Today in the MHSAA: 11/1/18

November 1, 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.

The Boys Soccer Finals field is set after a night that saw nearly half of the Semifinals go to overtime and the winner of our No. 1 game below advance to the season’s final game for the first time.

1. Boys Soccer: No. 2 Leland will play in its first MHSAA championship game in this sport after defeating No. 3 Kalamazoo Hackett 3-2 in a Division 4 Semifinal – Traverse City Record-Eagle

2. Boys Soccer: Detroit Country Day downed No. 9 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood 2-1 in overtime to advance in Division 2 – Oakland Press

3. Boys Soccer: Reigning champion (but unranked) Ann Arbor Greenhills will play for the Division 4 title again after a 1-0 win over No. 4 Burton Genesee Christian – WJRT

4. Boys Soccer: No. 10 Ann Arbor Skyline got past Warren DeLaSalle 2-1 in overtime of a Division 1 Semifinal – We Love Ann Arbor

5. Boys Soccer: No. 2 Hudsonville Unity Christian is headed back to the Division 3 Final after a 4-0 win over No. 9 Ludington – Grand Rapids Press

6. Boys Soccer: Top-ranked Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern also won a Division 2 Semifinal in overtime, downing Richland Gull Lake – WZZM

7. Boys Soccer: Top-ranked Grosse Ile will play for the Division 3 title after beating Macomb Lutheran North 2-0 – Southgate News-Herald

8. Boys Soccer: East Kentwood scored the game’s lone goal in the second half of a 1-0 Division 1 Semifinal win over Grand Blanc – Grand Rapids Press

9. Volleyball: No. 7 North Muskegon came back from losing the first set to defeat honorable mention Muskegon Western Michigan Christian 3-1 in a Division 3 District Semifinal Local Sports Journal

10. Volleyball: Honorable mention Vandercook Lake swept East Jackson in Division 3 to set up a chance to win its first District title since 1983 – Jackson Citizen Patriot

Today in the MHSAA: 12/20/18

December 20, 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.

Teams are getting in their final competitions before at least a brief holiday break, and we’re taking one too after today’s list – “Today” will return Jan. 7, although Second Half will continue publishing stories from all over the state during the final week of December and first of January.  

1. Boys Basketball: Gaylord St. Mary broke a 31-game, 14-year losing streak to Bellaire with a 29-26 win – Gaylord Herald Times

2. Boys Basketball: Camden-Frontier improved to 7-0 by handing a first loss to Reading, 57-46 – Hillsdale Daily News

3. Hockey: Evan MacDonald had a hat trick as Division 1 No. 5 Brighton downed reigning Division 3 runner-up Livonia Churchill 4-1 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

4. Boys Basketball: Mancelona gave Pellston its first loss of this season, 67-65 – Petoskey News-Review

5. Girls Basketball: Waterford Our Lady made a late run to get past Pontiac Notre Dame Prep 61-56 – Oakland Press

6. Wrestling: Grand Haven came back from a 24-0 deficit to defeat Caledonia 39-33 – Grand Haven Tribune

7. Gymnastics: Escanaba remained undefeated to start the season with wins over Marquette and Negaunee – Escanaba Daily Press

8. Boys Basketball: Portland St. Patrick closed on a 22-5 run to beat Fowler 52-42 – Ionia Sentinel-Standard

9. Hockey: Brendan Pellerito had 34 saves as Mattawan shut out Portage Northern 4-0 – JoeInsider.com

10. Wrestling: Division 4 top-ranked Hudson earned a pair of league wins over Blissfield and Onsted – Adrian Daily Telegram

Also of note …

Hockey: The status of high school hockey is on the rise with talent evaluators at the game’s next levels – Observer & Eccentric

Tennis: Longtime coach Paul Bandrowski retired after leading Traverse City St. Francis’ girls and boys teams to a number of strong MHSAA Finals finishes – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Girls Basketball: From Tuesday, Eaton Rapids came back to stun Jackson Northwest 44-41, but the Mounties’ Sydney Shafer went over 1,000 career points – Jackson Citizen Patriot

Boys Swimming & Diving: From Tuesday, Lower Peninsula Division 1 No. 2 Ann Arbor Skyline edged LPD2 top-ranked Dexter 95-90 – We Love Ann Arbor