Today in the MHSAA: 11/9/18

November 9, 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.

Thursday’s 32 Volleyball Regional Finals saw the elimination of 12 top-10 teams but all eight contenders ranked No. 1 or 2 move on as next week’s Quarterfinals were set.

1. Volleyball: No. 2 Pontiac Notre Dame Prep downed No. 3 North Branch in a power-packed Division 2 Regional title matchup – Oakland Press

2. Volleyball: Reigning Class C champion and current top-ranked Bronson moved on in Division 3 with a 3-2 Regional title win over No. 3 Schoolcraft – Sturgis Journal

3. Volleyball: Top-ranked Farmington Hills Mercy continued its run this fall over rival and No. 6 Bloomfield Hills Marian with a Division 1 Regional Final sweep – Oakland Press

4. Volleyball: Unranked Richland Gull Lake avenged two sweeps by No. 3 Mattawan this season with a 3-1 Regional Final win in Division 1 – Kalamazoo Gazette

5. Volleyball: No. 2 Lake Orion swept league rival and No. 9 Rochester Hills Stoney Creek for a Division 1 Regional title – Oakland Press

6. Volleyball: No. 2 Mendon came back from dropping the first set to clinch a Division 4 Regional title with a four-set win over No. 5 Battle Creek St. Philip – Sturgis Journal

7. Volleyball: Honorable mention Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian continued a title-filled run with a 3-1 win over No. 7 North Muskegon in a Division 3 Regional Final – Grand Rapids Press

8. Volleyball: No. 7 Adrian Lenawee Christian came back from a two-set deficit to down No. 3 Camden-Frontier in a Division 4 Regional Final – Adrian Daily Telegram

9. Volleyball: Honorable mention Onaway came back from losing the first set to upset No. 10 Rudyard in five in a Division 4 Regional Final – Alpena News

10. Volleyball: Kingsley won its first Regional since 2009 and ended Cadillac’s streak at nine with a sweep in a Division 2 matchup of honorable mention teams – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Also of note …

Volleyball: No. 5 Manchester swept Bath in Division 3 to earn its first Regional title in 25 years – Jackson Citizen Patriot

Volleyball: Kingston downed No. 8 Merrill in Division 4 to clinch its first Regional title in this sport – Saginaw News

Football: Central Lake coach Rob Heeke has announced his retirement; he led the team to the 8-player Division 1 title in 2017 – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Today in the MHSAA: 12/9/19

December 9, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Matchups of a number of the state’s anticipated girls basketball best topped a weekend list full of high achievers with hockey, bowling and swimming & diving also contributing to the headliners.

1. Girls Basketball: Reigning Division 3 champion Pewamo-Westphalia downed last season’s Division 1 runner-up Southfield Arts & Technology 43-31 at the Arbor Prep Ice Breaker Challenge – State Champs Sports Network

2. Girls Basketball: Hart earned its first win since 2004 over eight-time reigning West Michigan Conference champion Muskegon Oakridge, 56-34 – Local Sports Journal

3. Girls Basketball: Hartland handed a 61-40 loss to two-time reigning Division 4/Class D champion Adrian Lenawee Christian at Arbor Prep – Adrian Daily Telegram

4. Hockey: Traverse City Central took wins of 4-3 over Division 3 No. 8 Houghton and 7-2 over No. 9 Hancock during a weekend trip – Traverse City Record-Eagle

5. Bowling: Cadillac’s boys and Traverse City West’s girls repeated as Big North Conference champions – Cadillac News

6. Boys Swimming & Diving: Grand Rapids Christian, No. 3 in Lower Peninsula Division 3, earned a 108-78 win over No. 6 Hamilton – Holland Sentinel

7. Hockey: Gaylord bounced back from a loss to Traverse City West with a 3-1 road win at Division 1 No. 7 Midland – Gaylord Herald Times

8. Girls Basketball: Midland Dow got past Maple City Glen Lake 45-43 in a game that was tied at the end of each of the first three quarters – Midland Daily News

9. Girls Basketball: East Grand Rapids got past host Kalamazoo Central 66-57 at the Lady Giant West Side Showcase – JoeInsider.com

10. Hockey: Grosse Pointe South scored five first-period goals in a 7-2 win over Traverse Bay Reps – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Also of note …

Girls Basketball: Jasmine Clerkley went over 1,000 career points as Okemos got past Haslett 58-51 – Lansing State Journal

Girls Basketball: Muskegon Reeths-Puffer’s Lauren Ross scored her 1,000th career point during a 49-40 win over Greenville – Muskegon Chronicle

Girls Tennis: Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central is mourning the death of retired coach Wayne Asher, who led the girls team to two Division 4 Finals runner-up finishes over 14 seasons – Monroe News

Softball: Longtime Spring Lake coach Bill Core has stepped down with a 642-473 record since taking over the program in 1990 – Grand Haven Tribune