Basketball

In 2001, Mason County Eastern rode the pitching and hitting of Jeanne (Cole) Miller to the Division 4 state championship. She was 31-1 and in 195 innings she struck out 288 batters, walked 38 while allowing just 52 base hits and 16 earned runs for what was then the lowest earned run average (0.11) ever by a prep softball player in Michigan. She also hit .648 with 27 doubles, seven triples, six hom ...Read More...

Brandon Melchert lettered three times in both baseball and football and twice in basketball. In football, he was the team’s co-captain and most valuable defensive player. As a junior, he was first team All-West Michigan Conference, all-district and all-area in baseball, earning the team’s Most Valuable Player Award. He also earned All-WMC Scholar Athlete honors in each of his varsity se ...Read More...

Kada Knizacky, of Mason County Eastern, was chosen the Mason County Sports Hall of Fame’s Femaie Scholar Athlete of the Year. Knizacky earned a total of 15 varsity letters in her four-year athletic career at Eastern. She lettered four times each in cross country and track and field, three times in volleyball, twice in basketball and once each in softball and soccer. In track and field, Kni ...Read More...

A 1963 graduate of Mason County Eastern, Rich Leonard was one of that school's finest all-around athletes. He was the leading scorer and rebounder during one of Eastern's most successful runs in basketball. He was also an outstanding athlete in track and field, baseball, and football. Growing up on a farm in Fountain, Leonard grew into a 6-foot, 3-inch, 220-pound slugger who is arguably the finest ...Read More...

Jay Stielstra participated in track and field, football and basketball in all four years of his high school career. In track and field, he long-jumped 22 feet, 9 5/8 inches, setting a school and Mason County record that still stands. It is the oldest county record still standing. In 1950, Stielstra was the Class B state champion in the 180-yard hurdles with a time of 20.9 seconds. In 1951, he fini ...Read More...

Nikki Arner earned four letters in basketball and two in volleyball. She was named to the Associated Press Class B All-State team as a sophomore, junior and senior. Arner, who will attend Ferris State University on a basketball scholarship, played in more winning games (76) in her four-year high school career than any other Oriole. Her 1,430 career points places her second on the school's al ...Read More...

The team that launched the Golden Age of Basketball in Mason County, the 1953 Ludington Orioles won 21 games and lost two and is still the only LHS squad to advance to the state finals. Coached by Joe Kowatch, who was then in his first year at Ludington, the team won the North Central championship as well as Class B district and regional titles. The team won its first four games of the season befo ...Read More...

Bob Organ earned all-state honors in 1989 and 1990 in football and was a member of the Detroit News Blue-Chip team signifying the best 11 players in Michigan. He was also listed as one of the top 100 prep players in the nation by Street & Smith magazine. His junior year he caught 13 passes for 215 yards and five touchdowns and Ludington, which was 9-1, was champion of the Seaway Conference. Th ...Read More...

As a high school basketball player, Chris Raven scored 1,066 points. When he graduated in 1975, that was second only to Mike Hankwitz at Mason County Central. As a junior, the 6-foot, 3-inch Raven averaged 18.3 points per game. A two-time All-West Michigan Conference selection in basketball, he was also a first-team Class C all-stater as a senior, scoring 559 points when he averaged a school-recor ...Read More...

An outstanding guard, Glenda (Gruno) Krebs scored 1,044 points with a single-game high of 37 in her high school basketball career, the first girl at Mason County Central to go over a thousand. Said her former teammate and current Mason County Hall of Fame board member Christy Christmas, "Called 'Girl-Guard Gruno' because most thought she played like a guy - she could dribble the ball 'like a guy' ...Read More...