Today in the MHSAA: 1/24/20

January 24, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

A hockey league champion celebrated Thursday, while girls and boys basketball conference races continued to shift with upsets and buzzer beaters.

1. Hockey: Division 2 No. 7 Lake Orion locked up the Oakland Activities Association Red title with an 8-0 win over M-1 United – Oakland Press

2. Girls Basketball: New Lothrop edged Durand 59-54 in overtime thanks to Brooke Wenzlick’s school-record 42 points – Flint Journal

3. Boys Basketball: Parker’s Neu’s late basket helped Traverse City West hand Cadillac its first loss, 47-46 – Traverse City Record-Eagle

4. Boys Basketball: Pickford broke a seven-game winning streak for Rudyard, 62-50 – MI Sports Now

5. Girls Basketball: Caro improved to 10-1 overall and moved into first alone in the Greater Thumb Conference West with a 46-37 win over Reese – Bay City Times

6. Girls Basketball: Adrian Lenawee Christian held off Dexter 51-43 – Adrian Daily Telegram

7. Girls Basketball: Ravenna knocked Montague out of a first-place tie in the West Michigan Conference with a 42-40 win – Muskegon Chronicle

8. Boys Basketball: Jemari Mack’s last-second putback was the final difference in Macomb L’Anse Creuse North’s 56-54 win over Sterling Heights Stevenson – Macomb Daily

9. Girls Basketball: Clarkston held on for a 46-42 win over Royal Oak – Oakland Press

10. Bowling: Midland’s boys came back from a 10-0 deficit to get past Grand Blanc 20-10 – Midland Daily News

Also of note …

Hockey: From Wednesday, Riverview downed Grosse Ile 3-2 in overtime to clinch the Huron League championship – Southgate News-Herald

Today in the MHSAA: 10/15/15

October 15, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Championship are won on a seemingly daily basis in October, and plenty were earned and celebrated Wednesday – but please also check out some great reads at the bottom of this list, including a look at why specialization is increasing as a nationwide concern.

Cross Country

The Saugatuck girls, ranked No. 2 in Lower Peninsula Division 4, won their ninth straight Southwestern Athletic Conference title with 12 runners earning all-league honors – Grand Rapids Press

Boys Soccer

LP Division 2 No. 5 East Lansing capped an impressive run through the Capital Area Activities Conference Gold Cup by winning the final 3-1 over Grand Ledge – Lansing State Journal

LP Division 1 No. 15 East Kentwood secured its 12th Ottawa-Kent Conference Red title in 13 seasons with a 1-0 win over Grandville, helped in part by a pair of players whose ties the program go back to the early years of the run – Grand Rapids Press

LP Division 1 No. 7 Utica Ford shut out No. 14 Fraser to clinch the Macomb Area Conference Red championship – Macomb Daily

Unranked Birmingham Brother Rice stunned LP Division 1 No. 3 Detroit Catholic Central 2-1 in the championship game of the Detroit Catholic League A-B tournament – Oakland Press

LP Division 4 No. 11 Charlevoix clinched a share of the Lake Michigan Conference title with a 3-0 win over Grayling, thanks to a hat trick by Walker Drost – Charlevoix Courier

Saginaw Heritage scored the first goal Flint Powers Catholic had given up since Sept. 12, but the Chargers emerged with a 2-1 win and the overall Saginaw Valley League championship – Flint Journal

Volleyball

Lansing Catholic won the first volleyball league championship in its long history, beating Fowlerville in three sets to claim a share of the CAAC White title – Lansing State Journal

Good Reads

Single-sport specialization has become a topic of national focus and concern, and MHSAA Executive Director Jack Roberts was among association directors talked to for this report on why it’s a health-related issue and how states are working to promote multi-sport participation instead – NFHS.org

Vandercook Lake is enjoying its best football season in 45 years and plays for a league title this weekend, and is led by a three-sport athlete who has been on a long road back after Crohn’s disease led to his shedding 90 pounds only two years ago – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

The Christmas tree standing tall in front of the Capitol in Lansing this winter will come from Wakefield thanks to a donation by Florence Daniels in honor of her husband Jim, who coached Wakefield High's boys basketball team to 355 wins, 12 district the five regional titles in 28 seasons. He also was a member of Channing High’s Upper Peninsula championship team in 1944 and coached Al Inkala, who went on to become an MHSAA championship-winning girls tennis coach at Okemos – Lansing State Journal