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: 11/9/15
November 9, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Cross Country and Boys Soccer Finals, plus a few remaining Volleyball District championship games and girls swimming and diving league meets made this the most eventful weekend of the school year to date.
Cross Country
Rockford’s boys repeated in Lower Peninsula Division 1, while Birmingham Seaholm’s girls won their third title in four seasons – Second Half Girls | Boys
The Otsego girls and Hamilton’s Erika Freyhof both were first-time champions in LP Division 2, while Algonac senior Morgan Beadlescomb repeated as individual boys champion and Fremont dominated to claim that team title – Second Half Girls | Boys
Lansing Catholic’s boys and Grandville Calvin Christian’s Abe Visser claimed the first team and individual titles in their programs’ respective histories, while Traverse City St. Francis’ Holly Bullough repeated as LP Division 3 champion in helping the Gladiators win the team title as well – Second Half Girls | Boys
Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart turned in arguably the most dominating Finals performance in Division 4 history, while Saugatuck’s boys moved up from runners-up in 2014 to champions – Second Half Girls | Boys
Boys Soccer
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central capped an undefeated season with a Division 1 championship win over reigning champion Canton – Second Half
Mason won its first MHSAA title since 1997 with a comeback win over Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern – Second Half
Grand Rapids South Christian is Division 3 champion once again thanks to a shootout victory over Williamston – Second Half
Burton Genesee Christian completed a perfect season by winning the Division 4 title – Second Half
Girls Swimming and Diving
LP Division 3 No. 4 St. Clair broke four school records in winning the Macomb Area Conference White championship meet – Port Huron Times-Herald
LP Division 3 honorable mention Spring Lake set six school records in winning the Coastal Conference meet with 67 personal-best times – Grand Haven Tribune
Midland Dow won its 10th straight Saginaw Valley League championship, edging Saginaw Heritage by 18 points – Midland Daily News
LP Division 1 No. 6 Brighton won its second straight Kensington Lakes Activities Association Lakes championship meet with three meet records – Livingston Daily
Volleyball
Class B honorable mention Tecumseh swept Brooklyn Columbia Central to win their District and improve to 45-4-1 – Adrian Daily Telegram
Class B No. 5 Cadillac swept Kingsley to win its 10th straight District championship – Cadillac News
Also in Class B, Sault Ste. Marie needed five sets to get past Kalkaska and win the District title – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News
From Thursday, Fulton beat Fowler to win its first District title since 2001 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Crystal Falls Forest Park, honorable mention in Class D, won its District for an incredible 16th straight season – Iron Mountain Daily News
Good Read
The Benton Harbor football program got plenty of excellent coverage heading into the weekend’s District Final against Zeeland West – but here’s a story about what's next now that the Tigers’ season is done – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium