Live Finals Continue on MHSAA.tv
March 10, 2015
By John Johnson
MHSAA communications director
It’s another big weekend of live MHSAA Finals video on the MHSAA.tv website with coverage of Girls Gymnastics, Ice Hockey and Lower Peninsula Boys Swimming & Diving Finals beginning Thursday.
The championship coverage will be complimented by Student Broadcast Program on-demand productions of Boys Basketball Districts and Girls Basketball Regionals. Check the MHSAA.tv website for daily schedule updates.
Live streaming this week begins at 5 p.m. Thursday with the first of two Division 2 Semifinal games in the Ice Hockey Tournament. Division 3 and 1 Semifinals follow on Friday with all Finals on Saturday.
Here’s the complete Ice Hockey coverage schedule:
Thursday – Division 2 Semifinals
Escanaba/Traverse City Central Quarterfinal winner v. Livonia Stevenson/Novi winner – 5 p.m.
Romeo/Grosse Pointe South Quarterfinal winner v. Hartland/Birmingham Brother Rice winner – 7:30 p.m.
Friday – Division 3 Semifinals
Wyandotte Roosevelt/Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood Quarterfinal winner v. Riverview/Okemos winner – 11 a.m.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central/Flint Powers Catholic Quarterfinal winner v. Houghton/Sault Ste. Marie winner – 1:30 p.m.
Friday – Division 1 Semifinals
Salem/Detroit U-D Jesuit Quarterfinal winner v. Troy/Detroit Catholic Central winner – 5 p.m.
Jackson/Bay City Central Quarterfinal winner v. Traverse City West/Grandville winner – 7:30 p.m.
Saturday – Finals
10 a.m. – Division 2
2 p.m. – Division 3
6 p.m. – Division 1
Girls Gymnastics coverage begins at 2 p.m. Friday with Team Finals competition at Rockford High School and will be followed Saturday with the Individual Finals beginning at noon. There will be a dedicated camera on each apparatus (Bars, Balance Beam, Floor Exercise, Vault), with an announcer providing information on each channel regarding who is competing in each event at a given time.
Lower Peninsula Boys Swimming and Diving coverage begins at noon Saturday at three locations, with the consolation and championship heats in each swimming event, plus the final round of the diving.
The continued Gymnastics, Hockey and Swimming coverage is part of six straight weekends of live MHSAA Championship coverage on MHSAA.tv, and online viewers can catch every weekend of action for one low cost of $14.95.
A Month Pass on MHSAA.tv for $14.95 will give a viewer access to events over a 30-day period from the time it is purchased. Over the next two weekends of live winter championship coverage, the following events will be featured:
- Girls Basketball Semifinals – March 19-20
- Boys Basketball Semifinals – March 26-27
A Day Pass is available for $9.95. All events will be available for free on-demand viewing by Wednesday the week following their initial live airing.
The MHSAA Championship Radio Network begins three straight weekends of winter tournament coverage this weekend at the Ice Hockey Semifinals and Finals. The audio stream is available at MHSAANetwork.com. Over the following two weekends, the MHSAA Championship Radio Network also will carry the Semifinals and Finals of the Girls and Boys Basketball Tournaments for distribution on an over-the-air network of radio stations and on the Internet.
Here’s the schedule of School Broadcast Program members planning to cover games in the coming week, which will be available at MHSAA.tv shortly after each game’s conclusion (All games are Video on Demand – Check daily for updates):
Monday, March 9
Boys Basketball District Quarterfinal – Lansing Sexton at Haslett, 6 p.m.
Boys Basketball District Quarterfinal – Midland Bullock Creek vs. Gladwin at Pinconning, 6 p.m.
Boys Basketball District Quarterfinal – Wyoming Lee at Comstock Park, 7 p.m.
Boys Basketball District Quarterfinal – Lowell at Cedar Springs, 7 p.m.
Boys Basketball District Quarterfinal – Fowlerville vs. Lansing Catholic at Haslett, 7:30 p.m.
Boys Basketball District Quarterfinal – Standish-Sterling vs. Essexville Garber at Pinconning, 7:45 p.m.
Wednesday, March 11
Boys Basketball District Semifinal – Grand Rapids Catholic Central vs. Grand Rapids West Catholic at Comstock Park, 6 p.m.
Boys Basketball District Semifinal – Midland Bullock Creek/Gladwin winner vs. Bay City John Glenn at Pinconning, 6 p.m.
Boys Basketball District Semifinal – Lansing Catholic/Fowlerville winner vs. Williamston at Haslett, 6 p.m.
Boys Basketball District Semifinal – Haslett/Lansing Sexton winner vs. Perry at Haslett, 7:30 p.m.
Boys Basketball District Semifinal – Standish-Sterling/Essexville Garber winner at Pinconning, 7:45 p.m.
Boys Basketball District Semifinal – Grand Rapids Forest Hills Eastern vs. Wyoming Lee/Comstock Park winner at Comstock Park, 8 p.m.
Friday, March 13
Boys Basketball District Final at Comstock Park, 7 p.m.
Boys Basketball District final at Pinconning, 7 p.m.
Boys Basketball District final at Haslett, 7 p.m.
Division 6 Final: Play it Again, Yellowjackets
November 29, 2011
DETROIT – So began the legacy of Ithaca quarterback Travis Smith.
And so continues an incredible run by one of Michigan’s newest football powerhouses.
The Yellowjackets pushed their winning streak to 28 and claimed their second straight MHSAA championship by downing Constantine 42-14 in Friday's Division 6 Final.
They did so led by a number of last season’s top players, but minus their 2010 Final star. That’s where the sophomore Smith came in, joining the starting lineup in the season’s second week and bringing Ithaca back to Ford Field for another title.
“It’s more special just because this is the last time to suit up for most of us. We’re not going to be able to play another game next year, and we get to end on the biggest stage high school football has to offer in Michigan,” Ithaca senior linebacker/running back Garrett Miniard said.
“I think it was almost a little jealousy of the seniors last year of being able do that, being able to go out on top. I think that kept us going throughout the season, throughout the offseason. Being able to have that luxury of going out on top just like they did.
Ithaca (14-0) hasn’t lost since its 2009 Semifinal against Montague. With two more wins to start next fall, the Yellowjackets can become the 14th team on the MHSAA record book list with at least 30 straight victories.
And Smith should be there to lead the way. He connected on 18 of 25 passes for 299 yards and a touchdown Friday, and ran for 43 yards and a score. Miniard rushed for 43 yards and two touchdowns, and had 14 tackles. And senior David Brown caught six passes for 122 yards and also ran for a score.
Smith followed the path this fall of another former sophomore starter at his position – Alex Niznak, who graduated in the spring, plays at Central Michigan now, but didn’t leave before leading the Yellowjackets to both their first Semifinal berth and MHSAA championship over the last two seasons. Niznak’s title game performance last season included 251 yards passing, 138 rushing and an MHSAA Finals-record five touchdowns running the ball.
Brown originally took over at quarterback this fall. But he was injured on opening night – after running for three touchdowns against Williamston – and missed significant time, allowing Smith to take hold of the offense. Smith finished his first varsity season with a not-too-shabby 2,310 passing yards, 969 rushing yards, and a combined 48 touchdowns throwing or running.
“Coach (Terry) Hessbrook told me to just go in there and do what I can do, and just play football,” Smith said. “I’ve got so many good athletes around me. I just need to get my players the ball and let them do what they can do.”
Ithaca twice had catching up to do in the Final, with Constantine (11-3) scoring first and then taking a 14-7 lead midway through the first quarter – before the Yellowjackets rolled to 35 unanswered points.
“These kids had this goal since last year … of getting back here,” Hessbrook said. “We didn’t want Ithaca football to just be one and done, or a one-year wonder. And they’ve worked really hard.”
Constantine junior Ben Mallo did run 17 times for 189 yards and both scores. But the Falcons were without quarterback Tommy Reed, who was injured during last week’s Semifinal win over Ecorse. They played Ithaca to a 14-14 halftime tie before the Yellowjackets’ offense broke the game open.
“We’ve played offenses with that type of talent. Last week, for instance. And I’m sure Coach Hessbrook watched those films and saw some things he could do against us," Constantine coach Shawn Griffith said. "It’s a lot different than what we do, and you saw we caused them a little bit of problems early in the game as well. We do our thing, they do theirs. They do their thing very well. We did ours well. We just weren’t quite there on a couple drives that ended short.”