Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart vs. Wyoming Tri-Unity Christian – – Boys Basketball – – Division 4 State Championship Game – – The Bleacher Denizen – – March 16, 2004 – – by Chuck Krafft

This morning the Irish from Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart will compete with the Defenders from Wyoming Tri-Unity Christian to compete for the Division 4 Boys State Basketball Championship.

While we wait for the game to start, I hope you will enjoy this original Christian tune from my You Tube Channel! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYixQ0OWsd4

The Michigan High School Athletic Association has provided the following information about the Defenders.

Wyoming Tri-Unity Christian enters this championship game with a 23-5 record and are rated Number 7 in Division 4. All their losses so far this year are to Division 1, Division 2 or Division 3 teams. The Defenders made the final game by beating St. Ignace in the semifinal. Here is the play by play of that game. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2024/03/15/st-ignace-vs-wyoming-tri-unity-christian-mhsaa-boys-division-4-state-semifinal-the-bleacher-denizen-march-14-2024-by-chuck-krafft/

The Michigan High School Athletic Association provided this information about Wyoming Tri-Unity Christian’s players. Please note that these statistics have not been updated since the Quarterfinal game.

Tri-Unity is a balanced team with many capable scorers. Jordan VanKlompenberg averages 12.8 points per game as well as 5.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists. He is a big threat from the three point line and has scored 55 three point field goals this season. Keaton Blanker averages 7.8 points and 4.6 assists. Wesley Kaman contributes 10.5 points per game. Joey Mellon comes in off the bench and averages 7.0 points.

Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart enters the final game with a 26-2 record. They are rated #2 in the State. The Irish won this game by beating Allen Park Inter-City Baptist in the semifinal game. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2024/03/15/allen-park-inter-city-baptist-vs-mt-pleasant-sacred-heart-mhsaa-boys-basketball-semifinal-the-bleacher-denizen-march-14-2014-by-chuck-krafft/

The Irish did not submit statistics, but I have some information about their players based on seeing their team earlier this season. Thanks to Sacred Heart Coach Justin Sherlock for providing this information when I covered the Irish in a regular season conference game.

Aidan Halliday is in his fourth year of starting for the Irish. He is the man in the post where he is very quick, strong and generally athletic. He is an excellent rebounder and defender who scores well in the post. Noah Zeien is an excellent all-around guard. He is a fine ball handler and passer and he’s a great scorer who can hit three point shots or burst to the basket to score. He also defends the perimeter well.

Grady Pieratt is a complete guard whose skills complement Noah Zeien’s really well. He is an excellent perimeter defender, ball handler and passer who knows how to get the ball to his scorers. He is solid slashing to the basket to score and is a threat from the three point line as well. Brody Cherry defends the perimeter well, keeps the ball moving and can hit the three point shot.

Jason Boge defends and rebounds well in the post; he also has the quickness to help on the perimeter. Luke Taylor can shoot the three point shot and is a strong perimeter defender. Joe McDonald is a persistent defender with a great basketball IQ.

It is now time to look at the results of this game through the eyes of a fading Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league in the ancient times when he attempted to hoop. His coach lost faith in him after he showed difficulty remembering which basket to shoot at and hit too many three point shots for the opposing team. (No wonder opposing crowds cheered so enthusiastically – – – )

Tri-Unity wins the opening tap. The Defenders miss a driving layup. Akais Giplaye gets the offensive rebound for the Defenders. Tri-Unity drives and misses a layup. Grady PIeratt passes to Aidan Halliday, who hits a layup to give the Irish a 2-0 lead.

Tri-Unity misfires on a threeball from the side. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Irish get the ball. Keaton Blanker ties up the ball for Tri-Unity. The Possession Arrow is preparing its breakfast omelet and misses the play; the ball is awarded to Sacred Heart. Akais Giplaye blocks an Irish layup. Sacred Heart retrieves the loose ball. The Irish miss a layup. Aidan Halliday is fouled on a putback and hits two free throws to give Sacred Heart a 4-0 lead with 6:32 left in the opening quarter.

Keaton Blanker passes to Akais Giplaye, who hits a layup for the Defenders to give them their first points of the game. Sacred Heart misses a layup. Aidan Halliday gets the offensive rebound for the Irish. Sacred Heart misses an eight foot shot from the baseline. Owen Rosendall hits a fast break layup for Tri-Unity to tie the game at 4-4.

Aidan Halliday passes to Grady Pieratt, who throws in a threeball from the corner to give the lead back to the Irish. Tri-Unity loses a pass out of bounds. Grady Pieratt drives and dishes the ball to Aidan Halliday, who is fouled as he shoots a layup. Aidan Halliday hits one of his two free throws to give the Irish an 8-4 lead with 4:54 left in the quarter.

Keaton Blanker drives and dishes the ball to Akais Giplaye, who is fouled on a layup and hits two free throws for the Defenders. Sacred Heart misses a driving layup. Owen Rosendall hits a turnaround twelve foot shot off the dribble from the side of lane for Tri-Unity. Aidan Halliday is fouled on a six foot shot from the baseline and hits two free throws to give Sacred Heart a 10-8 lead with 3:52 remaining in the opening quarter.

Grady Pieratt knocks a Defender pass into the lane out of bounds to prevent a layup. Keaton Blanker inbounds the ball to Jordan VanKlompenberg, who hits a three point shot from the side to give the Defenders a one point lead. The Irish miss a threeball from the wing; Noah Zeien pulls down the offensive rebound for the Irish. Sacred Heart misses a fifteen foot shot from the side.

Wesley Kaman hits a layup for the Defenders. Sacred Heart turns the ball over. Keaton Blanker is fouled on a fast break layup and hits two free throws for the Defenders. Lincoln Eerdmans knocks the ball out of bounds; Sacred Heart retains possession. Grady Pieratt is fouled on a driving six foot shot from the baseline and hits two free throws for the Irish to trim the Defender lead to 15-12 with 2:21 to go in the opening quarter.

Aidan Halliday knocks the ball away from the Defenders, but Tri-Unity is able to recover. Tri-Unity misfires on a triple try from the wing. Sacred Heart misfires on a triple try from the side. Tri-Unity reciprocates and misfires on a triple try from the side. The rebound goes out of bounds and Sacred Heart gets the ball. The Irish are whistled for a traveling violation.

Keaton Blanker passes to Joey Mellon, who leaps, catches the ball and deposits a layup into the basket for the Defenders. Grady Pieratt passes to Jason Boge, who hits a twelve foot shot from the side for the Irish. Tri-Unity misses a threeball near the top of the key as the first quarter buzzer announces the end of the period.

After one quarter, Tri-Unity holds a 17-14 lead.

Tri-Unity has the ball to open the second quarter. Keaton Blanker passes to Owen Rosendall, who hits a three pointer from the top of the key for the Defenders. Keaton Blanker steals the ball for the Defenders. Tri-Unity misses two layups as Akais Giplaye gets two offensive rebounds. Akais Giplaye hits a putback to give Tri-Unity a 22-14 lead.

Noah Zeien hits a two point jump shot from the side for the Irish. Jordan VanKlompenberg passes to Keaton Blanker, who hits a three point shot from the side for the Defenders. Sacred Heart misses a three point shot from the corner. Keaton Blanker passes to Jordan VanKlompenberg, who hits a fast break reverse layup to give his Defenders a 27-16 lead.

Sacred Heart misses a driving layup; the rebound goes out of bounds and Tri-Unity takes possession. The Defenders lose the ball out of bounds. Noah Zeien passes to Brody Cherry, who hits a three pointer from the wing for the Irish. Keaton Blanker drives the baseline and hits a six foot jumper for Tri-Unity. Keaton Blanker steals the ball for the Defenders. Tri-Unity misses a three point shot. Owen Rosendall gets the offensive rebound for the Defenders. Keaton Blanker passes to Jordan VanKlompenberg, who hits a three point shot from the side to boost Tri-Unity to a 32-19 lead.

Owen Rosendall steals an Irish pass. Jordan VanKlompenberg is fouled on a fourteen footer off the dribble from the side of the lane and hits two free throws for Tri-Unity. Jason Boge is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of his two free throws to shave the Defender lead to 34-20 with 3:23 left in the half.

Tri-Unity drives and dishes the ball out of bounds. Sacred Heart misses a twelve foot shot off the dribble from the side. Noah Zeien grabs the offensive rebound for the Irish. Sacred Heart misses a three point shot from the top of the key. Tri-Unity misses a fourteen footer off the dribble from the side. Noah Zeien is fouled on a driving layup and hits two free throws for Sacred Heart. With 2:04 to play in the first half, Tri-Unity has a 34-22 lead.

Keaton Blanker hits a layup for Tri-Unity. Sacred Heart misses a jump shot. Jordan VanKlompenberg passes to Trey Rillema, who hits a layup for the Defenders. Noah Zeien drives and dishes the ball to Grady Pieratt, who throws in a threeball from the side for the Irish to trim the Defender lead to 38-25.

Wesley Kaman is fouled on a shot and hits one of his two free throws for TriUnity with 1:08 to play in the half. Sacred Heart misses a threeball from the wing. Tri-Unity commits a traveling violation. Sacred Heart misses a driving layup. Aidan Halliday grabs the offensive rebound for the Irish. Sacred Heart misses a driving layup and fouls on the rebound. Tri-Unity misses a threeball from the wing as the buzzer lets us know that it is halftime.

Tri-Unity has a 39-25 halftime lead.

Grady Pieratt has 8 points and Aidan Halliday has 7 points for Sacred Heart after two quarters.

Keaton Blanker has 9 points and Jordan VanKlompenberg has 8 post for Tri-Unity Christian.

As most of you are not able to see the halftime activities, I hope you will enjoy a couple Christian songs from my You Tube Channel!!

Here is a jazzy version of “Just A Closer Walk With Thee.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0IFWZLHHuc

For “Little Brown Church in the Vale” (Church in the Wildwood) we got footage from the actual Little Brown Church in Iowa. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOnetrJFi6o

Sacred Heart inbounds the ball to get quarter number three underway. The Irish miss a three point attempt from the side. Jason Boge pulls down the offensive rebound for the Irish. Sacred Heart loses the ball out of bounds. Tri-Unity misses a driving layup. Aidan Halliday passes to Brody Cherry, who hits a three point shot from the corner to trim the Defender lead to 39-28.

Jordan VanKlompenberg does a great fake, takes a hard dribble and drains a jump shot from the free throw line for Tri-Unity. Sacred Heart misses a three point attempt. Keaton Blanker passes to Jordan VanKlompenberg, who hits a three point shot from the side to boost the Defender lead to 44-28.

Noah Zeien hits a two point jump shot for Sacred Heart. Akais Giplaye passes to Jordan VanKlompenberg, who hits a layup for Tri-Unity. Grady Pieratt hits a driving layup for Sacred Heart. He is fouled on the play and hits his free throw. Jordan VanKlompenberg is fouled on a shot and hits two free throws for Tri-Unity. With 5:28 to play in quarter number three, Tri-Unity has a 48-33 lead.

Brody Cherry passes to Grady Pieratt, who hits a jump shot off the dribble for the Irish. Tri-Unity misfires on a threeball from the wing. Keaton Blanker hits a putback for the Defenders. Sacred Heart misses a three pointer from the side. Jordan VanKlompenberg gets the ball to Owen Rosendall hits a jumper off the dribble from the free throw line to give the Defenders a 52-35 lead.

Sacred Heart misfires on a threeball from the side. Grady Pieratt grabs the long offensive rebound for the Irish. Sacred Heart misfires on another threeball from the side. Luke Taylor knocks the ball away from Tri-Unity and Noah Zeien picks it up for Sacred Heart. Noah Zeien hits a fast break layup and is fouled as he shoots. He misses his free throw. With 3:32 to play in quarter number three, Tri-Unity has a 52-37 lead.

The rebound from the missed free throw goes out of bounds and Sacred Heart gets another opportunity. Sacred Heart misfires on a triple try from the wing. Brody Cherry knocks a Tri-Unity pass out of bounds; Tri-Unity retains possession. Lincoln Eerdmans gets into the lane and hits an eight foot jump shot for Tri-Unity. The Defenders lead 54-37.

Sacred Heart misses a three point shot near the top of the key. Owen Rosendall hits a jump shot off the dribble from the free throw line for the Defenders. Grady Pieratt is fouled and hits two free throws for Sacred Heart to shave the Tri-Unity lead to 56-39 with 2:09 to play in the third quarter.

Keaton Blanker passes to Joey Mellon, who jumps, catches the ball and hits a layup for Tri-Unity. Sacred Heart turns the ball over. Keaton Blanker saves a loose ball from becoming a Tri-Unity turnover and passes to Joey Mellon, who hits a layup for the Defenders to give them a 60-39 lead.

Sacred Heart misses a three point shot from the side. Grady Pieratt pulls down the offensive rebound for the Irish. Sacred Heart misses a three pointer from the side. Aidan Halliday blocks a Tri-Unity layup; the defenders recover the ball. Trey Rillema is fouled on a layup and hits one of his two free throws to boost Tri-Unity to a 61-39 lead with 43.1 seconds left on the third quarter clock.

Sacred Heart misses a three point shot from the wing. Jason Boge hits a putback for the Irish. Grady Pieratt steals the ball and hits a fast break layup for Sacred Heart. Keaton Blanker inbounds the ball to Wesley Kaman, who pours in a trey from the side as the third quarter buzzer blares.

With three quarters in the books, Tri-Unity holds a 64-43 lead.

Tri-Unity has the ball to open the fourth quarter. Jordan VanKlompenberg bounces the ball to Akais Giplaye, who is fouled on a layup and hits one of his two free throws for the Defenders. Grady Pieratt passes the ball to Noah Zeien, who hits a three point shot from the wing for the Irish. Tri-Unity loses a pass out of bounds. Sacred Heart misfires on a threeball from the wing. Luke Taylor pulls down the offensive rebound for the Irish. Grady Pieratt is fouled on a layup and hits one of his two free throws for Sacred Heart. With 6:37 left in the game, Tri-Unity leads 65-47.

Jason Boge steals the ball for the Irish. Akais Giplaye blocks an Irish shot. Wesley Kaman is fouled on a shot and hits two free throws for the Defenders. Sacred Heart misses a three point shot from the wing. Jordan VanKlompenberg passes to Akais Giplaye, who hits a layup for the Defenders to give them a 69-47 lead.

Grady Pieratt passes to Aidan Halliday, who hits a two point jump shot for the Irish. Grady Pieratt steals the ball for Sacred Heart. The Irish miss a threeball from the side. Owen Rosendall is fouled on a fourteen foot shot off the dribble from the wing. He makes one of his two free throws to give the Defenders a 70-49 lead with 5:01 left on the clock.

Sacred Heart misses a three point shot from the wing. Brody Cherry steals the ball for the Irish. Sacred Heart misses a driving six foot shot. Tri-Unity commits an offensive foul. Akais Giplay blocks a Sacred Heart driving six footer from the side. the loose ball goes out of bounds and the Irish get another opportunity. Brody Cherry inbounds the ball to Grady Pieratt, who hits a three point shot from the side to trim the Defender lead to 70-52.

Owen Rosendall passes to Wesley Kaman, who hits a layup for the Defenders. Sacred Heart misses a three point shot from the side. Tri-Unity misses a layup. Akais Giplaye hits a putback for Tri-Unity. Noah Zeien hits a three point shot off the dribble for Sacred Heart. Brody Cherry steals a Defender pass in the lane. Sacred Heart misses a three point shot from the side. Aidan Halliday gets his hand on a Defender pass; Tri-Unity recovers. After the Defenders run the clock for awhile, Jordan VanKlompenberg is fouled and hits two free throws to give the Defenders a 76-55 lead with 1:32 left in the game.

Both teams bring in their reserves to finish the game. Sacred Heart misses a three point shot from the side. Tri-Unity misses a fast break layup. Hudson Ghent gets the offensive rebound for the Defenders. Tri-Unity misfires on a triple try from the side. Luke Hacker is fouled and hits two free throws for the Irish. With 1:04 to go, the Defenders have a 76-57 lead.

Tri-Unity misses a fast break layup. Brady Davis is fouled on a fast break eight foot jumper from the side and hits two free throws for the Irish. Tri-Unity misses a three point shot from the side. Sacred Heart misses a fast break layup. Marcus Lokiden passes to Clayton Rowlader, who hits a fallaway three point shot from the wing to give the Defenders a 79-59 lead.

Hudson Ghent gets his hand on the ball and knocks it out of bounds. The Defenders take possession and run out the clock.

Wyoming Tri-Unity Christian wins the final game and the State Division 4 Basketball Title by a 79-59 score.

Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart’s Grady Pieratt led all scorers with 21 points. Noah Zeien joined his teammate in double figures with 14 points. Aidan Halliday contributed 9 points. Brody Cherry tossed in 6 points and Jason Boge notched 5 points. Luke Hacker and Brady Davis each tallied 2 points.

Wyoming Tri-Unity Christian had a balanced scoring attack and placed all five starters in double figures in scoring.

Jordan VanKlompenberg led the Defenders with 19 points. Owen Rosendall supported his teammate with 14 points. Akais Giplaye and Keaton Blanker each chipped in with 11 points. Wesley Kaman scored 10 points. Joey Mellon contributed 6 points. Trey Rillema and Clayton Rowlader each put in 3 points. Lincoln Eerdmans added 2 points.