Today in the MHSAA: 9/18/17

September 18, 2017

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's Top 10

1. Cross Country: The Rockford girls (No. 9 in LP Division 1) and White Lake Lakeland boys (No. 11 in LP Division 1) won Spartan Invitational Elite championships at Michigan State facing many of the best teams in the state, regardless of division; Coldwater’s Shuaib Aljabaly and Lansing Catholic’s Olivia Theis were the individual winners – Athletic.net

2. Cross Country: The Ann Arbor Pioneer (LPD1 No. 1), Linden (LPD2 No. 4), St. Clair (LPD2 No. 3), Caro (LPD3 No. 2) and Plymouth Christian (LPD4 No. 15) boys and Fenton, Pinckney (LPD1 T-No. 10), Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard (LPD2 No. 7), Saugatuck (LPD3 No. 6) and Deckerville (LPD4 No. 9) girls won championships at the annual Holly Invitational – Athletic.net

3. Volleyball: Unranked Grant topped a strong field to win the Cadillac Invitational, defeating the host in the final after the Vikings eliminated Class D No. 2 Leland in its semifinal; Leland did avenge an earlier loss this season to Class B honorable mention Kingsley and Grant downed Class C No. 7 Traverse City St. Francis and Midland in bracket play as well – Cadillac News

4, Volleyball: Class A honorable mention Northville swept all six of its matches including over No. 7 Temperance Bedford at the Kicking Mules’ invitational – Observer & Eccentric

5. Volleyball: Class D No. 6 North Adams-Jerome downed host Onsted in an invitational final after sweeping Class C No. 10 Adrian Madison in a semifinal – Adrian Daily Telegram

6. Volleyball: Class C No. 1 Bronson came back from losing to Okemos to start the day to win the Portage Northern Invitational, downing Niles in the final – Coldwater Daily Reporter

7. Volleyball: Class D No. 10 Rudyard downed Pellston in the championship match of the Charlevoix Invitational – Petoskey News-Review

8. Boys Tennis: Midland Dow outscored its opponents by a combined 24-0 to win the Sunsational Saturday Tournament, downing Traverse City Central, LPD2 No. 10 St. Joseph and Grosse Pointe North – Midland Daily News

9. Boys Soccer: Battle Creek Lakeview won its second straight All-City championship, downing Battle Creek Central in the championship match – Battle Creek Enquirer

10. Boys Tennis: Grand Haven narrowly claimed the Holland Invitational, scoring 14 points to 13 for the host Dutch, 11 for Spring Lake and 10 for Grand Rapids Northview – Grand Haven Tribune

Today in the MHSAA: 12/20/18

December 20, 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.

Teams are getting in their final competitions before at least a brief holiday break, and we’re taking one too after today’s list – “Today” will return Jan. 7, although Second Half will continue publishing stories from all over the state during the final week of December and first of January.  

1. Boys Basketball: Gaylord St. Mary broke a 31-game, 14-year losing streak to Bellaire with a 29-26 win – Gaylord Herald Times

2. Boys Basketball: Camden-Frontier improved to 7-0 by handing a first loss to Reading, 57-46 – Hillsdale Daily News

3. Hockey: Evan MacDonald had a hat trick as Division 1 No. 5 Brighton downed reigning Division 3 runner-up Livonia Churchill 4-1 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

4. Boys Basketball: Mancelona gave Pellston its first loss of this season, 67-65 – Petoskey News-Review

5. Girls Basketball: Waterford Our Lady made a late run to get past Pontiac Notre Dame Prep 61-56 – Oakland Press

6. Wrestling: Grand Haven came back from a 24-0 deficit to defeat Caledonia 39-33 – Grand Haven Tribune

7. Gymnastics: Escanaba remained undefeated to start the season with wins over Marquette and Negaunee – Escanaba Daily Press

8. Boys Basketball: Portland St. Patrick closed on a 22-5 run to beat Fowler 52-42 – Ionia Sentinel-Standard

9. Hockey: Brendan Pellerito had 34 saves as Mattawan shut out Portage Northern 4-0 – JoeInsider.com

10. Wrestling: Division 4 top-ranked Hudson earned a pair of league wins over Blissfield and Onsted – Adrian Daily Telegram

Also of note …

Hockey: The status of high school hockey is on the rise with talent evaluators at the game’s next levels – Observer & Eccentric

Tennis: Longtime coach Paul Bandrowski retired after leading Traverse City St. Francis’ girls and boys teams to a number of strong MHSAA Finals finishes – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Girls Basketball: From Tuesday, Eaton Rapids came back to stun Jackson Northwest 44-41, but the Mounties’ Sydney Shafer went over 1,000 career points – Jackson Citizen Patriot

Boys Swimming & Diving: From Tuesday, Lower Peninsula Division 1 No. 2 Ann Arbor Skyline edged LPD2 top-ranked Dexter 95-90 – We Love Ann Arbor