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: 1/30/17
January 30, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Powers North Central set an MHSAA record for longest boys basketball winning streak Friday, and you can find separate coverage of that here. But there were a number of other highlights to promote from the weekend, including some key hockey matchups and a long list of impressive girls basketball accomplishments.
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.
Girls Basketball
Grand Rapids Catholic Central continued its surge with a 42-34 win over reigning Class B champion Marshall – Grand Rapids Press
Michigan Center won its 10th game this season, 36-29 over 2016 Class B semifinalist Bay City John Glenn – Jackson Citizen Patriot
Goodrich avenged an earlier loss to Flint Hamady to take over first place in the Genesee Area Conference Red with a 54-36 win in the rematch – Flint Journal
Mary Liedel became the first player in Erie-Mason girls history to score 1,000 points, passing the milestone in a 60-50 win over Brooklyn Columbia Central – Monroe Evening News
Ionia’s Jaylynn Williams also passed 1,000 career points, with 26 in a 44-38 win over Portland – Ionia Sentinel-Standard
From Thursday, Newberry’s Taylor Bryant broke her school’s career scoring record for both girls and boys – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News
Boys Basketball
Powers North Central broke Chassell’s 59-year-old MHSAA record for longest winning streak, earning a 66th-straight win by downing Bark River-Harris 76-29 – Escanaba Daily Press
Detroit Catholic Central also avenged an early-season loss, downing Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 70-56 – MLive-Detroit
Lansing Catholic upset Williamston 76-72, handing the Hornets their second loss this season – Lansing State Journal
Competitive Cheer
Division 1 No. 8 Rochester edged honorable mention Lake Orion by less than a point to finish first among Division 1 teams and overall at the Dragons’ invitational – Oakland Press
Gymnastics
Canton won its latest matchup with rival Farmington, finishing first at the White Lake Lakeland Invitational while Northville finished third in a loaded field – Observer & Eccentric
Hockey
No. 2 Brighton won a matchup of the top-ranked teams in Division 1, edging No. 1 Detroit Catholic Central 2-1 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
Hartland, No. 1 in Division 2, also won impressively 3-0 over No. 4 Livonia Stevenson – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
Skiing
Petoskey’s girls and boys teams shined against top downstate competition in sweeping championships at the Pintail Slalom Invitational – Petoskey News-Review
Wrestling
Hamilton coach Gregg Stoel reached 500 wins during the Montague Invitational – Grand Rapids Press
Macomb County teams went a combined 22-3 against Oakland County at the Gold Division meet – Macomb Daily
Stevensville Lakeshore beat rival and Division 2 No. 10 Niles by 21 points to win the Greater Berrien County Invitational – South Bend Tribune
Good Read
It’s been more than 20 years since Jeff McCullough’s death after a fight with cancer, but his memory lives on in Traverse City hockey among players who weren’t born until after he passed – Traverse City Record-Eagle