Today In The MHSAA: 3/24/21

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

March 24, 2021

The final week of hockey and first week of boys basketball playoffs began Tuesday, as the first four ice rink contenders earned trips to USA Hockey Area in Division 2 Quarterfinals – with a matchup of the top two ranked teams one of the highlights of the season so far.

1. Hockey: Top-ranked Byron Center downed No. 2 Hartland 2-1 to advance to the Division 2 Semifinals – FOX 17

2. Hockey: No. 10 Trenton earned its fourth-straight trip to the Semifinals with a 3-1 win over No. 5 Novi in Division 2 – Southgate News-Herald

3. Hockey: For the second-straight season No. 6 Marquette downed No. 9 Traverse City Central in a Division 2 Quarterfinal, this time 1-0 – Up North Live

4. Hockey: No. 3 Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice advanced in Division 2 with a 6-0 win over No. 8 Port Huron Northern – Oakland Press

5. Boys Basketball: Tugg Nichols’ last-second 3-pointer gave Montague another close win over Muskegon Oakridge, this time 66-63 in a Division 3 District opener – Local Sports Journal

6. Boys Basketball: After two losses to Battle Creek Lakeview over the last week, Battle Creek Central won a third matchup 44-39 in a Division 1 District opener – Battle Creek Enquirer

7. Boys Basketball: Brennan Parachek’s 3-pointer at the buzzer took Dexter past Brighton 52-49 in Division 1 – Chelsea Sun Times News

8. Boys Basketball: Bronson got past White Pigeon 57-54 in overtime in Division 3 – Coldwater Daily Reporter

9. Boys Basketball: Cass City also won in overtime in Division 3, 48-43 over Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker – Huron Daily Tribune

10. Boys Basketball: Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central scored during the final seconds to get past Rockford 52-51 in Division 1 – FOX 17

Today in the MHSAA: 3/2/20

March 2, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Four MHSAA team wrestling champions were celebrated Saturday – find coverage of all four Finals to the right – while Regional competitive cheer and bowling and league meets in boys swimming & diving added to an otherwise loaded basketball weekend across Michigan.

1. Boys Swimming & Diving: Holland West Ottawa – tied for No. 2 in Lower Peninsula Division 2 – locked up its seventh-straight Ottawa-Kent Conference Red championship, finishing just ahead of No. 4 Hudsonville at the league meet – Holland Sentinel

2. Competitive Cheer: Allen Park edged Gibraltar Carlson in a Division 2 Regional that likely previewed the top contenders at this week’s Final – Southgate News-Herald

3. Boys Swimming & Diving: LPD2 honorable mention Pinckney won its first league championship, sharing the Southeastern Conference White title with No. 8 Dexter thanks to a league meet win – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

4. Bowling: The Essexville Garber girls won their first Regional title, topping runner-up Ovid-Elsie in Division 3 – Bay City Times

5. Girls Basketball: Charlevoix defeated Traverse City St. Francis to finish a Lake Michigan Conference title run, while welcoming back all-stater Elise Stuck after she missed the majority of the regular season with a knee injury – Petoskey News-Review

6. Boys Basketball: Riverview Gabriel Richard locked up its first Detroit Catholic League Tournament title since 1999 with a 63-56 win over Marine City Cardinal Mooney in the Cardinal division – State Champs Sports Network

7. Bowling: The Vandercook Lake boys and No. 7 Quincy girls won competitive Division 4 Regionals that featured the reigning team champions from Bronson; the Vikings girls are ranked No. 2 – Coldwater Daily Reporter

8. Boys Basketball: Central Montcalm clinched a share of the Central State Activities Association Gold title, its first since 2002, with a 70-48 win over Howard City Tri County – Greenville Daily News

9. Competitive Cheer: Rochester Adams outpaced Plymouth, Utica Eisenhower and Rochester to win their Division 1 Regional – Oakland Press

10. Boys Swimming & Diving: LPD1 honorable mention Zeeland won the O-K Green title by finishing first at the league meet after tying with LPD3 No. 2 Holland Christian during the dual season – Holland Sentinel

Also of note …

Boys Basketball: The Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan announced its Mr. Basketball Award finalists: Detroit Cass Tech’s Tyson Acuff, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Lorne Bowman, Benton Harbor’s Carlos Johnson, Clarkston’s Matt Nicholson and Flint Beecher’s Jalen Terry – MLive-Detroit

Girls Basketball: Ishpeming Westwood locked up both the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference East and Mid-Peninsula Conference titles with a 38-27 win over Gwinn – Marquette Mining Journal

Girls Basketball: Parma Western downed Battle Creek Harper Creek 51-35 to clinch the Interstate 8 Athletic Conference title – JTV

Boys Basketball: Orchard Lake St. Mary’s won its first Detroit Catholic League Tournament title since 2008 with a 61-54 Bishop victory over Detroit U-D Jesuit – State Champs Sports Network

Boys Basketball: Pickford edged Rudyard 71-65 to claim the Eastern Upper Peninsula Conference championship – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News

Girls Basketball: Kinde-North Huron netted a share of the North Central Thumb League Stripes title with a big win over Akron-Fairgrove – Huron Daily Tribune

Boys Basketball: Unionville-Sebewaing clinched a share of the Grater Thumb Conference West title with a 65-53 win over Bad Axe – Huron Daily Tribune

Girls Basketball: Big Rapids downed Grant 41-34 to lock up a shared CSAA Gold title with Fremont – Big Rapids News

Boys Basketball: Ovid-Elsie locked up the outright Mid-Michigan Activities Conference title with a 52-36 win over second-place New Lothrop – Mid-Michigan Now

Boys Basketball: Muskegon Western Michigan Christian and Ludington finished as co-champs in the Lakes 8 Activities Conference – Grand Haven Tribune

Girls Basketball: Alycia Patterson became Niles’ all-time leading scorer during a 28-point performance in a big win over Stevensville Lakeshore – Niles Daily Star

Boys Basketball: Brennen McNeil went over 1,000 career points with 14 in a win over Colon – Hillsdale Daily News

Football: Former Grand Rapids West Catholic coach Dan Rohn has been hired to take over Warren De La Salle Collegiate – Detroit Free Press