Linked Up: 12/19/11

December 20, 2011

We've hit a bit of a slow spot with schools out for break and most contests reserved for holiday showcases and the like.

Here are some suggestions if you have some time for some reading between now and the start of 2012.

High school coaches try to bring basketball back to basics (Detroit News)

For most of the last decade, we've heard about the recessing of basketball fundamentals even among elite high school players. Enter Ben Kelso, Marshall Thomas and a number of other Michigan coaches who have pledged to end that trend. Tom Markowski tells us how the Metro Detroit Basketball Coaches Association aims to do so.

Lantzy retires after more than 4 decades as Ike grid coach (Macomb County Advisor & Source)

Utica-Eisenhower coach Bob Lantzy has been his school's only varsity football coach. He took four teams to MHSAA Finals and this fall became one of only nine state football coaches to win more than 900 games. He has retired after 41 seasons, and Kevin Lozon fills us in on the legacy.

Tabahn Afrik poised for greatness in pool for West Ottawa (Holland Sentinel)

The Holland area has its next big swimming star. Dan D'Addona introduces us to Tabahn Afrik, a freshman at Holland West Ottawa who qualified for the MHSAA Division 1 Finals in two events in his first meet this season.

High school basketball: History of class hoops is just that (South Bend Tribune)

"Hoosiers" made Indiana's former one-class basketball tournament known on a grander scale. But Indiana went to classes (similar to Michigan's) beginning in 1997-98. Al Lesar tells us how some in the state are attempting to revert to one class.

Today in the MHSAA: 10/9/19

October 9, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

This is the time of year top programs rise from the rest, and the Benzie Central cross country teams led a list of Tuesday standouts that showed again why they are so highly regarded.

1. Boys Cross Country: Benzie Central continued an incredible streak of winning every Northwest Conference championship meet, girls and boys, since joining the league in 2007; the girls are ranked No. 3 and the boys No. 7 in Lower Peninsula Division 3 – Traverse City Record-Eagle

2. Boys Soccer: Division 2 top-ranked Richland Gull Lake remained unbeaten with a 6-0 win over No. 7 St. Joseph in the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference championship match – WWMT

3. Girls Golf: No. 9 Traverse City West won its LPD1 Regional by 10 strokes, and Anci Dy was medalist by 16 – Traverse City Record-Eagle

4. Girls Golf: Top-ranked Harbor Springs shot a 340 to clear its LPD4 Regional field by 89 strokes – Petoskey News-Review

5. Volleyball: Division 1 top-ranked Farmington Hills Mercy improved to 33-1 with a sweep of No. 5 Bloomfield Hills Marian – Oakland Press

6. Girls Golf: No. 8 Petoskey repeated as an LPD2 Regional champion, edging runner-up Traverse City Central by a stroke – Petoskey News-Review

7. Cross Country: Brighton swept Kensington Lakes Activities Association West tri-meets, the LPD1 No. 1 Bulldogs boys to clinch the division championship; the girls are ranked No. 6 in LPD1 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

8. Boys Soccer: Division 4 No. 4 Muskegon Western Michigan Christian finished a title run through the Lakes 8 Conference with a win over Muskegon Catholic Central – Local Sports Journal

9. Girls Swimming & Diving: Dundee moved to 9-0 in dual meets with a 95-91 win over LPD3 No. 10 Milan, its first ever over that annually successful opponent – Monroe News

10. Volleyball: Boyne City earned its first win over Division 3 honorable mention Traverse City St. Francis since 2013, in five sets – Petoskey News-Review

Also of note …

Volleyball: From Tuesday, Division 3 honorable mention Manistique earned a share of the Mid-Peninsula Conference title with a sweep of Negaunee – Escanaba Daily Press