Today in the MHSAA: 12/17/18
December 17, 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.
The Michigan Interscholastic Hockey League/Kensington Lakes Activities Association Challenge and county championships in cheer and wrestling headlined the weekend, but most important was the performance at the end of last week by one of our state’s boys basketball coaches – scroll to the bottom of this list to learn more.
1. Hockey: Division 1 top-ranked Detroit Catholic Central won a rematch of last season’s Division 1 Semifinal loss to Brighton, this time emerging 4-1 over the reigning champion and current No. 5 Bulldogs – Observer & Eccentric
2. Cheer: Rochester Hills Stoney Creek scored 781.760 to win the Division 1 Oakland County Championship title and score the meet’s highest score regardless of division – Oakland Press
3. Wrestling: Division 2 top-ranked Lowell finished first and Rockford second at the Kent County Championships – Grand Rapids Press
4. Wrestling: Bay City Western clinched the 32nd Bay City Championship with a pin in the final match – Bay City Times
5. Hockey: Owen Pietila scored a hat trick to lead Division 2 top-ranked Hartland to a 5-1 win over No. 3 Birmingham Brother Rice – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
6. Hockey: A tie is nearly a win when it comes against a reigning MHSAA champion, and Division 3 No. 8 Alpena earned an impressive one against last season’s title winner and current No. 4 Detroit Country Day with a last-second goal – Alpena News
7. Hockey: Division 2 No. 4 Livonia Stevenson edged Division 1 No. 4 Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 3-2 in its MIHL-KLAA Challenge matchup – Observer & Eccentric
8. Cheer: Gibraltar Carlson scored 768.100 to win the Division 2 portion of the Flat Rock Invitational with the highest score of the meet regardless of division – Southgate News-Herald
9. Hockey: Division 3 No. 3 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood improved to 8-3 with a 5-1 win over Division 2 No. 5 Plymouth – Observer & Eccentric
10. Girls Basketball: Emily Coveyou had a triple-double in leading St. Ignace past Pickford – MI Sports Now
Also of note …
Boys Basketball: From Thursday, Fruitport Calvary Christian coach Jeff Zehr employed CPR and AED procedures to save the life of one of his players Thursday – Grand Haven Tribune
Boys Basketball: Brady Swinehart became the ninth player in Ionia history to score 1,000 points, hitting the milestone Friday against Charlotte – Greenville Daily News
Today in the MHSAA: 12/20/18
December 20, 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.
Teams are getting in their final competitions before at least a brief holiday break, and we’re taking one too after today’s list – “Today” will return Jan. 7, although Second Half will continue publishing stories from all over the state during the final week of December and first of January.
1. Boys Basketball: Gaylord St. Mary broke a 31-game, 14-year losing streak to Bellaire with a 29-26 win – Gaylord Herald Times
2. Boys Basketball: Camden-Frontier improved to 7-0 by handing a first loss to Reading, 57-46 – Hillsdale Daily News
3. Hockey: Evan MacDonald had a hat trick as Division 1 No. 5 Brighton downed reigning Division 3 runner-up Livonia Churchill 4-1 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
4. Boys Basketball: Mancelona gave Pellston its first loss of this season, 67-65 – Petoskey News-Review
5. Girls Basketball: Waterford Our Lady made a late run to get past Pontiac Notre Dame Prep 61-56 – Oakland Press
6. Wrestling: Grand Haven came back from a 24-0 deficit to defeat Caledonia 39-33 – Grand Haven Tribune
7. Gymnastics: Escanaba remained undefeated to start the season with wins over Marquette and Negaunee – Escanaba Daily Press
8. Boys Basketball: Portland St. Patrick closed on a 22-5 run to beat Fowler 52-42 – Ionia Sentinel-Standard
9. Hockey: Brendan Pellerito had 34 saves as Mattawan shut out Portage Northern 4-0 – JoeInsider.com
10. Wrestling: Division 4 top-ranked Hudson earned a pair of league wins over Blissfield and Onsted – Adrian Daily Telegram
Also of note …
Hockey: The status of high school hockey is on the rise with talent evaluators at the game’s next levels – Observer & Eccentric
Tennis: Longtime coach Paul Bandrowski retired after leading Traverse City St. Francis’ girls and boys teams to a number of strong MHSAA Finals finishes – Traverse City Record-Eagle
Girls Basketball: From Tuesday, Eaton Rapids came back to stun Jackson Northwest 44-41, but the Mounties’ Sydney Shafer went over 1,000 career points – Jackson Citizen Patriot
Boys Swimming & Diving: From Tuesday, Lower Peninsula Division 1 No. 2 Ann Arbor Skyline edged LPD2 top-ranked Dexter 95-90 – We Love Ann Arbor