Today in the MHSAA: 1/15/16
January 15, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Thursday provided a substantial appetizer for another big weekend with key basketball games, noteworthy swimming and diving finishes and a milestone wrestling victory.
Boys Basketball
Clarkston earned a key Oakland Activities Association Red edge with a win over similarly state-ranked North Farmington, 60-47 – Oakland Press
Frankfort earned a similarly important win in Northwest Conference play, winning a matchup of Class D ranked teams 65-55 over Buckley – Traverse City Record-Eagle
For the second straight day, a basketball team made an incredible comeback; this time, it was East Jackson building off a 21-2 deficit at the end of the first quarter to beat Napoleon 42-39 – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
Olivet junior Delbert Redfield made nine of 11 3-point tries and scored 33 points total to lead the Eagles to a 73-55 win over Lansing Christian – MLive Lansing
Girls Basketball
Warren Cousino handed Grosse Pointe North the latter’s first loss this season, 64-58, to move to 9-1 overall – Macomb Daily
Boys Swimming & Diving
Lower Peninsula Division 3 honorable mention Spring Lake downed No. 4 Hamilton, No. 5 Grand Rapids Christian and Division 2 honorable mention Holland in its best meet of a strong run so far – Grand Haven Tribune
Wrestling
Leslie defeated Olivet (and also lost to Lake Odessa Lakewood) on Thursday, giving Blackhawks coach Todd Stern his 400th career win since taking over as head coach in 1987 – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
Good Reads
Battle of the Fans V kicks off tonight with our first visit to Yale, a finalist as well in 2015 – Port Huron Times-Herald
Grand Haven’s basketball teams will return to their former gym now part of Lakeshore Middle School – Pirates Pit – on Feb. 6 and for the first time since 2007 as the high school gym will be used for the league wrestling meet – Grand Haven Tribune
Vanderbilt’s boys basketball team has one win this season, but it was the first in nearly two years and a testament to the rebuilding of the program under first-year coach Darren Conn and assistant Amie Byelich – Petoskey News
Today in the MHSAA: 2/11/16
February 11, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The first MHSAA postseason of 2016 kicked off Wednesday with wrestling Team Districts, and a couple of significant basketball upsets also topped the headlines from the night’s action.
Boys Basketball
Detroit Collegiate Prep upset reigning Class A champion Detroit Western International in the Detroit Public School League Quarterfinals, 64-63, on a basket with less than a second to play – Detroit Free Press
Bridgeport handed rival Frankenmuth the Eagles’ first loss this season, 55-52, after Frankenmuth won their first meeting in double overtime – Saginaw News
Alex Thomas scored 30 points including the 1,000th of his career in Morenci’s 92-56 win over Whitmore Lake – Adrian Daily Telegram
From Tuesday, reigning Class D champ Powers North Central extended its winning streak to 40 with a nail-biting 64-60 win over Menominee – Escanaba Daily Press
Girls Basketball
Katie Spalding grabbed a school-record 25 rebounds to go with 10 points in Quincy’s 49-40 win over Reading – Coldwater Daily Reporter
Ice Hockey
Midland Dow made it two wins over rival Midland this season, adding a 3-1 victory to its previous 5-4 win – Midland Daily News
Swimming & Diving
Also from Tuesday, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix’s Ryan Mullen broke the school’s diving record that had stood since 1978 with a score of 254.9 against Portage Northern – Kalamazoo Gazette
Wrestling
Greenville finished behind Cedar Springs in their league this season, but won the rematch 35-34 to earn an 11th straight District title – Grand Rapids Press
Allegan extended its District title streak to 13 straight with big wins over Plainwell and Hamilton – Grand Rapids Press
Remus Chippewa Hills won its 12th straight District championship, downing Big Rapids in the Final – Big Rapids News
Vandercook won its first wrestling team District title in 27 years, downing Hanover-Horton in the Final – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
Division 2 No. 3 St. Johns downed No. 2 DeWitt 35-27 in arguably the biggest matchup statewide to open the tournament – Lansing State Journal
The final matchup of rivals Niles and Stevensville Lakeshore this season went to Lakeshore by tie-breaker criteria – Niles Daily Star