SPORTS

VARSITY GIRLS BASKETBALL
Lady Elks claim regional title, fall in state quarterfinals 

The Lady Elks are all smiles after winning their first regional title in 30 years. Jana Morton (Bruso), JV Elk girls coach and a key player on the 1993 regional champion team, holds the 2023 regional hardware. Courtesy photo

There were 168 varsity girls basketball teams that opened play in the Division 3 postseason tournament this year, beginning in late February. On Tuesday the field had been narrowed down to the “Elite Eight” and included the Lady Elks. Riding an eight-game win streak the Elks locked horns with the Hemlock Huskies in a D# state quarterfinal game played in Gaylord, with the winner advancing to the Final Four at Michigan States Breslin Center. The Elks had not been in this position since 1993, and to advance further would put them on par with the 1992 state champion runner-up team. This dream was not meant to be as the Elks fell behind early, and although they battled until the final buzzer, the season came to an end with a 52-37 loss to Hemlock. The opening quarter was close, the Elks trailed 6-5 at the halfway point and were behind 10-5 at the end of the first. In the second the Elks kept close to Hemlock, trailing 20-15 with just over three minutes to play. The Huskies closed out the remainder of the first half with a 10-4 run; the teams went into the intermission with the Elks down 30-19. Midway through the third the Elks found themselves down by 17 points but used an 10-2 rally to close the gap to 39-30 with a minute to play in the quarter, the points coming courtesy of a putback, free throw and a three from Morgan Bergquist, a bucket inside from Kendall Standfest and two off the glass from Lauren Bingham. The Huskies added three points to close out the third quarter with a 43-30 lead. The Elks would get no closer than 11 in the final quarter, ending a fantastic season with a 52-37 loss. 

Standfest finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, four assists, Bergquist had 10 points. “I’m proud of the girls and Elk Rapids girls basketball,” said girls varsity head coach Mike Brown. “This is the first time in 30 years that we have been this far, nothing but pride and smiles.”

Elks Regional win long time coming
Back in 1993, varsity girls high school basketball was a fall sport and volleyball was played during the winter. The Lady Elks 1993 team celebrated as they clinched the Class C Regional Title in November but would lose in the state quarterfinal round 38-30 to Iron Mountain. The celebration ended and remained dormant for 30 years until March of 2023 when the Lady Elks clinched the Division 3 Regional Championship with a 42-36 win over the Negaunee Miners in a game played in Sault Ste. Marie last Thursday. The Elks came into the game riding a six- game winning streak, the Miners had won 19 in a row. The Elks trailed 7-4 late in the opening quarter, then a Bergquist three tied the game. The teams would each score once more to end the first quarter in a 9-9 deadlock. Midway through the second quarter Standfest drove the lane for a five-foot jumper, knotting the score at 11-11. The Elks closed out the quarter with a 9-1 run, taking a 20-12 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Miners continued to battle in the third quarter as they outscored the Elks 9-6, trimming the Elk lead to 26-22 after three quarters of play. In the fourth the Elks were ahead 37-31 with under two minutes to play and seemed in control of the game. The Miners went on a 5-1 run, cutting the Elk lead to 38-36 with under a minute to play. The Elks did not fold, they passed the ball around the perimeter taking valuable seconds off the clock. Standfest sank four threes in the last 20 seconds and the Miners would not score again, giving the Elks a 42-36 win and the first regional crown in 30 years. 
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Standfest scored 26 points with 12 rebounds, Lauren Bingham added eight points, Bergquist scored six with 12 rebounds and Lily Morton tossed in six points. The win was number 80 for Brown as a varsity head coach.

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POWERLIFTING
Exciting day at the JV State Finals 

Bre Cullimore is successful with a 150lb squat. Photo by Kim Eardley Photography

Eleven Elks qualified to compete in the JV Powerlifting State Finals at Kearsley High School in Flint on Saturday, and despite the JV powerlifting team having a very successful seasons in terms of team size, team awards, personal bests and bodyweight achievements, none of the 11 Elk lifters was able to medal at the State meet. 
“The JV medal awards were changed to the top five lifters in each weight class this season instead of the top 10 that had been awarded previously. We did have some lifters that were very close to medaling though and the meet provided some very exciting moments. The meet was a roller coaster of emotions all day,” said Elk powerlifting head coach Garrett Skurnit. 

Mia McCormack, sophomore lifter, finished in sixth place in the JV Women’s 105 weight class after lifting a combined total of 460 pounds, equal to 4.54 x bodyweight.

 “This is really an incredible feat, considering before this year no Elk Rapids female lifter had ever hit 4 x bodyweight,” said Skurnit. 

McCormack needed 225 pounds on her last deadlift to finish in fifth place. She concentrated and was able to lift the needed weight, setting a personal record. “We were so excited and happy for Mia, then the girl in seventh place changed her final attempt to a weight that put her higher than Mia and she got it. Her lift bumped Mia back to sixth place, just out of medal contention.”

Amani Canning, freshman lifter, took seventh place in the JV Women’s 140 pound weight class. Canning also tried for a monstrous 265-pound deadlift that would have given her fourth place for the day. Her final attempt flew off the ground and the judges determined that the lift was not good. “From my view it should have been a good lift, but after she put it to the ground the judges said her right leg just nudged the bar up for less than a second, but that was enough to call “hitching.” This was very disappointing, but we had to accept the outcome. Amani still did fantastic,” Skurnit said. “Emotions were especially strong for Amani as this was her final meet as an Elk. Her father is assistant coach Robert Canning. He serves in the Army and has been relocated to South Carolina. They both will always be a part of our Elk powerlifting family and we wish them well.”

Rebecca Miracle, a sophomore, took eighth place in the JV Women’s 148-pound weight class. Miracle achieved a personal goal of lifting 4 x bodyweight after she came up just short last year at the JV State Finals hitting a 3.98 x. “Rebecca has been dealing with a knee injury since our exhibition meet in January, and it is to the point where she is scheduled for an MRI this week,” Skurnit said. “After talking with her doctors, she made the decision to give it a go on Saturday.” Miracle needed to deadlift a personal record of 225 pounds to achieve her 4 x bodyweight goal and was successful despite her bad knee. Miracle joins Mia McCormack, Amani Canning and Norah Greene as the only Lady Elks to achieve the 4x status, and all four lifters accomplished the feat this season. 

Zach Knoll, a sophomore and the lone qualifying JV male lifter, finished in tenth place in the JV Men’s 207-pound weight class. Knoll failed his second deadlift attempt, and Coach Skurnit went over some areas to clean up before his third and final attempt. “Zach’s third attempt went up like butter and he secured his spot in the top 10. He will be a force on the football field this fall,” said Skurnit.
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The powerlifting varsity team will grow next year with McCormack, Miracle, Haylee Hanson, Violet Sumerix, Kevin Conklin, Bridger Vipond and Aiden Maloy all on the squad. The JV team will still have solid numbers with Emma Eardley, Bre Cullimore and Mikenzey Shananaquet returning along with several other lifters. “We will see what the numbers look like with the newcomers, and where their strength is when the season starts and how much our returnees have improved,” Skurnit said. Powerlifting continues to grow in popularity every year, and the Elk lifters along with Coach Skurnit and his assistant coaches are ready to take on the competition! Elk Pride!
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VARSITY BOYS BASKETBALL
Elk roundball season ends in district final 

Caleb Kerfoot (4) takes the open three with Spencer Ball (3) getting in place for a rebound. Courtesy photo

The Elks hosted the St. Ignace Saints in the Division 3 District Championship last Friday, the first district title game for the Elks since they won the championship back in 2018. Elk Rapids entered the contest with a six-game winning streak, including a district semifinal win over Charlevoix to reach the title game. The Saints came to the court having won five straight games, and reached the championship match up with a district semifinal drubbing of Harbor Springs. The stands were filled with loud, cheering fans from both sides, but when the final buzzer sounded only the St Ignace fans were still cheering as their team came away with a 67-54 victory that ended the Elk Rapids basketball season.

“I thought we played well at times; our players played extremely hard and played with a lot of grit until the final buzzer which I’m very proud of them for that,” said Elk boys basketball head coach Kevin Ball. “We talked about making sure we valued every possession, and especially in the second half, every time we would have a great possession where we scored, they came right back down and answered us. Overall, I thought we played decent, at times defensively, but in the second half we started giving up too much penetration, which led to them getting easy jumpers or kick outs for threes that really hurt us. All in all, I couldn’t be more proud of this team as we finished 17-7. They played with a lot of pace both offensively and defensively, which made them a lot of fun to watch.” 

The game opened with Ryan McGuire scoring the first point of the game with a basket underneath. Spencer Ball scored six straight points on a free throw, a three from the top of the key and coast to coast lay-in after a steal, but the senior guard was also whistled for two first-quarter fouls. The opening quarter ended with the Elks leading 12-9. The second quarter opened with the Saints putting together a 7-0 run that would give them the lead for good.

Caleb Kerfoot scored on a steal and Maceo Gulich hit the first of his four three-point buckets for the game to keep the Elks within four points at 22-18. With just over three minutes left until halftime Ball was called for his third foul, forcing the Elks leading scorer and defensive juggernaut to take a seat on the bench. The Saints closed out the rest of the half with a 13-8 run and the teams went into the intermission with the Elks trailing 35-26.

The third quarter had a sluggish start with neither team able to score over the first three minutes. Ball picked up his fourth foul with 5:28 remaining in the third and reluctantly took a seat on the bench. Over the next three minutes the Saints outscored the Elks 10-5 to take their biggest lead of the game at 14 points. Gulich and Caleb Kerfoot each knocked down a three to trim the deficit to 10 points with a minute left in the quarter. The Saints scored four quick points in the final minute, increasing their lead back to 14 points with a 51-37 lead after three. Ball went back into the game to start the fourth but carrying four fouls forced him to play a more cautious game. Ball and Caleb Kerfoot combined for four quick points cutting the lead back to 10 points. The Saints answered by increasing their lead back to 15. A minute remained on the clock as Ball was called for his fifth foul, ending a stellar four-year varsity career. The appreciative fans gave a standing ovation as Ball headed off the court for the final time. McGuire scored on a putback as the horn sounded with the Elks suffering a 67-54 loss. Gulich finished with 14 points, Caleb Kerfoot added 14 points, Ball scored 11 points with six rebounds in just 19 minutes of playing time, McGuire added 11 and gathered in 10 rebounds.

Elk Rapids opened the postseason with a 53-48 win over Charlevoix in a Division 3 district semifinal game in Charlevoix last Wednesday. The Elks were ahead 19-8 after one and 30-12 at halftime, holding Charlevoix to only four points in the second quarter. The Elk lead increased to 44-24 after the third, as the Elks earned a third straight win over the Rayders this season. 

McGuire tossed in 17 points to go with eight boards, Ball scored 12 with seven rebounds, Owen Spencer added 8 points, Caleb Kerfoot gathered in five steals.
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Elk Rapids finished the season with a record of 17-7, the most wins by an Elk boys basketball team since the 2010-11 team finished 17-6 with a district title. Thank you to the seniors, players and coaches for the exciting season of Elk basketball!

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BASKETBALL 
AD Graham achieves Elk basketball triple crown

Elk AD Brett Graham hands the 2023 district trophy to Lady Elk basketball coach Mike Brown. Courtesy photo

Two weeks ago, Friday, the Lady Elks celebrated winning the district championship by beating the Rams in Harbor Springs. After the post-game handshake line between the Elks and Rams was over, Elk Rapids Athletic Director Brett Graham walked to center court and presented each player with a district medal one by one.
Graham then leaned over and grabbed the 2023 Division 3 District Champion trophy and handed it to Elk varsity girls basketball coach Mike Brown. The two men hugged briefly, shook hands and Coach Brown raised the trophy above his head and turned towards the players who ran to him in delight.

The moment the AD Graham handed the trophy to Coach Brown, he became the lone member of the prestigious “Triple Crown of Elk Basketball.” Brett Graham is now the only Elk to win a District Title as a player (1990), coach an Elk basketball team to a District Title (2018) and as the Elk AD, present the District trophy to the Elk Rapids winning coach

In 2018 Graham stated he thought there might be more pressure to win districts as a coach than as a player.

“I worried a lot less as a player,” Graham said five years ago. “I prepared well as a player. I’m sure I got that trait from my dad, who was great at preparation.”

“As a coach I really had to prepare. I worried about all the variables in the game, and I had to worry about the kids. There is more preparation, more planning, more instruction, and as a coach, we have to be able to adjust our plans”
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Now, in 2023, as the athletic director, there is a new type of pressure according to Graham. “I look forward to watching and handing out the medals and trophies as many more Elk Rapids teams win championships,” Graham said. “I actually feel more nervous as the AD. I want the kids and coaches to have success.” Elk Rapids sports fans are also looking forward to watching Athletic Director Brett “Triple Crown” Graham hand out many types of hardware, many more times in many different sports down the road! 

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