Today in the MHSAA: 11/5/15

November 5, 2015

Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Finalists for this season’s four MHSAA boys soccer championships were determined Wednesday, while a number of intriguing Volleyball District Finals were set up as well.

Boys Soccer

In a rematch of last season’s Division 1 Final, Canton won again over Rochester Adams, this time in an overtime shootout – Oakland Press

No. 2 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central held off No. 5 Detroit Catholic Central 3-1 in their Division 1 Semifinal – Grand Rapids Press

Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern earned its first trip to the MHSAA Finals with a 4-2 win over Mattawan in Division 2 – Grand Rapids Press

Mason’s penalty kick score with two minutes to play gave the No. 8 Bulldogs a 1-0 win over No. 4 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood in Division 2 – Lansing State Journal

No. 3 Williamston eliminated another top-five team, this time No. 5 Grosse Ile, to advance in Division 3 – Lansing State Journal

No. 2 Grand Rapids South Christian earned its fourth trip to the MHSAA Finals in six seasons with a 4-1 win over No. 10 Gladwin in Division 3 – Grand Rapids Press

Undefeated Burton Genesee Christian eliminated top-ranked Lansing Christian in a shootout in their Division 4 Semifinal – Lansing State Journal

Kalamazoo Hackett advanced to the Division 4 Final also by shootout, over Muskegon Western Michigan Christian – Kalamazoo Gazette

Volleyball

Flushing will play in its 11th straight District Final after downing St. Johns in Class A – Flint Journal

Class A No. 3 Grand Rapids Christian earned a rematch with East Grand Rapids by sweeping honorable mention East Kentwood – Grand Rapids Press

Temperance Bedford edged Saline 3-2 in a matchup of two more Class A honorable mentions – AnnArbor.com

Class B No. 7 North Branch faced league rival Frankenmuth one more time, sweeping the Eagles to earn a District Final match against No. 2 Mount Morris – Flint Journal

Class B honorable mention Buchanan set a school record with 46 wins in downing Dowagiac – Niles Daily Star

Class B honorable mention Marysville advanced by sweeping Marine City, a league champion this fall – Port Huron Times-Herald

Ithaca rightly made headlines early this fall by ending a 52-match losing streak to St. Louis, but the Sharks, an honorable mention in Class C, came away with the victory Wednesday – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Montague, No. 3 in Class C, kept building on its strong season by earning its first District Final berth since 2011 with a sweep of Hesperia – Muskegon Chronicle

From Tuesday, Manistique remained undefeated with a Class C victory over Ishpeming – Escanaba Daily Press

Today in the MHSAA: 11/9/15

November 9, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Cross Country and Boys Soccer Finals, plus a few remaining Volleyball District championship games and girls swimming and diving league meets made this the most eventful weekend of the school year to date.

Cross Country

Rockford’s boys repeated in Lower Peninsula Division 1, while Birmingham Seaholm’s girls won their third title in four seasons – Second Half Girls | Boys

The Otsego girls and Hamilton’s Erika Freyhof both were first-time champions in LP Division 2, while Algonac senior Morgan Beadlescomb repeated as individual boys champion and Fremont dominated to claim that team title – Second Half Girls | Boys

Lansing Catholic’s boys and Grandville Calvin Christian’s Abe Visser claimed the first team and individual titles in their programs’ respective histories, while Traverse City St. Francis’ Holly Bullough repeated as LP Division 3 champion in helping the Gladiators win the team title as well – Second Half Girls | Boys

Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart turned in arguably the most dominating Finals performance in Division 4 history, while Saugatuck’s boys moved up from runners-up in 2014 to champions – Second Half Girls | Boys

Boys Soccer

Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central capped an undefeated season with a Division 1 championship win over reigning champion Canton – Second Half

Mason won its first MHSAA title since 1997 with a comeback win over Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern – Second Half

Grand Rapids South Christian is Division 3 champion once again thanks to a shootout victory over Williamston – Second Half

Burton Genesee Christian completed a perfect season by winning the Division 4 title – Second Half

Girls Swimming and Diving

LP Division 3 No. 4 St. Clair broke four school records in winning the Macomb Area Conference White championship meet – Port Huron Times-Herald

LP Division 3 honorable mention Spring Lake set six school records in winning the Coastal Conference meet with 67 personal-best times – Grand Haven Tribune

Midland Dow won its 10th straight Saginaw Valley League championship, edging Saginaw Heritage by 18 points – Midland Daily News

LP Division 1 No. 6 Brighton won its second straight Kensington Lakes Activities Association Lakes championship meet with three meet records – Livingston Daily

Volleyball

Class B honorable mention Tecumseh swept Brooklyn Columbia Central to win their District and improve to 45-4-1 – Adrian Daily Telegram

Class B No. 5 Cadillac swept Kingsley to win its 10th straight District championship – Cadillac News

Also in Class B, Sault Ste. Marie needed five sets to get past Kalkaska and win the District title – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News

From Thursday, Fulton beat Fowler to win its first District title since 2001 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Crystal Falls Forest Park, honorable mention in Class D, won its District for an incredible 16th straight season – Iron Mountain Daily News

Good Read

The Benton Harbor football program got plenty of excellent coverage heading into the weekend’s District Final against Zeeland West – but here’s a story about what's next now that the Tigers’ season is done – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium