Today in the MHSAA: 1/15/19

January 15, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

A matchup of two of the north’s top girls basketball teams plus rivalry games in hoops and hockey highlighted Monday’s action across the state.

1. Girls Basketball: Kingsley won a matchup of league leaders, downing Manton 66-40 – WPBN

2. Hockey: Division 3 No. 6 Houghton poured in four goals during the third period to get past Hancock 6-1 – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

3. Girls Basketball: Charlevoix won a matchup of first-place teams in the Lake Michigan Conference, 56-32 over Elk Rapids – Petoskey News-Review

4. Skiing: Gaylord’s Reagan Olli won both slalom and giant slalom at the Big North Conference competition at Crystal Mountain; Petoskey’s boys and Traverse City Central’s girls finished first among teams – Traverse City Record-Eagle

5. Boys Basketball: Justus Clark made both free throws with a tenth of a second to play to get North Farmington past Farmington High 41-39 – C&G Newspapers

6. Boys Basketball: Buchanan came back from 10 points down to defeat Constantine 59-51 – JoeInsider.com

7. Girls Basketball: Coleman made a last-second stop to outlast Tawas 35-34 – Midland Daily News

8. Girls Basketball: Sanford Meridian came back from a five-point halftime deficit to down Breckenridge 48-33 – Midland Daily News

9. Boys Basketball: Rapid River made 57 percent of its shots from the field in a 68-54 win over Powers North Central – Escanaba Daily Press

10. Bowling: Grand Haven’s girls downed East Kentwood’s 27-3, while the boys teams tied in league competition – Grand Haven Tribune

Also of note …

Wrestling: From Saturday, Division 1 No. 2 Brighton downed No. 4 Hartland to claim the Kensington Lakes Activities Association West championship – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

Today in the MHSAA: 12/20/18

December 20, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Each weekday of the school year, we break down the top headlines courtesy of Michigan’s sports media.

Teams are getting in their final competitions before at least a brief holiday break, and we’re taking one too after today’s list – “Today” will return Jan. 7, although Second Half will continue publishing stories from all over the state during the final week of December and first of January.  

1. Boys Basketball: Gaylord St. Mary broke a 31-game, 14-year losing streak to Bellaire with a 29-26 win – Gaylord Herald Times

2. Boys Basketball: Camden-Frontier improved to 7-0 by handing a first loss to Reading, 57-46 – Hillsdale Daily News

3. Hockey: Evan MacDonald had a hat trick as Division 1 No. 5 Brighton downed reigning Division 3 runner-up Livonia Churchill 4-1 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

4. Boys Basketball: Mancelona gave Pellston its first loss of this season, 67-65 – Petoskey News-Review

5. Girls Basketball: Waterford Our Lady made a late run to get past Pontiac Notre Dame Prep 61-56 – Oakland Press

6. Wrestling: Grand Haven came back from a 24-0 deficit to defeat Caledonia 39-33 – Grand Haven Tribune

7. Gymnastics: Escanaba remained undefeated to start the season with wins over Marquette and Negaunee – Escanaba Daily Press

8. Boys Basketball: Portland St. Patrick closed on a 22-5 run to beat Fowler 52-42 – Ionia Sentinel-Standard

9. Hockey: Brendan Pellerito had 34 saves as Mattawan shut out Portage Northern 4-0 – JoeInsider.com

10. Wrestling: Division 4 top-ranked Hudson earned a pair of league wins over Blissfield and Onsted – Adrian Daily Telegram

Also of note …

Hockey: The status of high school hockey is on the rise with talent evaluators at the game’s next levels – Observer & Eccentric

Tennis: Longtime coach Paul Bandrowski retired after leading Traverse City St. Francis’ girls and boys teams to a number of strong MHSAA Finals finishes – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Girls Basketball: From Tuesday, Eaton Rapids came back to stun Jackson Northwest 44-41, but the Mounties’ Sydney Shafer went over 1,000 career points – Jackson Citizen Patriot

Boys Swimming & Diving: From Tuesday, Lower Peninsula Division 1 No. 2 Ann Arbor Skyline edged LPD2 top-ranked Dexter 95-90 – We Love Ann Arbor