Today in the MHSAA: 3/5/20

March 5, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

A series of hockey Regional championships and a titanic girls basketball District clash headlined a busy Wednesday across Michigan that saw both tournaments continue to advance.

1. Hockey: No. 7 Howell ended at least five seasons of losses to No. 3 Brighton with a 4-2 win in a Division 1 Regional Final – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

2. Hockey: L’Anse Creuse Unified clinched its first Regional championship, downing Rochester in Division 1 3-0 – C&G Newspapers

3. Girls Basketball: Michigan Center finished a fourth-quarter comeback with a 42-41 win over Grass Lake – State Champs Sports Network

4. Hockey: No. 10 Grand Rapids Catholic Central upset No. 8 Forest Hills Central 5-0 to claim a Division 3 Regional title – FOX 17

5. Girls Basketball: Munising finished the regular season 6-13, but defeated Rapid River 44-31 in Division 4 to claim a third-straight District title – Marquette Mining Journal

6. Hockey: No. 6 Traverse City Central downed Muskegon Mona Shores 6-1 in Division 2 to win the sixth Regional title in program history – Traverse City Record-Eagle

7. Girls Basketball: Unbeaten Port Huron came back from a double-digit deficit to beat Macomb L’Anse Creuse North 44-41 in a Division 1 District Semifinal – Detroit News

8. Hockey: No. 9 Midland Dow locked up a Division 3 Regional title with a 2-0 win over Flint Powers Catholic – Midland Daily News

9. Hockey: Muskegon Reeths-Puffer came back to defeat Traverse City West and clinch a Division 1 Regional championship – Local Sports Journal

10. Girls Basketball: Centreville got past White Pigeon 63-57 in a Division 3 District matchup of local rivals that split during the regular season – JoeInsider.com

Also of note …

Girls Basketball: Chelsea coach Todd Blomquist announced his retirement after 20 seasons and more than 300 wins – Chelsea Sun Times News

Today in the MHSAA: 5/6/19

May 6, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Special for Second Half

Finishes both close and historic highlighted the first weekend of May as top teams navigated the rain in many places in kicking off the final month of the regular season.

1. Softball: Grace Lehto nearly threw a perfect game as Division 2 No. 3 Eaton Rapids edged Division 3 top-ranked Millington to win the “marquee matchup” of the MI Stars Tournament – State Champs Sports Network 

2. Boys Golf: By way of a fifth-golfer tie-breaker, Gaylord – No. 10 in Lower Peninsula Division 2 – edged LPD1 No. 6 Grosse Pointe South to win its invitational with a near-school record score – Gaylord Herald Times

3. Track & Field: Zeeland West’s boys won their 12th-straight Holland West Ottawa Von Ins Relays, while Lower Peninsula Division 1 No. 6 Grand Haven and No. 7 West Ottawa’s girls shared their meet championship – Holland Sentinel

4. Boys Golf: Nathan Taylor finished as medalist to lead Muskegon Mona Shores to the Greater Muskegon Athletic Association championship, 30 years after his father won the same tournament – Muskegon Chronicle

5. Track & Field: The Muskegon Reeths-Puffer girls won their 10th straight GMAA title, and the Fruitport boys won their sixth straight – Local Sports Journal

6. Softball: Division 3 No. 7 Standish-Sterling edged No. 3 Sanford Meridian 5-4 to win Meridian’s invitational – Midland Daily News

7. Softball: Division 2 No. 4 Stevensville Lakeshore defeated Schoolcraft in the final to win its invitational for the first time – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

8. Boys Golf: Troy edged Rochester by 12 strokes to win the Oakland County Division 2 championship – Oakland Press

9. Softball: Muskegon Reeths-Puffer and Division 2 No. 5 Oakridge both won their fourth straight GMAA softball titles – Muskegon Chronicle

10. Track & Field: A total of 61 teams including a number of the best from multiple divisions participated at the Triangle Invitational at Saline – Athletic.net