Linked Up: 11/8/11

December 16, 2011

My online travels over the last 10 days have taken me to just about every media entity in Michigan as we've been tracking down football, volleyball and soccer results. Below are some of the intriguing stories I happened upon that you might want to check out as well.

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

State meet an experience to savor  (Livingston County Daily Press & Argus)

Reporter Katie Noble ran at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Cross Country Finals for Kinde North Huron in 2001. She explains how her perspective has changed during the 10 years since -- something any former high school athlete can appreciate.

Lincoln football: More than just football (AnnArbor.com)

Although Ypsilanti Lincoln's first playoff run ever ended after just one game, it gave those fans plenty to celebrate -- and AnnArbor.com's Jeff Sainlar put together a great multimedia look at how the team made history after going 0-9 in 2010.

Twin sisters key players for both Dow and Midland volleyball teams (Midland Daily News)

We hear a lot of stories of teams having two or three siblings, a set of twins or an occasional crew of triplets. But Saturday's District final at Saginaw Heritage included two teams from the same city both receiving major contributions sets of twins. Dan Chalk explained how similarities among those pairs benefited their respective teams in similar ways.

Marshall Thomas' coaching tree produces state titles on way to Saginaw County Hall of Fame induction (Saginaw News)

Thomas coached five sports and served as athletic director during his tenure at Saginaw High. But he's best known for leading a boys basketball power that has produced two more coaches who have gone on to win MHSAA titles. A fantastic legacy left by one of the friendliest people I've met in high school athletics, and Geoff Mott tells us about it.

Deckerville Eagles will move to 8-man football (Port Huron Times-Herald)

The Port Huron area looks to continue to be a center for 8-player football with another solid program set to make the switch. But it's not always an easy decision, and Jim Whymer tells us why and how Deckerville decided it was time.

Today in the MHSAA: 1/23/20

January 23, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Two of the three No. 1-ranked hockey teams in Michigan faced off Thursday in league play to take today’s No. 1 spot, followed by one of the state’s annual wrestling powers claiming a conference championship.

1. Hockey: Division 2 top-ranked Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice edged Division 1 No. 1 Detroit Catholic Central 2-1 – Oakland Press

2. Wrestling: Division 3 No. 2 Richmond clinched the Blue Water Area Conference championship with a sweep of Croswell-Lexington and Imlay City – Macomb Daily

3. Hockey: Division 1 No. 4 Brighton avenged an earlier loss to No. 3 Salem with a 3-0 win in the rematch – Observer & Eccentric

4. Bowling: Bay City Central’s girls and Essexville Garber’s boys won Bay County championships – Bay City Times

5. Girls Basketball: Michigan Center avenged last season’s Regional Final loss to Springport, 61-49 – Jackson Citizen Patriot

6. Hockey: Division 2 No. 2 Livonia Stevenson continued its recent success against No. 4 Hartland, 7-0 – Observer & Eccentric

7. Girls Basketball: Bellaire remained undefeated and ended Gaylord St. Mary’s 59-game Ski Valley Conference winning streak with a 49-36 victory – Up North Live

8. Boys Basketball: Carrollton moved to 8-0 with a 77-70 win over Reese – Saginaw News

9. Hockey: Grand Haven came back from a one-goal deficit with four minutes to play to get past Hudsonville 5-3 – Local Sports Journal

10. Hockey: Will Dawson scored a natural hat trick during the first period to lead Division 2 No. 6 Traverse City Central past Petoskey 6-0 – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Also of note …

Football: Gwinn is mourning the unexpected death of football coach Dion Brown, who took over the program in 2014 and led it to multiple playoff appearances – WLUC

Football: Hudson coach Chris Luma has stepped down with a 180-70 record over the last 23 seasons – Adrian Daily Telegram

Football: Continuing Rockford’s streak of 25 straight winning seasons will rest with former assistant Brent Cummings, who was promoted to head coach – Grand Rapids Press