Voting is officially open for the 2012 WMA Basketball All Star Team. Spread the word about the team to get the most votes possible! Cast your vote for 6 Guards and 6 Forwards/Centers and we will find out who had the best seasons on the West Side of the state. This year we also added the Coach of the Year poll as well. Voting ends on Sunday Feb. 26th at midnight so be sure to pass this along to all your friends by then!

Feel free to leave a comment below to plead your case to fellow voters! Good Luck to all the Players!

Game #1

Our game of the week comes from two teams who know each other very well although they play pretty far apart and don’t have many common opponents. That’s because Muskegon and Lowell have met four of the last five years in the division 2 playoffs. These teams seem to meet up every year and always leave fans with their money’s worth. Muskegon is coming off of a huge win over Mattawan in which senior RB Juwan Lewis ran for 285 yards, yes I said 285 rushing yards for Juwan Lewis alone. The Big Reds totaled 420 yards total on the ground and were just too fast for Mattawan. Muskegon will need to be fast on Friday as well as tough on the defensive side of the ball to slow Gabe Dean and the Red Arrow read option plays. Lowell battled through a tough game against Forest Hills Central and used a blocked punt at the end of the first half to gather a 13-7 victory. Dean, who recently just committed to Cornell University to wrestle, has led his team to the state finals in Detroit each of his three years at the helm for these Arrows, winning it all in 2009 and coming up just short last year. This is a can’t miss game as many of the night are and the winner will hold the right to move on and face the winner of the Fenton and Okemos game also being played tonight.

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Game #2

The playoffs allow us the opportunity to relive some epic match-ups and Friday holds a few of those, none maybe as big as East Grand Rapids heading into Grand Rapids Christian. The Pioneers and Eagles just faced off two weeks ago and provided West Michigan with one of the best games of the entire year with Christian’s 50-49 double overtime road win. This time the game is at Christian and the Eagles hope that leads to a less stressful victory. East found success with the running game and David Drummond for much of the night while Travis Palmer made some exceptional throws as well that allowed the Pioneers to jump out to the early lead. A missed field goal in the first overtime would have won the game for East but it sailed wide right and the Eagles capitalized. East will have to find a way to stop Kavon Frazier the Eagle stud RB who had a huge second half allowing his team to ascend back to the top of the scoreboard. Christian will have to solve their glaring problem from the first meeting by holding on to the ball. The Eagles turned the ball over about 6 times either by interception, fumble or failed 4^th downs and it nearly cost them. Christian needs to clean up that aspect of their game if they want to move on in these playoffs. This game should be very close and come down to the end with the winner drawing the Holland at Zeeland East winner.

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Game #3

Out in Division 6 the West Michigan Conference will take center stage as Montague will head on down to Oakridge for a rematch of their week 3 nail-biter in which Oakridge went for the two point conversion late in the 4^th to gain a one point edge. An all too familiar site for these fans who saw Montague pull the same stunt last year at Oakridge in their 28-27 victory in the regular season. These two schools are bitter rivals in every sport and this game is sure to be rocking! Montague comes in off of a late rally to get by Calvin Christian last week and will need their defense to step up big time in this one. The Wildcats have a very potent offense with the ability to score at any moment especially when Brandon Moore has the ball in his hands. For the Eagles of Oakridge it took them awhile to get going last week in their 18-0 win over NorthPointe Christian but Francis Decker got it going with an interception in the 2^nd quarter and then blew the game open in the 3^rd with a pair of touchdown catches. As these scores indicate the kicking games are not as good down at this level which leads to these crazy two point attempts and will make it vital to stay until the final horn on Friday night. The winner will be headed on the road next week as they will face either Montrose Hill-McCloy or defending division 6 champion Ithaca; both are D6 powers and will provide for a tough opponent.

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Game #4

Our fourth game this week features defending state champion Grand Rapids Catholic Central and undefeated OK Green champion Zeeland West. Catholic had to fight till the bitter end to hold on last week against Unity Christian but a late field goal allowed the Cougars to move on and face these powerful Dux. Zeeland rolled past a 5-4 South Christian team on Friday night 49-7 and improved to 10-0 with a 30 point average margin of victory on the year. For Catholic Central they know what they’ll be up against with the Dux who run the ball all day long and it will be up to the Cougar D to make the stops when they need them. The front four on that D line are going to dictate this game for Catholic, if they can have success in locating the ball carrier early then the Cougars have a chance. If the defense struggles with the Wing T attack then it will prove to be a long night. Both teams beat Wayland, South Christian and Unity Christian this year so the coaching staffs will have plenty to draw from. Zeeland West runs through defenses on a regular basis and has a tough defense as well that gives up very few points. All three Dux running back had success last week and QB Clay Coatney was 5 for 5 for 111 yards and a TD. The winner here will move on to host the winner of the Plainwell and Paw Paw game after Plainwell’s huge upset over Edwardsburg.

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Game #5

In Division 4 we have a rematch of a week 8 battle between neighboring schools in Sparta and Comstock Park. The Panthers of Comstock Park handed it to Sparta that night with a 45-7 beat down on the Spartans home field. This week the Spartans will look for revenge while Park will look to end the Sparta season on their own home turf. The rivalry between these two schools runs much deeper than their OK Blue ties as the proximity of these schools always leads to heated contests. The Panthers come in off of a 37-0 throttling of Spring Lake in which their starters sat for the entire second half. Jake Brown had his way with the Laker defense and will be crucial again this week for Park to find success. Diminutive RB Jon Hoffman is also a very important piece of this Panther puzzle and will play much bigger than his size. The Spartans slipped by Whitehall with a late TD toss from QB Kory Brown to Nate VanPatten with 55 seconds left to break an 18 all tie and capture the first playoff win in Sparta history. Sparta had no answers for Brown in their first meeting as they allowed the QB to rush for 4 touchdowns and pass for another. Sparta has to find a way up front to battle with the Panther O-line to have a shot here because Brown and Co. will pick you apart if you give them time in the pocket. The winner here will get the winner of the Alma and Escanaba game also on Friday night.

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Game #1

Our game of the week takes place in Division 1 with an OK Red showdown as West Ottawa heads out to the Ted to take on Rockford. The Panthers are coming off of a 21-14 loss at the hands of Grand Haven and now look to avenge a 41-16 week 4 loss to the Rams. West Ottawa has surprised at times but just hasn’t shown us that they can beat that team that is a little better than they are. Rockford may be a lot better than West Ottawa is. Trevor VanTubergen leads the Panther offense into a very hostile environment and a place that is nearly impossible to win at. West Ottawa will need to put together a very impressive performance and maybe get a little lucky along the way. Rockford comes into the playoffs with title hopes and if not for injuries to QB Mark LaPrairie and Tackle Ben Braden in the opener at Lowell the Rams may be sitting at 9-0. Rockford lost a heart breaker in last years playoffs and is playing with a chip on their shoulder this year as they hope to end their season in Detroit. The winner of this one will get the Grand Haven and Grand Ledge winner giving us a chance for another OK Red showdown in week 2 of the 2011 MHSAA Playoffs.

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Game #2

Division 2 features some battles early and Muskegon at Mattawan is a prime example of that. Muskegon is the winningest program in the entire state and has 5 state titles since the playoffs began in 1975. Mattawan wasn’t even picked to be at the top of their league but the Wildcats have proved doubters wrong all season en route to an 8-1 record including a league title. Muskegon sported a new offense this year after a disappointing 2010 and the Big Reds have had varied success with the new system all year. Juwan Lewis and company are fast, physical and experienced. With Muskegon being a D2 school but playing against the likes of Rockford, Grand Haven and West Ottawa whom are all D1 powers, the Big Reds are well prepared for whatever any D2 team will throw at them. Mattawan has been a surprise team all year and now will host a playoff game. The Wildcats run a Wing T offense that tries to confuse opposing defenses and works well at the high school level. Muskegon has the speed to recover from any mistakes with reads and will lean on their defense to win this one. Wildcat defensive leader James Shipp will have the task of slowing that fast Muskegon rushing attack. Muskegon will have a long bus ride to get themselves ready for this one on Friday night but the Big Reds travel well and hope to overpower Mattawan for the chance to face the Lowell, Forest Hills Central winner.

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Game #3

Another interesting match-up with our third game this week as two teams that know very little about each other will face off. The Lakers of Spring Lake come in as Co-Lakes 8 champs while Comstock Park slipped to second in the OK Blue. These teams do have one common opponent from the regular season as both of these teams suffered losses to a 4-5 Coopersville team. Spring Lake is led by Keegan Wolter and a host of other playmakers. I saw this Laker defense come up with a huge game against Fruitport earlier this year and they will need a performance like that again this week if they want to move on to round 2. Comstock Park has an amazing one-two punch with QB Jake Brown and RB Jon Hoffman. Brown will run a lot but also has a pretty strong arm and is usually looking for Hoffman or Dan Madura. The Panther D also leaves something to be desired at times so expect the scoreboard operator to be busy on Friday night. This game poses two big questions in my eyes; Which QB will have the biggest game and limit mistakes? And whose Defense is going to come up with the big plays? The answers will dictate who wins this game and moves on to the next round.

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Game #4

Game #4 sends us down to Division 6 where playoff mainstay Montague will head south to Grandville Calvin Christian who has made the postseason 3 out of the last four years and at 8-1 are looking to make a little run. Montague navigated a tough West Michigan Conference to a 7-2 record but are now looking to prove that the playoffs are what counts for the upper echelon teams. Montague showed off their running game last week as Jake Schmitt ran for 92 yards and two scores while also catching a 50 yard score. The Wildcat defense however has been the key all year long. Keeping other teams down has been a problem at times although Coach Pat Collins thinks this is one of the best defensive units that Montague has seen in awhile. The Squires of Calvin Christian come in off of a great regular season having only lost to Hopkins by 4 points as their only blemish thus far. Calvin will run the ball all night long and proved so last week with a 285 yard ground output against Kent City. Ben Brower and Jordan Bylsma pace the rushing attack with Andrew Woodfin also being a dual threat at Quarterback. Montague will not be scared of going on the road to get an early playoff win while Calvin Christian will be looking to show they belong. The winner of this one will get the winner of NorthPointe Christian and Oakridge in week two.

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