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: 10/6/25
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 6, 2025
1. CROSS COUNTRY Highly-ranked Lower Peninsula teams dominated at the prestigious Portage Invitational, with the LPD1 top-ranked Ann Arbor Pioneer girls and No. 2 boys, LPD2 No. 1 Otsego girls, LPD2 No. 2 East Grand Rapids boys, LPD3 No. 1 Lansing Catholic girls, LPD3 No. 1 Jackson Lumen Christi boys, LPD4 No. 1 Whitmore Lake girls and LPD4 No. 1 Maple City Glen Lake boys among champions – Athletic.net | Traverse City Record-Eagle
2. GIRLS SWIMMING & DIVING Utica Eisenhower claimed its first Macomb County championship since 2018 – Macomb Daily
3. GIRLS SWIMMING & DIVING LPD2 top-ranked Farmington Hills Mercy dominated in claimed a third-straight Oakland County championship – Oakland Press
4. CROSS COUNTRY The LPD1 No. 15 Rochester girls and No. 8 Milford boys were champions at the Oakland County meet – Oakland Press
5. VOLLEYBALL Division 1 No. 10 Grand Haven finished 3-1 at the Jenison Invitational with Bria Hogeboom reaching 1,000 career assists – Grand Haven Tribune
6. GIRLS GOLF LPD3 No. 2 Grand Rapids Catholic Central carded a 677 to win the Katke Classic by 66 strokes – Ludington Daily News
7. CROSS COUNTRY The Hartland girls and LPD2 top-ranked Flint Powers Catholic boys won Greater Flint Championship titles – Flint Journal
8. VOLLEYBALL Division 4 No. 8 Crystal Falls Forest Park earned a repeat title at the Escanaba Invitational – Iron Mountain Daily News
9. VOLLEYBALL Division 3 honorable mention Manton finished 6-0 and downed Lake City to win the latter’s invitational – Cadillac News
10. CROSS COUNTRY Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker swept girls and boys titles at the North Park Invitational – Huron Daily Tribune