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: 2/8/16
February 8, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The weekend provided previews of MHSAA championship contenders in gymnastics, cheer and hockey, and also basketball with a matchup of two girls teams that could come away from this winter with titles and the reigning Class D boys champ shining again.
Girl Basketball
A last-second 3-pointer by Lauryn Carroll gave Ypsilanti Arbor Prep a 50-47 win over previously-undefeated Bay City John Glenn, considered arguably the top team in the state regardless of class – Bay City Times
Detroit Country Day edged Southfield-Lathrup 56-52 in a matchup of contenders in Class B and A, respectively – Oakland Press
Mona Shores locked down the usually-potent offense of rival Muskegon in defeating the Big Reds 55-34 – Muskegon Chronicle
Boys Basketball
Reigning Class D champion Powers North Central remained undefeated by handing a first loss to Crystal Falls Forest Park, 68-54 – Escanaba Daily Press
Southfield Christian just edged Belleville 70-69 for its 12th straight win – MLive-Detroit
Competitive Cheer
Reigning Division 1 champion Rochester finished ahead of a strong field to clinch the Oakland Activities Association Red championship – Oakland Press
Gymnastics
Rockford/Sparta, the reigning MHSAA champion, showed it’s the team to beat again this winter by claiming the championship at the prestigious Canton Invitational. Howell finished second and Farmington third – Canton Athletics
Hockey
The Michigan Interscholastic Hockey League Showcase pitted many of the state’s top teams with some of the key results a 3-0 win by Division 2 No. 3 Livonia Stevenson over Division 3 No. 1 Grand Rapids Catholic Central and 4-3 by unranked Houghton over Division 1 No. 3 Detroit U-D Jesuit – MIHL
Swimming & Diving
Warren DeLaSalle’s boys won their fourth straight Macomb County Invitational, finishing more than 300 points ahead of the field – Macomb Daily
Wrestling
Springport won its seventh straight Big 8 Conference championship, setting a league record in dominating its competition this time – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
Allegan won its 12th straight Wolverine Conference title, finishing far ahead of the field and with three individual champions – Kalamazoo Gazette
Niles finished its championship run in the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference West – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium
Good Read
Former opponents no doubt remember facing Marshall basketball standout Kari Searles on the court; many who supported her as a player supported her again Friday with a donation toward her care as she fights lung cancer – Battle Creek Enquirer