Today in the MHSAA: 2/19/20
February 19, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A pair of championship celebrations long in the making top one of our fullest lists of headliners this season as league titles were clinched in three sports and star performances shined on the court, ice and hill – not to mention the winningest baseball coach in state history announced his retirement.
1. Boys Basketball: Ravenna downed Muskegon Oakridge 70-36 to earn a share of its first West Michigan Conference title since 1980 – Local Sports Journal
2. Girls Basketball: Lake City clinched a share of the Highland Conference title, its first league championship since 2001, with a 36-26 win over second-place Manton – Cadillac News
3. Boys Basketball: Howell claimed the Kensington Lakes Activities Association West title with a 75-71 triple-overtime win over Canton – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
4. Girls Basketball: Hartland avenged its lone loss and moved into first alone in the KLAA West with a 36-33 win over Brighton – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
5. Hockey: Division 3 No. 6 Houghton downed top-ranked Calumet for the first time this season, 3-2 – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
6. Skiing: Petoskey’s boys and Traverse City Central’s girls clinched Big North Conference championships – Petoskey News-Review
7. Girls Basketball: Ubly earned a share of the Greater Thumb Conference East title with a 42-31 win over Sandusky – Huron Daily Tribune
8. Girls Basketball: Adrian Madison locked up a share of the Tri-County Conference title with a 49-23 win over Clinton – Adrian Daily Telegram
9. Girls Basketball: Kingsley moved into a tie for first in the Northwest Conference with a 50-38 win over co-leader Maple City Glen Lake – MI Sports Now
10. Boys Basketball: East Lansing downed Okemos 45-43 on a last-second shot, putting the teams in a tie for first in the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue – Lansing State Journal
Also of note …
Baseball: Grand Ledge coach Pat O’Keefe, the state’s winningest all-time in the sport with 1,315 victories, retired – Lansing State Journal
Girls Basketball: East Grand Rapids finished a repeat run in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Gold with a 63-59 win over Grand Rapids Christian – FOX 17
Boys Basketball: Ann Arbor Huron earned the Southeastern Conference Red title with a 57-48 win over Saline – Ann Arbor News
Boys Basketball: Muskegon earned a share of a seventh-straight league title, downing Jenison 86-47 in the O-K Black – Muskegon Chronicle
Boys Basketball: Emoni Bates had 63 points and 21 rebounds to lead Ypsilanti Lincoln past Chelsea 108-102 in double overtime – Ann Arbor News
Boys Basketball: Shamar Howard went over 1,000 career points in Lansing Everett’s 57-55 win over Grand Ledge – Lansing State Journal
Boys Basketball: Brett LaFord went over 1,000 career points in Carney-Nadeau’s 62-56 win over Bark River-Harris – Escanaba Daily Press
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)