Today in the MHSAA: 3/17/16

March 17, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The final week of this boys basketball season will feature some of the unexpected and unfamiliar as favorites fell and teams earned Regional titles for the first time in decades Wednesday.

Boys Basketball

In a rematch of last season’s Class A Semifinal, Detroit U-D Jesuit came away the winner this time with a 47-39 win over reigning champion Detroit Western International – Detroit News

In Class C, Kalamazoo Hackett won its first Regional since 1969, downing Homer 66-48 – Kalamazoo Gazette

Ithaca had an even longer wait in Class C, claiming its first Regional on Wednesday since 1956 with a win over Reese – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

North Farmington ended another long wait, claiming its first Regional title with a win over Walled Lake Central in Class A – Oakland Press

Flint Beecher is one of the regulars that will be back next week after a big 78-65 win over Southfield Christian – Flint Journal

Hudsonville is in and Muskegon is out after a 44-40 win by the Eagles in Class A – Grand Rapids Press

Lansing Everett handed East Lansing its first and only loss of the season, upsetting the Trojans in Class A – Lansing State Journal

Sterling Heights Stevenson has its first Regional title since 1983 after downing Roseville 60-44 in Class A – Macomb Daily

Midland won its first Regional since 1979 by edging Saginaw in Class A, 60-56 – Midland Daily News

River Rouge handed Onsted its first and only loss to win a Regional for the first time since 1999 in Class B – MLive-Detroit

Today in the MHSAA: 10/20/15

October 20, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

MHSAA Boys Soccer District play kicked off Monday across the Lower Peninsula, and we also catch up with a pair of big Saturday events, one from each side of the bridge.

Cross Country

From Saturday, the East Lansing girls and Corunna boys won the annual Greater Lansing Invitational against fields loaded with ranked teams; Corunna’s boys were No. 3 in Lower Peninsula Division 2 last week and East Lansing’s girls were unranked – Lansing State Journal

Boys Soccer

Detroit Catholic Central, No. 5 in Division 1, opened district play with a 1-0 win over No. 14 Novi – Oakland Press

Muskegon Orchard View continued a five-game winning streak that’s pushed it past .500 by downing Grant 2-1 in a Division 3 opener – Muskegon Chronicle

Hartland scored to tie Howell with less than two minutes to play in regulation, then won their Division 1 opener in overtime – Livingston Daily

Midland scored just more than a minute into its Division 1 game against Bay City Western and hung on for the 1-0 district victory – Bay City Times

Volleyball

Also from Saturday: Host Houghton defeated Class C honorable mention Calumet in three sets to win the Houghton Invitational, which featured 10 teams from the western half of the Upper Peninsula – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Girls Basketball

Ann Arbor Pioneer is mourning the loss of girls coach Crystal Westfield, who died Monday after a fight with cancer and only four months after her father, legendary cross country and track and field coach Bryan Westfield, died after fighting another form of the disease. Westfield had coached the basketball team at her alma mater since 1994 and also coached field events under her dad – AnnArbor.com