Today in the MHSAA: 3/2/18

March 2, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Each weekday of the school year, we break down the top headlines courtesy of Michigan’s sports media.

Today's Top 10

1. Girls Basketball: Fowlerville won its first District title in girls basketball since 2002 with a 48-33 win over Williamston – Lansing State Journal

2. Hockey: Unranked Lake Orion scored three goals during the first period in upsetting No. 6 Utica Eisenhower 3-2 in a Division 1 Pre-Regional – Macomb Daily

3. Boys Basketball: Clarkston finished an outright Oakland Activities Association Red title with a 48-38 win over Hazel Park despite not having injured star guard Foster Loyer – Oakland Press

4. Hockey: Traverse City West scored with 7.5 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, and then added the game winner in a 5-4 Division 1 Pre-Regional win over the Traverse City Bay Reps co-op – MI Sports Now

5. Hockey: No. 5 Trenton got past No. 6 Saline 4-0 in a Division 2 Pre-Regional game – Southgate News Herald

6. Hockey: No. 8 Grand Rapids Catholic Central got past East Grand Rapids 4-2 in a Division 3 Pre-Regional – FOX 17

7. Boys Basketball: Maple City Glen Lake, Buckley and Frankfort all won to finish a three-way share of the Northwest Conference title – Traverse City Record-Eagle

8. Boys Basketball: Bear Lake claimed a share of the West Michigan D League title with a 93-51 win over Walkerville – Manistee News Advocate

9. Boys Basketball: Calumet downed Hancock 67-42 to guarantee a shared Western Peninsula Athletic Conference title with Iron River West Iron County – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

10. Boys Basketball: Class A contender Holland West Ottawa downed Class B contender Grand Rapids Catholic Central 59-49 – Holland Sentinel

Also of note …

Boys Basketball: Ishpeming’s Hart Holmgren became his school’s al-time leading scorer, breaking a record that had stood since 1965 in a 66-60 win over Escanaba – Marquette Mining Journal

Boys Basketball: Norway edged Rapid River 58-56 as the Knights’ Connor Ortman scored his 1,000th career point – Iron Mountain Daily News

Boys Basketball: West Michigan Conference champion North Muskegon downed Lakes 8 Conference title winner Ludington 55-43 – Local Sports Journal

Today in the MHSAA: 12/20/18

December 20, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Each weekday of the school year, we break down the top headlines courtesy of Michigan’s sports media.

Teams are getting in their final competitions before at least a brief holiday break, and we’re taking one too after today’s list – “Today” will return Jan. 7, although Second Half will continue publishing stories from all over the state during the final week of December and first of January.  

1. Boys Basketball: Gaylord St. Mary broke a 31-game, 14-year losing streak to Bellaire with a 29-26 win – Gaylord Herald Times

2. Boys Basketball: Camden-Frontier improved to 7-0 by handing a first loss to Reading, 57-46 – Hillsdale Daily News

3. Hockey: Evan MacDonald had a hat trick as Division 1 No. 5 Brighton downed reigning Division 3 runner-up Livonia Churchill 4-1 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

4. Boys Basketball: Mancelona gave Pellston its first loss of this season, 67-65 – Petoskey News-Review

5. Girls Basketball: Waterford Our Lady made a late run to get past Pontiac Notre Dame Prep 61-56 – Oakland Press

6. Wrestling: Grand Haven came back from a 24-0 deficit to defeat Caledonia 39-33 – Grand Haven Tribune

7. Gymnastics: Escanaba remained undefeated to start the season with wins over Marquette and Negaunee – Escanaba Daily Press

8. Boys Basketball: Portland St. Patrick closed on a 22-5 run to beat Fowler 52-42 – Ionia Sentinel-Standard

9. Hockey: Brendan Pellerito had 34 saves as Mattawan shut out Portage Northern 4-0 – JoeInsider.com

10. Wrestling: Division 4 top-ranked Hudson earned a pair of league wins over Blissfield and Onsted – Adrian Daily Telegram

Also of note …

Hockey: The status of high school hockey is on the rise with talent evaluators at the game’s next levels – Observer & Eccentric

Tennis: Longtime coach Paul Bandrowski retired after leading Traverse City St. Francis’ girls and boys teams to a number of strong MHSAA Finals finishes – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Girls Basketball: From Tuesday, Eaton Rapids came back to stun Jackson Northwest 44-41, but the Mounties’ Sydney Shafer went over 1,000 career points – Jackson Citizen Patriot

Boys Swimming & Diving: From Tuesday, Lower Peninsula Division 1 No. 2 Ann Arbor Skyline edged LPD2 top-ranked Dexter 95-90 – We Love Ann Arbor