East Kentwood runs past Ottawa Hills for District title.

Friday night’s contest between East Kentwood and Ottawa Hills at Ottawa Hills High School was bound to be a great game. Both teams play stellar defense and are wildly athletic. Ottawa Hills was decimated by injuries early in the season and struggled out of the gate while East Kentwood dominated the OK Red for much of the season until a late season hiccup led to a conference title game with Rockford which the Falcons won. EK was expected to be here, but the big shock was Ottawa Hills’ win over GR Union on Wednesday night to send them to the final.

The game began close as the teams exchanged baskets until the Falcons took a 16-12 lead after one. Christian Craft was able to knock down the outside shot early and often with 3 first half threes (two in the 1^st quarter). It was clear that EK coach Jeff Anama saw a flaw in the Ottawa Hills defense that neither Byron Center or GR Union could see. EK ran early and often right at the teeth of the OH D. Every rebound, steal or inbound was led by the Anama shout “PUSH!” By running the ball up the floor and pushing the tempo to the pace EK wanted to play the Falcons could make something happen before the defense could settle in the half court.

Tavon Robinson goes up for the slam.

The teams again went back and forth in the 2^nd as we had a 15-15 quarter and an EK lead of 31-27 at the half. Craft had 9 for the Falcons but it was Micah Gates who picked up big rebounds and scrappy buckets to lead the way with 10 for EK at half. Senior Daniel West did his best to keep pace with Craft from 3 point range hitting a pair of his own in the first half and leading the Bengals into the break with 11 points, point guard Devon Ivy had 8 for OH.

Craft went back to work in the 3^rd as the Falcons began to separate from the Bengals early in the 2^nd half. Craft made a pair of triples and back to back and-one conversions by Tavon Robinson helped EK jump out on a 18-7 run an essentially seal this one away. The teams would trade buckets the rest of the quarter as EK would extend their lead by ten leading 56-41 after 3 periods of play. The Falcons controlled the pace and absolutely dominated on the boards leading to one-and-done trips for OH, and plenty of second chance opportunities on the other end for EK.

The 4^th quarter was a formality as East Kentwood had built a big enough lead that they could just clamp down once more on defense to prevent any form of a comeback by Ottawa. Craft and West each scored 19 for their teams while Gates would finish with 16 for the Falcons. Ivy finished with 10 points while junior Shakur Sanders would chip in 9. East Kentwood took the district with a 64-51 victory and will head to the Caledonia Regional to take on the Lansing Eastern as they took down Okemos 64-62 tonight. Stay with WMA all week as we will have Regional coverage for you for all the remaining West Michigan teams remaining alive in the playoffs.

To purchase any of the 116 photos of this game go to the following link or contact Dudley Campfield of ADC Graphics 616-822-2542