Godwin pulls away from Park in 4th.

Godwin Heights has been right at the top of our rankings all season long and tonight provided more validity to that standing with a 71-58 road win over close rival Comstock Park. Godwin coach Chad Conklin and Park coach Scott Berry are close friends and were seen sitting together in the stands during the JV game chatting it up and appear more as brothers than foes. That bond has led to some epic match-ups for our viewing pleasure over the years and these two non league teams make it a point to face off and last years contest at Godwin gave us a finish to never be forgotten. Last years contest went to overtime and was decided by some familiar faces from this years battle. Ryan Schall is the face of this Park team and last year he made the overtime pass to clinch it for his Panthers, Kevin Badger returned for the Wolverines after leading Godwin as a junior last year.

Tonight’s match-up did not disappoint as the 8-0 Wolverines took the floor at 7-1 Comstock Park and gave us 3 quarters of dead even basketball. Schall and Badger both topped 20 points and led their teams to crucial baskets when his team needed them. Badger did much of his work in the 1st half as he scored 15 of his 23 before the break while Schall poured in 20 on his own including four 3′s and 11 second half points. A 13-4 run by Godwin over the first 3:18 of the 4th quarter pretty much set the Panthers fate in this one and in the end the outside shooting of the Wolverines was too much for Park to contain.

Quick Hitters

Comstock Park

• Ryan Schall has received much of the praise for this Park team and it’s 7-1 record but tonight’s game showed us that Park has some other players to look out for if you hope to take this team down. Travis Alberich had 13, Drake Baar had 12 and Chris Wieten had 10. Schall did score 20 but a fair amount of those points came late and the role players kept this game close for Park tonight.
• Schall definitely has help that was clear tonight but it was also clear that Ryan has raised his game to a new level and the OK Blue will be taking notice. His jumper has a lightning fast release and if he gets a shot from beyond the arc you better get ready to just add three points because he was virtually automatic from deep all night.

• The Panthers do not have a single senior on the entire roster which bodes well for the future but will also lead to some bad losses, which was the case last week as the Panthers got blown out at Fremont.

Godwin Heights

• I will admit it, I Love This Team! I made a note last year after Godwin’s loss to Grand Rapids Christian in the District Final that this was going to be a team to watch in 2012. Kevin Badger is a great leader and prevents long droughts on the offensive end. There are a load of outside shooters who just seem to keep coming off the bench. The outside shot is a key to this team and that can be a great thing or a terrible thing but Badger’s ability to get to the rim combined with the inside presence of Devonta Guydon provides this team the balance needed to be very dangerous.
• Jamal Bland (12pts.) and Stephen Rincones (13pts.) strike me as near clones of one another, both lacking size at 5’9″ but smart guards that allow Badger to play multiple positions and the pair can hit the three seemingly at will.