Today in the MHSAA: 3/8/16

March 8, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The upsets were few, but the late-game heroics aplenty Monday during the first night of the MHSAA Boys Basketball Tournament.

Boys Basketball

After falling twice to its rival during the regular season, Traverse City West opened a 13-1 lead and downed Traverse City Central 55-52 in Class A – Traverse City Record-Eagle

South Lyon’s 3-pointer with fewer than two seconds to play gave it a 40-37 win over Brighton in Class A – Livingston Daily

Also in Class A, Bloomfield Hills took over in double overtime to get past Auburn Hills Avondale 65-56 – Oakland Press

Warren Woods-Tower emerged from a close matchup with St. Clair Shores Lake shore, 46-42, dropping Lakeshore’s final record to 17-4 – Macomb Daily

Noah Ingram made 10-pointers and scored 44 points total as Mount Pleasant downed Midland Dow 81-70 in Class A – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

In arguably the biggest matchup of opening night, reigning Class B champion Wyoming Godwin Heights downed Wayland 65-62 in a matchup of teams with a combined record of 34-5 – Grand Rapids Press

Freeland won a crossover of top Class B teams in the Tri-Valley Conference, 45-42 over Bridgeport – Saginaw News

Also in Class B, Marshall survived a last-second basket that forced overtime to get past Battle Creek Pennfield – 89-81 – Battle Creek Enquirer

Trey Newsham made 4 of 4 free-throw attempts during the final 14 seconds and went over 1,000 points for his career in Essexville Garber’s 60-59 Class B win over Bay City John Glenn – Bay City Times

Flint Beecher eliminated rival Flint Hamady in Class C for the 10th straight season, 68-62, in a matchup of teams that were a combined 34-4 – Flint Journal

In a Class C matchup of teams with a combined 32-10 record, Traverse City St. Francis got past Johannesburg-Lewiston 79-65 – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Also in Class C, Hartford’s 3-pointer with 11 seconds left pushed the team past Kalamazoo Christian 46-45 in an upset of the formerly 17-2 Comets – Kalamazoo Gazette

Good Read

Last summer, the Kronemeyer family of Holland was forced to mourn the death of 18-year-old daughter Marissa, who had died in a car crash. But community and eventually Holland Calvary basketball have assisted as the family continues to cope – Holland Sentinel

Today in the MHSAA: 11/5/18

November 5, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Each weekday of the school year, we break down the top headlines courtesy of Michigan’s sports media.

In addition to Lower Peninsula Cross Country and Boys Soccer Finals – see coverage all over Second Half – the rest of Michigan’s volleyball District title winners celebrated this weekend, as did a number of league swimming & diving champions including a few who prevailed against loaded state-ranked fields.

1. Volleyball: No. 10 Brighton Charyl Stockwell downed Whitmore Lake in Division 3 for its first District title in any sport – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

2. Girls Swimming & Diving: Holland West Ottawa, tied for No. 10 in Lower Peninsula Division 1, finished atop a field including No. 7 Rockford, No. 9 Grand Haven and T-No. 10 Hudsonville to secure the Ottawa-Kent Conference Red meet and outright titles – Holland Sentinel

3. Volleyball: No. 3 Mattawan swept No. 10 Portage Central to claim a Division 1 District title – WWMT

4. Volleyball: No. 9 Rochester Hills Stoney Creek repeated as a Division 1 District champ with a sweep of Macomb Area Conference Red title winner Utica Eisenhower – Macomb Daily

5. Volleyball: No. 2 Lake Orion won its first District title since 2015 with a sweep of honorable mention Clarkston – Oakland Press

6. Girls Swimming & Diving: LPD1 No. 4 Saline won the Southeastern Conference Red meet ahead of runner-up and No. 6-ranked Ann Arbor Skyline – Saline Post

7. Volleyball: Honorable mention Spring Lake won its first District title since 2013 with a sweep of No. 10 Whitehall in Division 2, with two of three sets decided by two points – Local Sports Journal

8. Volleyball: Onekama locked up its first District title since 2003, downing Bear Lake in Division 4 – Manistee News Advocate

9. Volleyball: Richland Gull Lake won its fourth straight District title, downing honorable mention Battle Creek Lakeview in Division 1 – Battle Creek Enquirer

10. Volleyball: Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart earned its sixth straight District title, sweeping McBain Northern Michigan Christian in Division 4 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Also of note …

Girls Swimming & Diving: LPD1 honorable mention Bridgman won the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference meet just ahead of LPD2 No. 9 Portage Central – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

Girls Swimming & Diving: LPD2 No. 5 Midland Dow followed standout Claire Newman to its 13th straight Saginaw Valley League championship – Midland Daily News

Girls Swimming & Diving: Zeeland won big at the O-K Green meet – Holland Sentinel

Football: Boyne City coach Dave Hills stepped down after 21 seasons and with a 125-45 record – Traverse City Record-Eagle