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: 10/23/17

October 23, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

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

Today's Top 10

1. Girls Golf: Harbor Springs claimed its first MHSAA Finals championship, and Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern claimed its first since 1982 on Saturday; Traverse City West also won for the second time in three years and Macomb Lutheran North won for the second year in a row but in a new division – Second Half

2. Boys Tennis: Okemos finished undefeated to claim its first MHSAA Finals title in a decade, while Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood and Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett repeated and Bloomfield Hills High School locked down its second title in three seasons – Second Half

3. Boys Cross Country: New champions rose at the Upper Peninsula Finals as Houghton, Bessemer Gogebic and Brimley claimed titles – Second Half

4. Girls Cross Country: Marquette, St. Ignace and Chassell claimed the girls titles at the Upper Peninsula Finals, St. Ignace for the first time in Division 2 and ahead of three-time reigning champion Ishpeming – Second Half

5. Boys Soccer: Division 4 No. 3 Muskegon Western Michigan Christian claimed a District title with a 2-0 win over top-ranked Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian – Local Sports Journal

6. Boys Soccer: Division 2 No. 7 Coldwater claimed its first District title in boys soccer with a 3-2 overtime win over rival and No. 6-ranked Marshall, which had beaten Coldwater twice this fall – Coldwater Daily Reporter

7. Cross Country: The Traverse City West girls, No. 7 in Lower Peninsula Division 1, finished two points ahead of rival and No. 5-ranked Central to win the Northern Michigan Cross Country Championships; West also won the boys title, by 60 points – Traverse City Record-Eagle

8. Cross Country: The St. Clair boys, No. 7 in Lower Peninsula Division 2, finished off a Macomb Area Conference White championship and also won the overall MAC title finishing ahead of 35 others from the league’s various divisions – Port Huron Times Herald

9. Volleyball: Class D No. 10 Muskegon Catholic Central won its first volleyball league title, downing Ludington and Manistee to claim the Lakes 8 Conference tournament and overall championships – Local State Journal

10. Boys Soccer: Midland Dow improved to 22-3-1 with a 1-0 Division 1 District Final win over Traverse City Central after losing in District Finals the last two seasons – Midland Daily News

Also of note ...

Volleyball: Class C top-ranked Bronson moved into the Big 8 Conference this season and finishing the volleyball league season by winning the conference tournament and outright title – Coldwater Daily Reporter

Volleyball: Whitehall beat Hart and Class C honorable mentions Shelby and Ravenna at the West Michigan Conference tournament to claim the overall league title – Local State Journal