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: 1/23/20

January 23, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Two of the three No. 1-ranked hockey teams in Michigan faced off Thursday in league play to take today’s No. 1 spot, followed by one of the state’s annual wrestling powers claiming a conference championship.

1. Hockey: Division 2 top-ranked Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice edged Division 1 No. 1 Detroit Catholic Central 2-1 – Oakland Press

2. Wrestling: Division 3 No. 2 Richmond clinched the Blue Water Area Conference championship with a sweep of Croswell-Lexington and Imlay City – Macomb Daily

3. Hockey: Division 1 No. 4 Brighton avenged an earlier loss to No. 3 Salem with a 3-0 win in the rematch – Observer & Eccentric

4. Bowling: Bay City Central’s girls and Essexville Garber’s boys won Bay County championships – Bay City Times

5. Girls Basketball: Michigan Center avenged last season’s Regional Final loss to Springport, 61-49 – Jackson Citizen Patriot

6. Hockey: Division 2 No. 2 Livonia Stevenson continued its recent success against No. 4 Hartland, 7-0 – Observer & Eccentric

7. Girls Basketball: Bellaire remained undefeated and ended Gaylord St. Mary’s 59-game Ski Valley Conference winning streak with a 49-36 victory – Up North Live

8. Boys Basketball: Carrollton moved to 8-0 with a 77-70 win over Reese – Saginaw News

9. Hockey: Grand Haven came back from a one-goal deficit with four minutes to play to get past Hudsonville 5-3 – Local Sports Journal

10. Hockey: Will Dawson scored a natural hat trick during the first period to lead Division 2 No. 6 Traverse City Central past Petoskey 6-0 – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Also of note …

Football: Gwinn is mourning the unexpected death of football coach Dion Brown, who took over the program in 2014 and led it to multiple playoff appearances – WLUC

Football: Hudson coach Chris Luma has stepped down with a 180-70 record over the last 23 seasons – Adrian Daily Telegram

Football: Continuing Rockford’s streak of 25 straight winning seasons will rest with former assistant Brent Cummings, who was promoted to head coach – Grand Rapids Press