Today in the MHSAA: 9/9/19

September 9, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Unranked – and probably soon-to-ranked – volleyball and soccer teams dominated the top half of today’s list of achievers from an invitational-filled weekend across a number of sports. 

1. Volleyball: Unranked Beaverton defeated Division 3 No. 4 Bronson in the final to claim Bay City Central’s Mitten Bay Invitational title – Midland Daily News

2. Volleyball: Also-unranked Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern downed Division 1 No. 6 Grand Haven and then honorable mention Northville to win the Grand Haven Invitational – Grand Haven Tribune

3. Cross Country: The East Grand Rapids, Ada Forest Hills Eastern and Pewamo-Westphalia girls and Ann Arbor Skyline, Haslett and Hanover-Horton boys won championships at the Bath Bret Clements Invitational – Athletic.net 

4. Boys Soccer: Unranked Portage Northern made a number of stops in getting past Division 2 top-ranked Mattawan 1-0 – JoeInsider.com

5. Girls Swimming & Diving: Chelsea, No. 4 in Lower Peninsula Division 3, edged LPD2 honorable mention Grand Rapids Northview to win the DeWitt Invitational – Chelsea Sun Times News 

6. Cross Country: Brighton’s boys and Troy’s girls won Gold division Averill Invitational championships at Kensington Metropark – Athletic.net

7. Cross Country: Traverse City teams swept titles at the Bullock Creek Lancer Invitational, the West girls and St. Francis boys claiming championships – Traverse City Record-Eagle

8. Volleyball: Petoskey finished the day 6-0 and defeated Midland Dow in the final to win its home invitational – Petoskey News-Review

9. Cross Country: The Petoskey girls and Charlevoix boys won Charlevoix Mud Run championships – Petoskey News-Review

10. Volleyball: Kingsford repeated as the Great 8 Tournament champion at West Iron County – Iron Mountain Daily News

Today in the MHSAA: 3/1/19

March 1, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The first Hockey Regional champion of this week was crowned Thursday, headlining a number of key matchups on the ice, while an upset popped up from Boys Basketball Districts and most girls basketball teams finished their regular seasons – some celebrating championships as well.

1. Hockey: No. 9 Marquette downed rival Escanaba 5-0 to clinch a Division 2 Regional title – Escanaba Daily Press

2. Hockey: No. 3 Orchard Lake St. Mary’s got past No. 4 Brighton 2-1 in a Division 1 Regional Semifinal – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

3. Girls Basketball: Southfield Arts & Technology finished a regular-season sweep of second-place Royal Oak to clinch the outright Oakland Activities Association Red title – Oakland Press

4. Girls Basketball: Ann Arbor Pioneer handed Chelsea its first loss in a crossover matchup of Southeastern Conference champions – Chelsea Sun Times News

5. Girls Basketball: Walled Lake Western locked up the Lakes Valley Conference Tournament title with a 55-52 overtime win over Walled Lake Central – State Champs!

6. Hockey: No. 3 Livonia Stevenson got past No. 8 Plymouth 5-1 in a Division 2 Regional Semifinal – Observer & Eccentric

7. Boys Basketball: Dollar Bay avenged two regular-season losses with a 70-55 Division 4 District Semifinal win over Chassell – The Upbeat

8. Girls Basketball: Freeland closed out a fourth straight Tri-Valley Conference Central title with a 44-38 win over Alma – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

9. Girls Basketball: Sydney Shafer scored 29 points in becoming Jackson Northwest’s all-time leading scorer during a win over Lansing Waverly – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

10. Hockey: Top-ranked Hartland advanced to the Division 2 Regional Final with an 8-0 win over Saginaw Swan Valley – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

Also of note …

Girls Basketball: Holland Calvary ran out of players and couldn’t finish its season, so those who remained went into coaching – Holland Sentinel