Today in the MHSAA: 9/23/15

September 23, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Top-ranked soccer teams continued to face off Tuesday on the west side of Michigan, which also is mourning the passing of a major voice in both the high school and college games.

Cross Country

The Upper Peninsula Division 1 No. 3 Calumet girls finished ahead of No. 5 Houghton and others for the Calumet Invitational title, while Houghton’s boys won as well – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Boys Soccer

Division 1 No. 7 East Kentwood downed No. 20 Rockford 2-0 to move into first place in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Red – Grand Rapids Press

In another battle of ranked opponents, Division 2 No. 10 Fruitport moved into first place alone in the Lakes 8 Conference with a 1-0 win over No. 7 Spring Lake – Muskegon Chronicle

Rivals Portage Northern and Portage Central met with first place in the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference East on the line, and Northern handed Central its first loss this season, 2-0 – Kalamazoo Gazette

Division 2 No. 17 DeWitt edged top-ranked Mason 1-0 to take control in the Capital Area Activities Conference Red race. 

Volleyball

Class A No. 7 Romeo was pushed to seven games by rival Macomb Dakota before clinching with a 15-3 victory that included nine of a match-high 30 kills by all-stater Gia Milana – Macomb Daily

Marine City and St. Clair split the first four sets before the Mariners came away with a 17-15 win in the decider of this Macomb Area Conference Gold match – Port Huron Times-Herald

Good Reads

The wait was worth it for the Adrian Madison girls golf team, which has found immediate success since forming three years ago – Adrian Daily Telegram

West Michigan is mourning to the death of longtime radio voice Doug Wentworth, who called Calvin College men’s basketball games for 50 years and also received an MHSAA Bush Award in 2005 for his service to the high school game – Calvin College

Did you see that? (June 3-9)

June 10, 2013

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The second of three weeks of spring MHSAA Finals came to a close with four more champions from lacrosse – plus 16 teams still alive in both baseball and softball, eight in girls soccer and 60 in Lower Peninsula boys golf.

See below for some of the biggest headlines from the week that was June 3-9.

Girls lacrosse

Champions of the west: A pair of Grand Rapids-area teams claimed the girls championships Saturday. Rockford defeated Bloomfield Hills United 16-7 in Division 1, while East Grand Rapids repeated in Division 2 with a 16-6 victory over Livonia Ladywood. (Second Half D1) (Second Half D2)

Boys Lacrosse

East-side excellence: Birmingham Brother Rice came back from an early deficit in the Division 1 Final to win its ninth-straight title by beating Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern/Eastern 14-10. In Division 2, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood scored with 20.2 seconds to play to edge reigning champion Forest Hills Central 10-9. (Second Half D1) (Second Half D2)

Girls Soccer

Defensive standoff: Top-ranked Plymouth and No. 3 Novi needed a shootout to decide Friday’s Division 1 Regional Final. But Novi won that final round 2-1 to earn a 1-0 win and hand Plymouth its first and only loss this season. (MLive Detroit)

Powers survives comeback: Up 3-0 at halftime, reigning Division 3 runner-up Flint Powers Catholic advanced to within one win of returning to the Finals with a 3-2 Regional Final win over Lake Fenton. (Flint Journal)

Baseball

Oilers upend No. 1: Mount Pleasant, ranked No. 4 in Division 2, beat top-ranked Bay City John Glenn on the way to winning their Regional on Saturday. (Mount Pleasant Morning Sun)

MCC wins big: Muskegon Catholic Central moved on in Division 4 with a 9-0 Regional win over No. 2 Gobles in another of the weekend’s biggest baseball matchups. MCC entered the postseason ranked No. 5. (Muskegon Chronicle)

Softball

Dundee gets its chance: The Vikings won their first Regional championship and defeated two-time reigning Division 3 champion Clinton in the process Saturday at Blissfield. Dundee entered the postseason ranked No. 1 in the division. (Monroe Evening News)

Romeo prevails in pair of nail-biters: The No. 10-ranked Bulldogs were down to their final out before defeating Troy in a Regional Semifinal and then beat Hartland 3-0 in the championship game. Both Troy and Hartland were honorable mentions in the final Division 1 coaches poll. (Oakland Press)

Escanaba headed downstate: The Eskymos will face reigning MHSAA Division 2 runner-up Saginaw Swan Valley in a Quarterfinal for the second straight season thanks to a walk-off home run by sophomore Michelle LaFave in a 5-4 Regional Final win over Remus Chippewa Hills. (Escanaba Daily Press)

Boys Golf

SMAC East dominates: Top-ranked Battle Creek Lakeview in Division 1 and Marshall and Battle Creek Harper Creek in Division 2 all qualified for LP Finals, giving the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference East three teams in this weekend’s championship tournaments. (Battle Creek Enquirer)

DeWitt outshoots No. 1: Previously unranked DeWitt shot a 313 to edge top-ranked East Lansing by a stroke at their Division 2 Regional at Gull Lake View. (Lansing State Journal)

Boys Basketball

CMU star takes over GRCC: Former Central Michigan University captain T.J. Meerman has taken over the Grand Rapids Catholic Central program after serving as an assistant coach last season at Grand Valley State University. Previously, Meerman coached the varsity at Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills. (Grand Rapids Press)