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: 9/16/16
September 16, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A number of intriguing results came in from girls golf and volleyball Thursday, and make sure to check out a number of “Good Reads” to get you into another sports-filled weekend.
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.
Girls Golf
Midland Dow’s Stephanie Carras continued a dominating season for the top-ranked team in Division 2, winning a playoff hole tiebreaker to earn the medalist honor at the Ann Arbor Pioneer Invitational – Midland Daily News
Second-year program Shepherd won its third straight Tri-Valley Conference West jamboree – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Volleyball
Lake Orion won a matchup of honorable mention teams in the Class A rankings, sweeping Rochester Hills Stoney Creek – Oakland Press
Houghton took down Calumet in four sets to take an upper hand among top teams at the top of the Upper Peninsula – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
Less than a week after falling to DeTour in the final at its home invitational, Pickford downed DeTour in three sets in league play – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News
Good Reads
Longtime Brighton swim coach Tim McInnis died suddenly Tuesday, leaving behind a community where his influence has been felt for decades – Livingston Post
MLive tells the story of the football rivalry between Utica Eisenhower and Sterling Heights Stevenson through the eyes of their former longtime coaches – MLive-Detroit
Two days before his father and former Farmington hockey coach Bill Newton died after a fight with cancer, Chris Newton – his dad’s former assistant the a former goalie on the team – received a lung transplant that is providing him new opportunities – Observer & Eccentric
Katherine Ristola’s older brother Jonathan never got to play varsity football because of injuries his junior and senior years. But she’s taken the opportunity to play in part with him in mind and become a big part of the Livonia Churchill football family – Detroit Free Press
Vanessa Romero has played football for 10 years, and after starting at the subvarsity level is contributing on the offensive line for Westland John Glenn’s varsity – Detroit News