Today in the MHSAA: 10/20/15

October 20, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

MHSAA Boys Soccer District play kicked off Monday across the Lower Peninsula, and we also catch up with a pair of big Saturday events, one from each side of the bridge.

Cross Country

From Saturday, the East Lansing girls and Corunna boys won the annual Greater Lansing Invitational against fields loaded with ranked teams; Corunna’s boys were No. 3 in Lower Peninsula Division 2 last week and East Lansing’s girls were unranked – Lansing State Journal

Boys Soccer

Detroit Catholic Central, No. 5 in Division 1, opened district play with a 1-0 win over No. 14 Novi – Oakland Press

Muskegon Orchard View continued a five-game winning streak that’s pushed it past .500 by downing Grant 2-1 in a Division 3 opener – Muskegon Chronicle

Hartland scored to tie Howell with less than two minutes to play in regulation, then won their Division 1 opener in overtime – Livingston Daily

Midland scored just more than a minute into its Division 1 game against Bay City Western and hung on for the 1-0 district victory – Bay City Times

Volleyball

Also from Saturday: Host Houghton defeated Class C honorable mention Calumet in three sets to win the Houghton Invitational, which featured 10 teams from the western half of the Upper Peninsula – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Girls Basketball

Ann Arbor Pioneer is mourning the loss of girls coach Crystal Westfield, who died Monday after a fight with cancer and only four months after her father, legendary cross country and track and field coach Bryan Westfield, died after fighting another form of the disease. Westfield had coached the basketball team at her alma mater since 1994 and also coached field events under her dad – AnnArbor.com

Today in the MHSAA: 2/22/17

February 22, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The basketball season continues to speed to a momentous conclusion, but today make sure to get to the bottom of this report for a couple of stories about athletes working through tragedy that you don’t want to miss.

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. 

Boys Basketball

Big Rapids finished an outright Central State Activities Association Gold title with a 60-35 win over Reed City – Big Rapids News

New Haven advanced in the Macomb Area Conference Blue-Gold Tournament with a win over Warren Woods Tower and thanks to 40 points by Eric Williams, Jr. – Macomb Daily

Walled Lake Western edged rival Walled Lake Northern 63-62 to move on in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association Tournament – Oakland Press

Detroit U-D Jesuit just got past Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 51-49 to advance to the Detroit Catholic League A-B Final – Detroit News

Dollar Bay’s Devin Schmitz needed four points to reach 1,000 for his career, but scored 43 in a 66-57 win over Hancock – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Parma Western fell into a tie for first place in the Interstate 8 Athletic Conference after a 54-53 loss to Battle Creek Harper Creek – Battle Creek Enquirer

Blake Dunn became Saugatuck’s all-time leading scorer with 1,489 points, adding 19 in a win over Lawton – Grand Rapids Press

Girls Basketball

Brethren’s Taytum Myers became her school’s first 1,000-point scorer during a win over Lake Leelanau St. Mary – Manistee News Advocate

Frankenmuth clinched its 12th-straight Tri-Valley Conference East title with a 47-27 win over Essexville Garber – Saginaw News

Dearborn Heights Robichaud standout Kamaria McDaniel scored 39 points, but Flint Hamady emerged with a 75-67 win – Flint Journal

From Monday, Harbor Springs Harbor Light Christian got past Ellsworth 50-49 to secure its first Northern Lakes Conference title since 2007 – Petoskey News-Review

Good Reads

Similar tragedies have struck the Traverse City Bay Reps hockey program over the last three years, as multiple players have experienced the death of a parent. But the team has stuck together, on the rink and in working through those sadnesses – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Gaylord St. Mary’s golfer Noah Kole was hospitalized recently after losing feeling in his legs, and the Gaylord Herald Times wished him well this week (and the good news is he’s now recovering and should be ready for this spring) – Gaylord Herald Times