Today in the MHSAA: 9/23/19

September 23, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Today’s list of the weekend’s top achievers has a definite Grand Rapids-area tilt as teams from five schools from that part of the state emerged as invitational champions in either cross country, golf, volleyball or swimming & diving.

1. Cross Country: The East Grand Rapids girls – No. 1 Lower Peninsula Division 2 – honorable mention Tecumseh and Jackson Lumen Christi girls and LPD1 No. 4 Romeo, LPD3 No. 1 Hanover-Horton and Manchester boys all won championships at the Jackson Invitational – Athletic.net

2. Volleyball: Division 2 No. 5 Coopersville downed honorable mention Kingsley in two sets to win the Cadillac Tournament title – Traverse City Record-Eagle

3. Volleyball: Division 2 honorable mention Onsted improved to 24-0 with an undefeated run through its invitational, including sweeping Division 4 No. 9 Adrian Lenawee Christian in the final – Adrian Daily Telegram

4. Volleyball: Division 3 No. 5 Bronson also finished a perfect tourney run, taking the Portage Northern Invitational title by downing the host in that final – Coldwater Daily Reporter

5. Girls Swimming & Diving: LPD2 No. 10 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central won the fastest wave of the Portage Central Invitational by a point over the host, ranked No. 5, and also ahead of No. 6 Midland Dow – Midland Daily News

6. Girls Golf: LPD2 top-ranked Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern shot a 297 to win the Greenville Invitational – Petoskey News-Review

7. Cross Country: The LPD2 No. 8 Sparta boys and No. 5 Cadillac girls won Muskegon Oakridge Invitational championships – Athletic.net

8. Cross Country: The LPD4 No. 8 Pittsford girls and LPD3 honorable mention Leslie boys won Pittsford’s invitational – Hillsdale Daily News

9. Volleyball: Stephenson downed Felch North Dickenson in the final to win the Crystal Falls Forest Park Invitational – Iron Mountain Daily News

10. Cross Country: Roscommon swept the big school championships at the Evart Invitational; the girls are ranked No. 13 in LPD3 – Big Rapids News

Today in the MHSAA: 3/8/19

March 8, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The Division 2 hockey championship game will be a rematch from 2018 after Thursday’s Semifinals, and the night’s Boys Basketball Regional Finals saw the end of this year’s run for a reigning champion.

1. Hockey: Reigning Division 2 champion and top-ranked Hartland upended No. 4 Birmingham Brother Rice 6-2 to earn an opportunity to repeat – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

2. Boys Basketball: Hudsonville Unity Christian held off reigning Class B champion Benton Harbor to win a Division 2 Regional Final 63-54 – WOOD TV

3. Boys Basketball: Freshman Emoni Bates made his second game-winning shot of this week, sending Ypsilanti Lincoln to the Division 1 Quarterfinals with an 81-79 win over Detroit Catholic Central – Detroit News

4. Hockey: No. 2 Trenton shut out No. 9 Marquette 4-0 to return to the Division 2 championship game – Southgate News-Herald

5. Boys Basketball: Flint Beecher avenged its tournament loss to Unionville-Sebewaing from last season, handing USA its only defeat, 65-42, in a Division 3 Regional Final – WJRT

6. Boys Basketball: Sanford Meridian handed Oscoda its only defeat of the season, 65-44, to win a second straight Division 3 Regional title – Midland Daily News

7. Boys Basketball: East Kentwood continued its week of upsets, following up Tuesday’s win over Muskegon with a Division 1 Regional title-clinching 61-60 victory over Hudsonville – FOX 17

8. Boys Basketball: Grand Rapids South Christian edged Grand Rapids Catholic Central 64-62 in a Division 2 Regional Final – WZZM

9. Boys Basketball: Cassopolis won its first Regional title in 30 years, downing Schoolcraft 62-51 in Division 3 – South Bend Tribune

10. Boys Basketball: Joe Liedel scored 16 fourth-quarter points as Erie Mason came back to defeat Detroit Loyola 59-53 in Division 3 – Monroe News

Also of note …

Unified Sports: WDIV went in-depth with the nationally-recognized Brighton Unified Sports program and the environment of inclusion it’s created at the school – WDIV