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: 3/6/20

March 6, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The majority of Michigan’s high school boys basketball teams finished their regular seasons Thursday – and with a month’s worth of fireworks thanks to league title celebrations, big-time matchups and record scoring performances.

1. Boys Basketball: Orchard Lake St. Mary’s got past Detroit Cass Tech 70-65 in overtime in the annual Operation Friendship meeting of league champions – Detroit News

2. Boys Basketball: Negaunee earned shares of two league titles and handed Iron Mountain its only loss this season on a last-second basket, winning 52-51 – Marquette Mining Journal

3. Boys Basketball: Benton Harbor closed the regular season with an 82-72 win over Wyoming in a matchup of title contenders in Divisions 2 and 1 – Grand Rapids Press

4. Boys Basketball: Ypsilanti Lincoln enjoyed 48 points from Emoni Bates in getting past Grand Rapids Catholic Central 79-48 in a meeting of championship contenders in Divisions 1 and 2 – Ann Arbor News

5. Boys Basketball: Sanford Meridian clinched a fourth-consecutive Jack Pine Conference title with a 54-39 win over Farwell – Midland Daily News

6. Boys Basketball: Troy Athens got past Birmingham Seaholm 71-61 in overtime to claim the Oakland Activities Association Blue title outright – Oakland Press

7. Boys Basketball: Three Oaks River valley celebrated the Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference White title with a 50-29 win over New Buffalo – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

8. Boys Basketball: Traverse City Central earned a shared Big North Conference title with Cadillac thanks to a 63-49 win over Alpena – Traverse City Record-Eagle

9. Boys Basketball: One-loss Carrollton handed Kingston its first, 63-59 – Saginaw News

10. Boys Basketball: Pellston downed Bellaire 57-39 to clinch a share of the Ski Valley Conference championship – Petoskey News-Review

Also of note …

Boys Basketball: Otsego won its third-straight overall Wolverine Conference title with an 81-55 win over Edwardsburg – WWMT

Boys Basketball: Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart locked up the outright Mid-State Activities Conference title with a 65-37 win over Ashley – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Boys Basketball: William Dunn became Quincy’s all-time leading career scorer in his team’s 67-57 win over Mendon – Coldwater Daily Reporter

Boys Basketball: Anders Rasmussen set Holland’s single-season 3-pointers record in a loss to Ada Forest Hills Eastern – Holland Sentinel

Boys Basketball: Cole Shiels and Jacob Delmotte both broke the Britton-Deerfield single-game scoring record in a win over Monroe Jefferson – Adrian Daily Telegram