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: 2/11/16

February 11, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The first MHSAA postseason of 2016 kicked off Wednesday with wrestling Team Districts, and a couple of significant basketball upsets also topped the headlines from the night’s action.

Boys Basketball

Detroit Collegiate Prep upset reigning Class A champion Detroit Western International in the Detroit Public School League Quarterfinals, 64-63, on a basket with less than a second to play – Detroit Free Press

Bridgeport handed rival Frankenmuth the Eagles’ first loss this season, 55-52, after Frankenmuth won their first meeting in double overtime – Saginaw News

Alex Thomas scored 30 points including the 1,000th of his career in Morenci’s 92-56 win over Whitmore Lake – Adrian Daily Telegram

From Tuesday, reigning Class D champ Powers North Central extended its winning streak to 40 with a nail-biting 64-60 win over Menominee – Escanaba Daily Press

Girls Basketball

Katie Spalding grabbed a school-record 25 rebounds to go with 10 points in Quincy’s 49-40 win over Reading – Coldwater Daily Reporter

Ice Hockey

Midland Dow made it two wins over rival Midland this season, adding a 3-1 victory to its previous 5-4 win – Midland Daily News

Swimming & Diving

Also from Tuesday, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix’s Ryan Mullen broke the school’s diving record that had stood since 1978 with a score of 254.9 against Portage Northern – Kalamazoo Gazette

Wrestling

Greenville finished behind Cedar Springs in their league this season, but won the rematch 35-34 to earn an 11th straight District title – Grand Rapids Press

Allegan extended its District title streak to 13 straight with big wins over Plainwell and Hamilton – Grand Rapids Press

Remus Chippewa Hills won its 12th straight District championship, downing Big Rapids in the Final – Big Rapids News

Vandercook won its first wrestling team District title in 27 years, downing Hanover-Horton in the Final – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Division 2 No. 3 St. Johns downed No. 2 DeWitt 35-27 in arguably the biggest matchup statewide to open the tournament – Lansing State Journal 

The final matchup of rivals Niles and Stevensville Lakeshore this season went to Lakeshore by tie-breaker criteria – Niles Daily Star