Today in the MHSAA: 3/16/16

March 16, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The MHSAA girls basketball field was whittled to 16 teams Tuesday night – here are headlines and links from each Quarterfinal game.

Class A

St. Johns continued its best run in more than a decade by securing a Semifinal bid with a win over Port Huron Northern – Lansing State Journal

Warren Cousino will make its first Semifinal appearance after downing Northville – Macomb Daily

Detroit Martin Luther King needed overtime but slipped past Ann Arbor Huron 58-54 – Detroit Free Press

Hudsonville earned its first Semifinal berth with a 40-32 win over East Lansing – Grand Rapids Press

Class B

Marshall improved to 24-1 this season with a 41-30 win over Grand Rapids Catholic Central – Battle Creek Enquirer

Bay City John Glenn continued its best run ever with a Quarterfinal win over Manistee – Bay City Times

Reigning champion Detroit Country Day will return to Breslin Center after downing Detroit Mumford – Detroit Free Press

Grand Rapids South Christian drew another step closer to a second Class B Final in three seasons with a 67-51 win over Dearborn Heights Robichaud – Grand Rapids Press

Class C

Ithaca also extended its longest run ever with a win over Flint Hamady – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Niles Brandywine will make a return to the Breslin for the first time since 2010 after downing Grand Rapids Covenant Christian – Niles Daily Star

Traverse City St. Francis edged reigning Class D champion St. Ignace 48-44 to earn a trip to the Class C Semifinals – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Ypsilanti Arbor Prep dazzled with a 60-22 Class C win over Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett – Ann Arbor News

Class D

Reigning runner-up Pittsford will return to Breslin thanks to a Quarterfinal win over Wyoming Tri-unity Christian – Hillsdale Daily News

Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart got past Gaylord St. Mary by just a point, 27-26 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Waterford Our Lady will make what has become a near-annual trip to East Lansing thanks to a Quarterfinal win over Kingston – Oakland Press

Stephenson won a battle of Upper Peninsula powers, 60-35 over Newberry – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News

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