Today in the MHSAA: 5/21/19

May 21, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Monday saw one of the spring’s busiest afternoons so far for league champions as at least 19 teams clinched shares or outright titles in a variety of sports.

1. Girls Soccer: Division 2 No. 14 Pinckney locked up the Southeastern Conference White championship, its first league title in this sport, with a 2-1 win over No. 10 Dexter – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

2. Girls Soccer: Division 4 top-ranked North Muskegon clinched its fourth straight West Michigan Conference title, with its seniors finishing 40-0 in league play over their careers, thanks to a 9-4 win over Division 3 No. 13 Whitehall – Local Sports Journal

3. Softball: Division 1 No. 6 Warren Regina edged Division 3 No. 3 Allen Park Cabrini 3-2 to win the Detroit Catholic League A-B championship game – C&G Newspapers

4. Girls Soccer: Division 1 top-ranked Novi moved to 20-0-1 with a 2-0 win over No. 14 Livonia Stevenson that clinched the overall Kensington Lakes Activities Association title – Observer & Eccentric

5. Track & Field: Gladstone’s boys won their first Mid-Peninsula Conference meet championship, while Negaunee’s girls locked up their 10th straight – Marquette Mining Journal

6. Softball: Division 1 honorable mention Allen Park clinched a share of its ninth straight Downriver League title with a sweep of Gibraltar Carlson – Southgate News-Herald

7. Girls Soccer: Kingsley claimed its first Northwest Conference championship in this sport with a 1-0 win over Buckley – Traverse City Record-Eagle

8. Baseball: Division 2 No. 2 East Grand Rapids clinched a share and then the outright O-K Gold title with a doubleheader sweep of Ada Forest Hills Eastern – FOX 17

9. Girls Soccer: Division 3 No. 4 Otsego finished a repeat title run in the Wolverine Conference with a 1-0 victory over Plainwell – WWMT

10. Baseball: Morley Stanwood picked up a share of a third straight Central State Activities Association Silver title with a 9-7 win over Kent City – Big Rapids News

Also of note …

Girls Soccer: Division 3 No. 9 Grosse Ile locked up a share of the Huron League title with a 2-1 win over Riverview – Southgate News-Herald

Softball: Macomb Lutheran North edged Madison Heights Bishop Foley 8-6 to clinch the Catholic League C-D title – State Champs Sports Network

Softball: Division 1 No. 3 Bay City Western locked up a second straight Saginaw Valley League North title with a sweep of Midland Dow – Bay City Times

Girls Soccer: A draw against Jenison gave Muskegon Mona Shores its third straight O-K Black title – Local Sports Journal

Boys Golf: Byron Center, No. 9 in Lower Peninsula Division 3, claimed the Ottawa-Kent Conference Green championship with a win at the league tournament – Holland Sentinel

Baseball/Softball: The Camden-Frontier baseball team and North Adams-Jerome softball team clinched championships in the Southern Central Athletic Association East – Hillsdale Daily News

Softball: Division 4 No. 8 Holton claimed its fifth straight league title and Muskegon Orchard View its third consecutive – Local Sports Journal

Boys Basketball: Longtime former coach Paul Polfus will bring nearly 700 combined girls and boys varsity victories when he re-takes over the latter program at Carney-Nadeau – Escanaba Daily Press

Did you see that? (June 3-9)

June 10, 2013

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The second of three weeks of spring MHSAA Finals came to a close with four more champions from lacrosse – plus 16 teams still alive in both baseball and softball, eight in girls soccer and 60 in Lower Peninsula boys golf.

See below for some of the biggest headlines from the week that was June 3-9.

Girls lacrosse

Champions of the west: A pair of Grand Rapids-area teams claimed the girls championships Saturday. Rockford defeated Bloomfield Hills United 16-7 in Division 1, while East Grand Rapids repeated in Division 2 with a 16-6 victory over Livonia Ladywood. (Second Half D1) (Second Half D2)

Boys Lacrosse

East-side excellence: Birmingham Brother Rice came back from an early deficit in the Division 1 Final to win its ninth-straight title by beating Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern/Eastern 14-10. In Division 2, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood scored with 20.2 seconds to play to edge reigning champion Forest Hills Central 10-9. (Second Half D1) (Second Half D2)

Girls Soccer

Defensive standoff: Top-ranked Plymouth and No. 3 Novi needed a shootout to decide Friday’s Division 1 Regional Final. But Novi won that final round 2-1 to earn a 1-0 win and hand Plymouth its first and only loss this season. (MLive Detroit)

Powers survives comeback: Up 3-0 at halftime, reigning Division 3 runner-up Flint Powers Catholic advanced to within one win of returning to the Finals with a 3-2 Regional Final win over Lake Fenton. (Flint Journal)

Baseball

Oilers upend No. 1: Mount Pleasant, ranked No. 4 in Division 2, beat top-ranked Bay City John Glenn on the way to winning their Regional on Saturday. (Mount Pleasant Morning Sun)

MCC wins big: Muskegon Catholic Central moved on in Division 4 with a 9-0 Regional win over No. 2 Gobles in another of the weekend’s biggest baseball matchups. MCC entered the postseason ranked No. 5. (Muskegon Chronicle)

Softball

Dundee gets its chance: The Vikings won their first Regional championship and defeated two-time reigning Division 3 champion Clinton in the process Saturday at Blissfield. Dundee entered the postseason ranked No. 1 in the division. (Monroe Evening News)

Romeo prevails in pair of nail-biters: The No. 10-ranked Bulldogs were down to their final out before defeating Troy in a Regional Semifinal and then beat Hartland 3-0 in the championship game. Both Troy and Hartland were honorable mentions in the final Division 1 coaches poll. (Oakland Press)

Escanaba headed downstate: The Eskymos will face reigning MHSAA Division 2 runner-up Saginaw Swan Valley in a Quarterfinal for the second straight season thanks to a walk-off home run by sophomore Michelle LaFave in a 5-4 Regional Final win over Remus Chippewa Hills. (Escanaba Daily Press)

Boys Golf

SMAC East dominates: Top-ranked Battle Creek Lakeview in Division 1 and Marshall and Battle Creek Harper Creek in Division 2 all qualified for LP Finals, giving the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference East three teams in this weekend’s championship tournaments. (Battle Creek Enquirer)

DeWitt outshoots No. 1: Previously unranked DeWitt shot a 313 to edge top-ranked East Lansing by a stroke at their Division 2 Regional at Gull Lake View. (Lansing State Journal)

Boys Basketball

CMU star takes over GRCC: Former Central Michigan University captain T.J. Meerman has taken over the Grand Rapids Catholic Central program after serving as an assistant coach last season at Grand Valley State University. Previously, Meerman coached the varsity at Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills. (Grand Rapids Press)