Today in the MHSAA: 2/20/19

February 20, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Basketball and skiing dominated headlines from Tuesday as the league championship train continued to rumble through the Lower Peninsula.

1. Skiing: Harbor Springs’ girls won their 11th straight Lake Michigan Conference championship, while Great Northern Alpine’s boys finished a sweep for their title – Petoskey News-Review

2. Girls Basketball: Hamilton claimed its third straight Ottawa-Kent Conference Green title with a big win over second-place Byron Center – Holland Sentinel

3. Boys Basketball: Quincy clinched its third straight Big 8 Conference title with a big win over Bronson – Coldwater Daily Reporter

4. Boys Basketball: Big Rapids Crossroads won its first outright West Michigan D League title since 2011 with a 55-44 win over Bear Lake – Big Rapids News

5. Boys Basketball: Oxford claimed a share of the Oakland Activities Association Blue title by finishing a season sweep of second-place Pontiac – Oakland Press

6. Girls Basketball: Cadillac clinched the Big North Conference title with a 49-39 win over Traverse City West – Cadillac News

7. Boys Basketball: Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern clinched a share of the O-K White title with a big win over rival Forest Hills Central – WOOD TV

8. Boys Basketball: Pellston won a share of the Ski Valley Conference title in defeating Onaway 92-66 – Petoskey News-Review

9. Skiing: Petoskey’s boys and Traverse City Central’s girls finished Big North Conference title runs – Petoskey News-Review

10. Boys Basketball: Muskegon clinched a share of the O-K Black title with a big win over Mona Shores – Local Sports Journal

Also of note …

Bowling: Sturgis’ boys downed Bronson’s 25-5 in a matchup of top-ranked teams in Divisions 2 and 4, respectively – Sturgis Journal

Boys Basketball: Petersburg-Summerfield locked up the outright Tri-County Conference title with a 55-33 win over Sand Creek – Monroe News

Girls Basketball: Fruitport Calvary Christian finished an outright Alliance League title run with a 52-40 win over Kentwood Grand River Prep – Local Sports Journal

Girls Basketball: Coleman downed Breckenridge 49-40 as Jaden Berthume became the first 1,000-point scorer in Comets history – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Boys Basketball: Britton-Deerfield came back to defeat Addison in overtime with Zac Clark scoring his 1,000th point during the win – Adrian Daily Telegram

Boys Basketball: Hale defeated Posen 70-56, but Posen’s Jared Sharpe reached 1,000 career points – Alpena News

Girls Basketball: Matti Rayman went over 1,000 career points as Otsego defeated Comstock 62-50 – WWMT

Girls Basketball: Caitlyn Bruff went over 1,000 career points in New Lothrop’s 50-34 win over Birch Run – Flint Journal

Boys Basketball: From Monday, Ypsilanti Lincoln clinched the Southeastern Conference White title with a 73-65 win over Jackson – Detroit News

Boys Basketball: From Monday, Sturgis downed Edwardsburg 49-40 to claim the Wolverine Conference South championship – JoeInsider.com

Today in the MHSAA: 12/20/18

December 20, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Each weekday of the school year, we break down the top headlines courtesy of Michigan’s sports media.

Teams are getting in their final competitions before at least a brief holiday break, and we’re taking one too after today’s list – “Today” will return Jan. 7, although Second Half will continue publishing stories from all over the state during the final week of December and first of January.  

1. Boys Basketball: Gaylord St. Mary broke a 31-game, 14-year losing streak to Bellaire with a 29-26 win – Gaylord Herald Times

2. Boys Basketball: Camden-Frontier improved to 7-0 by handing a first loss to Reading, 57-46 – Hillsdale Daily News

3. Hockey: Evan MacDonald had a hat trick as Division 1 No. 5 Brighton downed reigning Division 3 runner-up Livonia Churchill 4-1 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

4. Boys Basketball: Mancelona gave Pellston its first loss of this season, 67-65 – Petoskey News-Review

5. Girls Basketball: Waterford Our Lady made a late run to get past Pontiac Notre Dame Prep 61-56 – Oakland Press

6. Wrestling: Grand Haven came back from a 24-0 deficit to defeat Caledonia 39-33 – Grand Haven Tribune

7. Gymnastics: Escanaba remained undefeated to start the season with wins over Marquette and Negaunee – Escanaba Daily Press

8. Boys Basketball: Portland St. Patrick closed on a 22-5 run to beat Fowler 52-42 – Ionia Sentinel-Standard

9. Hockey: Brendan Pellerito had 34 saves as Mattawan shut out Portage Northern 4-0 – JoeInsider.com

10. Wrestling: Division 4 top-ranked Hudson earned a pair of league wins over Blissfield and Onsted – Adrian Daily Telegram

Also of note …

Hockey: The status of high school hockey is on the rise with talent evaluators at the game’s next levels – Observer & Eccentric

Tennis: Longtime coach Paul Bandrowski retired after leading Traverse City St. Francis’ girls and boys teams to a number of strong MHSAA Finals finishes – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Girls Basketball: From Tuesday, Eaton Rapids came back to stun Jackson Northwest 44-41, but the Mounties’ Sydney Shafer went over 1,000 career points – Jackson Citizen Patriot

Boys Swimming & Diving: From Tuesday, Lower Peninsula Division 1 No. 2 Ann Arbor Skyline edged LPD2 top-ranked Dexter 95-90 – We Love Ann Arbor