Today in the MHSAA: 12/18/15

December 18, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Holiday break is nearly upon us, but heroics of December, these few included, are setting up what should be an interesting January and February for a number of teams all over the state.

Girls Basketball

Detroit Renaissance might be the best in Detroit this winter – and a contender in Class A – after handing a rare city loss to Detroit Martin Luther King, 68-65 – Detroit News

Muskegon’s Mardrekia Cook drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Big Reds a 55-52 win over Muskegon Oakridge – Muskegon Chronicle

Boys Basketball

Shawn Pardee is again starring for Millington this season – and missed his school record by only a point Thursday with 55 in an 83-77 double overtime win over Essexville Garber – Saginaw News

Frankfort and Traverse City St. Francis traded baskets over the final 20 seconds, with St. Francis getting the last in a 69-68 victory – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Andrew Terry’s fifth 3-pointer of the game gave Warren Lincoln a 61-60 final lead with 4.9 seconds to play against Center Line – Macomb Daily

Girls Swimming & Diving

Gladstone, runner-up at last season’s Upper Peninsula Final, edged Kingsford by three points in a tri-meet; Kingsford was sixth last season – Iron Mountain Daily

Track & Field

Longtime Kingsford athletic director and 2001 MHSAA Bush Award winner Don Edens, Jr., died Tuesday at the age of 70. Edens also was a longtime manager of the U.P. Track & Field Finals – WLUC

Today in the MHSAA: 6/6/16

June 6, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Another busiest week – and busiest day – in MHSAA sports is in the books. So too are Finals champions in track & field and girls tennis, and hundreds of District champions in baseball, softball and girls soccer and Regional champions in girls and boys lacrosse.

We touch on the statewide media coverage of just some of the highlights below.

Baseball

Top-ranked Coldwater won its fifth straight District title, downing No. 10 Marshall 8-4 in the championship game in Division 2 – Battle Creek Enquirer

Unranked Beaverton emerged from a Division 3 District that included No. 2 Sanford Meridian and No. 3 Clare – Midland Daily News

Birmingham Groves got past Birmingham Brother Rice 8-6 in Division 1 to win its first District championship since 2005 – Oakland Press

Boys Lacrosse

Birmingham Brother Rice received a rare scare before downing Clarkston 9-6 in Division 1 – Observer & Eccentric

Okemos won its second straight Division 2 Regional title by surviving Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, 9-8 – Lansing State Journal

Girls Lacrosse

Reigning Division 2 champion East Grand Rapids needed overtime to survive, 11-9, against Grand Rapids Catholic Central – Fox17

Rockford just edged Grand Rapids Forest Hills United 9-8 to move on in Division 1 – Grand Rapids Press

Girls Soccer

Division 3 No. 6 Freeland won its seventh straight District title, this time with a 4-1 championship game clincher over Alma – Midland Daily News

Division 4 No. 2 Elk Rapids moved to 21-0 this season with an 8-0 championship game win over No. 14 Leland – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Softball

Blissfield downed No. 6 Dundee to start Saturday, but top-ranked Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central beat Blissfield 4-1 in 10 innings in the Division 3 championship game – Adrian Daily Telegram

After seeing a 10-year District streak snapped in 2015, New Baltimore Anchor Bay made it 11 in 12 seasons with a 2-1 avenging of last year’s loss to Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse in Division 1 – Macomb Daily

Fulton won its first District title in this sport, downing rival Fowler 8-3 in the Division 4 championship game – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Girls Tennis

Four MHSAA Lower Peninsula tennis teams won championships: Midland Dow in Division 1 after finishing runner-up in 2015, Bloomfield Hills Marian in Division 2 for the first time since 2013, Detroit County Day in Division 3 breaking a five-year hold on the title by Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, and Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart in a repeat in Division 4 – Second Half

Girls Track & Field

We covered all seven championship meets across both peninsulas, with the following teams winning titles: Oak Park, Lansing Waverly, Ithaca, Fowler, Marquette, Ishpeming and Ontonagon. Ithaca and Lansing Waverly's titles were their first, and Ontonagon’s its first since 1974 – Second Half

Boys Track & Field

We also covered all seven boys meets, with the following champions: Oak Park, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, Sanford Meridian, Saugatuck, Marquette, Ishpeming and Rapid River. Oak Park’s title was its first in the sport – Second Half