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: 2/25/16

February 25, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

There’s a group of athletes in Michigan welcoming the snow storm sweeping the Lower Peninsula over the last 24 hours – skiers competing for league championships who have been some of the few in action over the last two days.

Boys Basketball

Ludington earned one of its most impressive victories this season, pushing through overtime to get past Muskegon Heights Academy 61-57 – Muskegon Chronicle

Warren DeLaSalle came back from three points down with 34 seconds to play to edge Detroit Loyola 53-52 in a Detroit Catholic League A-B semifinal – Detroit News

Skiing

The Elk Rapids/Traverse City St. Francis boys and Harbor Springs girls won Lake Michigan Conference championships at Boyne Highlands – Traverse City Record-Eagle

From Tuesday, The Bloomfield Hills Marian girls and Rochester Adams boys got a final tune up for Monday’s Finals by winning the Southeast Michigan Ski League meets at Mt. Holly – Oakland Press

Football

One of the winningest football coaches in MHSAA history will be back this fall – former Utica Eisenhower leader Bob Lantzy is taking over at Rochester Hills Stoney Creek – Oakland Press

Good Reads

A group of seniors who have gone to school together since kindergarten are in position to lead Gobles to its third straight perfect basketball regular season – Kalamazoo Gazette

When losing basketball became the ultimatum for Grand Rapids Wellspring’s DonKiece George, he became the student now putting up a 3.4 grade-point average and staying out of the principal’s office – Grand Rapids Press