From watering holes to locker rooms, expats and rival schools, up north and at the arena itself, fans rooted for the Munising Mustangs in the 2023 MHSAA Division 4 semifinals and finals. For the Mustangs themselves, they’re honored and thankful to have the fans and the community join them in this championship run.
The trophy was presented on the floor of the Breslin Center in East Lansing, but the 2023 MHSAA Division 4 boys basketball championship was won in a Best Western in Okemos. In room 156 — the hotel room for Munising Assistant Coach Chris Prunick — coaches, alumni and family members used whatever electronic device available to break down game after game of Wyoming Tri-Unity Christian’s season before the championship final took place on Saturday.
Editor’s Note: This is the Munising Mustangs boys basketball season preview, originally running in the Dec. 2, 2022 edition of The Munising Beacon.
While the winter sports season has gone as long as it could have possibly gone in 2023, the spring sports are starting to bloom in Alger County. The Superior Central softball team participated in the Superior Dome tournament in Marquette on March 24-26.
To return to the finals, Tri Unity Christian had to go through another coastal town with a public school, the Frankfort Panthers. The Defenders led throughout, defeating the Panthers 54-37.
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The Munising Mustangs will have some familiarity when heading down to East Lansing. Head Coach Terry Kienitz played in the 1994 state finals with Superior Central. Kane Nebel attended basketball camps at MSU. Many of the players and staff have a connection or two to the state semifinals and finals venue.
Alger County residents that took off for the MHSAA Final Four missed one of the most colorful showcases of the Northern Lights in recent memory. On Thursday and Friday, March 23-24, the Northern Lights showcased green, purple and even red across the Upper Peninsula and Northern Lower Peninsula.
Congrats to our Mustang basketball boys! We are so proud! April is National Poetry Month! Celebrate by checking out one (or a few) of our many poetry books we’ll have displayed, or share a poem out loud in the library! Looking ahead in April, remember to mark your calendar for events surrounding Earth Fest 2023, which will be running Apr. 17 - Apr.
A ticket worth $1.41 million was sold at Wally’s Bar in Escanaba, with two Upper Peninsula residents splitting the purse. Playing the Doubler Wild Time Progressive Fast Cash jackpot by the Michigan Lottery, the ticket was bought by the Wally’s Bar Lottery Club of Jennifer Boulley-Wicklund and Thomas Derusha.
