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: 8/31/15

August 31, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The final weekend of August was a giant weekend for MHSAA volleyball contenders, with some of the top regular-season events this fall providing opportunities for the best to see how they might match up when playoffs begin in two months.

Below are headlines for some of the key high school reports from across the state; the weekend’s football round-up will publish later this afternoon.  

Cross Country

Muskegon Reeths-Puffer’s Maryssa Depies set a course record of 18:11.3 to win the Big Red Invitational at McGraft Park – Muskegon Chronicle

Flint Powers Catholic’s top individual finisher came in ninth, but the Chargers girls as a team were first at the Lansing Catholic Invitational – Flint Journal

The reigning Lower Peninsula Division 2 champion Grand Rapids Christian boys repeated as winner of the prestigious Benzie Central Invitational, finishing ahead of Traverse City West and Central, while Central senior Anthony Berry won individually in 15:24 – Grand Rapids Press

Boys Soccer

Tawas, a Division 3 semifinalist last season, finished first from an Elk Rapids Invitational field that included Berkley and Saginaw Nouvel – Bay City Times

Volleyball

Lake Odessa Lakewood, last season’s Class B runner-up and the second-ranked team in that class this week, eliminated Class A No. 6 Grand Rapids Christian to win the West Michigan Volleyball Officials Association tournament for the first time in a decade – Grand Rapids Press

Class A No. 4 Grand Haven continued its perfect run at its outdoor Battle of the Boardwalk tournament, sweeping three opponents to remain undefeated through the event's third year – Grand Haven Tribune

Battle Creek Harper Creek, No. 9 in Class B, improved to 17-0 by winning the Cereal City Tournament at Pennfield with a 2-1 championship match win over Temperance Bedford, an MHSAA semifinalist last season in Class A – Battle Creek Enquirer

Good Reads

The Holland Sentinel introduced its top female athletes in that area’s history Sunday, and highlighted nationally-known softball star Kathy Arendsen and her successes during one of the MHSAA’s first Softball Finals – Holland Sentinel

Anyone who follows high school football history will enjoy going through the Muskegon Chronicle’s sampling of top-20 moments from that area’s football past – Muskegon Chronicle

More than 60 former Shepherd High School players from the last 25 seasons returned for an alumni doubleheader Sunday to honor coach Jack Nartker, who will retire after this spring – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun