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: 5/23/17
May 23, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The last week of the regular season for most in baseball, golf, soccer and softball got rolling with a bevy of championship matchups, both for high-powered leagues and across regions – with Gaylord’s boys golf team continuing an especially impressive tournament run.
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
Byron Center won the second game of a split with No. 2-ranked Holland Christian, 3-2, to win the Ottawa-Kent Conference Green title ahead of the reigning Division 2 champion – Holland Sentinel
Detroit Western International came back from a 3-0 deficit to win its 10th straight Detroit Public School League championship with a 5-4 victory over Detroit Martin Luther King – Detroit News
Mount Pleasant held on to first place in the Saginaw Valley League, but now only shares the lead with Midland after splitting with Division 1 No. 19 Saginaw Heritage – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
St. Johns opened the 56th Capital Diamond Classic with a 5-4 eight-inning win over Division 4 No. 6 Fowler – Lansing State Journal
Girls Golf
Upper Peninsula Division 1 Houghton continued its latest surge with another invitational title Monday, this time at L’Anse Golf Club with Kaaren Liston shooting a 43 to finish first individually – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
Boys Golf
Charlevoix locked up the Lake Michigan Conference championship shooting a 322 at Grayling Country Club – Petoskey News-Review
LP Division 2 No. 3 Gaylord upped its winning streak to eight straight tournaments with a victory at the Traverse City Central Invitational – Gaylord Herald Times
Girls Soccer
Division 3 No. 10 Birch Run shut out No. 9 Frankenmuth 1-0 to regain a share of first place in the Tri-Valley Conference East – Saginaw News
Plainwell got past Division 3 No. 11 Otsego 3-0 to claim a share of the Wolverine Conference title – Kalamazoo Gazette
No. 17 New Baltimore Anchor Bay upset No. 2 Utica Eisenhower in a meeting of top teams in the Macomb Area Conference Red and statewide Division 1 – Macomb Daily
Division 1 No. 7 Rochester Adams downed Rochester 2-0 to claim the Oakland Activities Association Red title – Oakland Press
From Saturday, Division 4 No. 7 Madison Heights Bishop Foley got past No. 20 Royal Oak Shrine 1-0 in the Catholic League Division II-III title game – Oakland Press
Softball
Division 3 No. 4 Napoleon broke up a close game in the fifth inning in downing Parma Western 5-0 to win the Al Glick Tournament at Spring Arbor – Jackson Citizen Patriot
Division 2 honorable mention Eaton Rapids followed the shutout pitching of freshman Grace Lehto to the Mid-Michigan area’s Softball Classic championship with a 4-0 win over Grand Ledge – Lansing State Journal
Houghton and Lake Linden-Hubbell combined for 60 runs over a doubleheader, the Lakes winning the first game 20-15 and the Gremlins the second 14-11 – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
Warren Regina won a matchup of recent state powers, downing Farmington Hills Mercy 14-6 to claim the Detroit Catholic League A-B championship – Macomb Daily
Division 4 honorable mention Waterford Our Lady downed Wixom St. Catherine 5-0 in the Catholic League C-D final thanks to a no-hitter by Hannah Davies – Oakland Press
Division 2 No. 6 Stevensville Lakeshore swept Niles to claim the outright Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference West title – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium
Track & Field
From the weekend, the LP Division 1 top-ranked Rockford girls clinched their 20th straight Regional title finishing ahead of Okemos and Grand Ledge in Division 1 – Grand Rapids Press
Good Read
Born without a left hand, Stockbridge freshman pitcher Carson Robinson has always shown plenty of determination and had his share of success. This spring, he has dominated on the mound – after also playing football and basketball this school year – Lansing State Journal