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: 3/7/16

March 7, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

What a weekend – we covered all four Cheer Finals, all eight Bowling Finals, and quoted all 56 individual wrestling champions, plus awarded girls basketball District and boys ice hockey Regional champions.

Girls Basketball

Reed City is .500 this season, but rose to the occasion last week with its first District championship since 2000 – Big Rapids News

St. Johns won its first District title since 2005, handing Flushing only its third loss, 37-31 – Lansing State Journal

Bowling

The Davison girls won their fourth Division 1 title in seven seasons Friday, and junior Taylor Davis rolled a 300 and won the individual title Saturday. On the boys side, Wyandotte Roosevelt claimed the championship and Warren Mott’s Brad Delmarle won the individual title – Second Half Team | Singles

The Lansing Eastern boys won the school’s first MHSAA championship since 1981, while Kearsley won the girls title for the third straight year and then got an individual title Saturday from Hannah Ploof. Sturgis’ Austin Robison claimed the Division 2 boys singles title – Second Half Team | Singles

After slow starts, the Alma girls and Saginaw Swan Valley boys won MHSAA team titles in Division 3, while Flat Rock’s Kayla Jackson and Olivet’s Daniel Higgins shined for singles titles Saturday – Second Half Team | Singles

The Ithaca girls won their first MHSAA bowling title in Division 4, while Sandusky’s boys won their first since 2005. St. Charles’ Kyle Tuttle won his third straight singles title Saturday, and Vandercook Lake’s Brianna Fish claimed the girls championship – Second Half Team | Singles                                                     

Competitive Cheer

Rochester won its first MHSAA championship since 2009 and record 13th total – Second Half

Gibraltar Carlson set an MHSAA record with its sixth consecutive championship, finishing again atop Division 2 – Second Half

Pontiac Notre Dame Prep closed this cheer season with a third-straight championship in Division 3 – Second Half

Breckenridge continued to recreate its dominance in Division 4, winning its second straight MHSAA title – Second Half

Ice Hockey

Marquette scored five goals during the third period to come from behind and beat Midland 5-1 in a Division 2 Regional Final – Marquette Mining Journal

Birmingham Brother Rice got four goals from Emerson Vogel to down Berkley 8-3, also in a Division 2 Regional Final – Oakland Press

Wrestling

Detroit Catholic Central dominated and Grandville ended the season with an MHSAA individual champion at the Division 1 Final – Second Half

Upsets abounded in Division 2, but St. Johns’ Ian Parker held on to repeat as a champion – Second Half

Lake Fenton’s Jarrett Trombley won his second individual title and ended Devin Schroder’s bid for four in Division 3 – Second Half

Hudson senior Kyle Johnson bounced back from an earlier exit as a junior to win his second Division 4 title in three seasons – Second Half