Today in the MHSAA: 1/18/18

January 18, 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.

Today's Top 10 

1. Girls Basketball: Gaylord St. Mary won a matchup of Ski Valley Conference favorites and top Class D teams statewide, traveling to defeat Bellaire 41-39 – Gaylord Herald Times

2. Hockey: Detroit Catholic Central, top-ranked in Division 1, needed overtime but got past rival and Division 2 No. 5 Birmingham Brother Rice 3-2 – Oakland Press

3. Girls Basketball: Detroit Mumford held on after seeing a 15-point lead nearly dissolve, getting past Ypsilanti Arbor Prep 44-35 – Detroit News

4. Girls Basketball: Gladstone improved to 5-5 this season with a 42-33 upset of Marquette, which fell to 9-2 – Escanaba Daily Press

5. Hockey: Holland West Ottawa downed Grand Haven 4-2 for its ninth win over the last 10 games – Holland Sentinel

6. Bowling: Hudsonville swept Grand Haven in key Ottawa-Kent Conference Red matches, the boys narrowly 16-14 – Grand Haven Tribune

7. Wrestling: Division 2 No. 7 Stevensville Lakeshore ran its winning streak to 11 with a big victory over St. Joseph – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

8. Hockey: Division 2 No. 2 Hartland and Division 3 No. 7 Livonia Churchill tied 3-3, but the Eagles’ Jake Behnke made a tremendous statement with his play – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

9. Hockey: Riverview Gabriel Richard celebrated a 4-3 win over Dearborn Divine Child coming off some recent struggles against the Falcons – Southgate News Herald

10. Football: Battle Creek Harper Creek coach Mike Seedorff stepped down after leading his team to a 12-1 record in his 30th season in the program and third as head coach – Battle Creek Enquirer

Also of note …

Boys Basketball: From Tuesday, Gladstone came back from a two-point halftime deficit to beat Gwinn by 36, with junior Reece Castor scoring 26 points including the 1,000th of his career – Escanaba Daily Press

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