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: 11/6/23

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

November 6, 2023

1. GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY Two individual champions repeated, Romeo won its first team title and Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Rachel Forsyth ran a record race for the ages at the Lower Peninsula Girls Cross Country Finals – MHSAA.com

2. BOYS SOCCER Troy Athens’ overtime win in Division 1 capped a championship day that saw Grand Rapids Christian, Hudsonville Unity Christian and Muskegon Western Michigan Christian also claim Finals titles – MHSAA.com

3. BOYS CROSS COUNTRY Ada Forest Hills Eastern and Traverse City St. Francis were first-time team champions and Freeland’s TJ Hansen set a race record during the Lower Peninsula Boys Cross Country Finals – MHSAA.com

4. GIRLS SWIMMING & DIVING Jenison – No. 3 in Lower Peninsula Division 1 – repeated as Ottawa-Kent Conference Red Meet champion led by record-setter Sophia Umstead – FOX 17

5. GIRLS SWIMMING & DIVING Zeeland was followed by LPD3 No. 5 Holland Christian at the top of the O-K Rainbow championship event – Holland Sentinel

6. GIRLS SWIMMING & DIVING LPD1 top-ranked Ann Arbor Pioneer was first and No. 6 Saline second at the Southeastern Conference Red Meet – Saline Post

7. GIRLS SWIMMING & DIVING Fraser edged Romeo by seven points to win the Macomb Area Conference White Meet – Macomb Daily

8. GIRLS SWIMMING & DIVING Bay City John Glenn continued its undefeated run in Independent Swim Conference championship meets with its 18th victory – Bay City Times

9. GIRLS SWIMMING & DIVING LPD2 No. 3 Midland Dow ran its Saginaw Valley League championship meet streak to three with a dominating performance – Midland Daily News

10. GIRLS SWIMMING & DIVING Traverse City claimed a third-straight Coastal Conference championship – Traverse City Record-Eagle