Today in the MHSAA: 1/11/16

January 11, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The first full sports weekend of 2016 included notable performances in a number of sports, highlighted by one of the top swimming and diving meets of the regular season.

Girls Basketball

Ithaca girls basketball coach Bob Anderson earned his 700th win as his team beat Carrollton 66-40; he’s coached both girls and boys teams to success over 27 seasons – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Durand handed Goodrich its first league loss in seven years while staying undefeated this season in the Genesee Area Conference Red – Flint Journal

DeWitt remained undefeated at 8-0 after handing Lansing Waverly its first loss this season in a matchup of two of the Lansing area’s top teams – Lansing State Journal

St. Joseph moved to 6-1 with a 72-35 win over Benton Harbor, a semifinalist in Class B last season – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

Saranac was missing its leading scorer, but still managed to get past annual Class D power Portland St. Patrick 41-33 – Ionia Sentinel-Standard

Boys Basketball

Okemos handed Holt its first loss this season and won its first game on the Rams’ home court since 2010 – Lansing State Journal

Ice Hockey

Portage Central earned a win that could boost it into the state rankings, downing Division 1 No. 10 East Kentwood 2-1 on Saturday in Muskegon – Kalamazoo Gazette

Boys Swimming & Diving

Division 2 No. 1 Dexter scored 409 points to beat No. 4 Warren DeLaSalle by 33 at the annual Spartan Invitational at Battle Creek Lakeview, with the field also including reigning champion Birmingham Seaholm and Division 1 contender Ann Arbor Skyline – Battle Creek Enquirer

Lower Peninsula Division 1 honorable mention Grand Rapids Forest Hills defeated a field that included LPD2 No. 6 Midland Dow at the Forest Hills Invitational – Midland Daily News

Wrestling

Unranked Westland John Glenn got past Division 1 No. 9 New Baltimore Anchor Bay to win the Michigan Duals at Bay City Western over a field that also included No. 8 Western and Division 3 No. 5 Remus Chippewa Hills – Mlive-Detroit

Division 2 No. 9 Sparta won the Dave Dunneback Tournament with 247 points, ahead of Lake Odessa Lakewood, Belding and Division 3 No. 6 Grand Rapids Catholic Central – Grand Rapids Press

Football

Mike McDowell returned four seasons ago for his second stint coaching Morenci and led the program to its best finishes in nearly two decades. He recently resigned – Adrian Daily Telegram

Good Reads

Longtime coach Keith Haske remains cancer-free after fighting Stage 4 throat cancer only a year ago – and he’s added significantly to his day, becoming the girls basketball coach in addition to leading the boys program at Traverse City St. Francis. The Record-Eagle’s Brett Sommers documented a typical Haske day – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Carleton Airport senior Jessica Book is her school’s Homecoming Queen this year – and a cheerleader – and a wrestler – and plans to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps and defuse bombs – Monroe Evening News

Today in the MHSAA: 5/17/18

May 17, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
 

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

1. Softball: Bear Lake clinched its first softball league championship since 1987 in splitting a doubleheader with Custer Mason County Eastern – Manistee News Advocate

2. Girls Soccer: Reagan Wisser scored all three goals as Division 2 No. 2 Richland Gull Lake downed Division 1 No. 5 Portage Central 3-2 in overtime to clinch its fourth Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference title in five seasons – Kalamazoo Gazette

3. Track & Field: Adrian Madison’s teams finished perfect dual seasons in the Tri-County Conference, the LPD3 No. 3 girls running their league winning streak to 87 and the boys to 35 – Adrian Daily Telegram

4. Boys Golf: Clarkston, No. 4 in Lower Peninsula Division 1, shot a 297 to win the Oakland County Division 1 championship ahead of runner-up and No. 2-ranked Birmingham Seaholm (303) and third-place and No. 3 Lake Orion (305) – C&G Newspapers

5. Boys Lacrosse: Division 1 No. 2 Hartland defeated No. 5 Brighton 15-4 to clinch the Kensington Lakes Activities Association championship – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

6. Girls Soccer: Muskegon Western Michigan Christian created a tie with Division 4 No. 11 Muskegon Catholic Central at the top of the Lakes 8 Conference with a 2-1 win over the Crusaders – Local Sports Journal

7. Baseball: Rochester Hills Stoney Creek finished a three-game sweep of Rochester to earn a shared Oakland Activities Association Red title with Lake Orion – Oakland Press

8. Baseball: Rivals Portage Northern (No. 7 in Division 1) and Portage Central split a doubleheader, both winning in substantial shutouts – Kalamazoo Gazette

9. Softball: Parma Western’s Taylor Nichols went over 1,000 career strikeouts in a 15-9 win over Jackson Lumen Christi – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

10. Baseball: Detroit Osborn will play for a Detroit Public School League title for the second straight year thanks to a 10-0 win over Detroit Central – Detroit News