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: 5/15/17

May 15, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The last weekend of the track & field regular season featured league and invitational titles galore, and we've highlighted some of the most intriguing as well as the best from the rest of competition including a league title game between the top-ranked boys teams in Division 1.

Each weekday during the school year, we’ll gather and post media links covering the most significant and intriguing high school events from all over the state.

Baseball

Battle Creek Harper Creek downed Division 1 No. 12 Lakeview 3-1 to win the Battle Creek All-City championship – Battle Creek Enquirer

A bases-loaded walk in the seventh inning gave Division 2 No. 9 Fowlerville a 6-5 win over Lansing Catholic as the Gladiators clinched the Capital Area Activities Conference White title – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

Division 1 No. 8 Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett downed Division 3 No. 2 Schoolcraft 3-2 to win its invitational – Detroit News

Boys Golf

James Staab won medalist for the second straight season to lead Lakeview to its 14th straight Battle Creek All-City title – Battle Creek Enquirer

Lower Peninsula Division 2 No. 10 Grosse Ile shot a 295 to win the Marauder Invitational by 13 strokes, led by medalist Mitch Daly’s 69 – Southgate News Herald

Girls Lacrosse

Okemos, No. 4 in Division 2, won its 10th straight Capital Area Activities Conference title with a 17-9 win over Haslett/Williamston in the tournament final – Lansing State Journal

Boys Lacrosse

Division 1 top-ranked Birmingham Brother Rice locked down the Detroit Catholic League title with a 15-10 win over No. 2 Detroit Catholic Central – Oakland Press

Softball

Battle Creek Pennfield hung on to down Harper Creek in the Battle Creek All-City softball final – Battle Creek Enquirer

Warren Regina split with Farmington Hills Mercy, getting the one necessary win to clinch the Detroit Catholic League Central title – Macomb Daily

Girls Tennis

Niles Brandywine won its fifth straight league title and 10th over the last 13 seasons, this time by only a point over Comstock – Niles Daily Star

Track & Field

Bay City Western swept the Bay County titles, the boys for the ninth straight season; the girls are ranked No. 7 in Lower Peninsula Division 1 and the boys are No. 10 – Bay City Times

The Houghton boys and Lake Linden-Hubbell girls won Houghton County Invitational titles, the boys led by a record-setting performance by Clayton Sayen as he bested a school mark from 1991 and a meet record from 1995 – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Manton swept the titles at its invitational, defending the girls' No. 1 ranking and boys' No. 3 in LP Division 4 – Cadillac News

Unranked Novi finished 23.5 points ahead of LP Division 1 No. 3 Salem to claim the boys Kensington Lakes Activities Association Kensington title – Observer & Eccentric

Good Read

Comstock Park retired its first girls soccer number last week – the No. 3 of Kristin Stowie, who died in a snowmobile crash in 2010 – Grand Rapids Press