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: 1/11/19

January 11, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Thursday was dominated by major matchups in the pool in Lower Peninsula Divisions 1 and 3, plus a milestone coaching victory on the wrestling mat.

1. Boys Swimming & Diving: LPD3 No. 2 East Grand Rapids – last season’s MHSAA Finals runner-up – edged current No. 1 and reigning champion Holland Christian 105-80 – Holland Sentinel

2. Boys Swimming & Diving: In another matchup of two of the state’s best, LPD1 No. 5 Ann Arbor Pioneer downed No. 7 Saline 110-76 – We Love Ann Arbor

3. Wrestling: Division 1 No. 10 Macomb Dakota downed New Baltimore Anchor Bay in a matchup of Macomb Area Conference Red powers, after Anchor Bay coach Jim Morisette earned his 700th win earlier in the night against Clinton Township Chippewa Valley – Macomb Daily

4. Girls Basketball: Manchester improved to 6-1 by handing Hanover-Horton its first defeat, 53-37 – Jackson Citizen Patriot

5. Boys Swimming & Diving: Grand Haven ended a long losing streak to Rockford with a 74-point win in a matchup of LPD1 honorable mentions – Grand Haven Tribune

6. Hockey: Division 3 No. 8 Alpena downed Division 2 No. 15 Grand Rapids Christian 5-2 to highlight first-day action at the North/South Showcase in Traverse City – WPBN

7. Boys Basketball: Montague handed Muskegon Western Michigan Christian its first defeat, 47-42 – Local Sports Journal

8. Skiing: Harbor Springs’ girls opened the season with a sweep of both events at the Lake Michigan Conference race – Petoskey News-Review

9. Girls Basketball: Comstock downed Olivet 66-42 with Daisy Ansel scoring 37 points – JoeInsider.com

10. Girls Basketball: Iron River West Iron County followed up Tuesday’s big win over Negaunee with a 49-48 nail-biter over Menominee – The Upbeat