Today in the MHSAA: 5/25/17

May 25, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Last-minute goals tipped the statewide drama toward boys lacrosse and girls soccer Wednesday, as the Regional tournament continued in the former and league titles were awarded on the pitch.

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.

Baseball

Division 3 No. 7 Madison Heights Bishop Foley downed Division 2 No. 8 Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard 9-1 to claim the Detroit Catholic League Class C-D title for the fifth time in six seasons – MLive-Detroit

Standish-Sterling shut out Shepherd twice to claim the Tri-Valley Conference Central title – Bay City Times

From Tuesday, Division 3 No. 4 Homer downed Athens to win the Big 8 Conference championship, and in the second game gave coach Scott Salow his 500th win – Jackson Citizen Patriot

From Monday, Livonia Clarenceville won its first league title since 1982 by downing Dearborn Heights Robichaud in the Western Wayne Athletic Conference Red – Observer & Eccentric

Boys Golf

Jonesville secured the Big 8 Conference championship with a 26-stroke victory at the league tournament – Hillsdale Daily News

Boys Lacrosse

Vicksburg, No. 7 heading into the postseason, downed Battle Creek Harper Creek for the third time this season, this time 10-8, to advance to a Division 2 Regional Final – Kalamazoo Gazette

Canton came back from seven goals down to get past Saline 13-11 in a Division 1 Regional game – Observer & Eccentric

Plymouth scored with 38 seconds to play to edge Ann Arbor Pioneer 8-7, also in Division 1 – Observer & Eccentric

Girls Soccer

Division 1 No. 2 Brighton scored with 1:01 left to play to beat No. 6 Novi 2-1 and earn the Kensington Lakes Activities Association overall title – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

Roseville came back to down Sterling Heights 5-4 and claim its first soccer league title, in the Macomb Area Conference Silver – Macomb Daily

Division 2 No. 4 Trenton finished a sweep of second-place Brownstown Woodhaven to claim the Downriver League title – Southgate News Herald

Division 3 No. 5 Grosse Ile clinched the Huron League championship with a 3-2 win over Riverview – Southgate News Herald

From Tuesday, Division 4 No. 20 Harbor Beach finished an undefeated run through the Greater Thumb Conference North with a 4-1 win over Bad Axe – Huron Daily Tribune

Softball

Parma Western’s Taylor Nichols threw a five-inning perfect game in the first of a sweep of Mason – Jackson Citizen Patriot

From Tuesday, Quincy swept Springport to lock up the Big 8 Conference title – Coldwater Daily Reporter

Also from Tuesday, Lake Odessa Lakewood earned a share of the Greater Lansing Activities Conference title, their fourth straight league crown – Ionia Sentinel-Standard

Track & Field

The Chesaning boys and Shepherd girls won Tri-Valley Conference Central championships; for Lower Peninsula Division 3 No. 6 Shepherd, it was the sixth straight – Saginaw News

Bay City Western’s girls, ranked No. 9 in LP Division 1, won their first Saginaw Valley League title in 20 years, edging No. 7 Davison by six points; Flint Carman-Ainsworth won the boys title by seven points over Western – Midland Daily News

The Breckenridge boys won their first league title in this sport since 1995 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Traverse City Central swept the boys and girls championships at the Big North Conference meet; the boys are tied for No. 7 in LP Division 1 with Traverse City West – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Good Read

Longtime sports editor Bill Broderick writes that the Big Ten should stay away from playing football on Friday nights. We couldn’t agree more – Battle Creek Enquirer

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)