Today in the MHSAA: 11/3/16
November 3, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The four MHSAA Boys Soccer Finals are set thanks to some exciting Semifinal play Wednesday, while Volleyball Districts finished up their third day of six with a couple of notable comebacks.
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.
Boys Soccer
East Kentwood, No. 19 in Division 1, earned its fifth Finals berth over the last decade with a 1-0 win over No. 14 Novi – Grand Rapids Press
No. 6 Troy Athens took down unranked Rochester in a shootout to win 2-1 and advance in Division 1 – Oakland Press
Dearborn Divine Child won a matchup of unranked teams, downing Fenton 2-0 to advance to the Division 2 Final – Detroit Free Press
Mattawan, No. 12 in Division 2, upset top-ranked East Lansing 2-0 – Kalamazoo Gazette
Top-ranked Grand Rapids Catholic Central topped No. 13 Charlevoix to advance to its first MHSAA Final, in Division 3 – Grand Rapids Press
No. 4 Flint Powers Catholic just got past No. 13 Lansing Catholic to secure a spot in the Division 3 championship game – Flint Powers
Unranked Muskegon Catholic Central continued its unexpected run with a 4-3 overtime win over No. 18 Kalamazoo Hackett in Division 4 – Kalamazoo Gazette
Reigning Division 4 champion and current No. 6 Burton Genesee Christian upended No. 3 Ann Arbor Greenhills – Flint Journal
Volleyball
Lowell came back from a two-set deficit to edge Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central in five in a match between Class A honorable mentions – Grand Rapids Press
Class B honorable mention Saginaw Swan Valley swept No. 10 Frankenmuth – Saginaw News
Essexville Garber’s Marlee Bromberg set a school record for kills in the Dukes’ 3-1 win over Bay City John Glenn in Class B – Bay City Times
Class C honorable mention Calumet dropped the first set to rival Hancock before coming back to advance – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
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