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: 3/4/16
March 4, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The boys basketball regular season finished up in most areas of the state Thursday, as the Individual Wrestling Finals got started and the hockey, girls basketball and boys diving postseasons continued on.
Girls Basketball
After falling to rival Bath only a few weeks ago, Laingsburg came back to win the District battle of co-champions from the Central Michigan Athletic Conference, 41-27 – Lansing State Journal
Boys Basketball
Unbeaten Canton secured the overall Kensington Lakes Activities Association championship with a 50-47 overtime win over Walled Lake Western – Oakland Press
Detroit U-D Jesuit won the Operation Friendship game between champions from the Detroit Catholic League and Public School League, downing East English 92-76 – Detroit News
Traxton Gordon scored the 1,000th point of his Hesperia career despite a loss to North Muskegon – Muskegon Chronicle
Keegan George also went over 1,000 points for his career, although his Spring Lake team fell to Muskegon Catholic Central – Muskegon Chronicle
From Tuesday, Pickford’s Derrick Edington also joined the 1,000 point club in a 68-63 win over Rogers City – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News
The Detroit Free Press introduced the five finalists for this season’s Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan Mr. Basketball Award – Detroit Free Press
Ice Hockey
Cadillac scored with 20 seconds to play in regulation to edge Mount Pleasant 3-2 in a Division 3 Pre-Regional – Cadillac News
For the fourth time in five seasons, Brighton ended Howell’s season, this time 3-1 in a battle of Division 1 contenders – Livingston Daily
Warren DeLaSalle just survived Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett in Division 3, 5-4 after leading 3-0 early – Macomb Daily
Midland advanced in Division 2 with a 4-1 win over Midland Dow after falling to Dow twice during the regular season – Midland Daily News
After falling to Muskegon Reeths-Puffer in the tournament the last three seasons, Mona Shores came out on top with a 6-5 win in Division 2 – Muskegon Chronicle
Wrestling
Hartland’s Sage Castillo improved to 53-0 this season with a pin in his Division 1 first-round match as the MHSAA Individual Finals kicked off at The Palace of Auburn Hills – Detroit News