Today in the MHSAA: 11/29/17

November 29, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

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

Today's Top 10 

1. Girls Basketball: Walled Lake Western broke away late for a 56-51 win over Southfield Arts & Technology, which made the Class A Semifinals last season – Oakland Press

2. Hockey: Division 3 No. 3 Hancock came back from a two-goal deficit in the first period to get past neighbor and No. 7 Houghton 4-2 – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

3. Girls Basketball: Two-time reigning Class D champion Pittsford opened something of a new chapter with a 50-37 win over Hudson led by a couple of last year’s contributors in bigger roles – Hillsdale Daily News

4. Girls Basketball: Benzonia Benzie Central opened with a 68-33 win over a Cadillac team coming off a Quarterfinal appearance last season – Traverse City Record-Eagle

5. Girls Basketball: Cedarville came back from a five-point deficit with 90 seconds to play to beat Hillman 44-41 in overtime – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News

6. Girls Basketball: After suffering its only regular season loss last winter to Constantine on opening night, Centreville started 1-0 with a 45-31 win over the Falcons – Sturgis Journal

7. Girls Basketball: Reed City outscored Leroy Pine River 16-2 in the third quarter to come back from a halftime deficit and win 37-35 – Manistee News Advocate

8. Hockey: Division 2 No. 8 Marquette put up an impressive 4-0 win over rival Escanaba – Marquette Mining Journal

9. Football: The official formation of a 16-team Western Peninsula Athletic Conference will lead to the end of the Iron Mountain/Kingsford football rivalry after 93 years, two weeks after it was announced that the league schedule wouldn’t leave an opportunity for the 123-year Marquette/Negaunee rivalry to continue; the teams reportedly are forming the league to ensure they have full schedules – Iron Mountain Daily News

10. Football: We always applaud teams that schedule tough, and reigning Division 3 champion Muskegon will do so again in 2018 with Division 2 champion Warren DeLaSalle and semifinalist Detroit Martin Luther King added to the schedule for the first two weeks, respectively – Muskegon Chronicle

Today in the MHSAA: 1/5/16

January 5, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Winter sports return in force with a full slate of events statewide tonight, but here are a few headlines of note as we get rolling – plus two great reads from the wrestling world.

Boys Basketball

Ishpeming in recent seasons has scheduled its first basketball games later than other teams to offset the football team’s four straight runs to the MHSAA Finals at Ford Field – but the Hematites were one of the first to play in 2016 and came away with a 74-72 win over Gladstone to move to 2-0 – Marquette Mining Journal

Girls Bowling

From Sunday, two-time reigning Division 2 champion Flint Kearsley got past 2015 Division 1 finalist Jackson to win the Lila Jean Furnish Classic in Owosso, which included a number of the state’s top teams – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Good Reads

When Clinton wrestler Nick Rolland was 3, his parents were told to say their good-byes after he was pulled from under a running lawn mower. But doctors were able to save his life, and then his leg, and this weekend he’ll wrestle for his 100th career win – Adrian Daily Telegram

Hastings wrestling coach Mike Goggins started out as an athlete for the Saxons, later coached at the middle school and now also is the high school athletic director – and owner of more than 400 varsity coaching wins after reaching that milestone during the Montrose Invitational on Dec. 29 – Grand Rapids Press