Today in the MHSAA: 5/2/19

May 2, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Wednesday’s most newsworthy action came on the tennis courts, where ranked teams clashed and a league champion was crowned.

1. Girls Tennis: Chesaning claimed what might be the first league title awarded this spring, closing out the Mid-Michigan Activities Conference championship – Owosso Argus-Press

2. Girls Tennis: Bloomfield Hills, No. 2 in Lower Peninsula Division 1, handed No. 7 Midland Dow its first loss, 5-3 – Midland Daily News

3. Girls Tennis: LPD4 No. 6 North Muskegon also won a matchup of ranked teams, downing No. 8 Grant 5-3 in a meeting of two of the best in Division 4 – Local Sports Journal

4. Girls Soccer: Bridgman handed Division 4 No. 8 St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic its first loss this season, 4-2 – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

5. Baseball: Birmingham Brother Rice scored on a walk-off walk to defeat rival and Division 1 No. 17 Detroit Catholic Central 7-6 – State Champs Sports Network

6. Boys Lacrosse: Detroit Country Day, No. 10 in Division 2 entering the week, came back to edge Flint Powers Catholic 12-11 with the game-winner coming during the final minute – WJRT

7. Softball: Bronson earned an important league sweep of Jonesville, with Lynsey Smith tossing a no-hitter in the doubleheader’s first game – Coldwater Daily Reporter

8. Girls Lacrosse: Lowell held off Spring Lake’s comeback attempt, 9-8 – Grand Haven Tribune

9. Girls Soccer: Portage Central improved to 7-2-2 with a big win over rival Portage Northern – JoeInsider.com

10. Girls Soccer: Division 1 No. 2 Grand Blanc also added to its impressive start with a shutout of Lapeer – WJRT

Also of note …

Saginaw Heritage: Athletic director and MHSAA Representative Council member Pete Ryan announced he will retire at the end of this school year – Saginaw News

O-K Conference: The Ottawa-Kent Conference realignment plan announced last week actually fell short by a vote based on a league bylaw, so leadership will continue to work on a new plan – Grand Rapids 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)