Today in the MHSAA: 1/19/16
January 19, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
An action-filled weekend included basketball milestones and matchups of Michigan’s top high school wrestling teams in a preview of what we might see at next month’s MHSAA Team Finals.
Girls Basketball
Ellen Doyle scored her 1,000th career point as Gobles improved to 79-5 during her four seasons by downing Saugatuck 42-19 – Grand Rapids Press
Three days after falling for the first time this season, to St. Johns, Haslett came back to deal rival DeWitt its first loss of the winter – Lansing State Journal
Farmington Hills Harrison moved to 9-1 by handing Clarkston its first loss of the season, 54-45 – Detroit Free Press
Jazmin Hildebrand became the first 1,000-point scorer in Martin history and also grabbed 20 rebounds in her team’s 70-48 win over Bloomingdale – Kalamazoo Gazette
Longtime Ithaca coach Bob Anderson, who earlier this season won his 700th game and coached 1,146 girls and boys games combined, retired because of health reasons with his team 9-0; he reportedly had a stroke in 2014 and brain surgery last year – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Boys Basketball
Demetrius Lake scored a Holland record 50 points and made the game winning 3-pointer to get the Dutch past Zeeland West 69-68 – Holland Sentinel
Detroit Allen upended previously-undefeated River Rouge in only a slight upset, 58-47 – MLive-Detroit
Bowling
Macomb L’Anse Creuse North’s Samantha Gainor rolled five games of 200 or higher to win the Macomb County Championships girls singles title Sunday – Macomb Daily
St. Clair Shores Lake Shore’s Nathan Kuffer won matches by six and then 18 pins to claim the boys singles title at the Macomb County Championships – Macomb Daily
Wrestling
Central Michigan University’s McGuirk Arena hosted four of the top teams in Division 1 on Sunday; Detroit Catholic Central swept matches over Hartland and Grandville, and the top-ranked Eagles finished their day downing No. 2 Davison by a point – Livingston Daily
Also at CMU on Sunday, Division 3 No. 5 Remus Chippewa Hills downed the top two teams in Division 4, Hudson and New Lothrop – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
On Saturday, Dundee won the Hudson Super 16 ahead of field of elite teams including the host Tigers – Adrian Daily Telegram
Today in the MHSAA: 10/15/15
October 15, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Championship are won on a seemingly daily basis in October, and plenty were earned and celebrated Wednesday – but please also check out some great reads at the bottom of this list, including a look at why specialization is increasing as a nationwide concern.
Cross Country
The Saugatuck girls, ranked No. 2 in Lower Peninsula Division 4, won their ninth straight Southwestern Athletic Conference title with 12 runners earning all-league honors – Grand Rapids Press
Boys Soccer
LP Division 2 No. 5 East Lansing capped an impressive run through the Capital Area Activities Conference Gold Cup by winning the final 3-1 over Grand Ledge – Lansing State Journal
LP Division 1 No. 15 East Kentwood secured its 12th Ottawa-Kent Conference Red title in 13 seasons with a 1-0 win over Grandville, helped in part by a pair of players whose ties the program go back to the early years of the run – Grand Rapids Press
LP Division 1 No. 7 Utica Ford shut out No. 14 Fraser to clinch the Macomb Area Conference Red championship – Macomb Daily
Unranked Birmingham Brother Rice stunned LP Division 1 No. 3 Detroit Catholic Central 2-1 in the championship game of the Detroit Catholic League A-B tournament – Oakland Press
LP Division 4 No. 11 Charlevoix clinched a share of the Lake Michigan Conference title with a 3-0 win over Grayling, thanks to a hat trick by Walker Drost – Charlevoix Courier
Saginaw Heritage scored the first goal Flint Powers Catholic had given up since Sept. 12, but the Chargers emerged with a 2-1 win and the overall Saginaw Valley League championship – Flint Journal
Volleyball
Lansing Catholic won the first volleyball league championship in its long history, beating Fowlerville in three sets to claim a share of the CAAC White title – Lansing State Journal
Good Reads
Single-sport specialization has become a topic of national focus and concern, and MHSAA Executive Director Jack Roberts was among association directors talked to for this report on why it’s a health-related issue and how states are working to promote multi-sport participation instead – NFHS.org
Vandercook Lake is enjoying its best football season in 45 years and plays for a league title this weekend, and is led by a three-sport athlete who has been on a long road back after Crohn’s disease led to his shedding 90 pounds only two years ago – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
The Christmas tree standing tall in front of the Capitol in Lansing this winter will come from Wakefield thanks to a donation by Florence Daniels in honor of her husband Jim, who coached Wakefield High's boys basketball team to 355 wins, 12 district the five regional titles in 28 seasons. He also was a member of Channing High’s Upper Peninsula championship team in 1944 and coached Al Inkala, who went on to become an MHSAA championship-winning girls tennis coach at Okemos – Lansing State Journal