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: 11/9/15

November 9, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Cross Country and Boys Soccer Finals, plus a few remaining Volleyball District championship games and girls swimming and diving league meets made this the most eventful weekend of the school year to date.

Cross Country

Rockford’s boys repeated in Lower Peninsula Division 1, while Birmingham Seaholm’s girls won their third title in four seasons – Second Half Girls | Boys

The Otsego girls and Hamilton’s Erika Freyhof both were first-time champions in LP Division 2, while Algonac senior Morgan Beadlescomb repeated as individual boys champion and Fremont dominated to claim that team title – Second Half Girls | Boys

Lansing Catholic’s boys and Grandville Calvin Christian’s Abe Visser claimed the first team and individual titles in their programs’ respective histories, while Traverse City St. Francis’ Holly Bullough repeated as LP Division 3 champion in helping the Gladiators win the team title as well – Second Half Girls | Boys

Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart turned in arguably the most dominating Finals performance in Division 4 history, while Saugatuck’s boys moved up from runners-up in 2014 to champions – Second Half Girls | Boys

Boys Soccer

Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central capped an undefeated season with a Division 1 championship win over reigning champion Canton – Second Half

Mason won its first MHSAA title since 1997 with a comeback win over Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern – Second Half

Grand Rapids South Christian is Division 3 champion once again thanks to a shootout victory over Williamston – Second Half

Burton Genesee Christian completed a perfect season by winning the Division 4 title – Second Half

Girls Swimming and Diving

LP Division 3 No. 4 St. Clair broke four school records in winning the Macomb Area Conference White championship meet – Port Huron Times-Herald

LP Division 3 honorable mention Spring Lake set six school records in winning the Coastal Conference meet with 67 personal-best times – Grand Haven Tribune

Midland Dow won its 10th straight Saginaw Valley League championship, edging Saginaw Heritage by 18 points – Midland Daily News

LP Division 1 No. 6 Brighton won its second straight Kensington Lakes Activities Association Lakes championship meet with three meet records – Livingston Daily

Volleyball

Class B honorable mention Tecumseh swept Brooklyn Columbia Central to win their District and improve to 45-4-1 – Adrian Daily Telegram

Class B No. 5 Cadillac swept Kingsley to win its 10th straight District championship – Cadillac News

Also in Class B, Sault Ste. Marie needed five sets to get past Kalkaska and win the District title – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News

From Thursday, Fulton beat Fowler to win its first District title since 2001 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Crystal Falls Forest Park, honorable mention in Class D, won its District for an incredible 16th straight season – Iron Mountain Daily News

Good Read

The Benton Harbor football program got plenty of excellent coverage heading into the weekend’s District Final against Zeeland West – but here’s a story about what's next now that the Tigers’ season is done – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium