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: 12/11/15

December 11, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

A number of nail-biting girls basketball finishes topped Thursday’s statewide sports action, and we ran across some gymnastics, bowling and swimming and diving coverage as well.  

Girls Basketball

Cassopolis came back for a 37-29 win over New Buffalo with a big fourth quarter while playing with their thoughts on coach Nat Pittman, who reportedly suffered a heart attack Wednesday – Niles Daily Star

Shannon Bates nailed a 3-pointer with five seconds to play as Bay City All Saints edged Standish-Sterling 34-31 – Bay City Times

Sydney Stine’s free throw with 9.2 seconds to play gave Montague a 38-37 win over Hart – Muskegon Chronicle

Birch Run broke away from Millington 56-50 on 30 points and 13 rebounds by Savanah Gibson, who has averaged 25 points and 17 rebounds over her last two games – Saginaw News

Traverse City Central beat Traverse City West for the first time in nearly two calendar years, coming back from an early deficit with an 18-0 run en route to a 49-38 victory – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Niles Brandywine made 12 3-pointers to down rival Buchanan 67-47 – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

Boys Basketball

Dexter scored only one point during the first quarter and trailed South Lyon by 14, but came back for a 56-52 win – Ann Arbor News

Bellevue scored with 21 seconds left in regulation to send its game with North Adams-Jerome to overtime, then emerged as the winner after three extra periods – Hillsdale Daily News

Bowling

Statewide power Battle Creek Pennfield won all-city titles with boys and girls victories over the teams from Battle Creek Lakeview – Battle Creek Enquirer

Gymnastics

In the first gymnastics headline we’ve seen this season (many teams begin competition in January), Tecumseh earned a victory over Adrian with the top two all-around finishers – Adrian Daily Telegram

Boys Swimming & Diving

Spring Lake defeated neighbor Grand Haven for only the second time ever, 96-90, and also beat Muskegon Mona Shores 149-34 – Grand Haven Tribune