Today in the MHSAA: 3/3/17
March 3, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
As the boys basketball regular season came to a close Thursday, the Individual Wrestling Finals got started and Hockey Regionals continued on – all with celebrations of note.
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.
Boys Basketball
Central State Activities Association division champs Morley Stanwood and Big Rapids faced off, with Morley Stanwood closing the regular season with a 59-56 win – Big Rapids News
Breckenridge clinched its first league title since 1988 with a big win over Coleman in the Mid-State Activities Conference – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Wayne Memorial rode a strong fourth quarter to a 47-44 win over Walled Lake Central in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association championship game – Oakland Press
Quincy downed Homer 61-41 to claim a share of the Big 8 Conference title – Coldwater Daily Reporter
Dollar Bay downed Painesdale Jeffers 54-46 in the Copper Mountain Conference to earn a first league title since 1994 – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
Calumet earned a share of the West Peninsula Athletic Conference title with a 66-54 win over Hancock – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
Grand Rapids Christian finished its first perfect regular season with a 53-51 win over Kalamazoo Central – Grand Rapids Press
Michigan Center also completed its first perfect regular season with an 81-49 win over Vandercook Lake – Jackson Citizen Patriot
Hockey
Division 1 No. 8 Utica Eisenhower powered to a 7-4 win over No. 6 Rochester United in a Pre-Regional Final – Macomb Daily
Division 2 No. 6 Trenton came back from trailing 3-0, but No. 5 Livonia Churchill still prevailed 4-3 in overtime – Southgate News Herald
Unranked Alpena upset No. 7 Sault Ste. Marie in Division 3 – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News
Wrestling
Gaylord advanced all five of its MHSAA Individual Finals competitors to the second round in Division 2 on Thursday, with wrestling continuing today – Traverse City Record-Eagle
Hartland senior Reece Hughes, a reigning Division 1 champion, returned to the mat after a shoulder injury kept him out of last week’s Team Finals and won his first match – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
Good Read
Amazingly, Dave Mann is coaching three varsity girls basketball teams this season – at Harper Woods Chandler Park, which schedules separately for two teams, and also at Detroit Cornerstone – Detroit News
Today in the MHSAA: 10/15/15
October 15, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Championship are won on a seemingly daily basis in October, and plenty were earned and celebrated Wednesday – but please also check out some great reads at the bottom of this list, including a look at why specialization is increasing as a nationwide concern.
Cross Country
The Saugatuck girls, ranked No. 2 in Lower Peninsula Division 4, won their ninth straight Southwestern Athletic Conference title with 12 runners earning all-league honors – Grand Rapids Press
Boys Soccer
LP Division 2 No. 5 East Lansing capped an impressive run through the Capital Area Activities Conference Gold Cup by winning the final 3-1 over Grand Ledge – Lansing State Journal
LP Division 1 No. 15 East Kentwood secured its 12th Ottawa-Kent Conference Red title in 13 seasons with a 1-0 win over Grandville, helped in part by a pair of players whose ties the program go back to the early years of the run – Grand Rapids Press
LP Division 1 No. 7 Utica Ford shut out No. 14 Fraser to clinch the Macomb Area Conference Red championship – Macomb Daily
Unranked Birmingham Brother Rice stunned LP Division 1 No. 3 Detroit Catholic Central 2-1 in the championship game of the Detroit Catholic League A-B tournament – Oakland Press
LP Division 4 No. 11 Charlevoix clinched a share of the Lake Michigan Conference title with a 3-0 win over Grayling, thanks to a hat trick by Walker Drost – Charlevoix Courier
Saginaw Heritage scored the first goal Flint Powers Catholic had given up since Sept. 12, but the Chargers emerged with a 2-1 win and the overall Saginaw Valley League championship – Flint Journal
Volleyball
Lansing Catholic won the first volleyball league championship in its long history, beating Fowlerville in three sets to claim a share of the CAAC White title – Lansing State Journal
Good Reads
Single-sport specialization has become a topic of national focus and concern, and MHSAA Executive Director Jack Roberts was among association directors talked to for this report on why it’s a health-related issue and how states are working to promote multi-sport participation instead – NFHS.org
Vandercook Lake is enjoying its best football season in 45 years and plays for a league title this weekend, and is led by a three-sport athlete who has been on a long road back after Crohn’s disease led to his shedding 90 pounds only two years ago – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
The Christmas tree standing tall in front of the Capitol in Lansing this winter will come from Wakefield thanks to a donation by Florence Daniels in honor of her husband Jim, who coached Wakefield High's boys basketball team to 355 wins, 12 district the five regional titles in 28 seasons. He also was a member of Channing High’s Upper Peninsula championship team in 1944 and coached Al Inkala, who went on to become an MHSAA championship-winning girls tennis coach at Okemos – Lansing State Journal