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