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: 11/11/20

November 11, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The MHSAA Volleyball Tournament took its next step Tuesday playing Regional Semifinals statewide, with a number of results making waves throughout the brackets.

1. Volleyball: No. 5 Beaverton swept No. 7 Traverse City St. Francis in a Division 3 Regional Semifinal – Midland Daily News

2. Volleyball: No. 2 Lake Odessa Lakewood lost a set – one of few this fall – before emerging with a four-set win over honorable mention Marshall in Division 2 – Lansing State Journal

3. Volleyball: Unranked Grandville Calvin Christian upset No. 4 North Muskegon to advance in Division 3 – Grand Rapids Press

4. Volleyball: Honorable mention Battle Creek St. Philip upset No. 7 New Buffalo 3-1 in a Division 4 Regional Semifinal – WWMT

5. Volleyball: Unranked Edwardsburg swept No. 8 Hamilton to advance in Division 2 – Niles Daily Star

6. Volleyball: Brooklyn Columbia Central continued its program-record run with a 3-1 Regional Semifinal win over Bath in Division 3 – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

7. Volleyball: Honorable mention Traverse City West came back after losing the first set to win the next three over Mount Pleasant – Up North Live

8. Volleyball: DeWitt came back from a late fifth-set deficit to edge Richland Gull Lake in Division 1 – Lansing State Journal

9. Volleyball: No. 6 Ann Arbor Skyline continued its undefeated run this fall with a Division 1 sweep of Trenton – We Love Ann Arbor

10. Volleyball: Grand Blanc will move on in Division 1 after avenging a 2019 Regional loss to Flushing – WJRT

Also of note …

Boys Soccer: Longtime coach Kirt Brown retired after 15 years apiece at Parchment and then Mattawan, having led the latter to the 2016 Division 2 championship – Kalamazoo Gazette

Cross Country/Track & Field: P.J. Pruett is retiring after leading dominant girls and boys programs at Ishpeming in both sports – Upper Michigan’s Source