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 3 Final: Eaglets Fly Again
November 29, 2011
Five times since its most recent MHSAA football championship, Orchard Lake St. Mary returned to the championship game – and lost.
Saturday night there was no stopping the Eaglets – or their running attack – at the Division 3 Final at Ford Field.
St. Mary rushed for 478 yards – and after near-misses the last two seasons won its first championship since 2000 with a 45-7 win over top-ranked Mount Pleasant.
"I knew what it felt like to lose, so it gave me the fire and other teammates the fire to win,” St. Mary senior running back Spencer McInnis said. “It’s unexplainable. It’s awesome. It’s something I’ve wanted since I was a kid. I always knew I was going to go to St. Mary’s. It’s just a great feeling.”
The Eaglets (12-2) had fallen by eight and three to East Grand Rapids in the last two Finals, and in a five-overtime classic in 2007. They entered the playoffs ranked No. 4 by The Associated Press – but as champions of the Detroit Catholic League Central, which sent three teams to Ford Field this fall.
“It was great to win again,” said St. Mary coach George Porritt, who finished his 23rd season leading the program. “It’s a collective effort from these kids, and it’s been all year long.”
McInnis ran for 213 of the team’s 478 rushing yards, and took three of his 23 carries into the end zone. Junior brother Parker McInnis ran for 96 yards and a score, as did junior fullback Grant Niemiec. Senior James Ross added another running touchdown.
“We were in position to make some tackles, and it wasn’t a scheme thing or guys getting blocked. It’s just that their athletes made our guys miss, or we couldn’t tackle them,” Mount Pleasant coach Jason McIntyre said. “I’ve never seen backs that we couldn’t tackle one on one or two on one. A lot of teams will have one great back, and you can focus and rally there. But they had three and four.”
The Oilers’ usually-strong running game finished with just 122 yards, led by senior quarterback Ryan Elliott’s 40. He also had Mount Pleasant’s lone score. It was the team’s first Finals appearance – and only loss this fall as it finished 13-1.
Junior defensive back Cory Williams led the Oilers with nine tackles. Senior lineman Dylan Zerki led the Eaglets with 11, and Ross had 10.