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: 5/5/23

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

May 5, 2023

1. GIRLS SOCCER Division 4 No. 13 Saugatuck clinched its first league title in this sport, defeating No. 12 Holland Black River 3-0 to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference Lakeshore – Holland Sentinel

2. SOFTBALL Division 1 honorable mention Brownstown Woodhaven avenged an earlier loss to No. 3 Allen Park with a 4-3 12-inning win – Southgate News-Herald

3. BASEBALL Unranked Portage Northern swept Division 1 No. 16 Mattawan 4-2, 3-2 – Kalamazoo Gazette

4. GIRLS SOCCER Oxford claimed the Oakland Activities Association White title outright with a 1-1 draw by Lake Orion and Berkley – Oakland Press

5. TRACK & FIELD The Cheboygan girls and Pickford boys won St. Ignace Kiwanis Invitational titles, with Cheboygan’s Keegan Mosher setting his school’s boys 100 record – Cheboygan Daily Tribune

6. BASEBALL Whitmore Lake and Brighton Charyl Stockwell split, with their aces both throwing no-hitters through seven innings in the opener – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

7. BASEBALL Traverse City Christian threw a pair of no-hitters in sweeping Suttons Bay – Traverse City Record-Eagle

8. GIRLS SOCCER Division 3 No. 3 Elk Rapids edged Traverse City St. Francis 2-1 – Up North Live

9. BOYS GOLF Quincy won a second-straight Big 8 Conference jamboree – Coldwater Daily Reporter

10. BASEBALL Rochester earned a 4-3 walk-off win to start a three-game series with Clarkston – Oakland Press