Today in the MHSAA: 2/29/16

February 29, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

This was a weekend filled with championships – Team Finals in wrestling, Regionals in competitive cheer and bowling and league in basketball, hockey, and swimming & diving. We’ve found coverage of at least some from every sport.

Boys Basketball

Kalamazoo Hackett won its first league title in 26 years, downing rival Kalamazoo Christian to clinch its division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference – Kalamazoo Gazette

Haslett’s Brandon Allen became the leading scorer in his school’s history, adding 14 points for a total of 1,629 in a win over Lansing Waverly – Lansing State Journal

Detroit U-D Jesuit won big against Warren DeLaSalle, 70-45, to claim a fourth straight Detroit Catholic League A-B title – MLive-Detroit

Royal Oak Shrine downed Waterford Our Lady 49-38 to win the C-D Catholic League Tournament, its first league title since 1978 – Oakland Press

Brandon Winchester-Jones became the fourth player in Dowagiac history to score 1,000 points, doing so in a 65-60 win over Vicksburg – Niles Daily Star

Gage Kreski continued to climb the career scoring ladder, adding 46 points in a win over Pellston to set the Upper Peninsula record with 2,141 total – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News

Girls Basketball

Frankenmuth pushed its Tri-Valley Conference East winning streak to 96 straight with a big victory over Millington – Saginaw News

Bowling

The Tecumseh girls won their 10th straight Regional, besting the field in Taylor by 221 pins – Adrian Daily Telegram

Caledonia’s Brittney Schnicke won the first individual Regional bowling title in her school’s history – pulling off the feat less than a year after accidentally severing the tips of two of her fingers – Grand Rapids Press

Competitive Cheer

Sanford Meridian edged Houghton Lake by a mere four tenths of a point to earn a Division 4 Regional championship – Midland Daily News

Ice Hockey

Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard finished with its best record in school history, shutting out Dearborn Divine Child to move to 18-5 – Ann Arbor News

Boys Swimming & Diving

Spring Lake won 11 of 12 events in its final Coastal Conference meet to claim the league meet championship on its way to moving to the Ottawa-Kent Conference Blue next season – Grand Haven Tribune

Wrestling

After a number of runner-up finishes, Hartland won its first MHSAA team championship, downing Davison – Second Half

Lowell earned its third straight Division 2 title, besting rival St. Johns in what has become a near-annual Finals matchup – Second Half

Dundee remained Division 3 champion, but this time with a perfect record – Second Half

New Lothrop also ran its championship streak to three with a win over frequent Finals opponent Hudson – Second Half

Good Read

Richmond brothers Zack and Alex Roberts competed in Friday’s MHSAA Wrestling Quarterfinals at the wish of their mother Shelly, who was placed in hospice last week amid a fight with cancer – Macomb Daily

Today in the MHSAA: 4/11/16

April 11, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Forget for a minute the snow of the last two days; spring has arrived for high school sports, and a number of teams got started over the weekend.

Baseball

Port Huron Northern pitcher Brett Manis picked up a memorable early highlight with 17 strikeouts in no-hitting Yale on Friday – Port Huron Times Herald

Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse improved to 3-1 with a 6-4 comeback win over Macomb Dakota at the Spring Break Tournament – Macomb Daily

Girls Tennis

Midland Dow opened with an impressive pair of wins over Division 3 powers Detroit Country Day and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood – Midland Daily News

Track & Field

Some top Upper Peninsula athletes got off to quick starts as Ironwood competed at the Simpson Invitational in Superior, Wisconsin – Ironwood Daily Globe

Good Reads

The Detroit-area Observer & Eccentric newspapers have been reporting over the last two weeks a number of stories on officials as the MHSAA works to recruit more into the avocation. Below are links to just some from the series.  

Wrestling official Zaim Cunmulaj - KLAA assignor Bob Czech - Football and Basketball official Donta Favors - MHSAA always recruiting