Today in the MHSAA: 12/11/19

December 11, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The Hartland girls basketball team continued its champion-toppling season start Tuesday, and a West Bloomfield freshman enjoyed an impressive debut as hoops dominated statewide action.

1. Girls Basketball: Hartland followed up last week’s win over reigning Division 4 champion Adrian Lenawee Christian with a 37-26 victory over reigning Division 1 title winner Saginaw Heritage – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

2. Boys Basketball: Freshman Ryan Hurst debuted with 28 points to lead West Bloomfield past Southfield Christian 88-66 – Oakland Press

3. Boys Swimming & Diving: Midland Dow – No. 3 in Lower Peninsula Division 2 – swept all four divisions of the Dan Pangborn Invitational – Midland Daily News

4. Boys Basketball: Benton Harbor opened on a 14-0 run on the way to defeating Dowagiac 73-59 – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

5. Girls Basketball: Nicole Kamin sank the game-winner as Escanaba came back to defeat Negaunee 50-48 – Escanaba Daily Press

6. Boys Basketball: Ty Horky scored 42 points with eight 3-pointers in Manchester’s 70-57 win over Clinton – Jackson Citizen Patriot

7. Boys Basketball: Canton defeated Ann Arbor Pioneer 75-69 in a matchup of annual powers – Observer & Eccentric

8. Girls Basketball: Brazyll Watkins’ last-second basket gave Battle Creek Lakeview a 45-44 win over Coldwater – Coldwater Daily Reporter

9. Boys Basketball: Schoolcraft edged Hopkins 58-56 in overtime – Kalamazoo Gazette

10. Girls Basketball: Montague came back from a 22-8 halftime deficit to get past Spring Lake 51-48 – Local Sports Journal

Also of note …

Girls Basketball: Stockbridge won 62-59, but Ida’s Taylor Wegener did go over 1,000 career points – Monroe News

Today in the MHSAA: 10/19/16

October 19, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

District soccer continued Tuesday and league champions were crowned in volleyball and cross country all over the Lower Peninsula – but the must-see stories are a pair of “good reads” coming out of the Jackson and Alpena areas.

Each weekday during the school year, we’ll gather and post media links covering the most significant and intriguing high school events from all over the state.

Cross Country

The Caro boys – No. 4 in Lower Peninsula Division 3 – and the No. 6 Shepherd girls won championships at the Tri-Valley Conference all-division final – Saginaw News

The Ubly girls and boys teams repeated as East champions at the Greater Thumb Conference championship race (Ubly's girls are No. 9 in LPD4), and the Reese girls and LPD4 honorable mention Cass City boys repeated as West winners – Huron Daily Tribune

Traverse City West swept the final Big North Conference jamborees, the West boys earning the league title and the Central girls finishing as overall league champion for the 14th straight season. The Central girls are No. 4 in LPD1 and the West girls are an honorable mention – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Harbor Springs’ boys (No. 2 LPD4) kept their undefeated season going with a third straight Lake Michigan Conference final championship, and Traverse City St. Francis (No. 2 LPD3) clinched the girls title – Petoskey News-Review

Boys Soccer

Division 1 No. 2 Portage Northern moved on with a 4-1 District win over Lansing Everett thanks to three goals by Ryan Melgar – Kalamazoo Gazette

Adrian Lenawee Christian freshman Zach Riordan set his school’s scoring record of 36 goals in an 8-0 Division 4 win over Clinton – Adrian Daily Telegram

Girls Swimming & Diving

LPD1 No. 2 Saline got past No. 10 Brighton 112-74 in a matchup of top Division 1 teams – Saline Post

Volleyball

Walled Lake Central repeated as Lakes champion in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association with a five-set win over Brighton – Livingston Daily Argus & Press

Class A top-ranked Novi swept Canton to win its fourth straight KLAA Kensington championship – Oakland Press

Marine City improved to 8-1 in the Macomb Area Conference Gold and clinched a share of the league title with a three-set win over Warren Mott – Port Huron Times Herald

Good Reads

The story of Brooklyn Columbia Central standout running back Micah Raby is captivating, if not from this passage alone about how his adopted parents found him: “Inside the missionary’s hut, on an ordinary table lay an ordinary bible box containing an extraordinary sight, and it caught Doug and Sandy Raby’s eyes and hearts immediately. Inside that bible box – no bigger than a size 10 shoebox – was a 1-month-old boy named Joseph, one of two surviving triplets. His brother did not survive the birth and the birth parents decided to keep the other one, believed to be a girl, because it was the biggest and had the greatest chance of surviving.” – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Lincoln Alcona announcer Don Franklin first gave voice to the school’s athletic events in 1967, and will retire at the end of this school year with 50 years on the microphone announcing football and a number of other sports over a half century – Alpena News