Today in the MHSAA: 5/8/17
May 8, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Muskegon County championships in a number of sports highlighted a busy weekend of action to kick off May, the final month of the spring regular season for most teams across 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.
Baseball
Division 4 No. 6 Muskegon Catholic Central won a championship game rematch with Montague 7-4 to claim the Greater Muskegon Athletic Association Tier 2 title – Muskegon Chronicle
Whitehall downed Muskegon Mona Shores 10-6, ending the Sailors’ GMAA Tier 1 title streak at five straight – Muskegon Chronicle
Bay City Western split with Mount Pleasant, getting a 1-0 shutout win from pitcher Cody Freed in the first game – Bay City Times
Division 1 No. 9 Livonia Stevenson came back to down Livonia Franklin 3-1 to win an all-city championship – Observer & Eccentric
Boys Golf
Lower Peninsula Division 4 No. 2 Muskegon Catholic Central followed medalist Collin Powers to a Greater Muskegon Athletic Association win of two strokes over Mona Shores – Muskegon Chronicle
Gladstone edged the host by two strokes at the Escanaba Invitational as Carney-Nadeau’s Hunter Eichhorn shot a first-place 67 – Escanaba Daily Press
Boys Lacrosse
Division 1 No. 3 Hartland remained undefeated by ending No. 7 Brighton’s 51-game league winning streak with a 16-5 victory – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
Softball
Muskegon Reeths-Puffer fell in its opener but came back to repeat as Greater Muskegon Athletic Association Tier 1 champion – Muskegon Chronicle
Division 2 No. 5 Muskegon Oakridge repeated as GMAA Tier 2 champion with an 8-2 win over Division 4 No. 4 Holton – Muskegon Chronicle
Division 1 No. 4 Walled Lake Northern won the 40-team Michigan Stars Invitational, with No. 5 Midland finishing third – Midland Daily News
Girls Tennis
Lower Peninsula Division 4 No. 6 North Muskegon claimed its fifth straight Greater Muskegon Athletic Association championship as Brittany Bailey won a flight title for the third time in four seasons – Muskegon Chronicle
Battle Creek Lakeview clinched the All-City championship, sweeping all eight flight titles – Battle Creek Enquirer
Track & Field
Muskegon Reeths-Puffer’s girls won their eighth straight Greater Muskegon Athletic Association meet led again by standout Maryssa Depies – Muskegon Chronicle
Fruitport’s boys won their fourth straight Greater Muskegon Athletic Association title with three two-event winners – Muskegon Chronicle
Marysville swept the Algonac Muskrat Classic Small School titles, sharing the boys championship with Marine City – Port Huron Times Herald
St. Ignace’s girls won their Kiwanis Invitational, while Newberry’s boys claimed that title – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News
Lake Linden-Hubbell’s teams swept the Lakes Invitational titles – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
Remus Chippewa Hills swept the Sanford Meridian Nite Trax Invitational titles; the girls team is ranked No. 8 in Lower Peninsula Division 2 – Big Rapids News
LP Division 4 No. 4 Grand Haven’s girls edged LP Division 2 top-ranked Ada Forest Hills Eastern by 14 points at the Holland West Ottawa Invitational – Grand Haven Tribune
Centreville’s girls, No. 3 in LP Division 4, finished ahead of No. 6 Marcellus to win their invitational – Sturgis Journal
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)