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: 9/10/18

September 10, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Each weekday of the school year, we break down the top headlines courtesy of Michigan’s sports media. 

1. Volleyball: Unranked Novi upset Division 1 top-ranked Lake Orion to win its invitational championship – Oakland Press

2. Boys Tennis: Birmingham Seaholm, No. 5 in Lower Peninsula Division 2, won the Grosse Pointe North Invitational ahead of runner-up No. 10 Detroit U-D Jesuit and No. 2 Midland Dow – Midland Daily News

3. Volleyball: Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, No. 4 in Division 2, downed Division 3 No. 2 Bronson to win the Battle Creek Lakeview Invitational championship – Coldwater Daily Reporter

4. Girls Swimming & Diving: LPD1 No. 6 Brighton won the Fenton Tiger Relays, followed by LPD2 No. 6 Midland Dow – Midland Daily News

5. Cross Country: Yale’s boys broke St. Clair’s 16-year winning streak in the Division 2 race of the Algonac Muskrat Classic – Port Huron Times-Herald

6. Volleyball: Division 1 No. 7 Bloomfield Hills Marian defeated Troy to win the gold division of the Michigan Elite Program Cup – Oakland Press

7. Cross Country: Traverse City St. Francis’ girls finished ahead of a number of larger opponents in winning the Bullock Creek Invitational – Traverse City Record-Eagle

8. Boys Soccer: Mattawan downed Portage Northern 2-0 for its first win over the Huskies since 2015; it also was Northern’s first defeat this season – JoeInsider.com

9. Volleyball: Riverview Gabriel Richard downed reigning champion Allen Park Cabrini in the final to win the Wyandotte Roosevelt Invitational – Southgate News-Herald

10. Cross Country: Holland West Ottawa’s girls won their Bredeweg Invitational for the fourth straight season; Spring Lake won the boys race – Holland Sentinel