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: 1/11/16
January 11, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The first full sports weekend of 2016 included notable performances in a number of sports, highlighted by one of the top swimming and diving meets of the regular season.
Girls Basketball
Ithaca girls basketball coach Bob Anderson earned his 700th win as his team beat Carrollton 66-40; he’s coached both girls and boys teams to success over 27 seasons – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Durand handed Goodrich its first league loss in seven years while staying undefeated this season in the Genesee Area Conference Red – Flint Journal
DeWitt remained undefeated at 8-0 after handing Lansing Waverly its first loss this season in a matchup of two of the Lansing area’s top teams – Lansing State Journal
St. Joseph moved to 6-1 with a 72-35 win over Benton Harbor, a semifinalist in Class B last season – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium
Saranac was missing its leading scorer, but still managed to get past annual Class D power Portland St. Patrick 41-33 – Ionia Sentinel-Standard
Boys Basketball
Okemos handed Holt its first loss this season and won its first game on the Rams’ home court since 2010 – Lansing State Journal
Ice Hockey
Portage Central earned a win that could boost it into the state rankings, downing Division 1 No. 10 East Kentwood 2-1 on Saturday in Muskegon – Kalamazoo Gazette
Boys Swimming & Diving
Division 2 No. 1 Dexter scored 409 points to beat No. 4 Warren DeLaSalle by 33 at the annual Spartan Invitational at Battle Creek Lakeview, with the field also including reigning champion Birmingham Seaholm and Division 1 contender Ann Arbor Skyline – Battle Creek Enquirer
Lower Peninsula Division 1 honorable mention Grand Rapids Forest Hills defeated a field that included LPD2 No. 6 Midland Dow at the Forest Hills Invitational – Midland Daily News
Wrestling
Unranked Westland John Glenn got past Division 1 No. 9 New Baltimore Anchor Bay to win the Michigan Duals at Bay City Western over a field that also included No. 8 Western and Division 3 No. 5 Remus Chippewa Hills – Mlive-Detroit
Division 2 No. 9 Sparta won the Dave Dunneback Tournament with 247 points, ahead of Lake Odessa Lakewood, Belding and Division 3 No. 6 Grand Rapids Catholic Central – Grand Rapids Press
Football
Mike McDowell returned four seasons ago for his second stint coaching Morenci and led the program to its best finishes in nearly two decades. He recently resigned – Adrian Daily Telegram
Good Reads
Longtime coach Keith Haske remains cancer-free after fighting Stage 4 throat cancer only a year ago – and he’s added significantly to his day, becoming the girls basketball coach in addition to leading the boys program at Traverse City St. Francis. The Record-Eagle’s Brett Sommers documented a typical Haske day – Traverse City Record-Eagle
Carleton Airport senior Jessica Book is her school’s Homecoming Queen this year – and a cheerleader – and a wrestler – and plans to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps and defuse bombs – Monroe Evening News