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: 5/25/17
May 25, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Last-minute goals tipped the statewide drama toward boys lacrosse and girls soccer Wednesday, as the Regional tournament continued in the former and league titles were awarded on the pitch.
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.
Baseball
Division 3 No. 7 Madison Heights Bishop Foley downed Division 2 No. 8 Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard 9-1 to claim the Detroit Catholic League Class C-D title for the fifth time in six seasons – MLive-Detroit
Standish-Sterling shut out Shepherd twice to claim the Tri-Valley Conference Central title – Bay City Times
From Tuesday, Division 3 No. 4 Homer downed Athens to win the Big 8 Conference championship, and in the second game gave coach Scott Salow his 500th win – Jackson Citizen Patriot
From Monday, Livonia Clarenceville won its first league title since 1982 by downing Dearborn Heights Robichaud in the Western Wayne Athletic Conference Red – Observer & Eccentric
Boys Golf
Jonesville secured the Big 8 Conference championship with a 26-stroke victory at the league tournament – Hillsdale Daily News
Boys Lacrosse
Vicksburg, No. 7 heading into the postseason, downed Battle Creek Harper Creek for the third time this season, this time 10-8, to advance to a Division 2 Regional Final – Kalamazoo Gazette
Canton came back from seven goals down to get past Saline 13-11 in a Division 1 Regional game – Observer & Eccentric
Plymouth scored with 38 seconds to play to edge Ann Arbor Pioneer 8-7, also in Division 1 – Observer & Eccentric
Girls Soccer
Division 1 No. 2 Brighton scored with 1:01 left to play to beat No. 6 Novi 2-1 and earn the Kensington Lakes Activities Association overall title – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
Roseville came back to down Sterling Heights 5-4 and claim its first soccer league title, in the Macomb Area Conference Silver – Macomb Daily
Division 2 No. 4 Trenton finished a sweep of second-place Brownstown Woodhaven to claim the Downriver League title – Southgate News Herald
Division 3 No. 5 Grosse Ile clinched the Huron League championship with a 3-2 win over Riverview – Southgate News Herald
From Tuesday, Division 4 No. 20 Harbor Beach finished an undefeated run through the Greater Thumb Conference North with a 4-1 win over Bad Axe – Huron Daily Tribune
Softball
Parma Western’s Taylor Nichols threw a five-inning perfect game in the first of a sweep of Mason – Jackson Citizen Patriot
From Tuesday, Quincy swept Springport to lock up the Big 8 Conference title – Coldwater Daily Reporter
Also from Tuesday, Lake Odessa Lakewood earned a share of the Greater Lansing Activities Conference title, their fourth straight league crown – Ionia Sentinel-Standard
Track & Field
The Chesaning boys and Shepherd girls won Tri-Valley Conference Central championships; for Lower Peninsula Division 3 No. 6 Shepherd, it was the sixth straight – Saginaw News
Bay City Western’s girls, ranked No. 9 in LP Division 1, won their first Saginaw Valley League title in 20 years, edging No. 7 Davison by six points; Flint Carman-Ainsworth won the boys title by seven points over Western – Midland Daily News
The Breckenridge boys won their first league title in this sport since 1995 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Traverse City Central swept the boys and girls championships at the Big North Conference meet; the boys are tied for No. 7 in LP Division 1 with Traverse City West – Traverse City Record-Eagle
Good Read
Longtime sports editor Bill Broderick writes that the Big Ten should stay away from playing football on Friday nights. We couldn’t agree more – Battle Creek Enquirer