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

Did You See That? (April 29-May 5)

May 7, 2013

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The resignation of one of Michigan's winningest boys basketball coaches made arguably the biggest headlines during a week that also saw sad news about two more coaches who will be remembered fondly in their respective communities. 

But before we get to those, here's also a look at the story of another coach making his way back from a challenging situation: 

Good Read of the Week

DeWitt welcomed back by his teams: Last Monday's Holland Calvary vs. Holland Freedom Christian baseball doubleheader at Fifth Third Ballpark was more than just a chance to play some big games on a bigger-than-usual stage. The teams also welcomed coach Lanny DeWitt, who coaches basketball at Calvary and baseball and Freedom Christian and is recovering from a stroke suffered March 20. (Holland Sentinel)

Boys Basketball/Volleyball

Keener leaves for Arizona: Detroit Country Day boys basketball coach Kurt Keener – whose 678 victories are second in MHSAA history only to legendary River Rouge coach Lofton Greene – announced he was leaving Country Day after 35 years Friday to move to Arizona, where he will coach a high school team in Scottsdale. Keener led Country Day this winter to its ninth MHSAA boys hoops title. (Oakland Press)

Mona Shores hires veteran leaders: Muskegon Mona Shores announced Wednesday that it hired former Muskegon Community College athletic director and men’s basketball coach Gene Gifford to take over its boys hoops program, and former Fruitport coach Dan Potts to take over the volleyball program. Potts led Fruitport to the 2005 MHSAA Class B championship. (Muskegon Chronicle)

Girls Basketball

Detroit mourns Knott: The Detroit Public School League and its basketball community are mourning the death of recently-retired Detroit Cody girls hoops coach Charles Knott, who was reportedly shot and killed Tuesday. Knott – hired at Cody in 1988 – was a graduate of Detroit Southeastern and also coached softball during his tenure.  (Detroit News)

Softball

D2 powers split: Division 2 No. 4 Coloma and honorable mention Portland split a doubleheader Wednesday. Portland won the first 1-0 before Coloma handed the Raiders their first loss this season, 2-1. (Ionia Sentinel-Standard)

Stevenson surges: Sterling Heights Stevenson moved up to No. 1 in Division 1 this week in part because of a split Saturday against previously top-ranked and now No. 5-Mattawan. (Kalamazoo Gazette)

Boys Golf

Lansing Catholic dominates: The Cougars, keyed by senior Jacob Johnson and junior Brent Marshall, won Friday’s Capital Area Activities Conference Open by nine strokes over East Lansing. The event matches the teams from all four divisions of the CAAC, which currently includes four top 10-ranked teams including Division 2 No. 1 Haslett and Lansing Catholic – which is No. 1 in Division 3.  (Lansing State Journal)

Lakeview cards record: Battle Creek Lakeview shot a 290 during the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Association Championships last week at Island Hills Golf Club in Centreville, breaking the previous team record of 295 shot in 2010. Lakeview is ranked No. 5 in Division 1. (Battle Creek Enquirer)

Girls Track and Field

Bark River-Harris reigns in Central U.P.: The Broncos – who finished ninth at last season’s MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 3 Final – clinched their second Central Upper Peninsula Conference title in three seasons Tuesday by edging Rapid River by nine points and Eben Junction Superior Central by 43. Superior Central was runner-up at that MHSAA Division 3 Final last spring.  (Escanaba Daily Press)

Boys Track and Field

Algonac tops at Muskrat Classic: Algonac not only won the Division 2 portion of its annual invitational, but scored 100 points to top all of the Division 1 schools as well. (Port Huron Times-Herald)

Baseball

Hessbrook throws third no-hitter: Ithaca’s Logan Hessbrook threw not only his third no-hitter of the season Thursday, but his second straight as the Yellowjackets downed St. Charles 15-0 and then 4-0 in a doubleheader. He had seven strikeouts in seven innings. (Saginaw News)

DCC gains big split: Unranked Detroit Catholic Central earned a 9-8 win over No. 3 Birmingham Brother Rice on Thursday before falling 4-1 in the second game. (Mlive Detroit)

Football

Williams heads to Ypsilanti: Lamanzer Williams – who played at the University of Minnesota and also has served as football coach at Kalamazoo Central and Inkster – has resigned as Holland High football coach after one season to become athletic director at the new Ypsilanti Community High School. (AnnArbor.com)

Grand Rapids mourns Julian: Former Grand Rapids West Catholic and Grand Rapids Community College football coach Fred Julian died Saturday after a battle against prostate cancer. The Detroit Pershing grad taught and coached at West Catholic for 16 seasons and also played professionally for the old American Football League’s New York Titans. (Grand Rapids Press)

Wrestling

Boyer nears end at Pennfield: Larry Boyer, who led Battle Creek Pennfield's wrestling team to a 1992 MHSAA title, will retire from the school after this spring and 36 years including the last 13 as athletic director. He also has coached football and track and field. (Battle Creek Enquirer)