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: 1/31/24

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

January 31, 2024

1. BOYS BASKETBALL Muskegon Reeths-Puffer handed rival Muskegon High its only loss of the season, 63-45, ending the Big Reds’ 34-game winning streak in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Green – Muskegon Chronicle

2. GIRLS BASKETBALL Tecumseh broke a 17-game losing streak to Chelsea, capping a comeback with Alli Zajac going over 1,000 career points with the final free throws in a 60-57 win – Adrian Daily Telegram

3. BOYS BASKETBALL Port Huron clinched a share of the Macomb Area Conference Silver title with a 65-62 win over St. Clair Shores Lakeview – Port Huron Times Herald

4. BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING Zeeland – No. 6 in Lower Peninsula Division 1 – moved into position to claim a share of the O-K Rainbow Tier 1 championship with a 103-82 win over LPD3 No. 3 Holland Christian – Holland Sentinel

5. GIRLS BASKETBALL Harbor Springs moved into a first-place tie in the Lake Michigan Conference with a 48-41 win over co-leader Elk Rapids – MI Sports Now

6. BOYS BASKETBALL Schoolcraft downed Wyoming Tri-unity Christian 62-61 on a last-second putback – Kalamazoo Gazette

7. GIRLS BASKETBALL Gabby Reynolds scored 35 points to lead Holland West Ottawa past Byron Center 66-58 – Holland Sentinel

8. GIRLS BASKETBALL West Bloomfield downed Rochester Hills Stoney Creek 60-19 in a matchup of undefeated teams – Oakland Press

9. BOYS BASKETBALL Orchard Lake St. Mary’s defeated Detroit Catholic Central 64-52 – Detroit News

10. BOYS BASKETBALL Benton Harbor remained undefeated with a 66-56 win over Kalamazoo Central – Kalamazoo Gazette

Also of note …

BOYS BASKETBALL Camden Thompson became Whitehall’s all-time leading scorer in a 59-58 overtime win over Muskegon Mona Shores – CatchMark SportsNet

GIRLS BASKETBALL Mattawan fell to Grandville 53-43, but Delaney Elsmore set a school record with eight 3-pointers – Kalamazoo Gazette

BOYS BASKETBALL Flat Rock’s Graham Junge set school records with 14 3-pointers and 47 points in his team’s 97-59 win over Monroe Jefferson – Monroe News