Today in the MHSAA: 2/18/19

February 18, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Wrestling Regionals, Cheer Districts and more than a dozen hockey, basketball and bowling league championships won over the weekend make today’s list of high achievers perhaps the longest so far this 2018-19 school year – and check elsewhere on Second Half for coverage of our first winter Finals in Upper Peninsula swimming & diving.

1. Boys Basketball: Oscoda tied a school record with its 17th win and clinched the North Star League Big Dipper title, its first conference championship since 1991, with a 61-39 victory over Whittemore-Prescott – WBKB

2. Hockey: Division 3 No. 9 Alpena downed Traverse City Central 5-0 to clinch its first Big North Conference title since 2004-05 – Alpena News

3. Girls Basketball: Detroit Mumford repeated as Detroit Public School League Tournament champion with a 59-49 win over Detroit Martin Luther King – State Champs!

4. Wrestling: No. 2 Brighton qualified a Livingston County-record 13 for the Individual Finals from Saturday’s Division 1 Regional – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

5. Boys Basketball: Wyoming Godwin Heights clinched its 10th straight Ottawa-Kent Conference Silver title with a 63-44 win over Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian – FOX 17

6. Boys Basketball: Detroit U-D Jesuit clinched its seventh straight Detroit Catholic League A-B Tournament title with a 63-54 win over Detroit Catholic Central – Detroit News

7. Boys Basketball: Detroit Cass Tech downed Detroit Renaissance 80-56 to win the Detroit PSL Tournament title – Detroit News

8. Boys Basketball: Benton Harbor won a matchup of Division 2 championship contenders, 72-62 over River Rouge – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

9. Basketball: Kinross Maplewood Baptist’s girls and boys basketball teams won Northern Lights Conference Tournament titles, Ellie Bell going over 1,000 career points for the girls during their run – MI Sports Now

10. Competitive Cheer: Reigning Division 2 champion Allen Park won its District, ahead of runner-up Dearborn Divine Child – Southgate News-Herald

Also of note …

Gymnastics: Jackson Area finished first and Coldwater second at the South Central Gymnastics League Championship meet, Coldwater finishing its highest since 1989 – Coldwater Daily Reporter

Boys Bowling: Gaylord put the finishing touches on a second straight Northern Michigan Bowling Conference championship – Gaylord Herald Times

Boys Bowling: Division 4 top-ranked Bronson clinched the Kensington Valley Association championship – Sturgis Journal

Boys Basketball: Josh Palo went over 1,000 career points in Howell’s 57-45 win over Novi – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

Boys Basketball: Ovid-Elsie claimed a share of the Mid-Michigan Activities Conference title with a 69-66 double-overtime win over Mount Morris – Owosso Argus-Press

Boys Basketball: Richmond clinched its second straight Blue Water Area Conference title with a 51-41 win over Almont – Port Huron Times-Herald

Bowling: The Rockford girls and Caledonia boys claimed O-K Red championships at the league tournament – Grand Haven Tribune

Boys Basketball: Ionia clinched the outright Capital Area Activities Conference White title with a big win over Lansing Catholic – Greenville Daily News

Girls Basketball: Muskegon clinched the O-K Black championship with a 72-66 win over Jenison – Local Sports Journal

Boys Basketball: Fremont clinched the Central State Activities Association Gold title with a 60-58 overtime win over Grant – Local Sports Journal

Bowling: New Boston Huron’s girls and boys teams swept the Monroe County Invitational titles; the girls are ranked No. 4 and the boys No. 10 in Division 2 – Monroe News

Boys Basketball: Royal Oak Shrine defeated Ann Arbor Greenhills to win the Catholic League C-D title – Oakland Press

Today in the MHSAA: 3/9/17

March 9, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

High winds and power outages couldn’t down Wednesday’s eight MHSAA Hockey Quarterfinals and a number of boys basketball District games all over the state.

Each weekday during the school year, we’ll gather and post media links covering the most significant and intriguing high school events from all over the state. 

Boys Basketball

Detroit Public School League champion Cass Tech got past rival Detroit East English 72-67 in a Class A District Semifinal – MLive-Detroit

Freeland edged Sanford Meridian Early College 46-42 in a Class B matchup of teams that entered the night a combined 36-3 – Saginaw News

Newberry clinched its first District title since 1998, downing St. Ignace 67-55 in Class C – Marquette Mining Journal

Rapid River won its first District title also in more than a decade by downing Rock Mid Peninsula 60-50 in Class D – Escanaba Daily Press

Walled Lake Western and Walled Lake Northern met for the fourth time, with this last matchup going to Western 49-45 in Class A – Oakland Press

Onsted, which had fallen twice to Hillsdale this season, handed the Hornets their first and only loss in a Class B District Semifinal – Hillsdale Daily News

St. Joseph similarly had fallen twice to Portage Central, but came back to win their third matchup 50-47 in Class A – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

Hockey

No. 3 Brighton returned to the Division 1 Semifinals with a 7-0 win over Lowell – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

Division 1 No. 4 Northville continued its run toward a possible first championship game berth with a 6-2 win over Macomb Dakota – Macomb Daily

Top-ranked Detroit Catholic Central booked a return to the Semifinals with a 6-2 win over Bay City Central/Western in Division 1 – Observer & Eccentric

Grandville also is becoming a regular in the Semifinals and will return after an 8-4 Division 1 win over Rockford – Grand Rapids Press

In a matchup of the top two ranked teams in Division 3, No. 1 Flint Powers Catholic came away with a 3-2 overtime win over Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central – Flint Journal

Calumet will play in the Division 3 Semifinals for the first time in six seasons after a 7-3 win over Big Rapids – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Warren DeLaSalle got past Detroit Country Day 4-0 in Division 3 – Macomb Daily

Dearborn Divine Child continued its surprise Division 3 run with a 4-3 win over Chelsea – Dearborn Press & Guide

Volleyball

Buchanan coach Lisa Holok resigned after 13 seasons and more than 500 victories, plus a trip this past fall to the Class B Semifinals – South Bend Tribune

Good Read

Only a few weeks before Mark Blentlinger was to take over the Schoolcraft bowling program in 2010, his daughter Kyleigh – who helped start the girls team – died suddenly. He thought of her much during the girls team’s run to the Division 4 Semifinals on Friday – Kalamazoo Gazette