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: 9/15/15

September 15, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Upsets, milestones and a marathon tennis match highlight today’s gathering of notable headlines from across the state.

Girls Golf

Jackson Lumen Christi shot a 377 to win its home invitational at the Cascades; the score was the team’s three-year low on the course – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Traverse City West won the Lady Rayder Invitational in Charlevoix by 52 strokes, and West’s Annika Dy took the individual honor by three strokes over reigning Lower Peninsula Division 4 champion Nichole Cox of Maple City Glen Lake – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Grand Rapids Christian won a matchup of top-10 teams in Lower Peninsula Division 3, edging Lake Odessa Lakewood by 12 strokes at Centennial Acres, Lakewood’s home course – Ionia Sentinel-Standard

Boys Soccer

Clinton Township Chippewa Valley handed Division 1 No. 3 Fraser its first Macomb Area Conference loss since 2011, 1-0 – Macomb Daily

Whitehall downed undefeated Muskegon Mona Shores after scoring on a go-ahead penalty kick before halftime – Muskegon Chronicle

Girls Swimming and Diving

From Saturday, Lake Orion – an honorable mention in LP Division 1 – won the West Bloomfield Invitational for the second straight season, this time against a field that included LP Division 2 honorable mentions North Farmington and Farmington Hills Harrison – Oakland Press

Boys Tennis

LP Division 3 No. 3 East Grand Rapids claimed a 6-2 win over No. 5 Grand Rapids Christian, thanks in part to a win at No. 1 singles by Thomas Bailey that took three hours to secure – Grand Rapids Press

Volleyball

Cadillac needed four sets to outlast Traverse City Central and move to 18-2, setting up next week’s matchup of first-place Big North Conference teams against Traverse City West – Cadillac News

Good Read

Clare football coach Kelly Luplow has built his program into the dominant power in the Jack Pine Conference that has won 34 straight league games, and he needs one more win to reach 200 for his career – Bay City Times