Today in the MHSAA: 2/22/19

February 22, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

More league championships were awarded Thursday as boys basketball teams finished up their regular season and girls teams closed in on the final week of theirs – and we’re also glad to especially highlight an impressive United Sports effort that brought more than 250 athletes to Novi.

1. Unified Basketball: Novi and the Kensington Lakes Activities Association hosted 10 schools for a league tournament that showcased the growing Unified Sports effort – Detroit News

2. Boys Basketball: Canton downed Howell 78-58 to clinch the Kensington Lakes Activities Association Tournament championship – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

3. Boys Basketball: Walled Lake Northern earned the inaugural Lakes Valley Conference Tournament title with a 29-26 win over White Lake Lakeland – State Champs!

4. Girls Basketball: A big win over Memphis helped Harbor Beach earn a share of the Greater Thumb Conference East title – Huron Daily Tribune

5. Girls Basketball: St. Ignace defeated Cheboygan to clinch the outright Straits Area Conference championship – The Upbeat

6. Boys Basketball: Otsego finished the regular season 20-0 with a 75-61 win over Sturgis in the Wolverine Conference championship game – JoeInsider.com

7. Boys Basketball: Bear Lake’s Trey Gilbert scored 50 points in a 71-48 win over Baldwin to go over 1,000 for his career – Manistee News Advocate

8. Boys Basketball: Pellston secured the outright Ski Valley Conference title with a 54-39 win over Gaylord St. Mary – Petoskey News-Review

9. Boys Basketball: Ovid-Elsie downed New Lothrop 48-28 to secure the outright Mid-Michigan Activities Conference title – Owosso Argus-Press

10. Boys Basketball: Kyle Hulett went over 1,000 career points with 31 for Byron in a 74-72 win over Mount Morris – Flint Journal

Also of note …

Boys Basketball: New Haven’s Romeo Weems, Detroit Renaissance’s Chandler Turner, Canton’s B. Artis White and Westland John Glenn’s Joe Moon were named finalists for the Mr. Basketball Award – State Champs!

Boys Basketball: Gladstone downed Kingsford, but Kingsford’s Tyler Beauchamp became the program’s all-time leading scorer and teammate Luke Terrian scored his 1,000th point – Iron Mountain Daily News

Boys Basketball: From Tuesday, Hale defeated Posen to claim its third straight North Star League Little Dipper title – WBKB

Today in the MHSAA: 4/18/18

April 18, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Each weekday of the school year, we break down the top headlines courtesy of Michigan’s sports media.

1. Girls Soccer: After opening this season 0-2, No. 4 Saline has won the first three games of league play including Tuesday’s over Ann Arbor Pioneer, 3-0 – Saline Post

2. Boys Lacrosse: Lake Orion continued its league dominance with a 15-10 win over Troy – Oakland Press

3. Girls Soccer: Lake Orion remained undefeated in league play on the soccer field as well with a 3-0 win over Royal Oak – Oakland Press

4. Baseball: Chelsea will name its field after former longtime coach and athletic director Wayne Welton – Ann Arbor News

5. Volleyball: Traverse City Central has hired former Benzie Central coach Jen Wright to take over the program; Wright most recently has been coaching the Trojans’ junior varsity – Traverse City Record-Eagle

6. Football: Junior varsity coach Jesse Fenstermaker has been promoted to take over Rogers City’s program as varsity leader – Alpena News

7. Football: Hillman promoted defensive coordinator Cody Allen to head coach as it heads into 8-player football for the first time this fall – Alpena News

8. Officials: Longtime sportswriter Al Wright gives his perspective on why it's gotten tougher to recruit officials for high school athletics – Midwest Sports Network

9. MHSAA: As part of its Black History Month features in February, State Champs! Network included a tribute to MHSAA assistant director Nate Hampton, who coordinates football, girls and boys basketball and girls and boys track & field – State Champs!