MHSAA TV Ends 17-18 with 28-Game Finale
June 12, 2018
By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
A total of 28 games over three days will close out the championship coverage of MHSAA Tournaments for the 2017-18 school year with live streaming audio and video in three sports on MHSAA.tv and the MHSAA Network.
Baseball and Softball Semifinal coverage begins Thursday and runs through Saturday’s Finals from Old College Field at Michigan State University. On Friday and Saturday, you also can catch the Lower Peninsula Girls Soccer Finals from Williamston High School.
Today and Wednesday, the final events of the year for the MHSAA’s School Broadcast Program will be originated by Comstock Park and Cedar Springs High Schools, which are hosting Semifinal games in Girls Soccer. Here’s that schedule:
Tuesday – Girls Soccer Quarterfinals – Division 4
- 7 p.m. – North Muskegon v. Kalamazoo Christian at Comstock Park
Wednesday – Girls Soccer Quarterfinals – Division 3
- 6 p.m. – Freeland v. Grand Rapids Catholic Central at Cedar Springs
The NFHS Network will feature landing pages on MHSAA.tv for the Baseball, Softball and Girls Soccer games this weekend. Audio of all games will be available on the home page of the MHSAA Network.
Here’s the complete schedule of games on MHSAA.tv and the MHSAA Network this weekend:
Thursday Baseball Semifinals (Quarterfinals on Tuesday)
- 9 a.m. – Division 2 – Livonia Clarenceville/Orchard Lake St. Mary’s winner v. Grand Rapids West Catholic/Stevensville Lakeshore winner
- 11:30 a.m. – Division 2 – Muskegon Oakridge/Saginaw Swan Valley winner v. DeWitt/Tecumseh winner
- 2:30 p.m. – Division 1 – Grosse Pointe South/Macomb Dakota winner v. Midland/Holland West Ottawa winner
- 5 p.m. – Division 1 – Grand Ledge/Brownstown Woodhaven winner v. Birmingham Brother Rice/Northville winner
Thursday Softball Semifinals (Quarterfinals on Tuesday)
- 10 a.m. – Division 1 – Garden City/Warren Regina winner v. Alpena/Caledonia winner
- 12:30 p.m. – Division 1 – Howell/Plymouth winner v. Clarkston/Hartland winner
- 3 p.m. – Division 2 – Dearborn Divine Child/Richmond winner v. Spring Lake/South Haven winner
- 5:30 p.m. – Division 2 – Escanaba/Saginaw Swan Valley winner v. Eaton Rapids/Flat Rock winner
Friday (June 16) Baseball Semifinals (Quarterfinals on Tuesday)
- 9 a.m. – Division 4 – Indian River Inland Lakes/Gaylord St. Mary winner v. Beal City/Muskegon Catholic Central winner
- 11:30 a.m. – Division 4 - Plymouth Christian/Unionville-Sebewaing winner v. St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic/Petersburg-Summerfield winner
- 2:30 p.m. – Division 3 – Gladstone/Standish-Sterling winner v. Madison Heights Bishop Foley/New Lothrop winner
- 5 p.m. – Division 3 – Michigan Center/Riverview Gabriel Richard winner v. Montague/Schoolcraft winner
Friday Softball Semifinals (Quarterfinals on Tuesday)
- 10 a.m. – Division 3 – Negaunee/Sanford Meridian winner v. Sandusky/Millington winner
- 12:30 p.m. – Division 3 – Clinton/Allen Park Cabrini winner v. Stanton Central Montcalm/Coloma winner
- 3 p.m. – Division 4 – Rudyard/Rogers City winner v. Frankfort/Coleman winner
- 5:30 p.m. – Division 4 – Waterford Our Lady/Unionville-Sebewaing winner v. Centreville/Ottawa Lake-Whiteford winner
Friday L.P. Girls Soccer Finals (Semifinals on Tuesday)
- 1 p.m. – Division 4 – Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett/Lansing Christian winner v. Kalamazoo Christian/North Muskegon winner
- 4 p.m. – Division 1 – Troy/Novi winner v. Midland/Grand Blanc winner
Saturday Baseball Finals
- 9 a.m. – Division 2
- 11:30 a.m. – Division 1
- 2:30 p.m. – Division 3
- 5 p.m. – Division 4
Saturday Softball Finals
- 10 a.m. – Division 2
- 12:30 p.m. – Division 1
- 3 p.m. – Division 4
- 5:30 p.m. – Division 3
Saturday L.P. Girls Soccer Finals (Semifinals on Wednesday)
- 1 p.m. – Division 3 – Warren Regina/Flint Powers Catholic winner v. Grand Rapids Catholic Central/Freeland winner
- 4 p.m. – Division 2 - Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern/Richland Gull Lake winner v. DeWitt/Bloomfield Hills Marian winner
A $9.95 subscription allows viewing of live content on MHSAA.tv and the NFHS Network for 30 days. All events will be archived for free on-demand viewing beginning three days after their completion. Subscriptions must be cancelled before the 30-day period is over to avoid recurring charges. Instant Downloads of all games are available for $19.95.
The MHSAA Network website has provided free live audio coverage of various MHSAA Championships since the 2005-06 school year. Instant Downloads of all games are available for $4.99.
Completing its ninth year, the School Broadcast Program gives members an opportunity to showcase excellence in their schools by creating video programming of athletic and non-athletic events with students gaining skills in announcing, camera operation, directing/producing and graphics. Pixellot – The NFHS Network’s automated streaming solution – is used by schools wishing to live stream games but lacking the ability to staff the events. The program also gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions.
A complete list of participating schools can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA website.
Montrose Earns SBP Awards 5-Peat
By
John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director emeritus
May 11, 2018
Make it five in row for Montrose High School, which again claimed the top spot as the “Program of the Year” in the MHSAA’s School Broadcast Program Excellence Awards for 2017-18.
The SBP Excellence Awards will award certificates and plaques to the schools which took individual honors, with the presentation dates and times to be announced.
Montrose took first place in every category: Best Highlight, Best Multicamera Production, Best Student Play-by-Play, Best Produced Commercial/Feature, Best Single Camera Production with PlayOn! Sports Graphics and Best Use of PlayOn! Sports Graphics. It also placed a second entry in five of the six categories.
Montrose continued to demonstrate good blend of productions in a variety of sports covered and an overall command of the PlayOn! Sports software used for graphics and inserting commercials/features during the course of productions.
Other criteria used in selecting the top program awards were sporting events produced and live page views for those events. The events category was dominated by schools using Pixellot, the NFHS Network’s automated coverage solution, but still topped by a traditional SBP member. Comstock Park has produced 89 events to date this year, followed by three Pixellot schools – Freeland (76), Plainwell (76) and Macomb Lutheran North (71).
For live page views, the top four schools were Dollar Bay, Lake Orion, Norway and Calumet. Dollar Bay and Norway are dedicated Pixellot schools, while Calumet produces games with traditional crews and Pixellot.
Here is the complete list by categories of the schools and students being honored in this year’s SBP Excellence Awards:
Best Highlight
First Place – Montrose - Eric Vandefifer, David Sackrider, Peyton Hobson, Tanner Sims – Football game v. Birch Run.
Second Place – Negaunee - Thomas Bagley, Chaz Bluse, Alec Johnson – Gymnastics meet v. Super Seven co-op.
Third Place – Montrose - Danny Sackrider, Steven Folsom, Taylor Burke Pennington, Randall Smith – Boys Basketball game v. Genesee Christian.
Best Multicamera Production
First Place – Montrose – Eric Vandefifer, John Blackford, Kenzie Bishop – MHSAA District Wrestling Finals.
Second Place – Lake Orion – WDBC Staff – Boys Basketball game v. Oxford.
Third Place – Lake Orion – WDBC Staff – Boys Basketball game v. Rochester.
Best Student Play-By-Play
First Place – Montrose – Eric Vandefifer and David Sackrider – Football game v. Birch Run.
Second Place – Montrose – Eric Vandefifer and David Sackrider – JV Boys Basketball game v. Genesee Christian.
Third Place – Lake Orion – Ben Wellman and Ted Hirschfield – Boys Basketball game v. Rochester.
Best Produced Commercial/Feature
First Place – Montrose – Jared Adams, Maddie Pyrc, John Blackford – Conlee Oil Company Commercial.
Second Place – Montrose – Jared Adams, Molly Dunton, David Sackrider – Hamilton’s RV Commercial.
Best Single Camera Production with PlayOn! Graphics
First Place - Montrose – David Sackrider, Eric Vandefifer, Tanner Sims, Peyton Hobson, Taylor Burke-Pennington – Football game v. Birch Run.
Second Place – Negaunee – Colton Yesney, Carter Richardson, Robby Williams, Peyton Anderson – Girls Volleyball match v. Gwinn.
Third Place – Montrose - David Sackrider, Eric Vandefifer, Tanner Sims, Peyton Hobson, Taylor Burke-Pennington - JV Boys Basketball game v. Genesee Christian.
Best Use of PlayOn! Graphics/Software
First Place - Montrose – David Sackrider, Eric Vandefifer, Tanner Sims, Peyton Hobson, Taylor Burke-Pennington – Football Game v. Birch Run.
Second Place – Lake Orion - Ben Wellman, Isabella Larsen, Micah Williams, Samuel Jenkins – Boys Basketball game v. Clarkston.
Third Place – Montrose - David Sackrider, Eric Vandefifer, Tanner Sims, Peyton Hobson,Taylor Burke-Pennington - JV Boys Basketball game v. Genesee Christian.
Montrose also was honored this spring by the NFHS Network with the Best Live Sports Broadcast of the 2017-18 school year. Its production of a regular-season football game with Birch Run, won by Montrose in overtime, took top honors.
In its ninth year, the School Broadcast Program gives members an opportunity to showcase excellence in their schools by creating video programming of athletic and non-athletic events with students gaining skills in announcing, camera operation, directing/producing and graphics.
The program also gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions.
A complete list of participating schools can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA website.
PHOTOS: (Top) Montrose’s Eric Vandefifer interviews three of his school’s wrestlers who qualified for the MHSAA Individual Finals, during a basketball telecast in March. (Middle) Montrose SBP students take in Tigers Student Media Day this spring.