Today in the MHSAA: 1/4/16

January 4, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

We’re back to start 2016, but many of Michigan’s high school teams took only short breaks during the holidays; below is a roundup of some of the most recent notable news coverage as we kick off the new calendar year.

Boys Basketball

Jauron Vicks scored five points in overtime and 24 total to lead Warren Woods-Tower to a 56-52 overtime win over Macomb L’Anse Creuse North in the Crusader Classic final – Macomb Daily

Niles Brandywine remained undefeated and dealt White Pigeon its first loss, 51-46 in the final of the Sturgis Basketball Classic – Sturgis Journal

Muskegon also remained undefeated while handing the first loss of the season to East Kentwood at the Muskegon Hall of Fame Classic (Muskegon suffered its first loss this weekend, to Chicago Whitney Young) – Muskegon Chronicle

Hudsonville beat Grand Rapids Christian 68-55 in the final of the Cornerstone Invitational to add to a start that included a win over reigning Class B champion Wyoming Godwin Heights – Grand Rapids Press

Girls Basketball

Kysre Gondrezick tied for 15th in MHSAA history with 51 points for Benton Harbor in the final of the Lou Harvey Classic despite her team’s eventual 68-63 loss to Michigan City Marquette – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

In arguably the most significant game of the Motor City Roundball Classic, both girls and boys, Saginaw Heritage downed Detroit Country day 39-29 – Oakland Press

Wrestling

Lowell finished first ahead of a field featuring many of Michigan’s elite at the Detroit Catholic Central Invitational; Brighton was second and Macomb Dakota finished third – Oakland Press

Battle Creek Lakeview won its eighth straight all-city championship, downing local rivals Battle Creek Central, Harper Creek and Pennfield – Battle Creek Enquirer

Tyler Deming became only the sixth four-time champion during the 52 years of the Freeland Wrestling Invitational in leading Caro to the team title as well – Saginaw News

Petoskey’s Scott Kibbe earned his 100th win in leading his team to the Bridge Brawl championship at Rudyard – Petoskey News

Football

Longtime Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart football coach Rick Roberts retired from that post after 23 seasons leading the Irish and 35 total at four schools; he finished with a record of 202-146-1 and also is the Sacred Heart athletic director – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Today in the MHSAA: 5/23/16

May 23, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

It’s been an exciting few days especially for our track & field and girls tennis teams, which competed in Regionals over the weekend – with some of the many highlights among those linked below.

Baseball

Battle Creek Lakeview’s Ethan Eldridge threw a shutout to lead his team over Harper Creek for their all-city championship, 3-0 – Battle Creek Enquirer

Division 1 No. 4 Rockford swept Division 3 No. 1 Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett 4-1 and 4-2 – Detroit Free Press

Girls Soccer

Pontiac Notre Dame Prep won its first Detroit Catholic League A-B championship in this sport, downing Warren Regina in an overtime shootout – Oakland Press

Softball

Sierra Stoepker drilled a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 14th inning to lead Lake Odessa Lakewood to a 10-9 win over DeWitt in the championship game of the Lansing Softball Classic – Lansing State Journal

Napoleon (32-1) outscored its opponents 32-5 to win a second straight Al Glick Tournament championship, beating Parma Western 3-0 in the final – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Petoskey won the Lansing Waverly Invitational, opening with a 5-4 win over two-loss Grand Ledge – Petoskey News

Division 3 No. 4 Clinton beat Division 2 No. 7 Muskegon Oakridge and later Division 3 No. 9 Reese for the Best of Michigan Tournament title at Byron Center – Adrian Dailey Telegram

Girls Tennis

Bay City All Saints won its first Regional and qualified for the MHSAA Finals for the first time since 1992 – Bay City Times

Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern edged East Grand Rapids by three points to win its 15th straight Regional, in Division 2 – Grand Rapids Press

Edwardsburg claimed its first Regional title as well, dominating the field to finish six points ahead of the rest in Division 3 – Kalamazoo Gazette

Ludington shared its Division 3 Regional title with Whitehall, and in the process No. 1 doubles pair Julia Flewelling and Claire Maltbie won their 100th match to break the school’s doubles record – Muskegon Chronicle

Division 4 No. 3 Kalamazoo Hackett swept singles to finish ahead of No. 5 Kalamazoo Christian in their Regional – Kalamazoo Gazette

Track & Field

Lake Linden-Hubbell swept boys and girls Regionals for the first time since 1998 – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

The Reese girls edged Frankenmuth 122-121 to win their first Regional title in 22 years – Saginaw News

The Addison boys won their first Regional since 1995, beating Petersburg Summerfield by 12 points, 124-112 – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

The Blanchard Montabella girls won their first Regional title, with the Division 4 victory also the school's first at that level of tournament competition in any sport since 2003 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Good Read

The Grandville Calvin Christian baseball team will take part this week in fundraising for the medical care of Kyle Petrlich, who is awaiting a second heart transplant and in December required CPR from her brother Griffin, a player on the Calvin Christian baseball team – Grand Rapids Press