The 14-0 Godwin Heights basketball team is something to behold. You think you know Kevin Badger. Maybe you’ve seen him play. You question their schedule, although they don’t pick their league. They don’t just win games, they dominate them. This fun and loose team doesn’t seem to care. Saturday they share the stage with defending state champ and 13-0 Tri Unity Christian. West Michigan All Star decided to turn the spotlight on a little bit early for the Fighting Wolverines.

Coach Chad Conklin gives us a much deeper look at his method.

In a world where kindness and compassion can be lacking, and happiness is non existent on the news, West Ottawa stood out and showed the world that caring and supporting one another is important this week in their PINK OUT game. With so much focus in the sporting world on players and their individual accomplishments, a game like the Panther’s game this past Wednesday are important. The players all received pink jerseys, tape, and socks to use for the game. Each jersey that the players wore where sponsored by someone in their lives who have been affected, or have passed away, from cancer. The money that these jerseys raised was then donated to the Van Andel Institute For Cancer Research. This special night was capped by a win for the Panthers as they roared past Jenison 4-1, improving their record to 10-7-1 with six of those wins coming in a row. Alex Zimmerman, one of the teams top three leaders in terms of points, had this to say about the game:

“ The atmosphere for this game was incredible. We had a lot more people at our pink out game then our usual crowd, and the fans were awesome and definitely got us pumped up.”

The game was a good example of hope and the fight for a better life without cancer, and there couldn’t have been a team more deserving to host the game. With 10 wins this season, West Ottawa has already won more games than the last two seasons combined. Their resilience has finally paid off and rewarded them with good success this season. They hope to continue their resilience as the season goes on. I asked Zimmerman what he thought was the teams keys to success so far this season and what the team needs to improve on in order for this season to continue well. This is what he had to say:

“Our team strength in definitely our high powered offense and our penalty kill. Our weakness is definitely our tendency to take more penalties than we need to. As the season winds down we just need to play as a team and play panther hockey like we know how to. Also our goalie, Michael Ewing, needs to keep playing hows he’s been. He’s been on fire making a huge contribution to our 6 game win streak.”

The Panthers will look to carry the moment from their Pink Out Game into their next game as they face off against Northview/Sparta/Comstock Park tonight.

Photos are Courtesy of  Laura Veldhof and information about game came from Alex Zimmerman.

Wednesday night at the Quest Center two very good teams faced off for a Regional title. As expected, the Quest Center was completely full with people standing three deep along the railing. Both schools were equally represented, but Grand Rapids Christian held a slight advantage over East Grand Rapids. But as both teams learned tonight, the crowds only get bigger from here on out.

East Grand Rapids knew they would need to have a big game from Austin Howell in the post, as well as solid games from Deon Jobe and DeAndre Grady.

Grand Rapids Christian was able to jump out to an early 12-5 lead, but the 7 point lead didn’t last for long. EGR went on a 6-0 run to end the quarter which was capped off by a 3 by DeAndre Grady. This put the score at 12-11 in favor of GRC after one quarter of play and GRC’s 1 point lead would not last for long.

DeAndre Grady gets inside and floats one up for the Pioneers.

EGR opened up the first with a miss by Cory Ditmar but Howell was able to snag the offensive rebound. Unfortunately Howell took one too many steps after he came up with a huge offensive rebound which resulted in a turnover. Jaylin Staten missed on GRC’s next possession. Grady was able to knock down a two which gave EGR their first lead of the game 46 seconds into the second quarter. Matt Grasmeyer’s shot on GRC’s next possession was no good and Matt Alt came up with the rebound. GRC was able to rip the ball away from Alt after he had picked up his dribble and GRC fed Grasmeyer the ball and this time he nailed the shot to retake the lead. A 13-5 run for EGR brought the second quarter to a close. The score at the half was 26-19, EGR.

At this point in the tournament, half time adjustments can win or lose games. For GRC, they needed to settle down, work on getting some open looks and try to find a way to stop Howell as he had 7 points and 5 rebounds at the half. One way to stop Howell would have been to switch to a 2-3 zone defense as they had in the past two matchups with EGR in which they were 2-0. For EGR, they needed to keep feeding the ball to Howell down low, tighten up on defense and play tight on Jaylin Staten. Halftime adjustments proved to play a huge role in the second half.

EGR went on a quick 5-0 run, which was capped off by a 3 by Grady. Kavon Frazier nailed 2 free throws to end the short run. Jaylin Staten came up huge on defense as he blocked Cory Ditmar’s shot. On the inbound play for EGR, the ball bounced off the back of a GRC player which led to a transition bucket to put the score at 31-23 in favor of EGR. Deon Jobe decided it was his time to step up as he pulled up from three and received the friendly roll from the rim to extend the lead to 11 for EGR. After a miss by GRC, Matt Alt nailed a two for EGR to extend the lead to 13. Kavon Frazier answered back for GRC with a three pointer. GRC couldn’t capitalize on an EGR turnover as Jordan Daley missed the transition shot. Howell came up with the rebound and then Cory Ditmar nailed a 3 to put the lead back at 13. Both teams continued to exchange buckets and EGR’s fans grew louder and louder as they knew they held a 10 point lead and now were one quarter away from a Regional title.

After two missed shots and two offensive rebounds by GRC, Daley finally put the ball in the hoop to cut the lead to 8. EGR fed the ball down low to Howell who used the glass effectively to nail the shot and draw the foul. Howell converted the traditional three point play as he nailed his free throw which put the lead back at 11. After both teams went back and forth for 4 minutes, the score was at 64-47 in favor of EGR. That’s when Jaylin Staten had had enough. Staten pulled up from three and nailed the shot to cut the lead to 14. GRC called a time out and decided to use the “foul-to-extend-time-approach” but DeAndre Grady was able to nail both of his free throws. Justin Crow was fouled on GRC’s next three point attempt and nailed all three free throws to cut the lead to 13. Howell was fouled and only made 1 of 2 free throws for EGR. Staten missed this time from three and sophomore Wuoi Mach snagged the offensive board and went up and nailed the layup. With the score at 70-57, Staten pulled up from three and nailed the shot. Alt was able to sink both free throws on EGR’s next possession. Staten pulled up from three again and nailed the shot to cut the lead to nine. Deon Jobe nailed both free throws on EGR’s next possession as they were now in the double bonus. Staten pulled up from three yet again and nailed the shot with 4 seconds left to put the final score at 74-66, EGR.

Not even 30 from point guard Jaylin Staten could get the Eagles close..

As was stated earlier halftime adjustments can be key and EGR made the right ones as they continued to feed Howell down low. GRC continued to play man defense and just couldn’t matchup with Howell. Howell finished with 21 points for EGR. DeAndre Grady finished with 20 and Deon Jobe added 13.

Jaylin Staten led all scorers with 30 points, but GRC received double digits from only one other player, Matt Graysmeyer who had 11. Frazier added 8 and Drake Harris added 6. This GRC team is very talents as they have a division 1 prospect in 6’3″ freshman Drake Harris and 6’3″ sophomore Wuoi Mach. GRC will only lose two starters next year as they lose Jaylin Staten and Matt Grasmeyer, but this GRC team will be one to watch in the coming years.

East Grand Rapids will now play Dowagiac who beat Sturgis tonight 57-40. The game will be played at Middleville Thornapple Kellogg High School on March 22nd. EGR is now one win away from State Quarterfinals at the Breslin Center. If they can continue to feed Howell down low and hit the occasional outside shot, and continue to play solid defense, this EGR team has a chance to make a serious run.

All Photos provided by Matt Philpott Photography. Matt has loads of photos from this game which you can check out here!

We were out at Grand Rapids Christian High School for a Regional Semifinal featuring East Grand Rapids Pioneers and Unity Christian Crusaders. From watching the warm-ups one may have gotten the impression that Unity would be able to pull away, as they had a definite height advantage. However it was their height that ended up holding them back.

Unity Christian opened up the first quarter with 3 consecutive turnovers after winning the tip-off; this allowed East Grand Rapids to pull ahead 5-0 after a three by Cory Ditmar. Unity answered back with a two to end the run. After a basket by Austin Howell of East Grand Rapids, Unity closed on the quarter on a 6-0 run to put the score at 8-7 in favor of Unity after one quarter of play.

Marcus Hall gets inside as many Pioneers did all night.

After having 6 turnovers in the first quarter, Unity was able to hold onto the ball and Mike Stepanek was able to nail a two pointer. Both teams exchanged turnovers and then Unity came up with a huge block which led to a transition foul that put Travis Vegter on the line for the Crusaders. Vegter nailed both free throws to give the Crusaders a 5 point lead. After a two by Cory Ditmar, the Pioneers switched back into their full court press on defense which had caused Unity some problems early on. Unity was able to hold onto the ball but missed a two pointer. East Grand Rapids scored on their next possession and was able to come up with a steal as Unity lost the ball yet again; this sparked a 13-2 run for the Pioneers. East Grand Rapids was helped tremendously by Unity’s 12 first half turnovers which allowed the Pioneers to pull ahead 24-17 at the half.

Unity and East Grand Rapids were both able to score on their first three possessions but then Unity fell back into their turnover woes as the turned the ball over 3 consecutive times which allowed the Pioneers to pull ahead 36-23. Travis Vegter ended the run with a two pointer. After a defensive stop the Crusaders turned the ball over for the 16^th time in the game which allowed Cory Ditmar to extend the lead back to 13 for the Pioneers. The two by Ditmar sparked another 6-0 run as the Crusaders turned the ball over four consecutive possessions. A Block by Alec Jolman sparked a 4-0 run for the crusaders to close out the quarter. East Grand Rapids led 42-29 heading into the final quarter of play.

The fourth quarter was mainly back and forth but Unity was never able to come any closer than 8 points. East Grand Rapids ended up defeating the Crusaders 61-45. East Grand Rapids was able to win the turnover battle 22 to 12.

One bright spot for the Crusaders was sophomore Tyce Clement Unity in the game as he and Mitch Sytsma combined for 11 fourth quarter points. Clement finished with 8 points and 6 rebounds. Travis Vegter finished the game with 7 points and 6 rebounds for the Crusaders.

Deon Jobe had 16 points and 4 rebounds for the Pioneers, DeAndre Peoples had 12 points and 5 rebounds, Austin Howell added 8 points and 7 rebounds and Marcus Hall added 9 points and 3 rebounds.

East Grand Rapids will play in the Regional Finals game on Wednesday, March 16^th against the winner of tonight’s second game between Grand Rapids Christian and Holland Christian. East Grand Rapids’ athleticism really showed tonight as Unity just couldn’t match their speed. East Grand Rapids will be hoping for another shot at the host team, Grand Rapids Christian. The Pioneers are 0-2 against Grand Rapids Christian this year but stayed within 10 points both games.  The fans of East Grand Rapids made it known that they are hoping to play Grand Rapids Christian as they chanted “We want Christian (Grand Rapids)” at the end of tonight’s game.

West Michigan All Star will be on hand for what should be an exciting Regional Final game at Grand Rapids Christian on Wednesday night. Be sure to “like” us on Facebook as well as discuss below what your thoughts are regarding tonight’s game or Wednesday’s game. All photos provided by Matt Philpott Photography and he has even more pictures for you over at his site!

Playing in the OK Red, which in our eyes is hands down the toughest conference in the entire state, is a great test in itself in terms of getting a team ready for a playoff run. The Red is as deep as ever but this wasn’t enough for Rockford. A brutal out of conference schedule has left the Rams with a 2-4 record overall while sitting at 1-1 in the Red. With games against East Grand Rapids, Muskegon Heights, Kalamazoo Central (2009-10 Class A State Champs) and Warren DeLaSalle Rockford only managed one victory out of those four games. Toss in a five point loss to West Ottawa and Jorddan Myrick and this team is in a place they never expected to be at this point.

The silver lining in all of this would have to be that the Rams have been very competitive in these games; the struggle has been closing out said games and learning how to win. Outside of a 73-58 loss to Kzoo Central the Orange and Black are right there most anticipate they will soon find their way. Ryan Majerle is the face of this team and everyone knows it, The Senior forward expects to be off to Toledo after the season but has some business to finish here in Michigan first. The play of Justin Klein the Rams Junior guard has also been very impressive this year as a secondary scorer and floor leader.

So the debate has begun to run wild and everyone has an opinion. We feel that the Rockford schedule will help them in the long run but they will need some big wins in the Red to remain alive for a conference title. This is a wildly talented team and with 2010-11 being the final year for Coach Steve Majerle as he will be retiring, we fully expect the Rams to fight until the very end. The OK Red better not sleep on the Rams or they will regret it come March. This program has built itself to a standard that cannot be forgotten and we are beyond excited to cover it for you the fan as it all plays out.

The recent wave of interest in the upcoming boy’s basketball season has been amazing and WMA thanks you the fan for that! Please leave us comments here or on our Facebook wall to let us know what you want to see on our site so we can accommodate you the fan. Shuffling through notes today I thought what better for West Michigan All Star to preview than the West Michigan Conference? So here it is.

Last season Shelby was able to slip by Montague for the crown dispite their 15-6 record in comparison to the Wildcats 19-5 mark. Coach Rick Zoulek is in his 26^th season on the bench for Shelby and would love to repeat in the WMC. Injuries will an issue early on for the Tigers as they are starting the season with three injuries from football, one from soccer, and one from a car accident. They hope to be healthy by January but it could be tough sledding early on for the Tigers.

Shelby will present an experienced group with three key seniors, Luke Zaverl, Brian Schroeder and Lucas Eilers will fight to make sure they graduate with back to back titles. J.R. James and D.J Beckman are juniors that will be crucial for the Tigers in their early season quest to stay afloat while they heal. We hope Shelby can get healthy and stay that way but WMA expects the Tigers to slip up from last year and we don’t anticipate the repeat.

Coach Dave Osborne and the Montague Wildcats will look to build off of a very good season and we think they will do just that as they are our favorites in the WMC. After going 11-3 in conference last year the Cats will have some early season cohesion to iron out as they will carry three sophomores on the squad but don’t expect it to take long as Montague will be very athletic in 2010.

Senior Paul Lombard who stands at 6’9” will be vital up front for Montague to have success along with fellow seniors Dylan Ode and Anthony Root. Look for sophomore Brandon Moore to make a name for himself this season as he will provide size and athleticism for the Cats to make a run at the conference title. Montague will get pressure from Whitehall as well as Shelby in the WMC.

WMA profiled Muskegon Oakridge earlier this week (http://westmiallstar.com/?p=7289) and we expect to see improvements from the Eagles as they battle in the middle of the conference with North Muskegon and Ravenna.

Ravenna will have a new face in the coach’s chair as Wes Swanson takes over for the Bulldogs and works to compete in the WMC. Swanson’s group will be young as they are led by Forward Ryan Hogan, the teams only senior. A trio of junior guards will look to step in and contribute to a totally new starting five. Connor Chopp, Calvin Vanderwal and Jeremy Crowley are all listed under 6’ but will have to play much larger for Ravenna to compete.

An interesting team to keep an eye on this season is Mason County Central with Coach Jeff Tuka in his second year at the helm the Spartans will look to improve on the momentum they gained at the end of last year. Mason County won their district last year in Class B and continued the run all the way to the regional final where they lost to Suttons Bay. If the Spartans can manufacture something out of that run the corner may have been turned up in Mason County.

David Soraci will be the man at the point again with fellow seniors Tyler Companion and Brandon Melchert guiding the team through the WMC. Coach Tuka also added freshman Kody Ambrose, a 6’1” guard that provides a look into the future for Mason County as they look to distance themselves from the bottom of the conference and the Hart Pirates.

As you’ve noticed West Michigan All Star is ramping up for the boys basketball season as only we know how, and that is to give you as much in-depth analysis as humanly possible. How are we doing so far? Tonight we focus in on a pair of teams that had great runs last year but came up short of their dream and look to change that this year.

Mike Hudson’s Wayland Union Wildcats posted a 23-0 unbeaten record last winter only to see that dream season come to an end in the regional opener against Holt. The Wildcats were outpaced and beaten inside by the Rams. Wayland made a few runs in that game but wasn’t able to ever take a lead and eventually went home after a 70-62 loss.

This however is a new year and this team will be determined to make a run again. The Wildcats move to Class B this season and that could make their run a bit easier as Class A is a gauntlet come playoff time. Coach Hudson won’t have his team looking forward however, “It will be hard to hit last years mark, but this is a new season and we must be up for the challenge in this tough league.”

Justin Pepper will be back on the low post for Wayland standing at 6’7” for his senior season. We expect Pepper to be in the area of 15 pts and 9 boards a game for the Cats and he will be joined up front by 6’4” senior forward Travis Rader making the rest of the OK Gold coaches crazy. The Wildcats will be guided by the point play of Zak Kasper who also runs on the cross country team so endurance will be no problem for this up-tempo guard who can also but the ball through the net.

We fully expect Wayland to repeat in the OK Gold, maybe not in such incredible fashion as they did a year ago but the post season will be the major hurdle for the Wildcats this year. Coach Hudson will have them focused on the task at hand but when you’re a team like this your building for March basketball and something tells us Wayland will be around come St. Pattys day.

Next on our insight of successful programs that look to take the next step we float down the river to the Spring Lake Lakers. Bill Core has been at the helm for 8 seasons and he and the Lakers expect to make his 9^th a memorable one. The Lakers took home second place in the Lakes 8 conference last year behind Ludington while splitting those match-ups with the Orioles, winning at home and losing by 5 on the road to the champs.

Where the Lakers may lack size outside of potential scholarship player Michael Hankinson (6’6”), they make up for with athletic versatility and depth. Early season inexperience is a concern for Coach Core and will we tested early on as the Lakers travel to Ludington on Friday Dec 17^th for a huge battle that could set the stage for the Lakes 8 in 2010.

Hankinson is being recruited by almost every D2 college in the state and was a 2009 honorable mention for both the conference and area as a junior. The only other returning starter is Trevor Tidswell a 6’1” senior guard who is an exceptionally athletic defensive player. Look for Austin Johnson to arrive as an offensive threat in the Lakes 8 as the season develops as he is just a sophomore. Jaren Miller and Justin Weirsma will also be critical to the Laker attack as the seniors look to provide the leadership Coach Core is looking for.

Core and the Lakers will contend and we suggest that no one misses that match-up with Ludington early on this year while also keeping an eye on Tri-County in the Lakes 8. Core’s Crazies give the Lakers a great home court advantage and supply a great place to watch a game if your out on the lakeshore.

Today we breakdown two teams looking to rebound from last season and have a promising run in Class B in 2010. The Wyoming Park Vikings led by 15 year coach Thom Vander Klay took an uncharacteristic step back last year as they finished 5-16, 4-10 in the OK Green. The Vikings are coming off their worst season since 1982 and are looking to rebound back to Vikings form. Vander Klay had led Wyoming Park to six of the last twelve conference titles and looks to regain that form in 2010.

The Vikings return three starters from last season and five of their top seven contributors from last season and look to be led by 6’2” Senior guard Brock Vander Klay. Vander Klay averaged 16 points and 6 assists per game last year and was recognized as a Top 100 player by both the MHSAA and the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan (BCAM) two years in a row. Shane Thurkettle a 6’2” Forward also in the senior class at WPHS is a three year starter and averaged 11 points and 6 rebounds last year; he will be joined up front by Devonta Guydon who went for 10 pts and 4 reb a game last year in his sophomore campaign.

With Coach Vander Klay working hard to right the ship and an experienced nucleus ready to re-gain the form they have become accustomed to, we expect the Vikings to find their way back to the top of the OK Green this season.

On the lake shore in Class B the Eagles of Oakridge grabbed the rebound last year and now look to turn it into offense. Coach Tracy Ruel is entering his second season and looking to build on the drastic improvements his squad made last season in the West Michigan Conference. Ruel led the Eagles to 13 victories last year which was a huge improvement from the 15 games they won the previous 4 years combined. The Eagles return a good nucleus from last year’s team, along with a couple players that sat out last year concentrating on other sports.

Oakridge will look to play pressure defense and run the floor when possible and that is where the play of Nick Eely will become paramount. Coach Ruel noted that Eely will need to be an extension of a coach on the floor and will be in charge of distributing the ball to the trees that Oakridge has inside. Jamie Potts (You might have heard of him) averaged 10 points and 11 boards last year although he played much of the season injured while 6’6” senior Cody Chase will provide the Eagles with the inside presence they need to make a run at the West Michigan Conference.

Photo courtesy of Eric Anderson.

While eight soccer teams across the state, including local schools East Kentwood, Northview, South Christian, and Western Michigan Christian, prepare for state finals on Saturday, one team is still reveling in the national title they won Oct. 30. This was not your typical high school championship win, however. No signs decorate the lockers of the players. There is no trophy case to walk past daily, reminding them of their accomplishments. In fact, these players don’t even spend most of their time in the same building. West Michigan’s national championship soccer players, the Hudsonville Hornets, are homeschoolers.

The Hudsonville Hornets soccer team is one of several homeschool athletic teams in the area but is the sole soccer team serving west Michigan. Homeschool students come from Kent City, Holland, Byron Center, Ada, and anywhere in between to have the chance to participate in high school soccer on a similar level to what you may find at a traditional high school. In addition to the varsity team, the Hornets also field JV and junior high teams with nearly fifty players making up the three squads.

“We have a competitive league,” Eric Anderson, soccer athletic director and assistant coach of the Hornets, said. “We do tryouts at the varsity level. It’s based on talent so the students have an outlet to play competitive sports, not just play.”

As part of this, the Hornets play various Christian high schools in west Michigan, including Freedom Christian and Northpointe Christian. They also compete against other homeschool squads, including teams from Kalamazoo, DeWitt, Traverse City, and Detroit.

There are some aspects of homeschool sports that are different than traditional high school sports, however. While traditional high schools generally have one or two people that oversee the entire athletic department of the school, at the homeschool level things are done on a sport-by-sport basis. While west Michigan homsechoolers play soccer for the Hudsonville Hornets, volleyball and football players are on the West Michigan Christian Athletics Association teams. Several basketball teams, including a Hudsonville Hornets team, exist in the area as well.

Another unique quality of homeschool sports is the level of parent involvement. Parents play an important role in all high school sports, but in homeschool athletics, everything begins with the parents. Anderson, for example, became involved with the team when his son began to play.

Even with these differences, though, homeschool athletics still strive to help their participants be the best players they can be.

“Graduation of our students gives us the ability to develop new kids, just like other schools,” Anderson said. “We want to build and train our players.”

This year, the Hornets capped off a 19-4-3 season with a win at the National Homeschool Soccer Championship, held Oct. 29 and 30 in Fort Wayne, Ind. After claiming the Homeschool State Soccer Cup on Oct. 23 with a victory over the Howell Athletic Association of Christian Homeschoolers’ team, the Hornets moved on to the national tournament, which included 19 teams from across the Midwest. After two games of pool play on Oct. 29, the Hornets competed in the Gold division of the tournament, where they first defeated the Southeast Wisconsin Christian Homeschool Athletics’ team 2-0. Later that day the Hornets also shut out the Metro United from Richfield, Minn., 3-0, to claim the Gold division national title.

A resource of information on participating in homeschool athletics in west Michigan is available at west Michigan’s homeschooling website.