Linked Up: 10/28/11

December 13, 2011

Each week I'll post links to stories that interest me most during my travels in online sports land. I was going to wait for next week for this first installment, but these seemed worthy of telling you about now.

See something high school sports-related that you think others would find valuable? Send me a link.

Akron-Fairgrove and Owendale-Gagetown eager for long-awaited playoff games in first season of eight-man football bracket (Bay City Times)

These two teams provide multiple reasons why 8-player football has been such a strong addition -- most notably, it is providing our smallest schools with an opportunity to still play football despite fewer players, and succeed. The sport took off in this state in 2009, and this weekend mark the start of the first MHSAA 8-player Tournament. Akron-Fairgrove will play its first postseason game since 1992, while Owendale-Gagetown will play its first since 1979.

Olivet's Peters coaching his heart out (Battle Creek Enquirer)

I covered Olivet and coach Dean Peters for more than a decade, including during last season's first-ever Eagles run to the MHSAA football finals. One of the great people in high school coaching, he needed emergency double-bypass surgery earlier this month but is back in the coaching booth. Olivet faces Lansing Catholic in a Pre-District game.

Megan Hubbard a standout for Hanover-Horton cross country (Jackson Citizen-Patriot)

This is a neat story about a runner who is second-best on her team and has never won a race -- but also is likely the second-best to ever run at her school. Usually, we hear only about who finishes first.

Standley Lake football player Rhett Gutierrez overcomes eye disease (The Denver Post)
 
Almost always, links I post will be Michigan-related. But this story is just incredible. We've seen athletes with different degrees of vision impairment do incredible things in high school athletics. But this is the first time I've heard of someone overcoming that obstacle to play quarterback for his football team.

Today in the MHSAA: 3/1/24

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

March 1, 2024

1. HOCKEY No. 6 Sault Ste. Marie claimed a Division 3 Regional title with a 3-0 win over No. 2 Marquette – Upper Michigan’s Source

2. GIRLS BASKETBALL West Bloomfield defeated Grand Blanc, and Frankenmuth downed Detroit Edison in a pair of massive nonleague regular-season finales – WNEM

3. GIRLS BASKETBALL Olivia Flynn became Harbor Springs’ all-time leading scorer with more than 1,600 points and a season to play – Petoskey News-Review

4. BOYS BASKETBALL Clarkston Everest Collegiate claimed a Division 4 District title with a 58-48 win over Genesee Christian – WJRT

5. GIRLS BASKETBALL Trenton defeated Brownstown Woodhaven 57-44 to finish an outright championship run in the Downriver League – Southgate News-Herald

6. GIRLS BASKETBALL White Pigeon and Cassopolis shared the Southwest 10 Conference title thanks in part to White Pigeon’s 51-39 win over Marcellus – Sturgis Journal

7. GIRLS BASKETBALL Belleville claimed the overall Kensington Lakes Activities Association title with a 54-46 win over Howell – Detroit News

8. GIRLS BASKETBALL Wyoming Potter’s House Christian’s Anyieth Nhial and Hart’s Addi Hovey both went over 1,000 career points in Hart’s 54-47 win – WZZM

9. BOYS BASKETBALL Gaylord St. Mary advanced to a Division 4 District Final with a 63-60 overtime victory over Central Lake – Petoskey News-Review

10. GIRLS BASKETBALL Williamston and Grand Ledge also defeated ranked opponents, Portland and Jackson Northwest, respectively – Lansing State Journal

Also of note …

GIRLS BASKETBALL The Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan announced its Miss Basketball Award finalists – Detroit Free Press

GIRLS BASKETBALL Warren Cousino’s Kasi Pearson reached 1,000 career points in her team’s 38-35 win over Romeo – Macomb Daily

GIRLS BASKETBALL Grace Chinavare went over 1,000 career points as Sanford Meridian defeated Pinconning 64-22 – Midland Daily News

GIRLS BASKETBALL Kate Stemmer set Saline career records for assists and steals in her team’s 56-23 win over East Jackson – Ann Arbor News