Today in the MHSAA: 3/3/20

March 3, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The Girls Basketball District Tournament tipped off Monday and the biggest wave came out of the Upper Peninsula, where Gladstone set the tone as top-two seeds won 90 percent of their games but the other 10 percent earned most of the biggest headlines.

1. Girls Basketball: Gladstone earned the biggest upset of District opening night, draining a last-second 3-pointer to get past previously-undefeated Menominee 46-45 in Division 2 – Escanaba Daily Press

2. Girls Basketball: Flint Carman-Ainsworth won a Division 1 matchup of league champions, downing Flushing 48-38 – WJRT

3. Girls Basketball: Cadillac won a matchup of league champions in Division 2, downing Ludington 43-39 – Cadillac News

4. Girls Basketball: East Kentwood ended Byron Center’s 19-game winning streak with a 50-43 win in Division 1; both teams were league champions this winter – WZZM

5. Girls Basketball: Eaton Rapids upset a league champion in Chelsea 58-49 in overtime in a Division 2 opener – Chelsea Sun Times News

6. Girls Basketball: Mayville got past a league champion in Kinde-North Huron 43-41 in Division 4 – Huron Daily Tribune

7. Girls Basketball: Bridgeport also upset a league champion, downing Caro 56-35 in Division 2 – Saginaw News

8. Girls Basketball: Jackson Lumen Christi ended the season for another league champion in Springport, 42-39 in Division 3 – Jackson Citizen Patriot

9. Girls Basketball: Cass City opened Division 3 play with an upset, downing Harbor Beach 46-34 – Huron Daily Tribune

10. Girls Basketball: Megan Matson led a Division 4 upset with 33 points in Munising’s 51-47 win over Rock Mid Peninsula – Escanaba Daily Press

Also of note …

Girls Basketball: Kent City may have set an MHSAA record with 40 points in the first quarter of a big Division 3 win over Ravenna – Muskegon Chronicle

Boys Basketball: From Friday, Kinde-North Huron earned a share of the North Central Thumb League Stripes title with a big win over Akron-Fairgrove – Huron Daily Tribune

Boys Swimming & Diving: From Saturday, Battle Creek Lakeview – tied for No. 10 in Lower Peninsula Division 2 – locked up the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference championship – WWMT

Boys Swimming & Diving: From Saturday, LPD1 Ann Arbor Pioneer finished nearly 200 points ahead of a field that included three more top-10 teams to win the Southeastern Conference Red championship meet – We Love Ann Arbor

Today in the MHSAA: 1/11/16

January 11, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The first full sports weekend of 2016 included notable performances in a number of sports, highlighted by one of the top swimming and diving meets of the regular season.

Girls Basketball

Ithaca girls basketball coach Bob Anderson earned his 700th win as his team beat Carrollton 66-40; he’s coached both girls and boys teams to success over 27 seasons – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Durand handed Goodrich its first league loss in seven years while staying undefeated this season in the Genesee Area Conference Red – Flint Journal

DeWitt remained undefeated at 8-0 after handing Lansing Waverly its first loss this season in a matchup of two of the Lansing area’s top teams – Lansing State Journal

St. Joseph moved to 6-1 with a 72-35 win over Benton Harbor, a semifinalist in Class B last season – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

Saranac was missing its leading scorer, but still managed to get past annual Class D power Portland St. Patrick 41-33 – Ionia Sentinel-Standard

Boys Basketball

Okemos handed Holt its first loss this season and won its first game on the Rams’ home court since 2010 – Lansing State Journal

Ice Hockey

Portage Central earned a win that could boost it into the state rankings, downing Division 1 No. 10 East Kentwood 2-1 on Saturday in Muskegon – Kalamazoo Gazette

Boys Swimming & Diving

Division 2 No. 1 Dexter scored 409 points to beat No. 4 Warren DeLaSalle by 33 at the annual Spartan Invitational at Battle Creek Lakeview, with the field also including reigning champion Birmingham Seaholm and Division 1 contender Ann Arbor Skyline – Battle Creek Enquirer

Lower Peninsula Division 1 honorable mention Grand Rapids Forest Hills defeated a field that included LPD2 No. 6 Midland Dow at the Forest Hills Invitational – Midland Daily News

Wrestling

Unranked Westland John Glenn got past Division 1 No. 9 New Baltimore Anchor Bay to win the Michigan Duals at Bay City Western over a field that also included No. 8 Western and Division 3 No. 5 Remus Chippewa Hills – Mlive-Detroit

Division 2 No. 9 Sparta won the Dave Dunneback Tournament with 247 points, ahead of Lake Odessa Lakewood, Belding and Division 3 No. 6 Grand Rapids Catholic Central – Grand Rapids Press

Football

Mike McDowell returned four seasons ago for his second stint coaching Morenci and led the program to its best finishes in nearly two decades. He recently resigned – Adrian Daily Telegram

Good Reads

Longtime coach Keith Haske remains cancer-free after fighting Stage 4 throat cancer only a year ago – and he’s added significantly to his day, becoming the girls basketball coach in addition to leading the boys program at Traverse City St. Francis. The Record-Eagle’s Brett Sommers documented a typical Haske day – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Carleton Airport senior Jessica Book is her school’s Homecoming Queen this year – and a cheerleader – and a wrestler – and plans to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps and defuse bombs – Monroe Evening News