Today in the MHSAA: 2/6/19
February 6, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
We can sense tournament time is coming on quickly after a Tuesday night filled with championship-caliber matchups, upsets and last-second game-winners.
1. Girls Basketball: Southfield Arts & Technology took over first place alone in the Oakland Activities Association Red with a 60-47 win over previously-undefeated Royal Oak – State Champs!
2. Girls Basketball: Rachel Elms connected on a 3-pointer during the final seconds to lead Holland West Ottawa past previously-undefeated Grand Haven 41-39 – Holland Sentinel
3. Boys Basketball: Clarkston clinched a share of the OAA Red title with a 47-31 win over North Farmington – Oakland Press
4. Boys Basketball: Beal City downed Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart in overtime, but the Irish’s Colten Nelson set his school’s career scoring record now at 1,204 points – Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart
5. Boys Basketball: Mattawan won a matchup of division leaders 48-47 in overtime over Kalamazoo Central – WWMT
6. Hockey: In a matchup of first-place teams in the Northern Michigan Hockey League, Division 1 No. 11 Traverse City Bay Reps moved to the top of the standings with a 3-2 win over Petoskey – MI Sports Now
7. Boys Basketball: Connor Murphy’s halfcourt buzzer beater carried McBain past Manton 45-42, putting McBain in first alone in the Highland Conference – Traverse City Record-Eagle
8. Hockey: South Lyon downed Division 2 No. 11 White Lake Lakeland 4-3 in a key Lakes Valley Conference matchup – Oakland Press
9. Boys Basketball: Brock Mullins’ last-second basket pushed second-place Flat Rock past Huron League leader Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central 50-48 – Monroe News
10. Boys Swimming & Diving: Ann Arbor Pioneer, No. 2 in Lower Peninsula Division 1, had the winner in every event on the way to downing LPD2 No. 10 Temperance Bedford – We Love Ann Arbor
Also of note …
Boys Swimming & Diving: East Kentwood coach Jock Ambrose announced his retirement after nearly four decades – WOOD TV
Wrestling: In its first season in the league, Caro locked up the Greater Thumb Conference tournament title – Huron Daily Tribune
Today in the MHSAA: 10/19/16
October 19, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
District soccer continued Tuesday and league champions were crowned in volleyball and cross country all over the Lower Peninsula – but the must-see stories are a pair of “good reads” coming out of the Jackson and Alpena areas.
Each weekday during the school year, we’ll gather and post media links covering the most significant and intriguing high school events from all over the state.
Cross Country
The Caro boys – No. 4 in Lower Peninsula Division 3 – and the No. 6 Shepherd girls won championships at the Tri-Valley Conference all-division final – Saginaw News
The Ubly girls and boys teams repeated as East champions at the Greater Thumb Conference championship race (Ubly's girls are No. 9 in LPD4), and the Reese girls and LPD4 honorable mention Cass City boys repeated as West winners – Huron Daily Tribune
Traverse City West swept the final Big North Conference jamborees, the West boys earning the league title and the Central girls finishing as overall league champion for the 14th straight season. The Central girls are No. 4 in LPD1 and the West girls are an honorable mention – Traverse City Record-Eagle
Harbor Springs’ boys (No. 2 LPD4) kept their undefeated season going with a third straight Lake Michigan Conference final championship, and Traverse City St. Francis (No. 2 LPD3) clinched the girls title – Petoskey News-Review
Boys Soccer
Division 1 No. 2 Portage Northern moved on with a 4-1 District win over Lansing Everett thanks to three goals by Ryan Melgar – Kalamazoo Gazette
Adrian Lenawee Christian freshman Zach Riordan set his school’s scoring record of 36 goals in an 8-0 Division 4 win over Clinton – Adrian Daily Telegram
Girls Swimming & Diving
LPD1 No. 2 Saline got past No. 10 Brighton 112-74 in a matchup of top Division 1 teams – Saline Post
Volleyball
Walled Lake Central repeated as Lakes champion in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association with a five-set win over Brighton – Livingston Daily Argus & Press
Class A top-ranked Novi swept Canton to win its fourth straight KLAA Kensington championship – Oakland Press
Marine City improved to 8-1 in the Macomb Area Conference Gold and clinched a share of the league title with a three-set win over Warren Mott – Port Huron Times Herald
Good Reads
The story of Brooklyn Columbia Central standout running back Micah Raby is captivating, if not from this passage alone about how his adopted parents found him: “Inside the missionary’s hut, on an ordinary table lay an ordinary bible box containing an extraordinary sight, and it caught Doug and Sandy Raby’s eyes and hearts immediately. Inside that bible box – no bigger than a size 10 shoebox – was a 1-month-old boy named Joseph, one of two surviving triplets. His brother did not survive the birth and the birth parents decided to keep the other one, believed to be a girl, because it was the biggest and had the greatest chance of surviving.” – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
Lincoln Alcona announcer Don Franklin first gave voice to the school’s athletic events in 1967, and will retire at the end of this school year with 50 years on the microphone announcing football and a number of other sports over a half century – Alpena News