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
Today in the MHSAA: 3/9/17
March 9, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
High winds and power outages couldn’t down Wednesday’s eight MHSAA Hockey Quarterfinals and a number of boys basketball District games all over the state.
Each weekday during the school year, we’ll gather and post media links covering the most significant and intriguing high school events from all over the state.
Boys Basketball
Detroit Public School League champion Cass Tech got past rival Detroit East English 72-67 in a Class A District Semifinal – MLive-Detroit
Freeland edged Sanford Meridian Early College 46-42 in a Class B matchup of teams that entered the night a combined 36-3 – Saginaw News
Newberry clinched its first District title since 1998, downing St. Ignace 67-55 in Class C – Marquette Mining Journal
Rapid River won its first District title also in more than a decade by downing Rock Mid Peninsula 60-50 in Class D – Escanaba Daily Press
Walled Lake Western and Walled Lake Northern met for the fourth time, with this last matchup going to Western 49-45 in Class A – Oakland Press
Onsted, which had fallen twice to Hillsdale this season, handed the Hornets their first and only loss in a Class B District Semifinal – Hillsdale Daily News
St. Joseph similarly had fallen twice to Portage Central, but came back to win their third matchup 50-47 in Class A – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium
Hockey
No. 3 Brighton returned to the Division 1 Semifinals with a 7-0 win over Lowell – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
Division 1 No. 4 Northville continued its run toward a possible first championship game berth with a 6-2 win over Macomb Dakota – Macomb Daily
Top-ranked Detroit Catholic Central booked a return to the Semifinals with a 6-2 win over Bay City Central/Western in Division 1 – Observer & Eccentric
Grandville also is becoming a regular in the Semifinals and will return after an 8-4 Division 1 win over Rockford – Grand Rapids Press
In a matchup of the top two ranked teams in Division 3, No. 1 Flint Powers Catholic came away with a 3-2 overtime win over Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central – Flint Journal
Calumet will play in the Division 3 Semifinals for the first time in six seasons after a 7-3 win over Big Rapids – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
Warren DeLaSalle got past Detroit Country Day 4-0 in Division 3 – Macomb Daily
Dearborn Divine Child continued its surprise Division 3 run with a 4-3 win over Chelsea – Dearborn Press & Guide
Volleyball
Buchanan coach Lisa Holok resigned after 13 seasons and more than 500 victories, plus a trip this past fall to the Class B Semifinals – South Bend Tribune
Good Read
Only a few weeks before Mark Blentlinger was to take over the Schoolcraft bowling program in 2010, his daughter Kyleigh – who helped start the girls team – died suddenly. He thought of her much during the girls team’s run to the Division 4 Semifinals on Friday – Kalamazoo Gazette