Today in the MHSAA: 6/9/16

June 9, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The Girls and Boys Lacrosse Semifinals gave us our championship contenders for Saturday's games, and they were joined as well Wednesday by key soccer wins and a pair of baseball milestones.

Boys Lacrosse

Birmingham Brother Rice will play for its 12th straight Division 1 championship after downing Detroit U-D Jesuit 17-4 in a Semifinal – Oakland Press

Detroit Catholic Central held Detroit County Day scoreless during the second half to advance in Division 1 with a 13-5 Semifinal win – Oakland Press

East Grand Rapids downed Okemos 16-15 in double overtime to get back to the Division 2 Final – Grand Rapids Press

After falling to Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood in the postseason the last three years, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central earned a championship game berth with a 17-7 win over the Cranes – Grand Rapids Press

Girls Lacrosse

Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood started on a 7-0 run in downing Farmington Hills Mercy 22-4 in a Division 2 Semifinal – Oakland Press

Four-time reigning Division 2 champion East Grand Rapids will play for a fifth straight title after downing Okemos 14-7 in a Semifinal – Grand Rapids Press

Three-time reigning Division 1 champion Rockford earned another trip to the Finals with a 23-7 win over Hartland – Livingston Daily

Birmingham United advanced to its first MHSAA lacrosse championship game since 2012 with a 16-4 win over Ann Arbor Pioneer in Division 1.

Girls soccer

The closest of four Regional games across the state came in Division 4, where Montrose got past Harbor Springs 2-0 – Petoskey News

Baseball

Shepherd baseball coach Jack Nartker retired after 27 seasons and a final 5-4 win over Beal City; his record is 647-288-7 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Grand Ledge avenged a District loss to Holt with a comeback win to claim the Capital Area Diamond Classic championship 7-3 and finish 31-4 – Lansing State Journal

Today in the MHSAA: 9/16/16

September 16, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

A number of intriguing results came in from girls golf and volleyball Thursday, and make sure to check out a number of “Good Reads” to get you into another sports-filled weekend.  

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.

Girls Golf

Midland Dow’s Stephanie Carras continued a dominating season for the top-ranked team in Division 2, winning a playoff hole tiebreaker to earn the medalist honor at the Ann Arbor Pioneer Invitational – Midland Daily News

Second-year program Shepherd won its third straight Tri-Valley Conference West jamboree – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Volleyball

Lake Orion won a matchup of honorable mention teams in the Class A rankings, sweeping Rochester Hills Stoney Creek – Oakland Press

Houghton took down Calumet in four sets to take an upper hand among top teams at the top of the Upper Peninsula – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Less than a week after falling to DeTour in the final at its home invitational, Pickford downed DeTour in three sets in league play – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News

Good Reads

Longtime Brighton swim coach Tim McInnis died suddenly Tuesday, leaving behind a community where his influence has been felt for decades – Livingston Post

MLive tells the story of the football rivalry between Utica Eisenhower and Sterling Heights Stevenson through the eyes of their former longtime coaches – MLive-Detroit

Two days before his father and former Farmington hockey coach Bill Newton died after a fight with cancer, Chris Newton – his dad’s former assistant the a former goalie on the team – received a lung transplant that is providing him new opportunities – Observer & Eccentric

Katherine Ristola’s older brother Jonathan never got to play varsity football because of injuries his junior and senior years. But she’s taken the opportunity to play in part with him in mind and become a big part of the Livonia Churchill football family – Detroit Free Press

Vanessa Romero has played football for 10 years, and after starting at the subvarsity level is contributing on the offensive line for Westland John Glenn’s varsity – Detroit News