Today in the MHSAA: 3/1/16

March 1, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Four more MHSAA championships were awarded Monday, while the Girls Basketball District Tournament tipped off with a new scoring record.

Girls Basketball

Benton Harbor’s Kysre Gondrezick scored an MHSAA-record 72 points to lead her team past Buchanan 80-78 in double overtime of a Class B District opener – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

Reigning Class A champion Bloomfield Hills Marian opened District play with a 44-38 win over Bloomfield Hills, the 600th win of coach Mary Cicerone’s career – Detroit News

Maple City Glen Lake moved to 19-2 with a Class C win over Johannesburg-Lewiston, which finished 18-2 – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Spring Lake edged Fruitport 47-42, ending the latter’s season after it won its first league title – Muskegon Chronicle

Warren Mott earned its first District win since 2001, downing Troy Athens in Class A 50-49 – Macomb Daily

East Lansing eliminated reigning Class B runner-up Haslett – now in Class A – in a District opener, 60-42 – Lansing State Journal

Reigning Class C champion Calumet opened with a 41-34 win over Hancock, one of the most successful teams on the Copper Kings’ immediate path toward returning to East Lansing – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Ice Hockey

Division 1 No. 15 Rochester downed Lake Orion 5-2 in a Division 1 Pre-Regional after being eliminated by the Dragons the last two seasons – Oakland Press

Division 3 No. 1 Saginaw Heritage downed No. 8 Flint Powers Catholic 3-2 in a Pre-Regional rematch – Saginaw News

Skiing

The Marquette girls won their first championship in six seasons, finishing first in Division 1 – Second Half

The Marquette boys scored a mere 22 points to hold on to the Division 1 title – Second Half

The Petoskey boys won their sixth straight MHSAA championship, dominating Division 2 – Second Half

The Elk Rapids/Traverse St. Francis girls won by the slimmest of margins to claim a Division 2 title – Second Half

Boys Swimming & Diving

In a meet that finished up Monday, Midland Dow won its 14th straight Saginaw Valley League title – Midland Daily News

Today in the MHSAA: 2/2/16

February 2, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Statewide sports action Monday was light, so we’ll focus on a series of stories published today that should pull at your heart strings and put life’s little obstacles in proper perspective.

Good Reads

Mason’s Brendan Brown is fighting for his life, against a form of cancer that has led to the amputation of a leg and soon will mean the removal of parts of his lungs. The Bulldogs junior is fighting, and also continuing a high school bowling career that is inspiring opponents and those in his community – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Also at Mason, Storm Miller might be the strongest athlete at his high school and finished third in a national weight-lifting competition last summer. He’s relying on strength now to fight a rare form of cancer that also initially was found in a leg – Lansing State Journal

Molly Holmes hasn't joined her siblings on the Leroy Pine River wrestling team yet – wait until next year – but she plays junior varsity basketball and is one of 13 kids in a family that loves sports – a family that adopted her after five foster placements and a fight to survive no child should experience – Cadillac News