Today in the MHSAA: 2/17/16
February 17, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
We’re officially two weeks from our MHSAA version of “March Madness,” as basketball teams make final pushes to ready for the tournament while collecting regular-season hardware and memories along the way.
Girls Basketball
Saugatuck’s Kiri Tiemeyer had a triple-double with 31 points, 21 rebounds and 11 blocked shots, and her team needed all of it in avenging a previous loss to Hartford, 53-47 – Holland Sentinel
Class D contender Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart held on to edge Morley Stanwood 45-40 – Big Rapids News
From Monday, Niles Brandywine is surging, following up handing Stevensville Lakeshore its first loss last week by giving St. Joseph only its second defeat of the winter, 52-47 – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium
Also from Monday, Skyline Central Conference East leader Munising handed West co-leader Bark River-Harris the latter’s first loss this season, 43-31 – Marquette Mining Journal
Boys Basketball
East Lansing remained undefeated and claimed the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue title with a 64-54 win over Grand Ledge – Lansing State Journal
Rochester Hills Stoney Creek needed nearly all of overtime to get past Lake Orion 62-61 and clinch a share of the Oakland Activities Association Blue title – Oakland Press
Kalamazoo Central won a matchup of the top two teams in the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference East, clinching the league title with a 55-32 win over second-place Battle Creek Central – Battle Creek Enquirer
Shae Somers went over 1,000 points for his career, becoming the sixth Elk Rapids player to do so, while leading his team to a 60-47 win over Harbor Springs – Traverse City Record-Eagle
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