Despite our recent absence WMA has kept and eye on the heartbeat of the High School Sports scene and we are pumped for the Boys Lacrosse Playoffs! Many local teams have high hopes and legitimate chances of bringing home some real hardware come early June. Forest Hills Central has already captured the Tier 1 crown with big wins over Forest Hills Northern/Eastern and East Grand Rapids on Friday(5-11) and Tuesday(5-15) respectively. Below is a link to the Regionals featuring WM teams with the participating teams listed below.

Division 1

Region 1 Hosted by Holt

2 Seed: Rockford, 4 Seed: FHN/E, 5 Seed: West Ottawa, 6 Seed: Grand Haven, 10 Seed: Zeeland.

Zeeland will be in action tonight against Hartland, the 7 Seed. Grand Haven draws Vicksburg on Saturday with the rest of the opening round games set for Monday (We will preview those games Monday). Look for Grand Haven to advance while Zeeland will need to jump out ahead early to gain an edge on Hartland.

Division 2

Region 5 Hosted by Forest Hills Central

1 Seed: FHC, 4 Seed: Holland Christian, 5 Seed: GR Christian, 6 Seed: GR Catholic Central, 8 Seed: Lowell, 9 Seed: Spring Lake 10 Seed: Northview, 11 Seed: Caledionia.

In this Region in early action we’re taking Lowell, GR Christian, Battle Creek Pennfield and GR Catholic Central. Yes they are all the higher seed and for valid reason. BC Penn is going to be too tough and physical for Northview. Spring Lake and Lowell will be a very nice battle to keep an eye on with Lowell taking the regular season meeting 9-5, SL will be looking for revenge.

Region 6 Hosted by Haslett

1 Seed: East Grand Rapids.

Check back on Monday for previews of those games as we welcome in the top seeds next week.

This little note was passed along to us via www.hollandchristian.org/athletics. A great hire for the Maroons!

Following several weeks of rumor and speculation, Holland Christian’s Athletic Department announced on Tuesday to the current staff and players that they had hired a head football coach. The hiring will be sure to grab people’s attention in the Holland area as Jim Caserta, the former head coach of the Panthers of West Ottawa, agreed to become the fourth head coach in the school’s history. “Jim is a first class person. Not only does he have a wealth of football coaching wisdom, he lives his life grounded in Christ,” said Athletic Director Dave Engbers. “I am thrilled with how well Jim fits into the expectations of this position where his 26 years of varsity coaching experience will be utilized well moving forward both with football and impacting kids.” After taking a year off to watch his youngest son, Grant, play football at Saginaw Valley State University, Caserta was sought out by Holland Christian’s Administration with an interesting offer to return to coaching. With SVSU going to Saturday night games in the upcoming 2012 season, and the combination that he would retire from teaching Physical Education at West Ottawa High School at the end of the current school year, the timing could not have been better for the longtime head coach and for the Maroons. “I am very excited about the opportunity at Holland Christian,” noted Caserta. “It is a great opportunity and great challenge. I have a lot of respect for the teams in the OK-Green and I am looking forward to getting to HC and working with the kids there.” After several meetings, Caserta agreed to take the helm of the Holland Christian football program beginning in the fall of 2012. Prior to his successful 15 year head coaching career at West Ottawa, in the powerful OK-Red Conference, Caserta served as a head coach in the hotbed of high school football in the State of Ohio. He was the Athletic Director and Head Football Coach at Findlay High School, in Ohio, for six years and prior to that, his first coaching job was at his alma mater, Paulding High School (OH), where he was the head coach for 5 years and an Assistant Coach for four years prior to that. At Paulding, he also served as a Physical Education Teacher. Additionally, Caserta has served as the Head Baseball Coach at West Ottawa for the past 12 years, in which he won the Division I State Title in 2003 and also coached in the annual East-West All-Star Classic at Comerica Park in 2011, and will serve in that role for the upcoming future. The graduate of Bowling Green University, where he played football and baseball, Caserta is a father of two (Justin, graduate of Hope College who works at the Boys’ & Girls’ Club of Holland, and Grant) and is married to Deb (an Elementary Special Education teacher in West Ottawa Public Schools). The Maroons will formerly begin practice under his experienced leadership on August 6 in anticipation for their first contest of the season, on August 24, when they host perennial power Zeeland East at 7:00 p.m.

These shirts will be in very soon but we wanted to share the design with you as well as formally announce the All Stars for both 1st and 2nd teams. We collected over 10,500 votes on the website and then over 3,600 more votes to determine what team these guys ended up on. It has been a pleasure covering each of these athletes and we look forward to covering some of them in the future. 7 of the 12 players are still alive in the MHSAA Playoffs as well as Coach of the Year Chad Conklin of Godwin Heights. Congrats to all the kids who were selected and a very special thank you to all of you who voted for the amazing kids.

Tonight’s District Final out at Rockford High School will be one for the ages. The fans of WMA picked the Rockford bracket as the most exciting and they were exactly right. Monday night we saw Greenville (Our #2 team in the entire area) go down at the hands of Northview and now those same Wildcats will have a chance to upset Rockford for a second consecutive year in the District. Both Rockford and Northview are led by exceptional point guard who dictate the success of their squads. The Rams are led by Chad Carlson and Northview by Darren Kapustka. Both guards are smaller in stature but play with some of the biggest hearts and intensity that you’ll find at this level. We will break down these two great players as well as the team match-up for tonight’s instant classic.

Kapustka is lightning quick!

Darren Kapustka has elevated Northview sports over his 4 year stay and will look to close out his run with some hardware. Kapustka Quarterbacked the Northview football team to it’s best season in years and nearly earned the Wildcats their first playoff berth in 30+ years. Darren is a magician with the ball in his hands and is always looking to set his man up for an easy bucket. He’s often looking for big man Kevin Rich and who can blame him with Rich’s skill set at this level he is a match-up up nightmare. Kapustka has led this team to many upsets over the years and many times it is because this Northview team is over looked but the talent is always there and in a District setting it’s one game at a time, a tough situation to knock off a talented team (ask Greenville). The ability (and confidence) to knock down a three-ball from seemingly anywhere on the floor causes defenses to play Kapustka rather tight but leaves open the susceptibility to him driving to the basket. Darren is smart and uses that aggressiveness to get to the line or hit the open shot when the D lays back. His showdown with Chad Carlson will be epic and the last man standing will most likely carry his team to the next round.

Carlson's signature hook shot. (It needs a name, thoughts?)

Chad Carlson is a Warrior. His creativity is unrivaled and he just has that knack for making shots fall that just leaves you scratching your head. The diminutive guard has had to fight past his size his entire life and his game has adapted to a point where he is nearly an impossible cover at times. Carlson possesses a driving hook shot with his left hand that you are sure to see once or twice a game and seems to reach just beyond even the tallest of defenders. I asked Kapustka about Carlson’s play and what makes him such a tough cover and this is what he had to say, “His quickness is a difficult thing to deal with on each end of the floor. Also he is a very smart player. The most impressive thing I’ve seen is his ability to knock down the 3 ball. His catch and shoot ability as well as his quickness makes him so tough.” These two go way back playing against each other and tonight will be just another chapter in this long standing rivalry. Chad plays as if he is the biggest, baddest dude on the floor and that fiery passion may be the key tonight as he looks to avenge last year’s District loss to the Wildcats.

Both of these guards want this one badly and for Kapustka it’s his last chance, “Senior year district championship would be awesome. Our team has worked hard all year and I am not quite ready to be done with high school basketball.” For Carlson, he will be back next year but this is an opportunity for him to gain some experience that last year couldn’t provide. Point Guard is the Quarterback of a Basketball team and Kapustka definitely has the experience there but I can assure you that Carlson and his Rams will not go down easy in front of their home crowd. We will be all over this one and look forward to crowning a very deserving District champion tonight.

Basketball gives fans a unique opportunity for a postseason setting as every team makes it to the tournament and from then on it’s up to you how far you advance. The regular season means nothing and grants you no advantage come March. The only focus is beating that next team in front of you on your way to the Breslin Cneter in East Lansing. Upsets and beat-downs are all likely with this set up but one thing is for sure, the fans are in for a show! Here is a recap of all of last night’s action with some insight to these scores.

Class A

District 4

Forest Hills Central 55, Grand Rapids Union 36

Ottawa Hills 54, East Kentwood 49

What a game between OH and EK! It was a pleasure to take this one in and watch a very intense and energetic battle. Ottawa should advance past FHC and will look ahead to Regionals.

District 5

Hudsonville 51, Zeeland East 49

Jenison 63, West Ottawa 45

Hudsy and Zeeland East gave us another show, and needed 4 extra minutes to finish this one off. The Eagles will have one last meeting with Jenison as conference foes and will have to beat the Wildcats on their home floor to advance and defend their Regional title from 2011.

District 6

Grand Haven 56, Mona Shores 41

Muskegon 80, Reeths-Puffer 48

This one played out pretty much as we had pegged it to outside of the RP upset in round one. GH and Muskegon know each other very well with GH sweeping the season series, can they make it three in a row?

District 7

Northview 59, Lowell 46

Rockford 69, Creston 32

No surprises here as both Northview and Rockford faces inferior competition on Wednesday night. The real excitement comes Friday as Rockford will look to avenge last years District loss to Kapustka, Rich and company. Chad Carlson vs Darren Kapustka will be the kind of match-up more than worth the price of admission.

Class B

District 48

Middleville Thornapple Kellogg 50, Lake Odessa Lakewood 45

Hastings 34, Portland 32

Hastings snuck into the Finals with a narrow win last night and now look to OK Gold foe MTK. The Trojans took down Hastings twice this year but both were close games. MTK was the favorite to begin the bracket and Hastings will be playing their third game this week.

District 49

Holland Christian 67, Hopkins 61

Otsego 55, Allegan 31

Holland Christian and Otsego are set for what many hoped and expected to be the final in this District. The winner will head to Sturgis with a decent shot at winning there as well.

District 50

Godwin Heights 74, Wyoming Park 51

Kelloggsville 46, Wyoming Rogers 35

With no disrespect to anyone else in this bracket, Godwin Heights is much better and showed it again last night by blowing by Park who was probably the second best team in the District.

District 51

Grand Rapids Christian 65, Comstock Park 36

East Grand Rapids 58, Catholic Central 52

East fell behind early but proved some grit as CC went cold from deep and the Pioneers earned a 3rd date with GR Christian, something tells me that East will be picking up the tab. Christian breezed by Comstock Park with many of their starters playing only a pair of quarters.

District 52

West Catholic 60, Zeeland West 47

Unity Christian 55, Allendale 49

West Catholic and Unity Christian move on despite resistance from Allendale who nearly spoiled the party for a second year in a row. West Catholic won with ease and will need their bench to contribute again Friday if the Falcons want to advance.

District 53

Muskegon Heights 70, Whitehall 48

Spring Lake 58, Orchard View 46

Orchard View’s Cinderella run came to a halt Wednesday night with Spring Lake ringing the midnight bell early on. Muskegon Heights seems to be on cruise control until next week however.

District 54

Howard City Tri-County 58, Remus Chippewa Hills 46

Sparta 59, Lakeview 40

Sparta and Tri-County for the District, a nice run by the Vikings but Sparta will be looking to play at home for Regionals with a W Friday. That is an advantage that is almost unfair this late in the year.

Class C

District 84

Montague 66, Western Michigan Christian 49

North Muskegon 57, Kent City 54

Montague grabbed revenge on last years District exit and will now look to avenge two regular season losses to the Norsemen. Spencer Krannitz stands in the Wildcats way.

District 85

Evart 52, Morley Stanwood 49

Shelby 75, Hart 32

Shelby blew out another opponent and will look to blow by Evart on Friday too. The Tigers closed the season on a sour not but appear to be finding their groove again.

Class D

District 109

Holland Calvary 56, Hudsonville Freedom Christian 40

Tri-unity Christian 58, West Michigan Lutheran 35

Holland Calvary now gets the undesirable job of trying to upset Tri Unity, Good Luck. The Defenders are thinking Breslin again this year.

District 110

Muskegon Catholic Central 68, Greenville Grattan 46

The Crusaders will now host 18-3 Fruitport Calvary Christian. This will be a great test for MCC but FCC has been rolling all year. The winner will have a favorable draw in the first round of Regionals so this game is very, very important.

Monday night kicked it all off, the Playoffs! Basketball gives fans a unique opportunity for a postseason setting as every team makes it to the tournament and from then on it’s up to you how far you advance. The regular season means nothing and grants you no advantage come March. The only focus is beating that next team in front of you on your way to the Breslin Cneter in East Lansing. Upsets and beat-downs are all likely with this set up but one thing is for sure, the fans are in for a show! Here is a recap of all of last night’s action with some insight to these scores.

Class A 

District 4

East Kentwood 58, Caledonia 49

Forest Hills Central 61, Byron Center 52

We are not shocked that EK won at all but I was a bit surprised at the score. Cal has been playing great ball all year long and although they grabbed a tough draw I pegged this game to be as close as their last meeting. FHC won a game at home that they should, keep an eye on the hosts. The Rangers advance to face Union and should make the Final with ease. EK advances to face Ottawa Hills in the premier match-up in the bracket, EK took down the Bengals last year on their home floor and I assure you they haven’t forgotten.

District 5

Jenison 58, Grandville 46

Zeeland East 49, Holland 42

Jenison blew this game wide open only to let Grandville hang around and now focus on the West Ottawa Panthers, a pesky team with a chance to upset the hosts. Zeeland East drew the unfavorable draw but did what they had to do to slip by a tough Holland team. The Chix now have a rematch with Hudsonville from very early this year and will be looking for the same result.

District 6

Grand Haven 62, Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills 43

Reeths-Puffer 69, Cedar Springs 47

Grand Haven did their job and now focus on Mona Shores, expect them to be playing Friday. The news here is the 3-15 Rockets smacking the host Red Hawks off their home floor in the first round, CS may have been looking ahead to Muskegon and now you must wonder if Muskegon will do the same looking ahead to Grand Haven.

District 7

Rockford 47, Forest Hills Northern 40

Northview 71, Greenville 57

Rockford just did what they had to do. It’s pretty easy and they aren’t flashy and sometimes the games lack the excitement that some other teams display but the bottom line is they win and in March that’s all that matters. Creston is next for the Rams, Friday they should be playing for a District crown on their home floor. Northview made a few ripples a little over a week ago ending Greenville’s undefeated record and last night they created whitecaps by ending the Yellow Jackets season entirely. There are many story lines from this game but the top one should be the play of Darren Kapustka and Kevin Rich for the Wildcats. These two played brilliantly from tip to final buzzer and can carry this team into Friday where they should meet Rockford, a point guard match-up worth three peoples admittance fee will be on display. One final note about Northview’s win and the 30 free-throws they attempted in the 4th quarter; the refs called a good game and made the calls that they had to make. Kapustka regularly took advantage of the contact that Greenville tried to impose upon him and the bottom line is that the Jacket’s should have laid back. You must adjust to the way a game is being called, if an umpire is giving a pitcher the outside corner then you better start swinging at it or you’re going to strike out.

Class B

District 49

Otsego 71, Hamilton 65

Holland Christian 58, Wayland Union 43

The top two teams in the bracket advanced with little resistance although Hamilton made it look close here. Holland Christian will get the host Hopkins Vikings on Wednesday while Otsego grabs Allegan, look for a HC and Otsego Final come Friday night.

District 50

Godwin Heights 59, South Christian 42

This may have been the toughest challenge for the Fighting Wolverines in this bracket, they now face a three headed monster in Wyoming Park. Casey Mott, Jesse Love and Fernando Wade can fill it up when they get going so that Wolverine Defense will need to be on point Wednesday. Rodgers and Kelloggsville will face off to advance on the other side.

District 51

Catholic Central 51, Forest Hills Eastern 42

We called this game earlier in the day and I am standing by my pick of Catholic Central taking down East in on Wednesday as well. GR Christian and Comstock Park will square off in the nightcap.

District 52

Zeeland West 50, Coopersville 45

The Dux moved on in front of the home crowd and will look to use that home-cooking to its advantage against a pretty solid West Catholic team Wednesday. Unity Christian and Allendale will do work on the other side for the chance to play for a District title.

District 53

Muskegon Heights 73, Fruitport 23

Orchard View 56, Oakridge 44

The Heights score says it all, they move on to face host Whitehall. Orchard View pulled off the major upset here knocking out the second best team in this bracket and making Heights run even easier. The Cardinals won two games all year long and reminded us all why March is so exciting!

District 54

Sparta 61, Belding 29

Howard City Tri-County 77, Stanton Central Montcalm 61

Sparta cruised and now focuses on a 6-14 Lakeview team. Tri County confirmed their 10 point win over SCM in the first game of the season by ending their second season on opening night. The Vikings can now advance by beating a Chippewa Hills team that they are better than.

Class C

District 84

Montague 66, Holton 34

North Muskegon 69, Ravenna 56

Both results played out pretty much as expected with the top two teams in the District moving on. Montague can grab some revenge on last year’s loss to Western Michigan Christian in the District opener by taking the Warriors out Wednesday. North Muskegon draws Kent City and should be playing on Friday with ease.

District 85

Morley Stanwood 64, White Cloud 51

Morley Stanwood handled White Cloud for the third time this year and now take on Evart on Wednesday.

Class D

District 109

Holland Calvary 63, Byron Center Zion Christian 39

Wyoming Tri-unity Christian 66, Wyoming Potter’s House Christian 23

Again the top two teams advance and appear to be on a collision course for Friday, Tri Unity may just be far too good.

District 110

Muskegon Catholic Central 87, Kent City Algoma Christian 53

Good win for the host Crusaders in the lone opening game of that bracket, Greenville Grattan is next.

54B hosted by Belding

While Belding is playing host to this District they are still probably the less likely to come out on top, while the Sparta Spartans appear to be the odds on favorites being as they are the only team in the group with a winning record. The rest of the teams (Lakeview, Belding, Howard City Tri-County, Stanton Central Montcalm, and Remus Chippewa Hills) are all basically on the same level and have some familiarity with each other as most have played each other at some point earlier in the season.

Lakeview (6-14)- Lakeview was lucky enough to receive a bye in the first round, and will most likely face off against Sparta in the second round for their first action of the tournament. They have already played both Stanton Central Montcalm and Remus Chippewa Hills twice a piece this year, beating Chippewa Hills both times and splitting the pair against Montacalm.

Belding (2-18)- As their record suggests, it was quite the rough year for the Belding Redskins, coming away with just two wins on the year and going win-less in the OK Blue. In order to make it out of the first round and upset Sparta they are going to need to play their absolute best game possible and they will need a big day from their leading scorer Brendan Zuver.

Sparta fans could have a lot to cheer about in Belding

Sparta (14-6)- The Spartans proved to be a bit of a surprising team this season in the OK Blue, competing with the likes of Comstock Park and Forest Hills Northern as the duked things out this year for a shot at the conference title. Sparta really showed that they could play with just about anyone this year when for their first game of the year they traveled to Godwin Heights, WMA’s #1 team in the West, and played well losing by only 10 points and perhaps setting the tone for the rest of their season. They are led by a three headed attack from Kory Brown, Jared Bradford, and Luke Marble, who all average over 10 points per night.

Howard City Tri-County (6-13)- The Tri-County Vikings finished in the lower half of the Lakes 8 Conference this year but I still expect them to put up a good fight before they exit this tournament. They are matched up against Stanton Central Montcalm in the first round after already playing and beating them by 1o in their first game of the year. Can’t wait to see if they can do it again in the rematch.

Stanton Central Montcalm (8-12)- The 8-12 Hornets are far from a bad team and they actually might prove to be the second best team in this District. They have already played 5 games against teams in this District and have faired well, going 3-2. This experience against their opponents could play out well for Montcalm, and we will find out early if they can avenge their loses as they take on Tri-County for their opening game.

Remus Chippewa Hills (6-14)- Remus Chippewa Hills skids into the tournament on a 1-8 streak for their past 9 games. The good news, however is that they landed the other first round bye and will await the winner of the Tri-County vs Montcalm game. The Chippewa Hills Warriors have already played Lakeview and Montcalm twice this year, losing to both games to both teams.

Prediction- For this one I have to go with the favorites and pick Sparta to come out on top. While there are some talented teams in the District I just can’t see anyone being able to handle the balance of the Spartans offense. I expect the winner of the Stanton Central Montcalm vs Howard City Tri-County game to make it to the District Final but I don’t think either will have enough fire power to take down Sparta.

61B hosted by Ludington

As we move up north a little ways to Ludington for District 61B we find a rather interesting and diverse batch of teams. This particular bracket features teams from a variety of different conferences and has two teams well above .500, Benzie Central and Cadillac, two teams at .500, Ludington and Manistee, and two teams right below .500, with Kingsley and Mason County Central.

Benzie Central (13-7)- The Benzie Central Huskies are coming into Districts off a fantastic season in which they were able to take home the Northwest Conference Championship. However, the Huskies are just 2-4 against teams in this district, and they must figure out a way to beat either Cadillac or Manistee if they are going to make a run through the finals. First things first they must try to take down Kingsley for the third time this season in their opening game.

Cadillac (17-3)- The Vikings are the clear favorite to come out of this district, as they have played 4 of their possible 5 opponents and have beaten each of them by at least 15 points. Cadillac is led by 6’9 center John Simons, who will be playing his college ball next season at Central Michigan University.

Kingsley (9-11)- The Stags are also coming out of the Northwest Conference where they have yet to figure out a way to take down Benzie Central, the eventual conference champs. Unfortunately for Kingsley their opening game has them pitted against Benzie Central once more, and they will now have one final opportunity to take down the Huskies. It is always tough to beat a good team three times in a row, and I would not be totally shocked if the Stags finally got it done this last time around.

Ludington (10-10)- Ludington was lucky enough to land a first round bye on top of already having home court advantage through out the tourny. Chances are very high that in the second round they will play Cadillac, and if anyone in this district has any real shot at knocking them out it is Ludington. Watch for Zach Laprad for the Orioles, a dangerous three point shooter leads the team with just under 13 a night.

Manistee (10-10)- Manistee has the tall task of playing Cadillac in the first round. Despite being 5-2 against all the teams in the district, their 29-point loss to Cadillac earlier in the season has to strike up some concerns heading into this one.

Mason County Central (8-12)- The Spartans from Mason County Central are found in the Western Michigan Conference, and coming off a somewhat successful season. The Spartans are only 1-3 against possible district opponents but luck of the draw gave them the other first round bye. Kody Ambrose is the Spartans top scorer with almost 15 per game, and Mason County Central needs him to come up big if they are going to have a chance in this tournament.

Prediction- Cadillac has the most experience and by far the most success against the rest of the field and for that I must give them the nod to make it all the way through. John Simmons and the Vikings posses to much firepower for any of these teams to compete with, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Cadillac go though virtually untested and win each of their games by 10 points or more.

85C hosted by Hesperia Community

Finally we move over to Hesperia to take a look at District 85 for Class C. This group of smaller schools consists of three teams from the Central State Conference (Morley Stanwood, White Cloud, and Hesperia), two teams from the West Michigan Conference (Shelby and Hart), and one team from the Highland Conference (Evart). None of these teams have much experience playing teams in this pool outside of their conference, and it will surely be a fun district to watch.

Evart (7-13)- The Wildcats come into District play as a bit of a wildcard since they have yet to play any of the other teams in the group. Evart is also the lone team from the Highland Conference in this district. Evart drew a bye through the first round and they will have to wait until Wednesday before they play their first game.

Morley Stanwood (14-6)- The Mohawks (yes, the Mohawks) of Morley Stanwood come into the playoffs with a 14-6 record and will take on the 15-5 White Cloud Indians in what promises to be a fantastic game. Morley Stanwood is 4-0 against teams in the district, including two wins over White Cloud already. The Mohawks are led by the McCuaig brothers, Travis and Tony, who average 13.2 and 9.8 points respectively.

White Cloud (15-5)- White Cloud is 5-2 against teams in this district and could have a real shot at coming out on top and moving ahead towards regionals. The Indians destroyed Hesperia on two separate occasions this year, and also blew out Hart by 20, but Morley Stanwood got the best of them the two times they previously met.

Hesperia (2-14)- Hesperia is the third team in the district from the Central State Conference, and they are 0-4 against the field. They also have the unfavorable first round match up with Shelby, and it is highly unlikely that they make it past this game.

Shelby (18-2)- Shelby was this years West Michigan Conference Champions, and the Tigers spent a good portion of the season undefeated. The only team they faced in the regular season in this district was Hart, who they handled easily twice. The Tigers are powered offensively by DJ Beckman, who leads the team with 13.9 points a night, and the “Big Reds” Luke Landis and JR James who take care of business in the low post.

Hart (1-19)- Hart landed the other bye, and will await the winner of the Shelby vs Hesperia game, aka Shelby. Hart suffered some pretty big loses through out the season and should pose very little of a threat to anyone in the group.

Prediction- Shelby appears to be head and shoulders above Hesperia and Hart, their first and second round competition, and should breeze to the District Final game. The other side of the bracket is much more compelling, and I think that White Cloud will finally be able to get it done against Morley Stanwood and will meet up with Shelby in the final. From here I am going to give the slight edge to Shelby to move on as the District Champs.

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.

The West Ottawa-Grand Haven basketball rivalry is more than just a game. It is a cancer fighter, too.

West Ottawa is hosting the 3^rd annual Pink Out game on Friday, February 10^th during the boys and girls basketball doubleheader at West Ottawa’s North High School. Both West Ottawa and Grand Haven will wear special edition pink accented jerseys.

All proceeds will benefit cancer research at Van Andel Institute in Grand Rapids. It is part of the institute’s Community for a Cure initiative, which brings communities together to raise awareness about cancer, celebrate survivors, honor loved ones who have died and support cancer research.

During the first and second years West Ottawa donated $15,000 and $20,000 to the American Cancer Society. This year they are looking to build on that success.

The color pink often symbolizes support for the fight against breast cancer, however, Pink Out supports all forms of cancer. Players will be showing this support by wearing jerseys displaying names honoring those affected by cancer. Pink Out T-shirts will also be sold for $15.

Doors will open at 5pm for a pre-game celebration that offers food from Hog Wild, Qdoba, & Dairy Queen for $7/person. The girls varsity will tip off at 6pm & the boys varsity will follow at approximately 7:30pm.

Pink Out is brought to you by the Sports and Entertainment Marketing class at West Ottawa High School with help from the marketing class from Grand Haven. Any questions about the event should be directed to Instructor Shayna Carlson at 616-994-5127 or ja@westottawa.net.