Today in the MHSAA: 12/2/15
December 2, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Girls basketball season took off in force Tuesday with a few hundred games across the state and some notable storylines for fans diving into a new season.
Girls Basketball
Wayland may have graduated a Division I college player, but has two four-year seniors back and opened with a 59-44 win over Rockford – Grand Rapids Press
Goodrich’s Alexis Sevillian is the next leader of the Class B power and poured in 25 in the Martian’s 54-36 opening win over Davison – Flint Journal
Midland Dow’s Ellie Taylor set five school records in scoring 44 points as her team downed Saginaw Arthur Hill 81-62 – Midland Daily News
In a matchup of teams that have both played MHSAA Semifinals over the last few years, Flint Powers Catholic rode a strong first quarter to a 53-41 win over Farmington Hills Mercy – Flint Journal
Class C power Niles Brandywine opened with a 46-31 win over Class A Kalamazoo Loy Norrix – Niles Daily Star
Averi Gamble scored the go-ahead basket in the final seconds as Class D power Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart edged Shepherd 28-26 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Reed City broke a 22-game losing streak that included all of last season with a 48-44 opening-night win over Leroy Pine River – Big Rapids News
Ice Hockey
Howell broke a six-game losing streak to rival Hartland that stretched back to mid-January 2012 – Livingston Daily
Linked Up: 10/28/11
December 13, 2011
Each week I'll post links to stories that interest me most during my travels in online sports land. I was going to wait for next week for this first installment, but these seemed worthy of telling you about now.
See something high school sports-related that you think others would find valuable? Send me a link.
These two teams provide multiple reasons why 8-player football has been such a strong addition -- most notably, it is providing our smallest schools with an opportunity to still play football despite fewer players, and succeed. The sport took off in this state in 2009, and this weekend mark the start of the first MHSAA 8-player Tournament. Akron-Fairgrove will play its first postseason game since 1992, while Owendale-Gagetown will play its first since 1979.
Olivet's Peters coaching his heart out (Battle Creek Enquirer)
I covered Olivet and coach Dean Peters for more than a decade, including during last season's first-ever Eagles run to the MHSAA football finals. One of the great people in high school coaching, he needed emergency double-bypass surgery earlier this month but is back in the coaching booth. Olivet faces Lansing Catholic in a Pre-District game.
Megan Hubbard a standout for Hanover-Horton cross country (Jackson Citizen-Patriot)
This is a neat story about a runner who is second-best on her team and has never won a race -- but also is likely the second-best to ever run at her school. Usually, we hear only about who finishes first.
Standley Lake football player Rhett Gutierrez overcomes eye disease (The Denver Post)
Almost always, links I post will be Michigan-related. But this story is just incredible. We've seen athletes with different degrees of vision impairment do incredible things in high school athletics. But this is the first time I've heard of someone overcoming that obstacle to play quarterback for his football team.