Today in the MHSAA: 2/22/16
February 22, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A loaded weekend included Upper Peninsula Swimming & Diving Finals, Cheer Districts, Wrestling Individual Regionals and title-deciding matchups in girls and boys basketball – plus key contests in just about every MHSAA sport.
Girls Basketball
What’s become one of the top girls basketball rivalries in the state added another incredible chapter as Haslett beat DeWitt 61-59 in triple overtime in a matchup of Class A ranked teams – Lansing State Journal
Despite a nearly new cast this season, Bloomfield Hills Marian completed a Detroit Catholic League A-B championship with a 48-29 win over rival Farmington Hills Mercy in the tournament final – Oakland Press
Detroit Martin Luther King won its fifth straight Detroit Public School League title, just edging Detroit Renaissance 68-66 – Detroit Free Press
Despite a three-point loss to Saginaw, Addyson Tomczak became the second player in Bay City Central girls basketball history to score more than 1,000 career points – Bay City Times
Holt’s Kamrin Reed went over 1,000 career points recently against Okemos, and despite missing her junior season with a torn knee ligament – Lansing State Journal
Boys Basketball
Detroit East English continued to ride the strong play of Jaylin McFaddin and Kamari Newman to its first Detroit Public School League championship with an 86-62 win over Detroit Renaissance – Detroit News
St. Ignace clinched the Straits Area Conference title and Gage Kreski went over 2,000 points for his career in a 84-59 win over Newberry – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News
Frankfort finished its first back-to-back league titles since 1961-62, winning the Northwest Conference with a 50-48 win over Buckley – Traverse City Record-Eagle
Bowling
Portage Northern edged Portage Central 17-13 thanks in part to a 499 Baker series that ranks among the state’s best this season – Kalamazoo Gazette
Competitive Cheer
Reigning Division 4 champion Breckenridge took its first step toward a repeat, finishing first at the District at Ithaca – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Ice Hockey
Division 2 No. 10 Escanaba and Division 3 No. 3 Calumet finished tied in a matchup of two of the highest-ranked teams from the Upper Peninsula – Escanaba Daily Press
Jackson, No. 13 in Division 1, swept rival Jackson Lumen Christi for the first time, winning the second game this season 4-3 – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
Midland Dow, No. 14 in Division 2, came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat No. 4 Romeo 5-4 – Midland Daily News
Swimming and Diving
The Gladstone girls won their first MHSAA championship, riding a strong finish to stay ahead of Houghton and Marquette – Second Half
The Marquette boys won their third straight MHSAA title with a number of U.P. Finals record performances – Second Half
Wrestling
From a loaded Individual Regional at Byron Center, Lowell sent 11 wrestlers on to the MHSAA Finals and Allegan sent seven – Grand Rapids Press
Saginaw Swan Valley’s K.J. Suitor broke his school’s wins record with his 219th in winning a Division 3 Regional title at Richmond – Saginaw News
Good Read
We’ve gotten to see Yale superintendent Kenneth Nicholl in action as an administrator during the last two Battles of the Fans, and he’s also one of our state’s top high school wrestling officials – Port Huron Times Herald
Former MHSAA Representative Council member Bob Doctor has been selected for the Petoskey Athletic Hall of Fame. Doctor was on the Council during the early 1970s and was the school's longtime principal – Petoskey News
Today in the MHSAA: 1/16/18
January 16, 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.
Today's Top 10
1. Boys Swimming & Diving – Holland West Ottawa, No. 4 in Lower Peninsula Division 1, emerged as the best among titans with wins over No. 3 Birmingham Brother Rice and No. 1 Ann Arbor Skyline in a tri-meet – Holland Sentinel
2. Wrestling: Four of Michigan’s best tested themselves against Ohio power Lakewood St. Edward, which finished 4-0 with wins over Division 1 No. 1 Detroit Catholic Central, No. 4 Davison, Division 2 No. 1 Lowell and Division 3 No. 1 Dundee – Observer & Eccentric
3. Wrestling: Division 2 No. 4 DeWitt claimed the Ada Forest Hills Eastern Invitational title, handing No. 10 Niles its first loss in the process – Niles Daily Star
4. Girls Basketball: Stanton Central Montcalm moved to 11-0 this season with a 48-39 win over Big Rapids, which also entered undefeated – Greenville Daily News
5. Wrestling: Division 2 No. 7 Stevensville Lakeshore won the Holland West Ottawa Invitational, downing Rockford in the final, and coach Bruce Bittenbender won his 900th career match during the run – St. Joseph Herald Palladium
6. Wrestling: Division 1 No. 2 Brighton finished the Kensington Lakes Activities Association Gold Duals 5-0 on Saturday and defeated No. 3 Macomb Dakota on Sunday to finish off a strong weekend – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
7. Boys Basketball: Marine City Cardinal Mooney’s Daniel Everhart scored 23 points in a 70-44 win over Allen Park Cabrini to become the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,423 over his career – Port Huron Times Herald
8. Wrestling: Sparta placed 11 wrestlers to win its invitational, with Grandville second and Division 4 No. 10 Springport third – Grand Rapids Press
9. Hockey: Kingsford won a high-scoring road game at Division 3 No. 5 Houghton, 6-5 – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
10. Cheer: Preparation paid off for Bay City Central as it won its Wolfpack Cheer Challenge by more than 50 points – Bay City Times
Also of note …
Boys Swimming & Diving: Just more than a week ago, Corunna’s Xavier Staubs and Grant Warner were the biggest winners during a meet against Owosso; they pulled an unresponsive Owosso competitor from the water so others could then revive him – Detroit Free Press