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: 4/13/16
April 13, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
As spring sports began picking up the pace with the warmer weather Tuesday, communities also celebrated lives of those now passed, including a statewide voice of high school sports.
Baseball
Big Rapids and Morley Stanwood wasted little time getting their offenses going, with Big Rapids coming out on top 19-14 in the only game of a doubleheader that got in before dark – Big Rapids News
Mount Pleasant got a no-hitter and two-hitter from its pitchers in a season-opening sweep of Midland Dow – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Pitchers Brandon Reed and Caleb Wascher each had 13 strikeouts as Millington swept Montrose 4-3 and 6-1 – Saginaw News
Boys Lacrosse
Birmingham Brother Rice survived another close game with rival Detroit Country Day, this time 8-3 – Oakland Press
Softball
Utica Ford, a regular contender at the statewide level, downed reigning Division 1 champion Warren Regina 14-4 – Macomb Daily
Stevensville Lakeshore downed Edwardsburg 13-3 in its first game of the season, but Edwardsburg stormed back with a 17-4 win over the annual MHSAA title contender – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium
Good Reads
Paul Carey was best known as a voice of the Detroit Tigers for a generation. But he also played a major role in Michigan high school sports, as we wrote about in 2014. Carey died Tuesday at 88 – Detroit News
Lacrosse rivals Battle Creek Lakeview and Harper Creek played each other with a common motivation Tuesday – to raise money and offer support for the family of Harlyn Radley, a local 6-year-old who died in a car crash in February – Battle Creek Enquirer