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: 2/10/16

February 10, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Teams are turning their attention toward the season’s most important competitions, with league titles being awarded and milestones attained and the postseason beginning this week in one sport with the rest to soon follow.

Girls Basketball

Caledonia improved to 14-2 by handing Grand Rapids South Christian its first loss, 33-31 – Grand Rapids Press

Howell earned a share of its first league championship since 2009-10, downing Hartland 46-35 to set up a chance to win the Kensington Lakes Activities Association West title outright Friday against Brighton – Livingston Daily

Manistee won its seventh straight game, this time downing Big North Conference contender Traverse City Central 45-38 – Manistee News Advocate

Gaylord St. Mary came back from deficits twice to down Bellaire, 38-34 – Gaylord Herald Times

Muskegon Oakridge’s Hannah Reinhold cleared 1,000 career points in her team’s title-clinching win over Shelby – Muskegon Chronicle

From Monday, New Boston Huron outscored Flat Rock 10-0 in the fourth quarter to win 41-34 and end Flat Rock’s Huron League winning streak of 57 games dating to 2012 – Monroe Evening News

Boys Basketball

Anthony Morgan’s fifth 3-pointer against Marysville came with nine seconds left in overtime and gave St. Clair Shores South Lake a 62-61 win – Macomb Daily

Class C Southfield Christian handed Class A Ann Arbor Pioneer its second straight loss, 56-49 – Ann Arbor News

Edwardsburg’s Dante Razzano scored his 1,000th career point in a 69-38 win over Plainwell – Kalamazoo Gazette

Orchard Lake St. Mary’s C.J. Wilson followed Detroit Catholic Central’s Tyler Laurentius’ closing-seconds layup with a winning free throw in a 51-50 Eaglets win – Oakland Press

Saugatuck’s Blake Dunn dropped 42 points on 18 field goals on Eau Claire in a 70-62 win – Holland Sentinel

Canton trailed Livonia Churchill by nine points with two minutes left in regulation, but came back to win in double overtime to remain undefeated – Detroit News

From Monday, Litchfield scored a school record number of points and tied another record with nine 3-pointers in a 107-83 win over Battle Creek Calhoun Christian – Hillsdale Daily News

Boys Swimming & Diving

Lower Peninsula Division 2 No. 6 Midland Dow won the final event against No. 3 Birmingham Groves to also win their meet, 94-92 – Midland Daily News

For the second straight season, New Baltimore Anchor Bay and Marysville met in the final meet of the Macomb Area Conference Blue season – and for the second straight season, Anchor Bay won to claim the league title – Port Huron Times Herald