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: 11/17/15

November 17, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The MHSAA Volleyball Tournament continues with Quarterfinals tonight, so here’s a look at a team in each class – to go with today’s Second Half story on Cadillac – plus a report on this season’s Miss Volleyball, Gia Milana of Romeo.

Volleyball

In one of the least surprising awards races in a while, Romeo’s Gia Milana was named Miss Volleyball on Monday in advance of leading the reigning Class A champion against Traverse City West tonight – Macomb Daily

While Class A top-ranked Novi knows this final week well, it doesn’t know much about unranked Grosse Pointe North, its opponent tonight and one of the surprises this month – Oakland Press

Battle Creek Harper Creek, led by a strong senior crew, has improved from 21-25-10 three seasons ago to the No. 4-ranked team in Class B this fall – Battle Creek Enquirer

Laingsburg has a school record 43 wins and will play in an MHSAA Quarterfinal for the first time tonight when it faces Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central in Class C – Lansing State Journal

Class D No. 8 Mendon has necessary confidence heading into its Quarterfinal against reigning champion Battle Creek St. Philip, which eliminated Mendon in this round last season – Three Rivers Commercial-News