metcalf led all scorers with 18 points. The winners also got nine points apiece from Zeke Scott and Cash Anscomb to go with solid rebounding by Scott and Braelin Huff.
Grand River Prep was paced by Antwan Bland, with 16 points, and Malachi McKnight, who finished with 15. However, the visitors were plagued by second half foul trouble, causing their offensive leaders to often sit the bench during third and fourth quarter action.
Where do the Legends go from here? Oray was optimistic after the game.
Lee Boys Basketball vs. Grand River Prep Jan. 13, 2026. (WKTV/Bill Rohn)
“We’ve just gotta keep playing our brand of basketball and we’ll see whether we can win our conference title and then do well in the districts at tournament time.”
Grand River fell to 3-8 on the season with the loss. The Titans women’s team defeated the Lee women 37-15 in the first game of the evening.
After dropping their last two games, the Wyoming girls basketball team regained their winning touch in a big way as it turned in strong efforts on both sides of the floor en route to a 70-23 win against visiting Grand Rapids Union Friday.
The win improved Wyoming’s record to 7-2 for the season, but more importantly it stopped a two-game skid that saw the Wolves drop a 52-45 decision to Coopersville and a 54-39 contest to league-rival Wayland.
Wyoming hit the floor more than ready to snap the two-game skid as it displayed some offensive fireworks and lock-down defense in the opening minutes.
“We played a lot better than we have the last two games,” said Wyoming Coach Chris Hose. “I think we are kind of jelling a little bit better. I think the break kind of slowed us down, we were off for 10 or 11 days, but I think we are starting to get back into our groove a little bit. We’re starting to play better together as a team. We are playing harder, we are playing smarter, so we are taking the steps in the right direction.”
Wyoming’s Arianna Bennitt (12) applies defensive pressure to a Union guard during Friday’s game. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
The Wolves reeled off nine straight points in the game’s first two minutes and was up 11-0 before Union scored its first basket of the contest with 3:27 remaining in the opening quarter.
Up 15-3 at the end of the first quarter, the Wyoming offense kicked into overdrive in the second quarter. The Wolves put up 29 points in that quarter and headed into halftime with a 44-13 lead.
Michaela Moore led Wolves with 30 points
Senior standout Michaela Moore was the main catalyst on offense for the Wolves. Moore, who finished the game with a career-best 30 points, scored seven points in the opening quarter and then poured in 11 points during the second quarter.
Wyoming kept the pressure up during the second half. The Wolves outscored Union 20-8 in the third quarter and built the lead even more during the fourth quarter which was played with a running clock.
While the offense has been strong all season, Hose is pleased with the steady progress the Wolves are making on the defensive end.
“I think defensively is where we are making the most progress,” Hose said. “Even on our poor shooting nights we are still in games, we are still flying around. We are taking more pride in our defense. We are a lot more disciplined with our feet and we’re not reaching as much. I think defensively overall, we have improved quite a bit this year.”
Wyoming’s Claire Wierenga (33) hauls down a rebound during Friday’s WKTV Game of the Week against Grand Rapids Union. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
“We started out hot,” Hose continued. “We were 6-0 and then we had a night against Coopersville where we weren’t shooting very well and then we had a rough night against Wayland where we got into foul trouble pretty quick so we ended up falling to those two teams. The break pushed us back a little bit, but I think we are on the right track now and we should have some good things going forward. The sky is the limit for this team if they keep working hard and playing together. We are going to be a problem for a lot of teams.”
Along with Moore’s 30 points, the Wolves had three more players reach doubles figures. Freshman Tija Gayles totaled 12 points, while seniors Tamia Gayles and Myah Nabors added 10 apiece.
The scoring output from Wyoming guards was no surprise as the veteran backcourt is a strong point for the team this season.
“Our three guards, Myah Nabors, Michaela Moore and Tamia Gayles, we kind of go wherever they take us,” Hose said. “They are really strong offensively and defensively. They are really great leaders, they hold everybody accountable, and they just do a good job of pushing our team.”
Union, which fell to 3-6 for the season, was paced by senior Zyreair Craig with 12 points.
Wyoming returns to action Tuesday evening when it travels to West Catholic in a matchup of teams with 7-2 records. The Wolves then return home Friday to host Hudsonville Unity Christian.
By Cris Greer WKTV Managing Editor/Sports Director greer@wktv.org
Check out these new and exciting basketball clips from our latest Friday Night Highlights show.
Just like football season, every week we’ll bring you much of the local high school basketball home stadium action from your local varsity teams, highlight some top performers and their stats, give final scores, and show a snapshot of the latest conference standings in an exciting Friday Night Highlights show.
Look for our fast-paced local highlights show every Monday night! Thanks for tuning in.
WKTV Game of the Week
Year after year, our high-tech WKTV Truck Game of the Week includes two play-by-play announcers, an occasional field announcer and various camera angles with slow motion replays to capture all those great plays for your viewing pleasure.
You can count on our very experienced, exciting game announcers for both football and basketball to guide you through your local team’s games. If you are interested in volunteering at WKTV Sports for our Truck or Studio productions, please email me at greer@wktv.org
Game of the Week airs every Friday night on WKTV Comcast Channel 25 & AT&T U-Verse Channel 99 at 11 p.m. with a rebroadcast on Saturday at 11 a.m. You also can watch these games on our WKTV YouTube Channel.
In a showdown between two of the premier Division 2 girls basketball teams in the state, as well as OK Gold rivals, South Christian held off a furious Grand Rapids West Catholic second-half rally to grab a 73-62 win in what very well may be the first of three potential meetings between the local basketball powerhouses.
Last season, the two powers split a pair of conference games as they shared the conference title. The two teams met again in the postseason when West Catholic edged the Sailors 39-37 in the Division 2 state quarterfinals. This season, South Christian won Round One of what may be another memorable trilogy and kept its record spotless at 7-0.
The game was a close struggle in the early going before the Sailors built a 20-point lead midway through the third quarter. Any thoughts of an early surrender by the Falcons were washed away as West Catholic rallied and eventually cut the deficit to three points late in the fourth quarter before the Sailors regained command in the final minutes of the contest.
“They (West Catholic) are a good team,” said South Christian Coach Erika Brown. “They are a very, very good team. They are very well coached. They are disciplined and we knew it was going to be a game of runs. We got after it and got that 20-point lead, but at the same time we knew it wasn’t over.”
The game was close from the opening tip with the Sailors clinging to a 16-15 lead at the end of the first quarter. West Catholic was up 22-20 midway through the second quarter before the Sailors went on a 15-4 run to end the first half. Freshman Kinley Regnery was at the middle of the Sailor run as she drained three consecutive three-point shots during the South scoring spree. Regnery finished with 11 points during the second quarter.
In the second half the Sailors picked up where they left off. Up 35-26 heading into the second half, the Sailors outscored West 13-8 to go up 48-36. The Sailors then reeled off eight straight points to take a 56-36 lead in the latter stages of the third quarter. Sophomore Abby Prins was a big part of the Sailor offensive success during the third quarter with 10 points.
South Christian sophomore Abby Prins (15) totaled 14 points against West Catholic. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
A combination of strong defensive and offensive execution enabled the Sailors to take the large lead.
“Our press was working pretty well,” Brown said. “I think we got them (West) out of rhythm a little bit on the offensive end.”
The 20-point lead, however, was anything but safe against a West Catholic team that came into the game with a five-game winning streak and 6-1 overall record. West also came in with the added confidence of beating Tecumseh, the team that it lost to in last year’s Division 2 state championship game, 54-52 in a tournament three days earlier.
Led by their junior standout Alexis Asekomeh, the Falcons responded with an 8-0 run of their own as they trimmed the South Christian lead to 58-46 by the end of the third quarter.
West Catholic continued to build on that momentum in the final quarter. The Falcons began the fourth quarter by outscoring South 11-2 to cut the margin to 60-57 with 4:36 remaining in the game.
South Christian defenders Meredith Helmus (11) and Isla Ogle (21) close in on West Catholic’s Kenley Slanger (11). (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
The Sailors, however, boosted by their home crowd, battled back with an 8-0 run of their own to regain a double-digit lead and bring home the win that improved their record to 7-0 for the season.
“We just had to regroup,” Brown said. “We had to take a time out and get back to us. We had to focus on some things that we were really missing out on the floor. We had to settle each other down and believe that it would be ok.”
Balanced scoring was a key for the Sailors. Senior Sophia Prins led the way with 18 points, followed by Regnery, 17; Abby Prins, 14; junior Meredith Helmus, 10, and senior Lizzie Wolthuis with nine.
Asekomeh led the way for West Catholic with 24 points, while sophomore Kenley Slanger added 17.
South Christian returns to action Friday evening hosting Northview and then travels to Wayland next Tuesday. The rematch with West Catholic will take place Feb. 3 at West Catholic.
“The season has been going good,” Brown said. “We have a good group of girls. We have good leaders, good senior leadership. The core of the team is back from last year so we are building off a good end to last year, but the basketball season is long and there’s lots of stuff still to work on.”
Grace Christian University was home to some outstanding high school basketball Saturday and the host Lee Legends capped off the inaugural tournament with a strong defensive effort in defeating Holland 59-42.
The win capped off a big day of basketball for local teams. In games preceding the Lee finale, Kelloggsville dropped a 55-46 decision to Grand Rapids West Catholic in overtime, Cedar Springs edged Godwin Heights 52-49 and Grant defeated Kentwood Grand River Prep 62-33.
In the finale, Lee utilized some strong defensive play and timely offense to improve its record to 6-1 on the season.
The host Legends, whose lone loss this season was to West Catholic, established their strong defensive presence right from the opening tip. The Legends held Holland to 10 points in the first quarter en route to building a 20-10 lead.
Defense was all the rage in the second quarter as both teams found scoring points a challenge. The two squads combined for just six points in the second quarter with Lee taking a 22-14 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Lee freshman forward Cash Anscomb (24) pulls down a rebound during the game with Holland at the Be Legendary Showcase at Grace Christian University. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
Both squads picked up the pace in the third quarter. Lee senior guard Junior Metcalf led the Legends with six points in the third quarter as Lee outscored Holland 17-13 to take a 39-27 lead into the final stanza.
Lee began to pull away from Holland in the early moments of the fourth quarter as a 10-5 run upped the lead to 49-32. The Legends finished the game on an 8-4 run to exit with a 16-point win.
“We played pretty well,” said Lee Coach Gerard Oray. “We had a scoring drought in the second quarter when we had two points. We went away from our defensive pressure. I feel our defensive pressure was the main reason why we got out to an early lead.”
Metcalf led Lee with 17 points, while senior Dere’on Brown also reached double figures with 13. Lzekiel Scott added nine points, followed by Kapone Applewhite with six. Keegan Hulst led Holland in scoring with 23 points.
The play of Lee’s guards not only led the way on the offensive side of the floor, but also played a key role in the success of the defense.
Lee senior guard Martez Jackson (0) looks for an opening during the game with Holland at the Be Legendary Showcase at Grace Christian University. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
“Our guards are really fast offensively and defensively,” Oray said. “They change the game for us. The ball pressure that they put on other teams kind of disrupts their offense. We go as they go.”
Legends enjoy strong start to season
With six wins in the first seven games, the season has started well for the Legends. Not only are the Legends playing winning basketball, but they are playing exciting basketball and also are getting the job done off the basketball court.
“We have scored 75 points in four of the seven games,” Oray said. “It’s been exciting basketball. The guys have bought in not only on the court, but in the classroom and in the community. This season has gone pretty well.”
Oray also likes the way the team has jelled and points to team chemistry as being a strong point of this year’s squad.
“We have a strong brotherhood,” Oray said. “The guys spend a lot of time together on and off the court. We did some things in the summer and in the fall. Things like study table, community service, volunteer events, weight room, all of that is starting to come together to build team chemistry.”
Oray also was pleased with the first-year tournament that the Legends and Grace Christian University hosted. The tournament was even more special for Oray, who played his college basketball for Grace Christian.
“The tournament was pretty good,” Oray said. “I played college basketball here so it was great to see the community come out. A lot of different teams were here from a lot of different areas which was the purpose of the tournament so I feel it was a success for year one.”
Long list of coaches played and coached at Grace Christian
Oray was not the only coach at the tournament who had ties to Grace Christian which was another reason the teams were brought together for the tournament. Grant Coach Daniel George is a former varsity assistant coach at Grace Christian, and Cedar Springs Coach Lee Ash also is a former assistant coach.
Former players included Grand River Prep Coach Jashawn Bailey, while Kelloggsville Coach Austin Jackson earned national player of the year honors and led Grace Christian to a national championship in 2019 during his time as a college basketball player at the school. West Catholic assistant coach Melvin Frazier played his college basketball at Grace Christian as well.
Lee High School cross country runner Kaylee Ochoa. (Photo Courtesy, Kaylee Ochoa)
By Cris Greer WKTV Managing Editor/Sports Director greer@wktv.org
It’s easy to see why Wyoming Lee senior Kaylee Ochoa’s favorite movie is The Princess and the Frog, a Disney movie about a hardworking waitress with a dream of opening a restaurant of her own.
“I love the message that the movie portrays that dreams can come true if you work hard for them,” explains Ochoa, who wrestles, runs track and cross country, and plays softball for the Legends, all while maintaining a 4.0 GPA. “The Princess and the Frog gives me a sense of nostalgia that makes me want to watch it over and over again.”
Ochoa said cross country is her preferred sport.
“Cross country is my favorite because it allows me to be independent in my conditioning and improve for the next race,” said Ochoa, who began running in middle school. “I began cross country in sixth grade because my Mom wanted me to try out a sport for middle school. I wanted to give it a chance and stuck with it.
“I ended up loving it more than I first thought I would, having amazing teammates and great coaches throughout the years.”
She said her favorite memory in cross country is when the team went to summer camp to train and bond.
“We would get to know more about each other and connect deeper than just being on the same team together,” explained Ochoa, who said her mentor is cross country Coach Greg Popma.
“He is always there for me and pushes me to do my best,” said Ochoa, a team captain in cross country. “He supports me in all the things I do and shows up at my other sporting events. He cheers me on and congratulates me, but also supports me and helps me with losses.”
Wyoming Lee Athletic Director Andre Sargent said Ochoa demonstrates exceptional leadership, character and balance in every aspect of life.
“She approaches sports with discipline and a relentless work ethic, consistently pushing herself to improve while inspiring her teammates to do the same,” he continued. “In the classroom, Kaylee shows the same dedication managing her time responsibly, staying engaged in different clubs, and striving for academic excellence. Her positive attitude, integrity and respect for others makes her someone younger athletes naturally look up to.
“Whether offering encouragement after a tough game or match, leading by example during practice, or representing Lee with pride, Kaylee embodies what it means to be committed, resilient and team-oriented. She doesn’t just excel, she elevates everyone around her.”
Also a team captain in wrestling for the past three years, Ochoa competes in the 106-lb. weight class on the girls team.
Lee High School wrestler Kaylee Ochoa. (Photo Courtesy, Kaylee Ochoa)
“I like being a leader because I can show my teammates ways to improve and be better,” she explained. “I also get to be a role model for others and feel encouraged knowing someone looks up to me in that role.”
Ochoa began wrestling in ninth grade because of an older classmate.
“She was a state qualifier, and I had been close to her in my early months of high school,” she explained. “My favorite memories in wrestling are when I win a match and get my hand lifted for everyone to see. I feel a wave of courage and satisfaction when I stand in front of everyone knowing I put so much effort for it to come through in the end.”
Ochoa joined the track and field team in the seventh grade and continued again as a high school junior, running the 1600- and 800-meter races.
“I gained interest in joining my classmates and friends who had only great things to say about the sport,” she explained. “My favorite memories in track and field are when I get to know my times and celebrate with my teammates when I improve.”
Last but not least, she started playing softball in the eighth grade and now plays shortstop/second base for the Legends in high school.
“I became interested by a mentor who had so much passion for the sport which made me curious about joining,” she explained of her softball participation. “My favorite memories in softball are when we start winning and get to celebrate together. We laugh and yell and cheer each other on. We continue to push and encourage each other in the dugout.”
Lee High School’s Kaylee Ochoa playing softball for the Legends. (Courtesy, Kaylee Ochoa)
Her interests away from sports?
Reading, listening to music and a job all keep her busy.
“I love photography and have also taken photos for sporting events at my school in the past.”
Favorite pro athlete?
Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“He shows determination and competitiveness in what he does and is an amazing athlete,” Ochoa explains. “He is a great hitter and pitcher for the Dodgers and does an amazing job on the field. Seeing what he does and has accomplished has inspired me to do my best as an athlete.”
Ochoa plans to attend college and work in the education field.
“My dream job is to be a teacher because I can encourage students and hope to make an impact in their lives.”
Last season was a memorable campaign for the South Christian girls basketball team. Thanks to the return of the bulk of last year’s roster, the Sailors are poised for even more success this season.
The Sailors turned in a 24-3 record last year and were co-champions of the OK Gold with West Catholic with 11-1 league records. The Sailors then went on a memorable state tournament run where they captured district and regional titles before dropping a 39-37 decision to West Catholic in the Division 2 state quarterfinals.
This season, with several key players returning from last year’s team, the Sailors are setting a course for another winning season. South has already started the season strong. After opening the new season with a 60-50 win against Unity Christian, the Sailors turned back Holland Christian 57-47 and then stopped Grand Rapids Catholic Central 73-45.
“We are off to a great start, but still have lots to work on,” said South Christian Coach Erika Brown. “We are working hard to stay grounded and disciplined. Success is built with the consistency we show up with every day.”
Leading the way for the Sailors this season is a strong core of seniors. Among those seniors are Sophia Prins and Lizzie Wolthuis. Prins is a point guard who is a solid shooter and drive. Prins also possesses good quickness and strength that allows her to get to the basket on drives or dish to an open teammate.
Wolthuis is a shooting guard for the Sailors and is regarded as one of the top shooters in Michigan. Wolthuis is also a strong driver and a tough defender on the defensive side of the floor.
Junior Meredith Helmus brings even more talent to the backcourt.
“Meredith plays both points guard and wing,” Brown said. “She is very fast and tough as nails on defense.”
South Christian’s Meredith Helmus last season. (WKTV Greg Chrapek)
The Sailors also return sophomore Abby Prins, who made an impact on the team as a freshman last season.
“Abby is a wing and small forward who has length and quickness,” Brown said. “She is a shooter, a driver and can post up.”
South Christian’s Abby Prins last season. (WKTV Greg Chrapek)
The veteran core brings plenty of versatility to the floor which is a trait of this year’s squad.
“We are a versatile team,” Brown said. “We have quickness and length, and we have three-point shooters and drivers. We have a post presence this season, too.”
Blending in with the returning veterans are some promising new players who also bring plenty of versatility to the court.
Sophomore Lexi Vermaas will be contributing along the front line for the Sailors.
“Lexi is a strong small forward who can shoot the three-ball well,” Brown said. “She is also tough as nails on defense and is a leading rebounder.”
Freshman Kinley Regnery is another versatile newcomer that gives the team plenty of options both inside and outside on the offensive end of the floor.
“Kinley is a wing,” Brown said. “She is quick, tall and is a great shooter and passer. She also has a tough presence on the court.”
With a blend of talent, experience and skill, the Sailors are set up for success this season. The team also possesses the work ethic to maximize their talent and have an outstanding team chemistry.
“I am excited about this season and our team,” Brown said. “We have a great group of young ladies, not only talented in basketball, but who are fun to work with. They love each other and work hard. We have fun.”
The Sailors will be busy over Christmas break beginning with the Cornerstone University Holiday Classic. South is scheduled to play Coopersville on Dec. 26 at 2:30 p.m. at Cornerstone University and then return to Cornerstone on Dec. 30 to play Muskegon Reeths-Puffer at 1 p.m. The Sailors open 2026 in a big way hosting West Catholic, currently 4-1, in a key conference game on Jan. 6.
It took a while for the East Kentwood basketball team to find its groove during Tuesday’s non-league game against visiting Kalamazoo Loy Norrix, but once they did, the Falcons rolled like a team in mid-season form with a 73-51 win.
East Kentwood took the early lead in the game, but the Knights kept things interesting in the first half. Loy Norrix came into the game with a perfect 4-0 record and showed why it’s one of the top teams in Southwest Michigan as it trailed 16-9 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter continued to be somewhat of a defensive struggle and at halftime the Falcons were up 30-22.
“We kind of got off to a slow start in the first half,” said East Kentwood Coach Mike Thomas. “It is exam week and you can kind of tell. The guys have been studying all week and practicing all week. This was just one of those games to where it was hard to get going. It was hard catching the ball, putting the ball in the hole in the first half.”
Thanks to a deep and versatile roster, the Falcons made some adjustments at halftime that enabled them to change the flow of the game. Kentwood came out of halftime with more energy and began to pull away, taking a 41-26 lead midway through the third.
“We made some adjustments in the second half,” Thomas said, “and put in more of an energy group in there. A smaller, energy group and it kind of helped us get going.”
East Kentwood finished the third quarter with a flurry as the smaller, quicker group was able to produce several turnovers that led to breakaway dunks on the other end of the floor.
“That was the goal at halftime,” Thomas said. “We went smaller. We put in Ja’Kari Lovelady and we put Jaxson Tabor in as the five man. Then we kept our big three in RJ Chapman, Jeremiah Cook and CJ Reynolds in and that kind of opened things up.”
East Kentwood’s Jeremiah Cook (#3) scored 12 points in the win. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
East Kentwood finished the third quarter with a 54-32 lead. While the 24 points Kentwood scored during the third quarter was impressive, the Falcons were even more happy with their play on the defensive side of the court as they limited Loy Norrix to 10 third-quarter points.
“We were able to get stops,” Thomas said. “That created some easy dunks and layups and stuff like that. That’s kind of how we want to play. We want to make everything tough for you. Even though our offense was struggling, I thought our defense was there. You know, 20 points at the half is really good for us. We always talk about that. Even when we are not scoring, we have to always have our defense going because it’s always going to be the savior for us.”
Kentwood maintained the 20-points margin during the fourth quarter as it put the game on ice for its third win of the season against one loss. East Kentwood’s other two wins came against Traverse City West (83-57) and Detroit Renaissance (73-44) with the lone loss being a 41-40 decision against Warren Fitzgerald.
Offensively, the Falcons benefitted from a balanced attack. CJ Reynolds led the team in scoring with 19 points, followed by Jeremiah Cook, 12 points; Samuel Makaug and RJ Chapman, 10 apiece, and Lovelady, seven.
East Kentwood’s RJ Chapman scored 10 points in the win. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
Junior Demetrius Bennett led Loy Norrix with 16 points.
“That’s our goal,” Thomas said. “We want to have four to five guys in double figures. Our goal is to share the ball, share the rock. Draw two (defenders) and kick it. It doesn’t matter who shoots it as long as we are doing our job of drawing two and kicking, keeping the ball moving and great shots are going to occur for our team.”
The Falcons hit the road and rack up the miles to close out 2025. East Kentwood plays West Bloomfield at Saginaw Valley State on Friday, at the Motor City Roundball Classic in Ferndale on Dec. 28 and the next day will play Flint Carman-Ainsworth at the Romulus Summitt Academy Christmas Showcase.
By Cris Greer WKTV Managing Editor/Sports Director greer@wktv.org
Check out these new and exciting basketball clips from our latest Friday Night Highlights show.
Just like football season, every week we’ll bring you much of the local high school basketball home stadium action from your local varsity teams, highlight some top performers and their stats, give final scores, and show a snapshot of the latest conference standings in an exciting Friday Night Highlights show.
Look for our fast-paced local highlights show every Monday night! Thanks for tuning in.
WKTV Game of the Week
Year after year, our high-tech WKTV Truck Game of the Week includes two play-by-play announcers, an occasional field announcer and various camera angles with slow motion replays to capture all those great plays for your viewing pleasure.
You can count on our very experienced, exciting game announcers for both football and basketball to guide you through your local team’s games. If you are interested in volunteering at WKTV Sports for our Truck or Studio productions, please email me at greer@wktv.org
Game of the Week airs every Friday night on WKTV Comcast Channel 25 & AT&T U-Verse Channel 99 at 11 p.m. with a rebroadcast on Saturday at 11 a.m. You also can watch these games on our WKTV YouTube Channel.
By Cris Greer WKTV Managing Editor/Sports Director greer@wktv.org AND By Deborah Reed WKTV Managing Editor
Former Detroit Lions quarterback Eric Hipple has certainly experienced the highs and lows that life brings.
From playing in the NFL for 10 years to experiencing the tragedy of his son taking his life as a teenager, it has been a roller coaster ride for Hipple.
WKTV recently sat down with the former NFL quarterback for a Soundbites TV show to dig into his life and learn what now makes him tick many years away from the sport.
An unbelievable start
During his career, Hipple passed for over 10,000 yards with 55 touchdowns. His memorable start was back in 1981 against the Chicago Bears for a Monday Night Football game. He threw four touchdown passes and ran for two more in a big win over those Bears in an unbelievable start.
“It was a huge night,” Hipple remembers. “We had gone through the starting quarterback who had broken his hand and the backup quarterback played two games and just stunk it up really bad and they gave me my opportunity and they gave me the start.
“It’s a long day because in your head you’re going over and over and over what the first play is going to be, which is a pass play. You think of all the things that could possibly happen. When I finally got underneath the center and looked at the defense and recognized what they’re doing, and it’s going to be a pass, and I completed the first pass. It’s like a 40-yard bomb … the place just erupted. I came off the ground about three feet, just floated. I don’t think I came back down until the game ended.
“Everything just went right. We practiced really hard, we had a really good game plan. When the game was over it was like I had a hard time remembering playing, but it was fantastic. Kind of a big blur, but it’s also exciting, incredible.”
Former Detroit Lions quarterback Eric Hipple (No. 17) is now a mental health advocate. (Photo Courtesy, Eric Hipple)
An insider’s look
The life of an NFL player, Hipple admits, looks a lot different now than it did when he was in the League.
“It’s a lot different back then than it is today. The way they practice, even the way that players are treated because of the money issue. Back then you didn’t make a whole lot.
“Getting there, 140 guys come to camp and only 45 make the team. You made the team through attrition, really. You outlast everybody. They are carrying three quarterbacks, and I was the third one. You’re there and watch everybody else and get ready to go into this season, and your eyes are wide open. I was the holder for Eddie Murray, so I got to go on the field at least every game, and it was just a great experience.”
And training camp, Hipple says, was not easy.
“You’re throwing the ball twice a day for six weeks or whatever it is, and you’re hitting twice a day. It’s exhausting. And when we had our training camp, we were at Oakland University where there’s no air conditioning in the dorms, cinderblock buildings … and it was hot and hard and long. But I actually think that made us a little better because we were used to feeling uncomfortable.”
The comfort of structure
Because football is such an eyes-on sport, Hipple continues, the players feel pressure to do everything perfectly. Simultaneously, many things were taken care of for the players so they didn’t have to worry about anything but football.
Former Detroit Lions quarterback Eric Hipple (No. 17). (Photo Courtesy, Eric Hipple)
“They don’t want you to think about anything except for football. Your support system is the bus. When you get to the hotel, the keys are laid out on the table for you, you don’t have to talk to anyone. The whole structure of that, from practice to training camp, to games and the travel, it’s all like clockwork. It’s down to the minute. It reminds me of military stuff. Very supportive and very strict and oriented that way, which is great because it gives you a lot of support. Plenty of people to turn to – the training staff and coaches.
“The travel wasn’t so much going there and back, you are away from home and it is a little different, but you’re inside the bubble and the rest of the world doesn’t exist. The team is there and you know that, and so you just don’t think about it.”
The day it all began
The draft also was much different during Hipple’s time in the League, in large part because it was not televised. In 1980, Hipple remembers sitting in a 10-foot by 15-foot trailer waiting for the phone to ring and not having any idea what was going to happen.
“The one thing is, the Detroit Lions had never talked to me. It was the Rams, it was the Cardinals, it was New York. And I went to all those places beyond the combine to get tested out and everything. So I was expecting one of those teams.”
Hipple ended up the 85th overall pick in the fourth round of the draft.
“I ended up going the first pick in the fourth round. When the third round was ending up, I got a phone call. I picked it up and this guy goes, ‘Eric, this is Monte Clark, and we’re going to take you. You’ll be the first pick in the fourth round. We’re going to take you next pick.’
“I remember hanging the phone up and then this explosion, ‘YEAHHHHH, you’re there, you’re in it!’ But that’s just a piece of it because, as I said, when there’s not a lot of money that could be dished out amongst different players, when you’re in training camp you’re replaceable. That means you’ve got to work hard to get it; you have to do all the right stuff to make the team.”
The realization that he was expendable, Hipple continues, was always in the back of his head.
A life defined
Though he sustained several injuries throughout his 10-year NFL career, Hipple says he would do it all again.
“There’s so many positive things about playing. Working within the teamwork. If we don’t work hard, we don’t learn, and there are consequences because there are wins and losses. But that doesn’t mean you give up; you just try harder. So there’s so many positive things about it. It’s defined my life, and so I would [do it again].
“But there are a lot of things I probably would have done differently on a personal level. But you don’t know that until you’re there in that bubble. Once you’re in it, it is kind of an amazing place to be. That’s why when the time comes, when you’re outside the bubble, it’s a very tough adjustment.”
Concussions treated much differently these days
One football injury involved Hipple’s helmet getting knocked off during a game. When he shows that clip to present-day youth, their reaction is far different than that of older generations.
“It’s been about 15 years now since head injuries have really gotten into focus,” Hipple says. “Before that they didn’t count. You got concussed, it didn’t matter unless you’re flat on the field knocked out or something. Other than that, it wasn’t really a thing. In fact, guys actually wore it like a badge of honor.
“I’ll take that clip where I get my helmet knocked off in a game, and start playing it for groups, ages that would know me a little bit younger or my age because they knew what it was like back then. There’s a part in that clip that the announcers are saying, ‘Ohh, a great clean shot, knocked his helmet clean off,’ and I think it’s funny, and the announcers and people my age will laugh. But I talk to youth, high school and down, and they don’t know what that was like back then. In fact, they’ve been taught that a head injury is really, really bad, and for good reasons. So when they see that clip, they’re like, ‘UUGGGHHH, that’s horrible.’ That’s how it was back then. They made football follies out of those things.”
A traumatic transition
The ups and downs on the football field followed Hipple into his personal life as the NFL star battled depression during and after his football career.
“When I play, resilience to me was never a mental thing. It was, you get hit, you get back up again,” Hipple explained. “That’s what you do. It was always around the realm of physical.”
That physical resilience was evident as Hipple continually walked back onto the field after injuries such as a broken hand and broken ankles. When Hipple was cut from the team, however, his mental health took a hit – and he wasn’t sure how to recover.
“When I got cut it was like, what do you do now? I’ve been a football player since nine years old, and all of a sudden you can’t go back in, you can’t go hang out. You walk out the door and it shuts, and a couple things happen. One, is you realize that you always think you’re important. But the team goes on without you. The other part is, you’re so used that structure … and there’s a support system around you that’s gone. So what do you do?
“Also, you’re stressing because nobody back then could actually retire from the winnings. So you have to get a job and start focusing on that.”
Hipple dove into his new life by starting his own business. Six years later, the business was thriving, but Hipple was not.
Wrestling with life
“It’s about six years when all of a sudden all that stuff really hit and settled in. Is this all there is? It’s my identity now, and it’s insurance.”
Hipple wrestled with his new identity, while also missing the thrill of being on the field and playing the game he loved.
“I kind of lost my self-confidence, kind of felt like an imposter. I’d go to a dealership and want to talk insurance, sell it to them, and…it would be like, ‘Is this me? Really? Is this my identity?’ And they would give [me] funny looks too, like, ‘Didn’t you play football for 10 years? What are you doing here?’
“I started getting depressed and started to devolve.”
Though Hipple is now able to identify what he went through as depression, at the time he was confused about why he felt the way he did.
“I didn’t know what was going on with me. So I just kept going along, started self-medicating a little bit and then started getting more where it wasn’t going to work as much, and eventually ended up jumping out of a car that was going 75 miles an hour.”
That impulsive decision was born from thoughts that had tormented him for years.
“I’m not worthy. I’m not good enough for this family, they’ll be better off without me, and they can have insurance. Things that you never would think about when you’re healthy. And so it ended with me jumping out of the car and waking up in the hospital – not dead, thank goodness – but certainly scraped up.”
However, once Hipple recovered from his injuries, he “put the blinders back on,” never receiving help for his depression.
A life-changing tragedy
Those blinders were ripped away when his son Jeff entered his own battle with depression, eventually taking his own life at age fifteen.
Former Detroit Lions quarterback Eric Hipple and son Jeff Hipple. (Photo Courtesy, Eric Hipple)
“That’s when I really realized the seriousness of mental health. It’s not right, his death, and I realized: this could have been me. I could have died when I jumped. I will never do that again because I know what it feels like to be left behind, and it’s painful when you lose somebody to suicide – a family member especially. It’s so painful. So I took that off the table.”
But what Hipple did not take off the table was self-medicating. Craving an escape from the pain, Hipple continued drinking heavily and taking various medications. It finally caught up to him in the form of a DUI and 90-day jail stay. But those 90 days changed his life.
“I came out with a mission, which was to learn. I wanted to learn what happened not only to me, but to my mom, to Jeff, to anybody else who is suffering from this thing.”
Eric Hipple’s son Jeff Hipple. (Photo Courtesy, Eric Hipple)
A mission of hope
Hipple went to the University of Michigan Eisenberg Family Depression Center for treatment. It was there that he learned the science behind how depression works and medications that can help. It wasn’t long before the university invited him to develop programs as an outreach coordinator.
“That was my track for quite a while. I just wanted to inform people that there was treatment out there, you don’t have to go through what I went through.”
Though Hipple saw value in his treatment-oriented work, his reach only extended to those who were suffering. As suicide prevention and depression awareness increased, Hipple wanted to do more.
“All the stuff that we try and do mentally to keep us healthy, a lot of people don’t know what they are. Let’s talk about those. I can talk to everybody in the room, not just those that are suffering.”
Awareness of his own struggle with depression after leaving the NFL inspired Hipple to help fellow retired football players.
Hipple said research shows that 100% of former NFL players struggled with the transition into a new life after the NFL, experiencing a “down time” and even clinical depression right after retirement, or even years later.
“There was really nothing for anybody once you leave the door. NFLPA was kind of in its infancy. One of the things I wanted to get done was, we should start getting these guys, start educating them and treating them. So we did a program with the NFLPA at the university…and I was finding them help.”
Hipple found that engaging the former players through human connections and a form of teamwork made a positive impact on their mental health.
“When you’re ostracized, when you’re removed, when people ignore you, when they turn their back on you, it’s very painful. We started building little programs, eventually doing a 30-day stage for guys who are suffering.
“The feedback was fantastic from guys who we interacted with. It’s almost an eye-opening experience like what I had. ‘You mean this transition could cause psychological issues?’ Being rejected, your support system, duties changed, the relationships have all changed, all that stuff – I mean that’s traumatic, that’s a big change, and so it’s going to affect you.”
A heart for youth … enter ‘be nice’
While Hipple has done extensive work in the mental health field for the University of Michigan Depression Center, as an ambassador for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, and as a board officer for VetLife Foundation, his heart lies with high school youth. Though there are many mental health programs available to youth, Hipple was drawn to the Mental Health Foundation of West Michigan’s be nice. program because it is a student-driven program.
“You need to have professionals involved, but you also need to have people from the trenches. That’s what I love about be nice – it’s a student-driven program.”
“Things be nice is doing are simple, they’re the place where I want to be, all the things I thought were lacking about other programs. It’s hands-on, and it’s them, and to me that’s the best in the world.”
Now an outreach specialist for be nice, Hipple enjoys going into schools and listening to what youth say they need in their school and what they are not receiving from the world around them.
Over time, Hipple has seen a decrease in mental illness stigma within the schools.
“For students, the stigma has really lowered because they know the terminology, they talk about it, they’re much more open with their feelings. There’s still groups that get trapped and get ostracized or get pushed back or rejected, and that’s tough. So we start opening up be nice – notice, invite, challenge and empower. If you can do that, then you’re taking away that ostracizing moment and putting people together – because being connected is really important.
“One of the reasons why we did the peer-to-peer thing was to connect with somebody so they feel connected, and they’re not removed and spiraling down and all these negative things happen.”
Through be nice, Hipple also is working to connect with all athletes and coaches in Michigan with training formed in collaboration with the MHSAA. Hipple said the response from coaches has been positive because they realize their team will be strengthened through that training.
“More coordinated and understanding, each other plays harder for each other because they’re being real now. They are going to be better advocates in the schools too, and connected to the understanding.”
While Hipple will lead some of the training for coaches, several other people have come on board to help with training and presentations.
Real Men Do Cry
In 2008, Hipple published his book, Real Men Do Cry. In that book, Hipple shares his story of tragedy and triumph with unflinching honesty. Real Men Do Cry also features practical resources for families living with depression, providing information on symptoms of depression and suicide risk, as well as ways to ask for help if you or someone you love are exhibiting those symptoms.
Hipple hopes that anyone who reads his book or attends his speaking presentations walk away with an understanding that taking care of your mental health is vital for many reasons.
“The best gift you can give another person is your own mental health. That means you’re taking care of yourself. You understand your emotional content, but you also understand that you’re not going to have everything beautiful and great, and how you manage to navigate through those things. But if I can do that, that means I can be available then to a friend of suffering or to a spouse or even a stranger because I can be more in tune and connected, because I can better feel what they’re going through because I understand it and I might know the mechanisms behind it.
“I will now have the confidence to actually go up to somebody and say, ‘Do you need some help?’ or ‘Are you okay?’ There’s nothing they could tell me that’s going to scare me. It might be alarming, but I will know what to do; I’m armed with resources.”
Connection, Hipple continued, is also important.
“Being connected is really important because when we’re alone, that’s when the highest suicide rates are.”
Hipple said that it is essential that one of those connections is a person who understands mental health and the importance of being mentally healthy, thinking positively and having a growth mindset.
“I can make a mistake, but still come back from it. I can learn from it, I can grow. I can understand the different stresses that are out there and navigate through most of them. I can be productive.”
“Suicide prevention requires somebody to intervene, and the reason that people don’t intervene is because they’re afraid of the answer. If I ask you, ‘Are you thinking about suicide?’ and then you say, ‘Yes,’ then what do I do?”
Individuals who are mentally healthy can ask those questions confidently because they can offer hope in the form of resources that suffering individual can utilize.
Hipple went on to say that each tragedy and triumph throughout his life has molded him into who he is today.
“I feel really good about where I’m at right now, and I couldn’t have gotten here without going through all that.”
One would think that a high school basketball team that graduated eight seniors from a group of players that went 20-5 would be in for a rebuilding spell. That kind of thinking may be the norm for many squads, but not at South Christian where the Sailors don’t rebuild, but more aptly, restock.
Despite a young roster that is shy on varsity experience, the Sailors got off to a strong start this season. South Christian won its first three games highlighted by a season-opening 75-71 win at long-time rival Grand Rapids Christian, but did have a recent 65-48 loss to Unity Christian.
Jumped out to a 3-0 start
“We are off to a great start to the year while playing a really hard schedule,” said South Christian Coach Taylor Johnson. “We played at Grand Rapids Christian in a game where we shot the ball really well. We played Holland Christian and we won that game with a three by Josh Fles at the buzzer and then we beat Kelloggsville. Anytime you start out 3-0 you have to feel pretty good.”
Coming into the season, the Sailors knew they had some promising young players but the lack of varsity experience and playing without eight seniors, including standout Carson Vis, who is at Western Michigan University, meant that things would definitely be different.
South Christian basketball and football standout Carson Vis has moved on to a basketball scholarship at Western Michigan University. (WKTV, Greg Chrapek)
“This season is so different from last year,” Johnson said. “Last year we had eight seniors and this year we are super young.”
Leading the way for this year’s team is a core of players who were on the team last season. Junior Austin Burgess is a point guard who brings good passing skills to the floor and also has the ability to hit the outside shot.
South Christian Quarterback Austin Burgess is part of a group of core players on the hardcourt. (Greg Chrapek/WKTV Contributor)
In the post, 6-foot-6 senior JJ Modderman is off to a strong start averaging 18 points per game. Modderman kicked off the season with 23 points in the win against Grand Rapids Christian, including five 3’s. Senior wing Caleb Krosschell (6-2) is a versatile wing who is providing a steady source of offense.
Seniors Owen Burgess and Josh Fles also are stepping up this season. Owen Burgess provides more depth in the backcourt, while Fles is a 6-3 forward who can hit the three-point shot and had a big fourth quarter against Holland Christian.
Talented young players making an impact
Mixing in with the returnees are some talented younger players. Max Zichterman (6-3) is off to a really good start to the season as he brings plenty of all-around talent to the floor. Zichterman turned in a big game against Grand Rapids Christian scoring 19 points with three treys.
The Sailors also have a pair of talented freshmen that are making an impact. Dax Blackport is a 6-3, 200-pounder who provides strong rebounding and points in the paint. Crew Zichterman (6-1), the younger brother of Max, is a talented guard who brings an excellent outside shot and a strong overall offensive game to the floor.
“This group is really young, but they also have fun,” Johnson said. “They are young and inexperienced, but they also have a lot of confidence. We also shoot the ball really well. We have some length. The guys have a lot of talent and they also want to work to get better.”
The Sailors will put that talent to the test in the OK Gold against teams like Grand Rapids Northview, Grand Rapids West Catholic, Wyoming and Wayland.
“The OK Gold is going to be really tough,” Johnson said. “Northview is the top team and they have a ton of talent. West Catholic is going to be good and Wyoming is always good. It’s a league where everyone knows everyone well and it’s up to the players to decide it.”
The East Kentwood boys basketball team opened what promises to be an exciting season in a big way Thursday with an 83-57 home win against Traverse City West.
One of the youngest teams in West Michigan last season, the Falcons also flashed plenty of glimpses of the vast potential the team has. While still young overall, they are more experienced and poised to make a big impact both in the rugged OK Red Conference and on the state level.
The Falcons began making their mark this season with an impressive 26-point win against a solid Traverse City West squad.
“We pulled away from a real good Traverse City West team in our home opener,” said East Kentwood Coach Mike Thomas. “It was a pretty good feeling to see some of the maturity and growth from our guys. We have one senior, a plethora of juniors and a couple of sophomores. The program is in pretty good shape as long as the guys stay committed to basketball.”
The Falcon offense was in midseason form in the win against West. Senior guard Randy Chapman led the Falcons with 18 points, while junior guard CJ Reynolds added 17.
East Kentwood’s CJ Reynolds. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
“We had four of five guys in double figures in points,” Thomas said. “We also had 25 assists as a team.”
East Kentwood’s young and sizable front court also made a huge impact. Leading the way up front was 6-foot-9 junior center Andrew Kenyi. Kenyi filled up the stat sheet with 16 points, 12 rebounds, five blocked shots and four assists. Fellow junior, Samuel Makuag, who stands 6-6, added 15 points and five rebounds, while 6-7 junior Dau Dau was a factor on both ends of the floor highlighted by three blocked shots on defense.
“Our big fellows have really developed and grown since the end of last season,” Thomas said. “Their presence is going to be felt this year. Andrew and Samuel both have Division 1 athleticism. Dau is another long and wiry athlete who has improved. He has the type of body and game that reminds me of Tayshaun Prince, the former Detroit Piston. They are all dynamic athletes. All three are capable of guarding point guards, wings or bigs. They can switch a lot on defense and that gives us a lot of versatility on defense.”
The blend of front court size and athleticism combined with the standout talent in the backcourt has the Falcons poised for a huge season. Chapman, one of the top guards in West Michigan, has committed to play college basketball at Saginaw Valley State.
“Randy getting a scholarship to Saginaw Valley is a huge highlight for our program.”
East Kentwood’s Andrew Kenyi. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
The college scouts also are recruiting Reynolds, who is one of the premier juniors in the state of Michigan and is being recruited by several Division 1 schools. Kenyi also received his first Division 1 offer over the summer from Eastern Michigan University. Thomas expects more offers to roll in for Kenyi and Makuag as the Falcons get more exposure during the season.
East Kentwood also added another talented junior to the squad in Jaxson Tabor. A versatile 6-4 athlete who can play inside or outside, Tabor played on varsity as a freshman at Aviation High School before sitting out last season due to his transfer.
The Falcons will get plenty of exposure on the big stage as they play one of the most challenging schedules in the state that includes several trips to the East side of Michigan to play some of the top teams in the state. Before Christmas, they have trips to play at Ann Arbor Pioneer, a game against Detroit Renaissance at the Orchard Lake St. Mary’s tournament, a game against West Bloomfield at the Saginaw Valley State tournament and a game against Detroit Country Day at the D-Zone Classic.
The Falcons do have a home game Dec. 15 against Kalamazoo Loy Norrix, expected to be among the top teams in Southwest Michigan. After Christmas and before the OK Red season begins, they have four more non-league games including trips to tournaments in Ferndale, Romulus and at Albion College as well as a home game in its own tournament.
“We encourage everyone to just come out and watch us,” Thomas said. “There can be someone different every night leading us in scoring. We will be spending a lot of time on the East side of the state getting challenged to prepare us for the challenge of the conference.”
The OK Red again looks to be one of the premier leagues in the state with Rockford ranked in the Top 10 in the state along with Hudsonville and Grand Haven with outstanding teams.
