Today in the MHSAA: 8/20/20

August 21, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

After five months filled with anxiety and uncertainty, high school sports returned to Michigan on Wednesday and Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern's Lilia Henkel gave us all something to immediately cheer about. 

1. Girls Golf: Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern was the biggest winner on the first day of high school sports since March, winning the Muskegon Mona Shores Invitational while senior Lilia Henkel shot an incredible 60 to finish first individually – FOX 17

2. Girls Golf: St. Joseph shot a first-place 355 and Maya Hunter was medalist with a 75 at the Gull Lake Invitational – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

3. Boys Tennis: Traverse City St. Francis defeated Haslett and Lansing Catholic as senior Charlie Schmude went over 100 career wins – Traverse City Record-Eagle

4. Girls Golf: Michigan Center shot a school-record 365 to win the Hanover-Horton Invitational by nearly 40 strokes – JTV

5. Girls Golf: Traverse City West’s Anci Dy shot a 69 to lead the Lober Classic’s individual standings after the first round, while Flint Powers Catholic was the first-day team leader at 332 – Up North Live

6. Boys Tennis: Niles Brandywine earned coach David Sidenbender his 100th win with a 5-3 victory over South Haven – Niles Daily Star

7. Girls Golf: Freeland edged Frankenmuth by a stroke to win the opening Tri-Valley Conference jamboree – Saginaw News

8. Boys Tennis: Midland Dow opened 1-0-1 with a win over Grand Blanc and tie of Troy Athens – Midland Daily News

9. Boys Tennis: Bay City Western and Central both finished 2-0-1 to pace an opening quad – Bay City Times

10. Boys tennis: Coldwater earned first-year coach Nathan Waterbury his first win with the program, shutting out Brooklyn Columbia Central – Coldwater Daily Reporter

Also of note …

Boys Basketball: Flint Beecher is mourning the death of longtime coach Moses Lacy, who led the program to Class B championships in 1985 and 1987 – ABC 12

Today in the MHSAA: 2/22/17

February 22, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The basketball season continues to speed to a momentous conclusion, but today make sure to get to the bottom of this report for a couple of stories about athletes working through tragedy that you don’t want to miss.

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. 

Boys Basketball

Big Rapids finished an outright Central State Activities Association Gold title with a 60-35 win over Reed City – Big Rapids News

New Haven advanced in the Macomb Area Conference Blue-Gold Tournament with a win over Warren Woods Tower and thanks to 40 points by Eric Williams, Jr. – Macomb Daily

Walled Lake Western edged rival Walled Lake Northern 63-62 to move on in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association Tournament – Oakland Press

Detroit U-D Jesuit just got past Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 51-49 to advance to the Detroit Catholic League A-B Final – Detroit News

Dollar Bay’s Devin Schmitz needed four points to reach 1,000 for his career, but scored 43 in a 66-57 win over Hancock – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Parma Western fell into a tie for first place in the Interstate 8 Athletic Conference after a 54-53 loss to Battle Creek Harper Creek – Battle Creek Enquirer

Blake Dunn became Saugatuck’s all-time leading scorer with 1,489 points, adding 19 in a win over Lawton – Grand Rapids Press

Girls Basketball

Brethren’s Taytum Myers became her school’s first 1,000-point scorer during a win over Lake Leelanau St. Mary – Manistee News Advocate

Frankenmuth clinched its 12th-straight Tri-Valley Conference East title with a 47-27 win over Essexville Garber – Saginaw News

Dearborn Heights Robichaud standout Kamaria McDaniel scored 39 points, but Flint Hamady emerged with a 75-67 win – Flint Journal

From Monday, Harbor Springs Harbor Light Christian got past Ellsworth 50-49 to secure its first Northern Lakes Conference title since 2007 – Petoskey News-Review

Good Reads

Similar tragedies have struck the Traverse City Bay Reps hockey program over the last three years, as multiple players have experienced the death of a parent. But the team has stuck together, on the rink and in working through those sadnesses – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Gaylord St. Mary’s golfer Noah Kole was hospitalized recently after losing feeling in his legs, and the Gaylord Herald Times wished him well this week (and the good news is he’s now recovering and should be ready for this spring) – Gaylord Herald Times