Linked Up: 12/19/11
December 19, 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: 6/9/25
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 9, 2025
(Please also see Finals coverage of girls and boys lacrosse, and Lower Peninsula boys golf throughout MHSAA.com.)
1. SOFTBALL Top-ranked Escanaba downed No. 3 Gaylord 10-0, ending the Blue Devils’ two-year reign atop Division 2 – Escanaba Daily Press
2. BASEBALL No. 2 Bay City Western advanced to the Division 1 Semifinals with a 3-1 win over No. 4 Hudsonville – Bay City Times
3. BASEBALL Top-ranked Portland St. Patrick advanced to the Division 4 Semifinals with wins over No. 2 Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart and No. 18 Maple City Glen Lake – Lansing State Journal
4. SOFTBALL Kenzie Greene shut out No. 4 Bellaire and Buckley and went over 500 career strikeouts during No. 5 Holton’s Division 4 Regional title run – Local Sports Journal
5. SOFTBALL Honorable mention Paw Paw defeated Edwardsburg and honorable mention Wayland to clinch its first Regional title, in Division 2 – Kalamazoo Gazette
6. SOFTBALL Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary also claimed its first Regional title with wins over Mio and No. 10 Fowler in Division 4 – Saginaw News
7. SOFTBALL South Lyon downed No. 7 Northville 3-0 to claim a Division 1 Regional title, and after Northville had upset top-ranked Farmington Hills Mercy a game earlier – Oakland Press
8. SOFTBALL No. 6 Walled Lake Northern downed No. 5 Grand Blanc to clinch a third-straight Division 1 Regional championship – Oakland Press
9. BASEBALL No. 2 Standish-Sterling advanced to the Division 2 Semifinals with wins over No. 9 Petoskey and No. 12 Fruitport – Bay City Times
10. SOFTBALL No. 9 Brownstown Woodhaven downed No. 8 Allen Park and Detroit Cass Tech for a Division 1 Regional title – Southgate News-Herald
Also of note ...
SOFTBALL Gogebic – made up of Bessemer and Wakefield-Marenisco – clinched its first Regional title with a 2-0 win over Lake Linden-Hubbell in Division 4 – Upper Michigan’s Source