Today in the MHSAA: 11/18/16
November 18, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Four volleyball teams secured matches on the final day of the season, and a champion football coach will be coming back from retirement to start a new era next fall.
Each weekday during the school year, we’ll gather and post media links covering the most significant and intriguing high school events from all over the state.
Volleyball
Class C: Reigning champion and No. 2-ranked Bronson swept honorable mention Calumet – Coldwater Daily Reporter
Class C: No. 6 Brown City will play in its first championship match after edging Adrian Madison in five sets – Port Huron Times Herald
Class B: Reigning runner-up and No. 3-ranked North Branch will play for the title again after coming back to beat No. 5 Buchanan 3-2 – Flint Journal
Class B: Top-ranked Lake Odessa Lakewood will play in the championship match for the third time in five seasons after downing No. 7 Cadillac 3-1 – Grand Rapids Press
Football
Former Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central coach Jack Giarmo, who led the Falcons to the Division 6 title in 2014, has been hired at Gibraltar Carlson – Monroe Evening News
Turmell's Near No-Hitter, Byrnes' Blast Deliver Northern's 1st Finals Championship
By
Tim Robinson
Special for MHSAA.com
June 13, 2026
EAST LANSING – Grand Haven softball coach John Hall had an idea how Saturday’s Division 1 Softball Final with Walled Lake Northern was going to go.
“I told our coaches last night at the hotel this is going to be a 2-1 game,” Hall noted.
Indeed, it was a pitcher’s duel that saw the teams combine for just four hits in Northern’s 2-1 victory.
The Finals championship was the first for the Knights – and while the result may have been predictable given the talent in the circle, it also took a minute to believe for the winner of that individual duel.
“I didn’t believe it was real until my catcher (Anna Doyle) started running at me,” said Northern senior pitcher Lyla Turmell.
The Knights also made their first appearance in a Semifinal on Thursday, edging Northville by the same 2-1 score.
This game was decided on a home run by junior Shayla Byrnes in the bottom of the sixth inning. Her fly ball down the left field line banged off the foul pole to break a 1-1 tie.
Turmell then struck out the side in the top of the seventh inning.
She had given Northern (39-3) a 1-0 lead on a homer in the first inning.
“I threw her a wicked rise ball, and she got her hands up to it,” Grand Haven pitcher Lorelei Chcuik said. “There was nothing I could do about it.”
"(I was) getting a rally started, at least," Turmell said of her round-tripper. "I knew my bat could help me."
Chciuk scored Grand Haven’s run in the fourth inning, scoring on a fielder’s choice.
Both pitchers were outstanding.
Turnell allowed only one hit, a first-inning single by Ryley Jeltema. She walked three and struck out nine.
She worked out of trouble in the top of the sixth inning, handling a comebacker with the bases loaded to end a Grand Haven rally.
Chciuk was equal to the task, striking out 12 while getting on base three times on two walks and being hit by a pitch.
Grand Haven (36-5-1) also was making its first appearance in a championship game.
“It was a game that could go either way,” Hall said. “It came down to two swings. Would I have liked to win? Sure.
“But I wouldn’t’ve traded this for nothing. Nothing.”
PHOTOS (Top) Walled Lake Northern welcomes Shaela Byrnes (9) as she crosses the plate after her go-ahead sixth-inning home run. (Middle) Grand Haven’s Ryley Jeltema is stuck between third base and home as Northern catcher Anna Doyle runs her back.