Today in the MHSAA: 12/14/15

December 14, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Close finishes highlighted the first Friday of boys basketball season, as those results led a weekend of impressive performances across the state in a variety of sports.

Boys Basketball

Class C Flint Beecher outlasted Class A Detroit East English 72-69 at the Horatio Williams Foundation Tip-Off Classic – Flint Journal

Reigning champion Lansing Everett opened its season with a 55-48 win over Grand Ledge in a matchup of the top two teams from the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue in 2014-15 – Lansing State Journal

Trishton Jackson scored to send the game to overtime and then added the game-winner in the extra period as West Bloomfield edged Southfield Christian 77-76 at the Oakland County Invitational – Mlive-Detroit

Ludington opened up Lakes 8 Conference play with a 54-42 win over reigning champion Muskegon Catholic Central – Ludington Daily News

Marquette rode the hot hand of Troy Sergey, who scored 22 points in a 68-60 win over Traverse City West on Saturday at the Petoskey Invitational – Marquette Mining Journal

From Thursday, St. Ignace football star Gage Kreski is pretty good at basketball too; he had 38 points, 13 rebounds and nine steals in a 75-48 win over Rudyard – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News

Girls Basketball

Muskegon Mona Shores standout Jordan Walker, also a member of the MHSAA Student Advisory Council, had 26 points, nine rebounds, six assists and four steals in a 68-42 win over Dearborn Heights Robichaud – Muskegon Chronicle

Girls Bowling

Paw Paw came back from a 10-0 deficit after the Baker games to edge Portage Northern 16-14 thanks in part to a 311 series by Grace Sylvester – Kalamazoo Gazette

Ice Hockey

Reid Pietila scored all five goals as Houghton defeated Utica Eisenhower 5-1 on Friday – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Wrestling

St. Johns, No. 2 in Division 2, finished 5-0 at the Jackson Area Wrestling Showdown with wins over Division 1 No. 9 Temperance Bedford and Division 4 No. 5 Manchester – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Every Hartland wrestler placed among the top five at his weight as the Division 1 top-ranked Eagles won their invitational – Livingston Daily

Today in the MHSAA: 1/22/18

January 22, 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.

Today's Top 10 

1. Wrestling: Division 3 No. 1 Dundee, Division 1 No. 7 Oxford and Division 4 No. 1 Hudson took the top three spots, respectively, at the Hudson Super 16 – Adrian Daily Telegram

2. Boys Basketball: Reigning Class D runner-up Buckley and 2017 Class C semifinalist Manton played a classic, with Buckley winning 62-60, while doing so to raise money for a family struggling with a cancer fight and to honor a local coach who died after battling the disease – Traverse City Record-Eagle

3. Competitive Cheer: Division 4 No. 4 Sanford Meridian Early College edged No. 3 Farwell and No. 7 Houghton Lake to win the 10-team Harrison Invitational – Midland Daily News

4. Hockey: Top-ranked Livonia Stevenson hung on for a 4-2 win over No. 5 Trenton in a matchup of Division 2 contenders – Observer & Eccentric

5. Hockey: Division 3 No. 7 Detroit Country Day handed Birmingham United its first loss this season in the premier game of the Oakland Activities Association/Metro League Showdown – Southgate News Herald

6. Bowling: The unranked New Baltimore Anchor Bay girls and Division 1 No. 2 Macomb L’Anse Creuse North boys won Macomb County championships – Macomb Daily

7. Wrestling: Escanaba won the 17-team 51st U.P. Championships meet, finishing just ahead of Gladstone and Marquette – Marquette Mining Journal

8. Wrestling: Division 3 No. 4 Whitehall claimed its 12th straight Greater Muskegon Athletic Association title, with 11 wrestlers reaching tournament finals – Muskegon Chronicle

9. Boys Swimming & Diving: Lower Peninsula Division 2 honorable mention Battle Creek Lakeview claimed its 27th straight All-City championship – Battle Creek Enquirer

10. Girls Basketball: Battle Creek Central bravely took to the floor and was edged by Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 53-47 a day after the unexpected death of junior varsity coach Julionna Mahar – Battle Creek Enquirer

Also of note …

Football: Longtime Walled Lakes Western coach Mike Zdebski stepped down after leading the team to 160 wins and 17 playoff appearances, to take a coaching job in Arizona – Detroit Free Press

Boys Soccer: Longtime Warren DeLaSalle and Fraser coach Thaier Mukhtar is returning to take over the Pilots’ program – Macomb Daily