Today in the MHSAA: 8/24/15

August 24, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

All MHSAA fall sports but football kicked off competition last week, with cross country, boys soccer, girls swimming and diving and volleyball starting Saturday.

Below are some notable headlines from the first weekend of this season, plus links to coverage.

Cross Country

St. Johns hosted its second “Under the Lights” meets Friday; Ithaca’s girls and Saugatuck’s boys bested fields loaded with much larger opponents – Lansing State Journal

The St. Joseph girls and Bridgman boys won championships at the Niles Stampede – the St. Joseph girls, who finished fourth in Lower Peninsula Division 2 last season, by a large margin – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

Girls Golf

Maple City Glen Lake’s Nichole Cox, last season’s LP Division 4 individual champion, came back to defeat Brighton freshman Annie Pietila at the two-day Lober Invitational at Grand Traverse Resort – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Boys Soccer

Two of the state’s powers met in the championship game of the Detroit Country Day Tournament on Saturday – with 2013 Division 1 runner-up Bloomfield Hills downing the host Yellowjackets 1-0 in a shootout – Oakland Press

Girls Swimming & Diving

Howell won its Kenzie Klassic, which honors swimmer Mackenize Watts, who died in 2005 at age 15. The school also raised enough money to award three scholarships and begin funding cardiac-related causes – Livingston Daily

Volleyball

Novi won the Lakeshore Classic by coming back after losing the first two games to beat Grand Haven 3-2 in a rematch of a 2014 Class A Semifinal – Muskegon Chronicle

Battle Creek Harper Creek, for the first time, won the gold championship at the long-running Carrie Adams Memorial Tournament hosted by reigning Class D champion Battle Creek St. Philip – Battle Creek Enquirer

Good Read

Mike Steele, a Midland Dow grad and now pitching coach at Long Beach State in California, argues that parents need to raise their athletes to compete instead of providing specific training in one sport – Midland Daily News

Today in the MHSAA: 3/21/18

March 21, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Each weekday of the school year, we break down the top headlines courtesy of Michigan’s sports media. Today, we provide coverage of all 16 MHSAA Boys Basketball Quarterfinals.

Class A

Traveon Maddox’s basket at the buzzer gave Novi a 75-73 win at University of Detroit Mercy – Observer & Eccentric

Warren DeLaSalle avenged three regular-season losses to Detroit U-D Jesuit with a 63-58 win – C&G Newspapers

Reigning champion Clarkston earned another trip to Finals weekend with a 52-31 win over Flint Carman-Ainsworth – Oakland Press

Holland West Ottawa held on for a 58-55 win over East Lansing after the teams were tied earlier in the fourth quarter – Holland Sentinel

Class B

Reigning champion New Haven ran its winning streak to 52 with a 78-72 win over Bridgeport – Port Huron Times-Herald

Grand Rapids Catholic Central earned a trip to East Lansing with a 65-43 win over Boyne City – FOX 17

After the teams were tied at halftime, Benton Harbor pulled away from Williamston for a 71-51 win – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

River Rouge earned a return trip to Breslin with a 59-44 win over Dearborn Divine Child – Coverage will be linked when available

Class C

Iron Mountain came back from a big deficit, but Maple City Glen Lake hit another level to advance with a 66-49 win – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Undefeated Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central remains alive thanks to a 31-28 win over Kalamazoo Christian – Monroe News

Reigning runner-up Grand Rapids Covenant Christian earned a return to the Breslin Center with a 53-30 win over Sanford Meridian – Grand Rapids Press

Detroit Edison handed Unionville-Sebewaing its lone loss this season, 73-46 – MLive-Detroit

Class D

Peter Kalthoff had 35 points to lead Hillsdale Academy to a 66-38 win over Marcellus Howardsville Christian – Hillsdale Daily News

Undefeated Dollar Bay earned a trip downstate with a 74-68 win over Cedarville – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Reigning Class D runner-up Buckley handed Hillman its only loss this season, 67-50 – Cadillac News

Southfield Christian will return to the Semifinals thanks to an 88-53 win over Flint International Academy – Oakland Press

Also of note …

Boys Basketball: From Monday, Clarkston’s Foster Loyer was named this season’s Mr. Basketball Award winner – Detroit Free Press