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: 1/12/16

January 12, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Today’s report includes our first skiing headline of this season – and make sure to check out as well a video involving the Plymouth football team and a fourth-grade student’s goal come true.

Boys Basketball

In a Monday matchup of unbeaten teams, Lake Linden-Hubbell got past Chassell 65-48 with a pair of players combining to score 52 of those points – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Bowling

From Sunday, Jackson’s girls won the Battle of the Baker tournament at M-66 Bowl in Battle Creek, beating Hartland 2-0 in the final match – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

From Saturday, Grand Haven’s teams swept the Fruitport Invitational after both qualified third to start the event but dominated the Baker games – Grand Haven Tribune

Skiing

The season got off to a late start, but there’s plenty of snow now and the Harbor Springs girls took advantage by winning the opening Grayling Invitational at Schuss Mountain – Petoskey News

Worth a Watch

We in Michigan can all use a little sunshine this time of year. This fall, Plymouth fifth-grader Connor “Sunshine” Sherman, with the help of the Plymouth High football program, put on the second Sunshine’s Skills and Drills Football Clinic for children with special needs. Here’s a look at how what started as a classroom project took off.