Today in the MHSAA: 3/9/17

March 9, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

High winds and power outages couldn’t down Wednesday’s eight MHSAA Hockey Quarterfinals and a number of boys basketball District games all over the state.

Each weekday during the school year, we’ll gather and post media links covering the most significant and intriguing high school events from all over the state. 

Boys Basketball

Detroit Public School League champion Cass Tech got past rival Detroit East English 72-67 in a Class A District Semifinal – MLive-Detroit

Freeland edged Sanford Meridian Early College 46-42 in a Class B matchup of teams that entered the night a combined 36-3 – Saginaw News

Newberry clinched its first District title since 1998, downing St. Ignace 67-55 in Class C – Marquette Mining Journal

Rapid River won its first District title also in more than a decade by downing Rock Mid Peninsula 60-50 in Class D – Escanaba Daily Press

Walled Lake Western and Walled Lake Northern met for the fourth time, with this last matchup going to Western 49-45 in Class A – Oakland Press

Onsted, which had fallen twice to Hillsdale this season, handed the Hornets their first and only loss in a Class B District Semifinal – Hillsdale Daily News

St. Joseph similarly had fallen twice to Portage Central, but came back to win their third matchup 50-47 in Class A – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

Hockey

No. 3 Brighton returned to the Division 1 Semifinals with a 7-0 win over Lowell – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

Division 1 No. 4 Northville continued its run toward a possible first championship game berth with a 6-2 win over Macomb Dakota – Macomb Daily

Top-ranked Detroit Catholic Central booked a return to the Semifinals with a 6-2 win over Bay City Central/Western in Division 1 – Observer & Eccentric

Grandville also is becoming a regular in the Semifinals and will return after an 8-4 Division 1 win over Rockford – Grand Rapids Press

In a matchup of the top two ranked teams in Division 3, No. 1 Flint Powers Catholic came away with a 3-2 overtime win over Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central – Flint Journal

Calumet will play in the Division 3 Semifinals for the first time in six seasons after a 7-3 win over Big Rapids – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Warren DeLaSalle got past Detroit Country Day 4-0 in Division 3 – Macomb Daily

Dearborn Divine Child continued its surprise Division 3 run with a 4-3 win over Chelsea – Dearborn Press & Guide

Volleyball

Buchanan coach Lisa Holok resigned after 13 seasons and more than 500 victories, plus a trip this past fall to the Class B Semifinals – South Bend Tribune

Good Read

Only a few weeks before Mark Blentlinger was to take over the Schoolcraft bowling program in 2010, his daughter Kyleigh – who helped start the girls team – died suddenly. He thought of her much during the girls team’s run to the Division 4 Semifinals on Friday – Kalamazoo Gazette

Today in the MHSAA: 3/4/16

March 4, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The boys basketball regular season finished up in most areas of the state Thursday, as the Individual Wrestling Finals got started and the hockey, girls basketball and boys diving postseasons continued on.

Girls Basketball

After falling to rival Bath only a few weeks ago, Laingsburg came back to win the District battle of co-champions from the Central Michigan Athletic Conference, 41-27 – Lansing State Journal

Boys Basketball

Unbeaten Canton secured the overall Kensington Lakes Activities Association championship with a 50-47 overtime win over Walled Lake Western – Oakland Press

Detroit U-D Jesuit won the Operation Friendship game between champions from the Detroit Catholic League and Public School League, downing East English 92-76 – Detroit News

Traxton Gordon scored the 1,000th point of his Hesperia career despite a loss to North Muskegon – Muskegon Chronicle

Keegan George also went over 1,000 points for his career, although his Spring Lake team fell to Muskegon Catholic Central – Muskegon Chronicle

From Tuesday, Pickford’s Derrick Edington also joined the 1,000 point club in a 68-63 win over Rogers City – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News

The Detroit Free Press introduced the five finalists for this season’s Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan Mr. Basketball Award – Detroit Free Press

Ice Hockey

Cadillac scored with 20 seconds to play in regulation to edge Mount Pleasant 3-2 in a Division 3 Pre-Regional – Cadillac News

For the fourth time in five seasons, Brighton ended Howell’s season, this time 3-1 in a battle of Division 1 contenders – Livingston Daily

Warren DeLaSalle just survived Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett in Division 3, 5-4 after leading 3-0 early – Macomb Daily

Midland advanced in Division 2 with a 4-1 win over Midland Dow after falling to Dow twice during the regular season – Midland Daily News

After falling to Muskegon Reeths-Puffer in the tournament the last three seasons, Mona Shores came out on top with a 6-5 win in Division 2 – Muskegon Chronicle

Wrestling

Hartland’s Sage Castillo improved to 53-0 this season with a pin in his Division 1 first-round match as the MHSAA Individual Finals kicked off at The Palace of Auburn Hills – Detroit News