Today in the MHSAA: 1/29/19
January 29, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The Lower Peninsula was snowed out Tuesday, but the Upper Peninsula played on and nearly filled out today’s list with all of the coverage we could find – plus a pair of neat feature stories we included as well.
1. Girls Basketball: Riley Poupore scored 35 points to lead Iron Mountain past Ishpeming 59-48 – The Upbeat
2. Boys Basketball: Dollar Bay pulled away during the closing seconds of a 48-46 win over Ewen-Trout Creek – The Upbeat
3. Girls Basketball: Iron River West Iron County came back from a halftime deficit to edge Kingsford 39-38 – Iron Mountain Daily News
4. Girls Basketball: Baraga edged Chassell 42-39 – The Upbeat
5. Boys Basketball: Hancock downed Calumet 41-35 in overtime – The Upbeat
6. Boys Basketball: Kingsford made 62 percent of its shots from the floor in a 77-53 win over Norway – Iron Mountain Daily News
7. Girls Basketball: Munising took a big early lead and held on for a 48-32 win over Big Bay de Noc – Escanaba Daily Press
8. Girls Basketball: Felch North Dickinson also got out to a sizable first-half advantage on the way to a big win over Eben Junction Superior Central – Escanaba Daily Press
9. Boys Basketball: Bessemer fell just short of Hurley, Wis., 48-46 – The Upbeat
Also of note …
Boys Basketball: Frankfort would not play Buckley 5-on-4 to finish its Jan. 18 game – instead opting to equal things out – Traverse City Record-Eagle
Football/Basketball: Few small towns have enjoyed the level of success in these sports of late as Pewamo-Westphalia, and this series of anecdotes tells a lot of the community’s story – Lansing State Journal
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