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: 2/11/16

February 11, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The first MHSAA postseason of 2016 kicked off Wednesday with wrestling Team Districts, and a couple of significant basketball upsets also topped the headlines from the night’s action.

Boys Basketball

Detroit Collegiate Prep upset reigning Class A champion Detroit Western International in the Detroit Public School League Quarterfinals, 64-63, on a basket with less than a second to play – Detroit Free Press

Bridgeport handed rival Frankenmuth the Eagles’ first loss this season, 55-52, after Frankenmuth won their first meeting in double overtime – Saginaw News

Alex Thomas scored 30 points including the 1,000th of his career in Morenci’s 92-56 win over Whitmore Lake – Adrian Daily Telegram

From Tuesday, reigning Class D champ Powers North Central extended its winning streak to 40 with a nail-biting 64-60 win over Menominee – Escanaba Daily Press

Girls Basketball

Katie Spalding grabbed a school-record 25 rebounds to go with 10 points in Quincy’s 49-40 win over Reading – Coldwater Daily Reporter

Ice Hockey

Midland Dow made it two wins over rival Midland this season, adding a 3-1 victory to its previous 5-4 win – Midland Daily News

Swimming & Diving

Also from Tuesday, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix’s Ryan Mullen broke the school’s diving record that had stood since 1978 with a score of 254.9 against Portage Northern – Kalamazoo Gazette

Wrestling

Greenville finished behind Cedar Springs in their league this season, but won the rematch 35-34 to earn an 11th straight District title – Grand Rapids Press

Allegan extended its District title streak to 13 straight with big wins over Plainwell and Hamilton – Grand Rapids Press

Remus Chippewa Hills won its 12th straight District championship, downing Big Rapids in the Final – Big Rapids News

Vandercook won its first wrestling team District title in 27 years, downing Hanover-Horton in the Final – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Division 2 No. 3 St. Johns downed No. 2 DeWitt 35-27 in arguably the biggest matchup statewide to open the tournament – Lansing State Journal 

The final matchup of rivals Niles and Stevensville Lakeshore this season went to Lakeshore by tie-breaker criteria – Niles Daily Star