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

Today in the MHSAA: 1/23/20

January 23, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Two of the three No. 1-ranked hockey teams in Michigan faced off Thursday in league play to take today’s No. 1 spot, followed by one of the state’s annual wrestling powers claiming a conference championship.

1. Hockey: Division 2 top-ranked Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice edged Division 1 No. 1 Detroit Catholic Central 2-1 – Oakland Press

2. Wrestling: Division 3 No. 2 Richmond clinched the Blue Water Area Conference championship with a sweep of Croswell-Lexington and Imlay City – Macomb Daily

3. Hockey: Division 1 No. 4 Brighton avenged an earlier loss to No. 3 Salem with a 3-0 win in the rematch – Observer & Eccentric

4. Bowling: Bay City Central’s girls and Essexville Garber’s boys won Bay County championships – Bay City Times

5. Girls Basketball: Michigan Center avenged last season’s Regional Final loss to Springport, 61-49 – Jackson Citizen Patriot

6. Hockey: Division 2 No. 2 Livonia Stevenson continued its recent success against No. 4 Hartland, 7-0 – Observer & Eccentric

7. Girls Basketball: Bellaire remained undefeated and ended Gaylord St. Mary’s 59-game Ski Valley Conference winning streak with a 49-36 victory – Up North Live

8. Boys Basketball: Carrollton moved to 8-0 with a 77-70 win over Reese – Saginaw News

9. Hockey: Grand Haven came back from a one-goal deficit with four minutes to play to get past Hudsonville 5-3 – Local Sports Journal

10. Hockey: Will Dawson scored a natural hat trick during the first period to lead Division 2 No. 6 Traverse City Central past Petoskey 6-0 – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Also of note …

Football: Gwinn is mourning the unexpected death of football coach Dion Brown, who took over the program in 2014 and led it to multiple playoff appearances – WLUC

Football: Hudson coach Chris Luma has stepped down with a 180-70 record over the last 23 seasons – Adrian Daily Telegram

Football: Continuing Rockford’s streak of 25 straight winning seasons will rest with former assistant Brent Cummings, who was promoted to head coach – Grand Rapids Press