Lance Johnson steps down as Mustangs’ basketball head coach

MUNISING — After one year at the helm, Lance Johnson announced today on Twitter that he has accepted the varsity boys basketball coaching position at Muskegon Reeths–Puffer. Johnson says the difference was that Munising was just too far away from his hometown of Spring Lake. But he says he has enjoyed his time with the Mustangs.

“Great community support for athletics. Great administration. I inherited a really, really talented group of senior athletes and was really excited about the group I had coming back as well as a lot of young talent in Munising. But it came down to Muskegon Reeths–Puffer being a lot closer to home for me,” Johnson said.

In his only year at Munising, he led the Mustangs to a 16–3 record, finishing in third in the UPSSA basketball polls for Class D. They would lose in the regional semi–final to the eventual champions, North Central. Johnson adds that the main thing he will miss is the community support from Mustangs Nation.

“The community, the parents…they do a really, really good job of making high school sports a big deal and that was fun to be a part of. I’ll miss that and the small community aspect. Reeths–Puffer, where I’m going, is a Class A school so it’s just not the same as far as that goes,” said Johnson.

Munising has not yet made an announcement about a possible replacement for Johnson next season.