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: 5/27/16

May 27, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

A set of incredible golf scores by the Plymouth boys team to win its District were among heroics on what generally is tune-up day for most sports heading into Memorial Day weekend and then the busiest championship week of the year. 

Baseball

Division 1 formerly-ranked Battle Creek Lakeview swept Division 2 top-ranked Coldwater 13-8 and 7-5 – Battle Creek Enquirer

Holt one-hit St. Johns and emerged 3-2 winners in nine innings in the quarterfinals of the Capital Area Diamond Classic – Lansing State Journal

Remus Chippewa Hills claimed a nine-inning 6-5 win over Big Rapids and with it the outright Central State Activities Association title – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Birmingham Brother Rice won its fifth straight Catholic League A-B title with a 5-1 win over Orchard Lake St. Mary’s – Oakland Press

Golf

Plymouth won its Division 1 Regional at Fox Hills Golf Course with a 283, led by junior Jack Boczar’s 64 – MLive-Detroit

Pentwater 8th-grader Gannon McDonough won a two-hole playoff to claim the individual Division 4 Regional title at Stonegate Golf Club as North Muskegon won the team title (eighth graders are allowed to compete on high school teams at schools with enrollments of fewer than 100) – Muskegon Chronicle

Softball

Edwardsburg set a school record for wins by moving to 30-5 with a sweet of Niles, 3-0 and 4-1 – Niles Daily Star

Track & Field

From Wednesday, the Adrian Madison girls won the Tri-County Conference for the 10th straight season, while the boys made it three consecutive titles – Adrian Daily Telegram

From Tuesday, Hanover-Horton swept Cascades Conference boys and girls titles for the first time – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Good Read

Incredibly, Lake City three-sport athlete Laraiah Schichtel finished her academic career this spring as her class valedictorian – after working against dyslexia that wasn’t discovered until she was well into her 4.0 career – Detroit Free Press