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: 2/21/18

February 21, 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.

Today's Top 10 

1. Girls Basketball: Reigning Class C champion Detroit Edison edged Saginaw Heritage 57-55 in double overtime, handing the Class A Hawks their first defeat this season – Saginaw News

2. Girls Basketball: Kingsley capped a perfect regular season and outright Northwest Conference title with a 70-66 win over second-place Maple City Glen Lake – Traverse City Record-Eagle

3. Boys Basketball: Muskegon secured its fifth straight league title in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Black with a 67-46 win over Jenison – Local Sports Journal

4. Boys Basketball: Kalamazoo Christian downed Delton Kellogg 59-21 to clinch a share of the Southwestern Athletic Conference West title – FOX17

5. Girls Basketball: Hamilton downed Zeeland West 53-15 to secure the outright O-K Green title – Holland Sentinel

6. Girls Basketball: Walled Lake Western clinched the Lakes Valley Conference title with a 59-19 win over White Lake Lakeland – Oakland Press

7. Girls Basketball: Muskegon finished its outright O-K Black title with a 59-45 win over Jenison – Muskegon Chronicle

8. Girls Basketball: Lauren Turner became the first player in Sterling Heights Parkway Christian basketball history, girls or boys, to score 1,000 career points when she reached the milestone in a win over Warren Michigan Collegiate – Macomb Daily

9. Boys Basketball: Grant downed Fremont and Reed City defeated Big Rapids to keep the night’s losing teams tied for first place in the Central State Activities Association Gold – Muskegon Chronicle

10. Boys Basketball: Calumet downed Iron River West Iron County 58-46 to climb into a first-place tie with the Wykons in the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette