Today in the MHSAA: 3/11/16

March 11, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Thursday saw multiple Michigan girls basketball teams win Regional titles for the first time and all three undefeated teams in Class C fall. And in hockey, our Division 2 Final will include a past champ versus a first-time advancer.

Girls Basketball

In a meeting of arguably the two favorites in Class A heading into the tournament, Detroit Martin Luther King came away with a 74-56 win over Southfield-Lathrup – Detroit Free Press

St. Johns won its first Regional title in 11 seasons with a 46-43 victory over Saginaw Heritage in Class A – Lansing State Journal

Warren Cousino claimed its first Regional championship with a 49-39 win over reigning Class A champion Bloomfield Hills Marian – Macomb Daily

Bay City John Glenn also earned its first Regional title, downing Freeland 59-27 in Class B – Bay City Times

Grand Rapids Covenant Christian earned its first trip to the Quarterfinals since 2000 with a 31-30 win over Kent City in Class C – Grand Rapids Press

Niles Brandywine handed Gobles its first and only loss of the season, 53-47 in a Class C Regional Final – Niles Daily Star

St. Ignace ended a perfect run for reigning Class C champion Calumet with a one-point win – Escanaba Daily Press

Ithaca won its first Regional title with a 68-45 victory over Reese in Class C – Saginaw News

Also in Class C, Ypsilanti Arbor Prep ended Napoleon’s perfect run with a 40-30 win to claim a third straight Regional title – Jackson Citizen Patriot

Stephenson earned its first Regional title since 1982 by downing four-time reigning Regional champ Crystal Falls Forest Park in Class D – Iron Mountain Daily News

Ice Hockey

No. 3-ranked Livonia Stevenson reached the Division 2 Final with a 5-1 win over No. 2 Hartland – Detroit News

Romeo reached its first MHSAA Final in hockey with a 5-2 win over Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern/Eastern in Division 2 – Macomb Daily

Today in the MHSAA: 12/1/16

December 1, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

As fans of competition, we can give thanks for early-season matchups of top-ranked teams like we saw in hockey Wednesday. But check out our “Good Reads” today for a wider perspective of why else we should be grateful.

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.

Girls Basketball

Michigan Center survived a Jonesville comeback to win its season opener 43-40 in overtime – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Class D power Athens got off to the right start with a 32-20 win over Battle Creek St. Philip – Battle Creek Enquirer

Mackinaw City pulled out an overtime win over rival Pellston, 36-33 – Petoskey News Review

From Tuesday, Canton downed Bloomfield Hills Marian 43-40 in an early-season meeting of regular contenders in Class A – Observer & Eccentric

Hockey

Hartland – ranked No. 1 in Division 2 – came back from a two-goal deficit to beat Division 1 top-ranked Brighton 3-2 in overtime – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

Cadillac led 4-0 but had to hold on for a 5-4 win over Cheboygan – Cadillac News

On his team’s 56th shot of the night, Mario Steffin netted the game-winner as Wyandotte Roosevelt downed Southgate Anderson 4-3 in overtime – Southgate News Herald

Good Reads

We missed this one a few days ago, but the Port Huron Times Herald provided some awesome perspective by printing what many of its most notable local sports figures – coaches, high school stars and champions past – were thankful for this Thanksgiving weekend – Port Huron Times Herald

We’ve been following the story of longtime northern Michigan and current Traverse City St. Francis basketball coach Keith Haske (Second Half, 3/3/16), who has been fighting cancer but finished up a round of chemotherapy this week – Traverse City Record-Eagle