Today in the MHSAA: 10/13/17

October 13, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Each weekday of the school year, we break down the top headlines courtesy of Michigan’s sports media.

Today's Top 10

1. Girls Golf: In arguably the state’s strongest Regional in this sport, top-ranked Saline shot a 324 to finish 15 shots ahead of runner-up and No. 3-ranked Northville and 22 ahead of No. 4 Plymouth in Lower Peninsula Division 1 – Saline Post

2. Boys Tennis: Top-ranked Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood edged No. 2 Detroit Country Day by two points to win an LPD3 Regional title – Oakland Press

3. Girls Golf: No. 5 Muskegon Reeths-Puffer won its first Regional championship in girls golf, claiming an LPD2 title with a 328, four strokes ahead of runner-up and No. 2 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern – Local Sports Journal

4. Girls Golf: Top-ranked Kalamazoo Hackett won its LPD4 Regional with a 351, followed by No. 3 Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian making the Finals for the 10th straight season – Grand Rapids Press

5. Girls Golf: No. 7 St. Johns bested runner-up and No. 10 Fenton by six strokes and No. 9 Okemos by 17 to win their LPD2 Regional – Lansing State Journal

6. Cross Country: Ishpeming and Negaunee battled for the boys and girls championships in the Mid-Peninsula Conference, with the UPD2 No. 1 Hematites boys and UPD1 No. 3 Miners girls earning the victories – Marquette Mining Journal

7. Girls Golf: Reigning LPD3 champion and current No. 8 Spring Lake won its fourth straight Regional title with a 372, eight strokes ahead of runner-up and No. 10 Big Rapids – Grand Haven Tribune

8. Boys Tennis: Sturgis won its first Regional championship in this sport since 2001, claiming an LPD3 title – Sturgis Journal

9. Girls Golf: All three Traverse City programs earned MHSAA Finals berths together for the first time, LPD1 No. 7 Traverse City West winning its Regional, Central finishing as a runner-up in LPD2 and St. Francis winning a tie-breaker for a third-place spot in LPD4 – Traverse City Record-Eagle

10. Girls Golf: No. 2 Brighton shot an impressive 309 to win its LPD1 Regional by 30 strokes – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

Also of note …

Girls Golf: Top-ranked Midland Dow shot a 348 to clear the field by 20 strokes and win an LPD2 Regional title – Midland Daily News

Boys Tennis: Petoskey clinched its ninth straight Regional title, in LPD3, claiming 22 of a possible 24 points – Petoskey News-Review

Cross Country: Continuing their domination this season, Houghton’s boys (UPD1 No. 1) and Chassell’s girls (UPD3 No. 1) finished Western Peninsula Athletic Conference title chases – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Cross Country: Marquette’s teams continued their dominance as well sweeping Great Northern Conference championships; the girls are No. 2 in UPD1 and the boys are ranked No. 2 as well – Marquette Mining Journal

Today in the MHSAA: 1/20/16

January 20, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Buzzer beaters and milestone basketball victories made headlines all over Michigan today, and check out as well a moving video that tells of the importance of our national anthem.

Girls Basketball

Reigning Class C champion Calumet added another accomplishment to the long list with its first win over Houghton since 1999, 44-31 – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Three Rivers’ sophomore Arionne Fowlkes went baseline to baseline for a last-second layup to give her team a 43-41 win over Niles – Niles Daily Star

Class A favorite Saginaw Heritage remained undefeated with a 53-38 win over rival Midland Dow, also ranked in Class A – Saginaw News

One-loss St. Ignace handed Newberry its first defeat of the season, 64-57 – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News

Cedar Springs also knocked a team from the unbeaten ranks, with Sam Taylor’s 3-pointer in the closing seconds ending Kent City’s perfect run, 50-47 – Grand Rapids Press

Muskegon edged East Kentwood 50-47 after trailing by 10 and on the strength of 26 points and 22 rebounds by senior Mardrekia Cook – Muskegon Chronicle

Boys Basketball

Despite being outscored 30-22 in the fourth quarter, Southfield Christian held on for an 82-79 win over Southfield – MLive-Detroit

Merrill earned its first win since 2013 by downing Coleman 49-36 – Midland Daily News

One-loss Alma handed previously-undefeated Ithaca its first, 56-53, as Dylan Carl hit 3-pointers to send the game to overtime and then win it – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Muskegon Oakridge’s Brady Luttrull drilled a 3-pointer during the final seconds to push his team past Scottville Mason County Central 67-66 – Muskegon Chronicle

Cassopolis followed a strong third quarter by Deoin Gatson to hand Niles Brandywine its first loss, 61-47 – Niles Daily Leader

One-loss Clarkston also handed out a first loss Tuesday, to Rochester Adams, in a matchup of top Class A teams – Oakland Press

Caleb Brown’s only basket for Northport was the game winner during the final seconds of a 51-49 victory over Central Lake – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Nate Dugener’s sixth 3-pointer of the game gave Muskegon Western Michigan Christian a 52-49 win over Holland Christian – Grand Haven Tribune

Boys Swimming & Diving

In a matchup of top teams on the west side of the Lower Peninsula, Division 1 No. 6 Zeeland got past Division 2 honorable mention Holland 104-73 – Holland Sentinel

Worth Watching

We ran across and were moved by Virginia Tech’s honoring of veterans at the start of this men’s basketball season. Check out this meaningful presentation and how it relates to providing proper respect during The Star-Spangled Banner.