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: 10/7/21

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

October 7, 2021

1. BOYS TENNIS No. 5 Holland West Ottawa won a loaded Lower Peninsula Division 1 Regional ahead of additional qualifiers No. 7 Hudsonville and No. 6 Rockford – Holland Sentinel

2. BOYS SOCCER Division 2 No. 7 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood downed Warren De La Salle Collegiate 4-1 in the Detroit Catholic League Bishop championship game – Macomb Daily

3. BOYS SOCCER Division 3 No. 3 Hudsonville Unity Christian edged top-ranked Holland Christian 1-0 in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Blue semifinals – Holland Sentinel

4. BOYS TENNIS Top-ranked Okemos won seven of eight flights to clinch an LPD2 Regional title, and Mason in LPD3 won its first Regional championship since 1995 just ahead of No. 10 Haslett – Lansing State Journal

5. BOYS SOCCER Buckley downed Kingsley 6-0 to clinch the Northwest Conference title outright, with the league championship its first since 1999 – Traverse City Record-Eagle

6. BOYS SOCCER Walled Lake Northern scored the game’s lone goal late in the second half to defeat South Lyon 1-0 in the Lakes Valley Conference Tournament final – Oakland Press

7. BOYS TENNIS LPD2 No. 8 Midland Dow won its 13th-straight Regional title, in LPD2 – Midland Daily News

8. BOYS TENNIS Top-ranked Traverse City St. Francis claimed another LPD4 Regional championship, continuing a run more than a decade long – Up North Live

9. GIRLS GOLF Midland Dow was first and Petoskey second at their LPD2 Regional – Midland Daily News

10. BOYS SOCCER Brownstown Woodhaven clinched its fourth-straight Downriver League title with a 3-1 win over Dearborn Edsel Ford – Southgate News-Herald

Also of note …

BOYS SOCCER Niles Brandywine clinched the outright Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference Red championship with a 4-2 win over Buchanan – Niles Daily Star

CROSS COUNTRY The Munising girls and Stephenson boys claimed Skyline Central Conference championships – Iron Mountain Daily News

BOYS SOCCER Division 4 No. 7 McBain Northern Michigan Christian finished its Northern Michigan Soccer League title run with a 6-0 win over LeRoy Pine River – Cadillac News