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: 2/21/20

February 21, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Long-range shooting ruled Thursday evening as a triple-overtime 3-pointer finished a league title bout and the state record for 3-pointers in one game was toppled.

1. Girls Basketball: A last-minute 3-pointer in triple overtime pushed Montague past Hart 49-46 and won the Wildcats the West Michigan Conference championship – Local Sports Journal

2. Girls Basketball: Gabrielle Lutchka scored 58 points with an MHSAA-record 16 3-pointers in leading Grass Lake past Manchester 95-31 – Jackson Citizen Patriot

3. Girls Basketball: St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran earned a share of the Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference White title with a 36-20 win over Three Oaks River Valley – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

4. Girls Basketball: Auburn Hills Avondale downed Oxford 60-47 to clinch the Oakland Activities Association White championship outright – Oakland Press

5. Girls Basketball: Litchfield downed Waldron 49-20 to clinch the Southern Central Athletic Association Central title, its first league championship since 2012-13 – Hillsdale Daily News

6. Bowling: The Division 2 No. 10 Chelsea boys finished a run of two wins in three matches this week to lock up the Southeastern Conference White title – Chelsea Sun Times News

7. Hockey: Power plays paid off big in Division 2 No. 5 Marquette’s 3-1 win over Division 3 No. 6 Houghton – Marquette Mining Journal

8. Boys Basketball: Cadillac moved into first place alone in the Big North Conference with a 65-59 win over Petoskey – Cadillac News

9. Boys Basketball: Marquette avenged its earlier loss to Negaunee with a 61-54 victory in the rematch – Marquette Mining Journal

10. Girls Basketball: Erin Barrette set Menominee’s school record for steals in her team’s 65-17 win over Stephenson – The Upbeat

Also of note …

Girls Basketball: From Tuesday, Flat Rock earned the outright Huron League title with a 60-44 win over Milan – Monroe News

Skiing: From Tuesday, the Harbor Springs girls and Great North Alpine boys clinched Lake Michigan Conference championships – Petoskey News-Review

Girls Basketball: The three finalists for this year’s Miss Basketball Award were announced – Detroit Free Press