xxx - The Basketball Coaches' Association of Michigan recently announced its boys and girls basketball postseason awards, with a number of area squads and individuals receiving high academic awards.

Hale's boys basketball team received first-team Class C all-academic honors, with the third-highest Grade Point Average (GPA) among Class C schools, at 3.61082 (thousandths of a point behind second-place Traverse City St. Francis at 3.61087). The Eagles' GPA was the highest among public Class C schools in the state, as well as the sixth highest of any school in any classifications.

Ogemaw Heights' girls basketball team earned honorable mention status as a team with a 3.574 GPA, much to the pleasure of Falcon coach Tim Hansen.

"This, along with only the third .500 regular-season record in the past 12 years, shows that hard work in the athletic arena and classroom go hand in hand," Hansen said.

The Falcon boys had an individual all-academician in Pete VanOosten, who received the honor for his 3.61 GPA while also finishing fifth in the state in 3-point shooting accuracy at 47.1 percent.

Standish-Sterling also received team honorable mention all-academic honors in Class B, with a GPA of 3.378 leaving the Panthers just 0.03 shy of the first team.

Whittemore-Prescott's girls basketball team earned honorable mention honors in Class C (3.351 GPA), while Julie Janish earned both individual all-academic (3.98 GPA) and fourth team all-state honors. Teammate Kaylon Leslie was placed on the Class C fifth-team all-state.

In Class D, AuGres-Sims' girls earned honorable mention all-academic honors with a GPA of 3.527, with Jamie Taylor named to the second-team Class D all-state squad.

Tawas Area coach Todd Kaems received honors as the Region 15 girls coach of the year, while Mio's Kimmi Breaugh and Kim Brown received honorable mention Class C all-state awards and Fairview's Pierson Szubelak was named fourth team Class D all-state.

Among other Northeast Michigan teams, Roscommon boasted honorable mention Class B status as a team (3.223 GPA), while Dane Carey was both all-academic as an individual (3.78) and a sixth-team all-stater for his on-court performance. Bucks coach M.J. Ewald was also named Region 15 Coach of the Year, an honor he shares with Gaylord's Tom Johnson. Gladwin's boys also earned all-academic honorable mention with a 3.307 GPA.