Linked Up: 10/28/11

October 28, 2011

Each week I'll post links to stories that interest me most during my travels in online sports land. I was going to wait for next week for this first installment, but these seemed worthy of telling you about now.

See something high school sports-related that you think others would find valuable? Send me a link.

Akron-Fairgrove and Owendale-Gagetown eager for long-awaited playoff games in first season of eight-man football bracket (Bay City Times)

These two teams provide multiple reasons why 8-player football has been such a strong addition -- most notably, it is providing our smallest schools with an opportunity to still play football despite fewer players, and succeed. The sport took off in this state in 2009, and this weekend mark the start of the first MHSAA 8-player Tournament. Akron-Fairgrove will play its first postseason game since 1992, while Owendale-Gagetown will play its first since 1979.

Olivet's Peters coaching his heart out (Battle Creek Enquirer)

I covered Olivet and coach Dean Peters for more than a decade, including during last season's first-ever Eagles run to the MHSAA football finals. One of the great people in high school coaching, he needed emergency double-bypass surgery earlier this month but is back in the coaching booth. Olivet faces Lansing Catholic in a Pre-District game.

Megan Hubbard a standout for Hanover-Horton cross country (Jackson Citizen-Patriot)

This is a neat story about a runner who is second-best on her team and has never won a race -- but also is likely the second-best to ever run at her school. Usually, we hear only about who finishes first.

Standley Lake football player Rhett Gutierrez overcomes eye disease (The Denver Post)
 
Almost always, links I post will be Michigan-related. But this story is just incredible. We've seen athletes with different degrees of vision impairment do incredible things in high school athletics. But this is the first time I've heard of someone overcoming that obstacle to play quarterback for his football team.

Today in the MHSAA: 1/31/20

January 31, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

A trio of girls basketball headliners lead off our list of Thursday’s high achievers across the state, which also included coverage from boys basketball, boys swimming & diving and hockey.

1. Girls Basketball: Detroit Cass Tech handed the first loss this season to Detroit Martin Luther King 68-43, clinching the Detroit Public School League East championship with the win – Detroit News

2. Girls Basketball: Camden-Frontier handed Pittsford its first loss of the season, 54-34 – Hillsdale Daily News

3. Girls Basketball: Pinconning’s Lauren Laures set program records for points in a game and career during a 74-40 win over Farwell – Bay City Times

4. Boys Basketball: Joe Liedel scored a school-record 54 points to lead Erie Mason past Onsted 70-67 in double overtime – Monroe News

5. Boys Swimming & Diving: No. 4 Holland West Ottawa won a matchup of Lower Peninsula Division 1 foes, 186-116 over Rockford – Holland Sentinel

6. Boys Basketball: Andre Floyd’s basket during the closing seconds pushed Southfield Arts & Technology past Farmington 66-65 – C&G Newspapers

7. Boys Basketball: Thanks also to Erie Mason’s win, Blissfield moved into a three-way tie for first in the Lenawee County Athletic Association with a 76-52 victory over Ida – Adrian Daily Telegram

8. Boys Swimming & Diving: LPD2 honorable mention Gibraltar Carlson celebrated nine event winners on the way to defeating Allen Park 111-74 – Southgate News-Herald

9. Hockey: Ben Hepp scored four goals, including two short-handed, to key Oxford/Avondale’s win over Bishop Foley United – Oakland Press

10. Boys Basketball: Ravenna moved to 11-0 with a 60-42 win over Montague – Local Sports Journal

Also of note …

Wrestling: The second Michigan Wrestling Association Girls State Championships will be wrestled Sunday, with nearly double the field of the first year’s event – Adrian Daily Telegram

Boys Basketball: From Wednesday, Chase Ingersoll scored 31 points and broke the school’s career scoring record during Fife Lake Forest Area’s 79-67 win over Buckley – MI Sports Now

Boys Basketball: Bullock Creek’s Brant O’Keefe will be recognized Saturday for saving his father’s life with CPR this past fall – Saginaw News