Today in the MHSAA: 3/9/20

March 9, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The busiest weekend of the winter postseason saw MHSAA Finals in wrestling, bowling and competitive cheer – final coverage of all three all over Second Half – plus Hockey Quarterfinals, Gymnastics Regionals and Girls Basketball District Finals, coverage of some we’ve gathered below.

1. Hockey: No. 3 Trenton won a Division 2 Quarterfinal matchup of annual contenders, 5-1 over top-ranked Livonia Stevenson – Southgate News-Herald

2. Girls Basketball: Bad Axe downed Cass City 47-31 in Division 3 to claim its first District championship in four decades – Huron Daily Tribune

3. Girls Basketball: Manton locked down rival Lake City 26-17 to win a Division 3 District title; Lake City made the Division 3 Semifinals in 2019 – MI Sports Now

4. Hockey: No. 9 Midland Dow got past No. 10 Grand Rapids Catholic Central 3-2 in triple overtime in Division 3, while No. 2 Saginaw Heritage defeated Kalamazoo 2-1 also in 3 OT in Division 1 – WJRT

5. Girls Basketball: East Grand Rapids came back late to get past East Kentwood 56-53 in a Division 1 District Final – WOOD TV

6. Hockey: No. 5 Marquette advanced to the Division 2 Semifinals with a 5-2 win over No. 6 Traverse City Central – Marquette Mining Journal

7. Gymnastics: Morgan Case led Rockford/Sparta to a Regional championship – Escanaba Daily Press

8. Girls Basketball: Saline got past Ann Arbor Huron 50-44 in Division 1 after Huron finished just head of Saline in their league – State Champs Sports Network

9. Girls Basketball: Three Rivers avenged back-to-back District Final losses with a 48-37 win over Edwardsburg – JoeInsider.com

10. Girls Basketball: Sault Ste. Marie earned a few seasons’ worth of vengeance as well with a 58-43 Division 2 District Final win over Kingsley – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News

Today in the MHSAA: 8/24/20

August 24, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Cross country statewide and volleyball, boys soccer and girls swimming & diving in northern Michigan were able to kick off competition over the weekend, bringing a fresh slate of storylines to the return of high school athletics in this state.

1. Cross Country: Bay City Western ran its first dual meets in 21 years, with the boys defeating Freeland and the Freeland girls winning by two in a matchup of possible Finals contenders – Bay City Times

2. Girls Golf: Rockford edged St. Joseph by 11 strokes to win the Sydney Carfine Invitational at The Meadows – Local Sports Journal

3. Boys Tennis: South Lyon freshman Cameron Crosby dominated No. 1 singles in highlighting the season-opening Pinckney quad – Livingston Daily

4. Volleyball: Grand Haven opened with a strong showing at Cadillac, defeating the host Vikings, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern and Coopersville – Grand Haven Tribune

5. Boys Tennis: Big Rapids won back-to-back quads at Ludington and Wyoming – Big Rapids News

6. Volleyball: Petoskey edged Alpena 25-23, 25-19 to win the Sault Ste. Marie Invitational – Alpena News

7. Cross Country: Adrian Lenawee Christian swept championships at the Addison Early Bird Invitational – JTV

8. Girls Tennis: Ishpeming Westwood and Iron Mountain swept their tri-meets as the annual Kingsford Invitational was split into two round-robins to account for COVID-19 restrictions – Iron Mountain Daily News

9. Girls Golf: Parma Western shot a 380 to win its invitational by nine strokes – JTV

10. Boys Soccer: Traverse City Central outscored Manistee and Boyne City by a combined 11-0 during Saturday play – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Also of note …

Football: From last week, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood and Muskegon Catholic Central are mourning the death of Cranbrook varsity coach Ben Jones, who died in a car crash; he formerly starred at MCC – Detroit News

Boys Basketball: Clinton Township Chippewa Valley coach Kevin Voss has retired after 38 years coaching basketball – Macomb Daily