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: 11/3/15

November 3, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Monday saw the first games of this season’s MHSAA Volleyball Tournament – and with those, a number of key matches including a few that came down to the final set.

Volleyball

Class A No. 4 Lake Orion swept honorable mention Clarkston, guaranteeing an end to the Wolves’ string of eight straight District championships – Oakland Press

Portage Central won a matchup of Class A honorable mentions, sweeping Niles 3-0 in their opener – Kalamazoo Gazette

Class B top-ranked Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard started what it hopes will be a title run with a sweep of No. 10 Chelsea – AnnArbor.com

Class B honorable mentions Coopersville and Fruitport also met in an opener, with Coopersville coming away with a sweep – Grand Rapids Press

Also in Class B, Essexville Garber won a battle of Tri-Valley Conference teams, claiming the fifth game 15-12 to win the match 3-2 – Saginaw News

Concord lost the first two sets to Hanover-Horton in their Class C opener, but came back to win 3-2 – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Good Read

We’ve heard a few stories like this in the past, but they never get old. Algonac’s Morgan Beadlescomb is one of the top cross country runners in Michigan and won the Lower Peninsula Division 2 title last season – and last week, pulled St. Clair’s Jack Keais to the latter's first sub-16 minute finish – Port Huron Times-Herald