Today in the MHSAA: 1/7/19
January 7, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Each weekday of the school year, we break down the top headlines courtesy of Michigan’s sports media.
The first weekend of 2019 saw statewide powers meet in gymnastics, wrestling, swimming & diving, hockey and basketball, with the following 10 just a sample of headlining action from across the state.
1. Gymnastics: Reigning MHSAA team champion Farmington United edged host Rockford to win the Rams’ annual Flip Flop Invitational – Coldwater Daily Reporter
2. Wrestling: Reigning Division 1 champ and top-ranked Detroit Catholic Central took first, and 2018 Division 1 runner-up and current No. 2 Brighton was second at the 55th Annual Catholic Central Wrestling Invitational – Oakland Press
3. Boys Swimming & Diving: Saline, No. 7 in Lower Peninsula Division 1, edged LPD2 top-ranked Dexter to win the Battle Creek Lakeview Spartan Invitational – Chelsea Sun Times News
4. Hockey: Division 3 No. 5 Calumet scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period to get past Division 1 No. 5 Brighton 2-1 – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
5. Hockey: Division 2 No. 4 Livonia Stevenson improved to 10-1-1 with a 5-1 win over Division 1 No. 3 Salem – Observer & Eccentric
6. Girls Basketball: Greenville’s Adele Kemp broke her school’s career scoring record with 35 more points in a 48-41 win over Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern – Grand Rapids Press
7. Wrestling: Division 2 No. 6 Gaylord improved to 14-0 with wins over Croswell-Lexington, formerly Division 1-ranked Grand Ledge and Hudsonville, Division 3 No. 10 Lake Odessa Lakewood and Portland at Grand Ledge’s invitational – Gaylord Herald Times
8. Wrestling: Division 4 No. 2 New Lothrop took first among 26 teams at its Hall of Fame Tournament – Owosso Argus-Press
9. Hockey: Division 3 No. 12 Midland Dow defeated No. 14 Sault Ste. Marie and then No. 8 Alpena to go 2-0 at the Sault Lions Cup Invitational – Midland Daily News
10. Boys Basketball: Detroit Martin Luther King edged Kalamazoo Central 45-43 in a thriller at the Muskegon Basketball Showcase – FOX 17
Did you see that? (June 3-9)
June 10, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The second of three weeks of spring MHSAA Finals came to a close with four more champions from lacrosse – plus 16 teams still alive in both baseball and softball, eight in girls soccer and 60 in Lower Peninsula boys golf.
See below for some of the biggest headlines from the week that was June 3-9.
Girls lacrosse
Champions of the west: A pair of Grand Rapids-area teams claimed the girls championships Saturday. Rockford defeated Bloomfield Hills United 16-7 in Division 1, while East Grand Rapids repeated in Division 2 with a 16-6 victory over Livonia Ladywood. (Second Half D1) (Second Half D2)
Boys Lacrosse
East-side excellence: Birmingham Brother Rice came back from an early deficit in the Division 1 Final to win its ninth-straight title by beating Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern/Eastern 14-10. In Division 2, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood scored with 20.2 seconds to play to edge reigning champion Forest Hills Central 10-9. (Second Half D1) (Second Half D2)
Girls Soccer
Defensive standoff: Top-ranked Plymouth and No. 3 Novi needed a shootout to decide Friday’s Division 1 Regional Final. But Novi won that final round 2-1 to earn a 1-0 win and hand Plymouth its first and only loss this season. (MLive Detroit)
Powers survives comeback: Up 3-0 at halftime, reigning Division 3 runner-up Flint Powers Catholic advanced to within one win of returning to the Finals with a 3-2 Regional Final win over Lake Fenton. (Flint Journal)
Baseball
Oilers upend No. 1: Mount Pleasant, ranked No. 4 in Division 2, beat top-ranked Bay City John Glenn on the way to winning their Regional on Saturday. (Mount Pleasant Morning Sun)
MCC wins big: Muskegon Catholic Central moved on in Division 4 with a 9-0 Regional win over No. 2 Gobles in another of the weekend’s biggest baseball matchups. MCC entered the postseason ranked No. 5. (Muskegon Chronicle)
Softball
Dundee gets its chance: The Vikings won their first Regional championship and defeated two-time reigning Division 3 champion Clinton in the process Saturday at Blissfield. Dundee entered the postseason ranked No. 1 in the division. (Monroe Evening News)
Romeo prevails in pair of nail-biters: The No. 10-ranked Bulldogs were down to their final out before defeating Troy in a Regional Semifinal and then beat Hartland 3-0 in the championship game. Both Troy and Hartland were honorable mentions in the final Division 1 coaches poll. (Oakland Press)
Escanaba headed downstate: The Eskymos will face reigning MHSAA Division 2 runner-up Saginaw Swan Valley in a Quarterfinal for the second straight season thanks to a walk-off home run by sophomore Michelle LaFave in a 5-4 Regional Final win over Remus Chippewa Hills. (Escanaba Daily Press)
Boys Golf
SMAC East dominates: Top-ranked Battle Creek Lakeview in Division 1 and Marshall and Battle Creek Harper Creek in Division 2 all qualified for LP Finals, giving the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference East three teams in this weekend’s championship tournaments. (Battle Creek Enquirer)
DeWitt outshoots No. 1: Previously unranked DeWitt shot a 313 to edge top-ranked East Lansing by a stroke at their Division 2 Regional at Gull Lake View. (Lansing State Journal)
Boys Basketball
CMU star takes over GRCC: Former Central Michigan University captain T.J. Meerman has taken over the Grand Rapids Catholic Central program after serving as an assistant coach last season at Grand Valley State University. Previously, Meerman coached the varsity at Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills. (Grand Rapids Press)