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: 9/15/25
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
September 15, 2025
1. CROSS COUNTRY The Ann Arbor Pioneer girls and Northville boys – ranked No. 1 on their respective Lower Peninsula Division 1 lists – won the Elite races at the Spartan Invitational which also awarded championships to the LPD1 No. 15 Novi, Holland and LPD3 No. 7 Jackson Lumen Christi girls and LPD1 No. 6 Grand Ledge and LPD3 No. 3 Jackson Lumen Christi boys among several – Athletic.net
2. CROSS COUNTRY Holly’s Duane Raffin Festival of Races crowned 10 champions across five divisions: LPD1 No. 7 Ann Arbor Skyline, Midland Dow, LPD2 No. 11 Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard, Bronson and LPD4 No. 1 Whitmore Lake’s girls; and LPD1 No. 15 Ann Arbor Skyline, LPD2 No. 11 Richland Gull Lake, Flint Powers Catholic, Ann Arbor Greenhills and LPD4 No. 5 Whitmore Lake’s boys – Midland Daily News | Athletic.net
3. BOYS TENNIS LPD2 No. 2 Midland Dow defeated No. 3 Byron Center, No. 6 Portage Central and Grosse Pointe North at the Sunsational Invitational, which included Chargers’ coach Terry Schwartzkopf’s 400th match – Saginaw News
4. VOLLEYBALL Division 4 No. 7 Crystal Falls Forest Park downed honorable mention Hancock to win its first championship at The Rock Tournament in Gladstone – Escanaba Daily Press
5. GIRLS GOLF LPD4 No. 2 Montague carded a 357 to win its Wildcat Invitational by 10 strokes – Local Sports Journal
6. VOLLEYBALL Division 1 No. 6 Grand Haven went undefeated and downed Zeeland East in the deciding match to win its invitational – Grand Haven Tribune
7. BOYS TENNIS Bay City Western was first and St. Clair second at the Fenton Invitational – Bay City Times
8. CROSS COUNTRY The LPD3 No. 2 Pewamo-Westphalia girls and No. 12 boys swept Don Baese Invitational championships – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun | Athletic.net
9. GIRLS TENNIS Norway won three flights on the way to the Kingsford Invitational title – Escanaba Daily News
10. GIRLS SWIIMMING & DIVING Flint Kearsley finished first among seven contenders at the Ogemaw Heights Falcon Invitational – Flint Journal