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: 2/22/17

February 22, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The basketball season continues to speed to a momentous conclusion, but today make sure to get to the bottom of this report for a couple of stories about athletes working through tragedy that you don’t want to miss.

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

Big Rapids finished an outright Central State Activities Association Gold title with a 60-35 win over Reed City – Big Rapids News

New Haven advanced in the Macomb Area Conference Blue-Gold Tournament with a win over Warren Woods Tower and thanks to 40 points by Eric Williams, Jr. – Macomb Daily

Walled Lake Western edged rival Walled Lake Northern 63-62 to move on in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association Tournament – Oakland Press

Detroit U-D Jesuit just got past Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 51-49 to advance to the Detroit Catholic League A-B Final – Detroit News

Dollar Bay’s Devin Schmitz needed four points to reach 1,000 for his career, but scored 43 in a 66-57 win over Hancock – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Parma Western fell into a tie for first place in the Interstate 8 Athletic Conference after a 54-53 loss to Battle Creek Harper Creek – Battle Creek Enquirer

Blake Dunn became Saugatuck’s all-time leading scorer with 1,489 points, adding 19 in a win over Lawton – Grand Rapids Press

Girls Basketball

Brethren’s Taytum Myers became her school’s first 1,000-point scorer during a win over Lake Leelanau St. Mary – Manistee News Advocate

Frankenmuth clinched its 12th-straight Tri-Valley Conference East title with a 47-27 win over Essexville Garber – Saginaw News

Dearborn Heights Robichaud standout Kamaria McDaniel scored 39 points, but Flint Hamady emerged with a 75-67 win – Flint Journal

From Monday, Harbor Springs Harbor Light Christian got past Ellsworth 50-49 to secure its first Northern Lakes Conference title since 2007 – Petoskey News-Review

Good Reads

Similar tragedies have struck the Traverse City Bay Reps hockey program over the last three years, as multiple players have experienced the death of a parent. But the team has stuck together, on the rink and in working through those sadnesses – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Gaylord St. Mary’s golfer Noah Kole was hospitalized recently after losing feeling in his legs, and the Gaylord Herald Times wished him well this week (and the good news is he’s now recovering and should be ready for this spring) – Gaylord Herald Times