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: 2/27/23

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

February 27, 2023

1. WRESTLING Lowell ran its Finals championship streak to 10, Dundee earned its sixth-straight title, Hudson repeated as well and Detroit Catholic Central finished first for the first time since 2020 at the MHSAA Team Wrestling Finals – MHSAA.com

2. BOYS BASKETBALL Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice claimed its first Detroit Catholic League tournament championship since 1990 with a 68-63 win over Detroit U-D Jesuit – Detroit Free Press

3. BOYS BASKETBALL Hamilton delivered its first league title since 1988, claiming the Ottawa-Kent Conference Blue with a buzzer-beating win over Coopersville – WZZM

4. COMPETITIVE CHEER Allen Park moved back ahead of Gibraltar Carlson to claim a Division 2 Regional title – Southgate News-Herald

5. BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING Northville claimed the overall Kensington Lakes Activities Association championship – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

6. COMPETITIVE CHEER Pontiac Notre Dame Prep was first and Richmond second at their Division 3 Regional – Macomb Daily

7. BOWLING The North Farmington boys and Lake Orion girls won Division 1 Regional titles, North Farmington after a just-miss a year ago – Oakland Press

8. BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING Midland Dow ran its Saginaw Valley League championship streak to four – Midland Daily News

9. BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING Battle Creek Lakeview claimed its third-straight Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference championship – Battle Creek Enquirer

10. GIRLS BASKETBALL Alix Bleau’s buzzer beater gave Big Bay de Noc a 48-45 win over Kinross Maplewood Baptist and the Northern Lights Conference championship; Maplewood clinched the boys title against Hannahville – Escanaba Daily Press

Also of note …

HOCKEY Alpena tied a program record for wins and advanced to a Division 2 Regional Final with a 5-0 shutout of Traverse City Central – Alpena News

GIRLS BASKETBALL Petoskey finished a repeat run in the Big North Conference with a 58-47 win over Traverse City Central – Petoskey News-Review

BOYS BASKETBALL Cadillac and Traverse City Central shared the Big North Conference title, and Boyne City and Traverse City St. Francis are co-champions in the Lake Michigan Conference – Traverse City Record-Eagle

GIRLS BASKETBALL Ithaca earned a share of the Tri-Valley Conference 10-2 title with a win over Saginaw Nouvel – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

BOYS BASKETBALL Durand downed Chesaning 67-56 to create a three-way championship with those two and Ovid-Elsie in the Mid-Michigan Activities Conference – Owosso Argus-Press

BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING Ludington swam to the Coastal Conference championship – Ludington Daily News

GIRLS BASKETBALL Brethren finished an outright West Michigan D League title run with a 41-40 win over Manistee Catholic Central – Ludington Daily News

BOYS BASKETBALL Gavin Pebble went over 1,000 career points in Gaylord St. Mary’s win over Johannesburg-Lewiston – Petoskey News-Review

BOYS BASKETBALL Kaden Hansel broke a 34-year-old single-game scoring record for Indian River Inland Lakes in a win over Central Lake – Cheboygan Daily Tribune