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: 2/19/20

February 19, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

A pair of championship celebrations long in the making top one of our fullest lists of headliners this season as league titles were clinched in three sports and star performances shined on the court, ice and hill – not to mention the winningest baseball coach in state history announced his retirement.

1. Boys Basketball: Ravenna downed Muskegon Oakridge 70-36 to earn a share of its first West Michigan Conference title since 1980 – Local Sports Journal

2. Girls Basketball: Lake City clinched a share of the Highland Conference title, its first league championship since 2001, with a 36-26 win over second-place Manton – Cadillac News

3. Boys Basketball: Howell claimed the Kensington Lakes Activities Association West title with a 75-71 triple-overtime win over Canton – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

4. Girls Basketball: Hartland avenged its lone loss and moved into first alone in the KLAA West with a 36-33 win over Brighton – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

5. Hockey: Division 3 No. 6 Houghton downed top-ranked Calumet for the first time this season, 3-2 – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

6. Skiing: Petoskey’s boys and Traverse City Central’s girls clinched Big North Conference championships – Petoskey News-Review

7. Girls Basketball: Ubly earned a share of the Greater Thumb Conference East title with a 42-31 win over Sandusky – Huron Daily Tribune

8. Girls Basketball: Adrian Madison locked up a share of the Tri-County Conference title with a 49-23 win over Clinton – Adrian Daily Telegram

9. Girls Basketball: Kingsley moved into a tie for first in the Northwest Conference with a 50-38 win over co-leader Maple City Glen Lake – MI Sports Now

10. Boys Basketball: East Lansing downed Okemos 45-43 on a last-second shot, putting the teams in a tie for first in the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue – Lansing State Journal

Also of note …

Baseball: Grand Ledge coach Pat O’Keefe, the state’s winningest all-time in the sport with 1,315 victories, retired – Lansing State Journal

Girls Basketball: East Grand Rapids finished a repeat run in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Gold with a 63-59 win over Grand Rapids Christian – FOX 17

Boys Basketball: Ann Arbor Huron earned the Southeastern Conference Red title with a 57-48 win over Saline – Ann Arbor News

Boys Basketball: Muskegon earned a share of a seventh-straight league title, downing Jenison 86-47 in the O-K Black – Muskegon Chronicle

Boys Basketball: Emoni Bates had 63 points and 21 rebounds to lead Ypsilanti Lincoln past Chelsea 108-102 in double overtime – Ann Arbor News

Boys Basketball: Shamar Howard went over 1,000 career points in Lansing Everett’s 57-55 win over Grand Ledge – Lansing State Journal

Boys Basketball: Brett LaFord went over 1,000 career points in Carney-Nadeau’s 62-56 win over Bark River-Harris – Escanaba Daily Press