Did you see that?
May 14, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
It's league championship time for many MHSAA teams, especially with tennis and track and field Regionals coming up later this week. And the week that was May 7-12 provided for a good share the first of many championship-level opportunities to shine.
Tennis
Streak stopper: The Fenton tennis team ended Holly's 29-season league title run by edging the Bronchos by a point in Tuesday’s Metro League championship tournament. The Flint Journal reported that Madison Ballard became the first Fenton No. 1 singles player to win a league championship in 24 seasons. (Tri-County Times)
Softball
On the rise: Division 1 No. 5 Portage Central swept top-ranked Mattawan -- putting Portage Central ahead by two games at the top of the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference West standings. (Kalamazoo Gazette)
Strike 75: Fennville’s Selena Beltran-Pena had strikeouts for 25 of 30 outs in two five-inning wins over Martin. Beltran-Pena threw a no-hitter in the opener and a one-hitter in the second game. (Holland Sentinel)
Tuned up: Saginaw Swan Valley beat three ranked Division 3 teams – No. 2 Saginaw Valley Lutheran, No. 4 Tawas and No. 7 Unionville-Sebewaing – as part of a round-robin brought on by a delay at the Hemlock Invitational that forced the tournament to break up into smaller groups of games. Swan Valley is ranked No. 3 in Division 2. (Saginaw News)
Track and Field
Down to the wire: Two of the state’s best boys and girls teams compete in the O-K Red, and Friday’s conference championship meet no doubt provided at least a partial preview of next month’s MHSAA Division 1 Finals. The top-ranked Rockford girls edged No. 2-ranked East Kentwood, while the top-ranked East Kentwood boys ran away from the No. 3 Rockford boys and the rest of the field to win that league title. (Grand Rapids Press)
Record Breaker: Jackson High’s Cierra Pryor won the 100 meters and also the long jump at Friday’s Siena Heights Invitational, with her jump of 19 feet, 1.5 inches breaking a 31-year-old school record. (Jackson Citizen-Patriot)
Just getting started: Richland Gull Lake freshman Kirsten Taylor also broke her school's long jump record, which had stood since 1978, with a leap of 18-5. (Kalamazoo Gazette)
Still undefeated: Norway’s Dani Gagne had won all 24 events in which she’d competed through Friday, including winning the 100, 200, 400 and long jump at the Norway Miners Co-Ed Meet. Her long jump of 17-0.5 broke her school record in that event set a year ago, and her 58.61 in the 400 broke another school record set during the early 1980s. (Iron Mountain Daily News)
Baseball
Best of the Best: Richland Gull Lake, ranked No. 3 in Division 2, beat top-ranked Grand Rapids Christian 10-4 in the championship game of its Best of the Best Invitational. Gull Lake also beat No. 5 St. Clair during the event. (Kalamazoo Gazette)
Editor's note: Did we miss something? Comment below and tell us about it. Is there an event coming up that we should make sure to note? Comment or e-mail [email protected].
Happy Birthday & Happy to be Back: Hagemann, Edison Celebrate at Breslin
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
March 22, 2024
EAST LANSING – Detroit Edison senior guard Devin Hagemann couldn’t have found a better way to celebrate her 18th birthday.
A victory, and another chance to win a championship.
The Pioneers used a balanced attack, coupled with their size and athleticism, to overpower Negaunee 63-46 in Friday’s Division 2 Semifinal at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center.
“It’s my birthday, but we’re still trying to win a championship so I can celebrate after that,” said Hagemann, who was one of three Edison players in double figures scoring with 11 points. “We still have to get the job done.”
Isis Johnson-Musah paced Edison with 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds, while Myana Cooksey recorded 13 points, three assists and three steals.
The Pioneers will seek their second Finals win in the three years Saturday. They won Division 2 in 2022 before losing during Regionals a year ago.
“We are just really glad to be back here,” Edison coach Monique Brown said. “Our seniors were here as sophomores, and we had a chance to finish that out with a victory.
“Last year we got stung, and we had that on our mind the whole year. The whole summer they worked hard, and to be able to get back here and get a chance to win again is an awesome feeling right now.”
The Pioneers broke up a close game at the end of the opening quarter with a scoring barrage during the second and third. Edison went on a 13-1 run in the second quarter to snap a 16-16 tie and never looked back.
Their lead ballooned to 48-28 in the third quarter as Hagemann knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key.
“I told her to shoot it, and I wished her Happy Birthday in the middle of the game,” Brown said. “I think that kind of got her going.”
The balanced scoring, along with pressure defense, have become major factors in this postseason run.
“That is who we have been,” Brown said. “Just really trusting and sharing the basketball and playing good defense. We had to do it by committee this year as far as scoring, and that's why we are here right now.”
Negaunee, playing in its first Semifinal, finished the season 26-2.
“They are very good, and we respect their program,” Miners coach Mike O’Donnell said. “They showed why (they are) one of the top teams in the state, and their size bothered us. We haven’t seen that size this year, the closest was Ishpeming, and their quickness and athleticism in transition.”
Senior Ella Mason, the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference Player of the Year and the school’s all-time scoring leader, tried to keep Negaunee in the game.
She finished with a game-high 25 points, shooting 9 of 18 from the field and 5 of 10 from beyond the 3-point arc.
PHOTOS (Top) Detroit Edison’s Devin Hagemann (1) launches a 3-point shot Friday with Negaunee’s Aubrey Johnson defending. (Middle) The Pioneers’ Nabrea Lane (11) gets to the basket. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)