A packed house inside the gymnasium at Northview High School witnessed one for the ages Friday night as the Grand Rapids Christian Eagles were able to sneak past the Northview Wildcats by a score of 62-57 in overtime!

The intensity was at a fever pitch right from the start as both teams needed a victory for different reasons. A 2-3 zone was implemented by Northview Head Coach Trevor Chalmers right from the start and it paid off. Christian’s leading scorer Drake Harris had no room to operate and until 6’3 senior guard Kurt Hoekstra was able to knock down back to back threes making it 13-9, the Eagles struggled.

Holding a 15-10 lead after the 1st quarter, the Eagles graciously accepted two more bombs by Hoekstra to start the 2nd making it 21-10 just a minute in. But the Wildcats hung tough until the sneaky Harris was able to break out of his funk to drop in 6 quick points in less than two minutes culminating into a 34-22 lead heading into halftime. Harris was held to just one point throughout the first 11 minutes of the game before breaking out while 6’7 senior Austin Heemskerk and Hoekstra carried the load.

As the whistle blew to start the 2nd half, the defensive pressure exhibited by Northview was noticeably different. But another three by Heemskerk and yet another by sophomore Dwayne Barfield with 5:25 left in the third led to a Northview timeout as they faced their biggest deficit of the game at 42-24.

Warm up the bus right?

Not for these Wildcats. After going down 18, a resurgence of epic proportions ensued. Using the craftiness of point guard Darren Kapustka (who plans to attend GVSU next year) the Wildcats stormed back with an 18-2 run to end the third, capped off by two free throws from Davenport bound senior, Kevin Rich. The crowd was ecstatic as well as shell shocked as the Northview faithful roared while the Christian faithful were stunned gazing in disbelief at the scoreboard seeing just a 44-42 lead for Christian heading into what we all thought would be the final stanza.

A fourth quarter that was marred by turnovers and missed free throws for nearly its entirety gave way to a finish that everyone in attendance will remember for quite some time. After Kapustka missed a runner in the lane to tie the game at 56 all, the Wildcats were forced to foul the young man no one wearing red wanted to see go to the line. Drake Harris stepped up, toed the line, and despite the jeers of the Northview student section, knocked down the first. 57-54 Christian with one more coming for Harris and just 25.3 seconds left on the clock. The ensuing free throw hit nearly every part of the rim before bouncing off and falling into the arms of the eager Wildcats. After storming down the court and nearly turning it over the home crowd anxiously counted down the seconds.

Then erupted. A three from way behind the arc while fading away with defenders draped all over him by Kapustka tickled the twine with 8 seconds to go and the clock still running!  The Eagles quickly in bounded to Harris who then slashed through defenders all the way into the paint putting up a floater that hit the back rim and bounced off as time expired.

Overtime… 57-57. It came down to a final four minute period.

After controlling the tip, Northview quickly turned the ball right back over to Christian who then repeated the favor. It was easy to see that the nerves were starting to tighten for both teams as the score remained tied at 57 until Barfield connected on a layup with 58.6 seconds to go. Northview put the ball into the hands of the one man who could create on his own, Kapustka. While cutting to the lane the whistle blew, sending him to the charity stripe for 2 shots to tie the game with clock locked at 52.3 seconds.

The Wildcat faithful sat on pins and needles as they watched the first shot go up only to bounce off the rim. The second free throw produced the same result and with three final free throws by Christian’s Heemskerk, the game was sealed, and the Eagles soared home with a with a 62-57 overtime victory.  A victory that showed a lot to their Head Coach Michael Spicer, but it was also a heart breaking loss for the Wildcats who also gave an effort Coach Chalmers could be nothing short of proud of.

With the victory the Eagles improved to 10-3 overall and 6-1 in the conference, while the Wildcats fell to 7-6, 3-4. The Eagles were led by Heemskerk who finished with 16 points while Harris and Hoekstra each added 11, respectively.

The Wildcats needed every one of Darren Kapustka’s 21 points as well as the 19 added by Kevin Rich. However, in the end it came down to the one aspect of the game that every coach knows can either make or break them, free throws. Tonight, the Eagles were able to convert at the line and escape winning their 5th straight game.

Here is Grand Rapids Christian Head Coach Michael Spicer after the game.

Kalamazoo Central will be in Saturday’s Finals against the winner of Bay City Western and Detroit Southeastern in the Class A finals.

Kalamazoo Central vs. Southfield

Early on in the game the Panthers of West Ottawa were able to jump out to a 9-2 lead. After a basket by Comstock Park to put it at 9-4 Zach Crittendon was able to knock in a 2 to put it at 9-6, after coming up short on several possessions with the score not changing, Crittendon was able to successfully complete an “and one” to tie up the game at 9. Both teams continued to battle it out, while surprisingly Jorddan Myrick and Ty Mason stayed relatively quiet for their teams. The score after one was 17-11 in favor of West Ottawa.

Ty Mason opened up the second with a put back two pointer to put the score at 17-13. Myrick answered back with a three pointer, despite the three by Myrick, Comstock Park was able to pull within 2 points of West Ottawa in the middle of the second. An “and one” by Ty Mason put the score at 23-22 in favor of Comstock Park, this was their first lead of the game and they would not look back for the rest of the half. Myrick was able to close out the half with a buzzer beating three to bring the score to 30-28. You could tell that West Ottawa was missing their second leading scorer in senior Andrew Maxey as he sat on the bench; however West Ottawa continued to fight hard.

Both teams continued to go back fourth for the first several minutes of the second half and we resume our action in the middle of the fourth with the score at 44-40 in favor of Comstock Park, this was when Tre Boeve knocked down a three to bring West Ottawa within one. A two at the end of the third by Myrick brought West Ottawa to within 1 again. At this point we check out our highlight performers, heading into the fourth TY Mason had an astounding 18 points for Comstock Park, Tre Boeve had 10 for West Ottawa and Jorddan Myrick was at 12. The score after three was 48-47 in favor of Comstock Park.

Two free throws by Myrick at the beginning of the fourth put West Ottawa up by one. After a successful trip down the court for Comstock Park, Caleb Bosch nailed a three to put West Ottawa up by 2. A minute later Bosch came up huge again by tipping in a missed free throw to put West Ottawa up by four. We resume our action with the score at 69-67 in favor of Comstock Park, that’s when Myrick knocked down a two to tie the game. Ty Mason was fouled on the next possession and nailed both his free throws to put the score at 71-69 Comstock Park. Josh Wisbang made a layup to tie it and headed to the line for one free throw as he was fouled on the shot. Unfortunately for West Ottawa, Wisbang was unable to make his free throw so the score remained tied at 71. Ty Mason answered back with a two pointer to put the score at 73-71. That’s when Comstock Park’s center rotated onto Myrick and Myrick took advantage of the miss match as he performed a nasty crossover on the baseline and finished at the rim to put tie the game with 11 seconds left. Andrew Ejsmont received the ball at the top of the arch and proceeded to drive to the bucket and nail a layup with 1.2 seconds left on the clock, at that point the referees called the game and the final score read 75-73, Comstock Park.

I was very impressed with Ty Mason as he dropped 31 points on West Ottawa and also grabbed 6 boards. Crittendon came up big for Comstock Park as he netted 13 points to compliment Mason. Ejsmont also came up big as he scored 15 points. This win is “huge” for Comstock Park as they are now one win away from having their school’s best record in a 20 game season for boy’s varsity basketball. Comstock Park was definitely helped by their shooting at the free throw line as they were an astounding 27-31 from the stripe.

Jorddan Myrick battled it out with Mason but he came up just short as he scored 26 points, recorded three assists and 4 turnovers. West Ottawa received some unusual help from Caleb Bosch, Josh Wisbang, and Tre Boeve. Boeve had 10 and Bosch and Wisbang both had 12 for West Ottawa. West Ottawa was not helped by the free throw line as they shot 15-25 from the line; West Ottawa was also not helped by the fact that their second leading scorer Andrew Maxey was riding the pine. Despite shooting 15-25 from the line and playing without Maxey, West Ottawa was able to stay close the whole game and had an opportunity to win the game at the end. West Ottawa has now lost an incredible 9 games in a row and will have their eyes on their first round district game against Grandville.

On a side note be sure to vote for 1st and 2nd team all stars (two of the twelve on the ballot were playing in tonight’s game, Ty Mason and Jorddan Myrick). You can vote by following these directions OR going straight to our facebook page.

Be sure to continue to check the site for more district previews as well as game coverage in the coming weeks as the regular season winds down. Feel free to discuss tonight’s game in the comments section below.

Trent Windemuller opened up the fourth with a three to put Holland up by nine. Xavier Watson answered back with a three of his own. Several plays later, including a two and a three by Ladon Carnegie brought Union to within one. Sophomore Demarkus Stuckey nailed two free throws on Union’s next possession to give them the lead for the first time in the game at 23-22. Ladon Carnegie continued to come up big in the second as he scored 10 points, had two boards, two steals and block. After back-to-back turnovers by Colin Meadowcraft, Jake Helm came up with a big bucket for the Dutch to bring them within one, on the ensuing play Windemuller came up with a huge steal and finished the play with a transition bucket to end the half. The four point swing at the end of the half put Holland up 29-28 and energized the crowd. 

A couple of defensive stops in the beginning of the third allowed Union to start to pull away with the score at 36-31. Then Windemuller hit another three to bring the score within two. Two defensive stops later, Meadowcraft came up with a steal and dished the ball to Windemuller who finished the play with a transition bucket to knot the game at 36. Several minutes later Zach Dornak knocked down a huge three for Holland to put the score at 42-41 in favor of the Dutch. Byron Jones came up huge in the third as he grabbed four rebounds, recorded a steal and had a two to end the quarter and put Union up 43-42 after three. 

We resume our action with 5:05 left in the fourth and Holland up 48-45; Dornak received the ball just beyond the arch and proceeded to knock down the three to give Holland a 6 point lead heading into the final stretch of the game. Several possessions later the Dutch were up by 8 when Sophomore DeMarcus Stuckey nailed a three to bring Union within 5. Holland and Union each scored 5 points over the course of the next couple minutes putting the score at 59-54 in favor of the Dutch with 42 seconds left. Holland was inbounding the ball when the real exciting part of tonight’s action happened, Sophomore Demarkus Stuckey came up with a huge steal on the baseline and finished at the rim to put the score at 59-56. Holland attempted to inbound the ball again and this time the initial pass to Windemuller was successful. That’s when Stuckey came full speed from out of nowhere and stole the ball fro, Windemuller in the paint, yet again he finished at the rim to bring Union within one with only 30 seconds left in the game. With 14.5 seconds left Byron Jones fouled Nathan Ricketts to put him on the line for the one and one. Ricketts was just the man Union wanted to have on the free throw line, entering the game he was only shooting 40.9% from the line. Ricketts missed the first shot and Carnegie came up with the board. Union called a timeout which allowed head coach Terrence Williams to calm his players down and draw up a play. 14.5 seconds left on the clock and Union inbounds the ball, Carnegie received the ball at the top of the key, with 6 seconds left the 6’4″ senior drove to the hoop, as the buzzer sounded the ball found its way into the rim. The final score read 60-59 in favor of Union.

Trent Windemuller was a spectacular 7 for 11 from three and scored 29 points in the game to lead all scorers. Unfortunately for the Dutch neither one of the Holland big three was able to come up big in the last 2 minutes of the game as Union outscored them 8-0. Coreontae DeBerry was limited in the paint as he scored 11 points and grabbed 10 boards. Colin Meadowcraft ran the offense well for the Dutch as he scored 9 points and recorded 8 assists. Holland shot 50% both from 3 and from the field. Holland now will look to finish up the regular season strong with a win over Zeeland East, but ultimately they will have their sights on a huge opening round district game against Hudsonville at West Ottawa. 

Ladon Carnegie came up huge for Grand Rapids Union as he knocked in 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Byron Jones came up big for the Red Hawks as he scored 8 points and grabbed 10 boards, 8 of which were on the offensive glass. Sophomore Demarkus Stuckey played out of his mind as he scored 15 points, grabbed 5 boards, recorded 5 assists and had 2 huge steals. Union is now the official OK-Black champs and in the words of head coach Terrence Williams “it feels good…I think the players deserve it, they worked tremendously hard. It feels really good to be the out-right champs.” Union will now look to finish the regular season strong against a tough team in Grand Rapids Catholic Central, but ultimately their eyes will now be set on districts. Union has drawn a bye for the first round and will play either Byron Center or a tough Ottawa Hills team out at Ottawa Hills. Union’s biggest threat in districts will be East Kentwood, who just won the OK-Red tonight. Also, Ladon Carnegie is currently seriously looking at playing for either Western Michigan University or Grand Valley State University but no matter what, he says he will be playing basketball next year. 

On a side note, tonight’s game contained 5 players from our all star ballot, be sure to head over there and vote so the best players on this side of the state will get the recognition they deserve. Be sure to “like” us on facebook in order to vote on 1st team, 2nd team, and honorable mention.

The last time these two teams played each other Wayland was able to escape with a one point victory while South Christian played without Drew Stegehuis(who is battling it out for the lead in our All Star voting) being 100% as he was dealing with Mono. Tonight however, South Christian had Stegehuis “feeling 100% for the first time” and he definitely proved to be a key player.

To open up the first quarter of play, Zach Kasper nailed a three for Wayland. Mitch Huisman was able to answer back for the Sailors as he pulled up from three and nailed it off of an assist from Stegehuis. A minute later South Christian found themselves down 5-3 when Huisman pulled up from three yet again and was able to knock down the shot. The six points from Huisman would be the only points the Sailors could score in the first. Strong play by Justin Pepper on the glass and Zach Kasper helped Wayland pull out to and early 12-6 lead after one quarter of play as they closed the quarter on a 7-0 run.

Dan Miedema hit his first three of the evening in the beginning of the third to bring the lead for Wayland back down to 3. After a series of turnovers, forced shots, and two made free throws by Sam Martus, the Sailors were able to get their first 2-pointer of the evening with 4:52 remaining in the 2nd. This put the score at 14-11 in favor of Wayland. Justin Pepper continued to battle it out on the glass with the much shorter Sailor team. Stegehuis was able to get his first points of the evening at the buzzer as he nailed a mid-range jumper. The score at the half was 21-16 in favor of Wayland.

Now we enter the third quarter which proved to be a huge quarter for the Sailors. The Sailors opened up the third with a huge steal by Mitch Huisman which led to a transition bucket to put the score at 21-18. Stegehuis came up with another huge steal which led to the unusual transition three by Michael Wierenga to tie the score up at 21. After several successful trips up and down the court for both teams, the score was at 27-26 when Stegehuis pulled up from a foot or two beyond the three-point line and nailed the shot to put the score at 30-26 in favor of the Sailors. Pepper‘s woes continued for Wayland as he failed to finish at the rim yet again but Sam Martus was there with the put back to bring the lead back down to 2. Stegehuis answered back as he pulled up from three yet again and like before, he nailed it to put the score at 33-28 in favor of the Sailors. A key rebound by Sean Broekhuizen led to yet another three by the Sailors, this time is came from Jordan Mulder which put the score at 36-38. At this point in the game the Sailors had made 7 threes, which led to 21 of their 36 points. Wayland was able to pull it back together as they outscored South Christian 4-2 in the final minutes thanks to a block at the buzzer by Pepper. The score heading into the 4th was 38-32, as the Sailors outscored Wayland 22-11 in the third.

To open up the fourth Wayland’s Travis Rader forced yet another shot but this time he was able to get his rebound and finish off the play strong at the rim to cut the lead to four. After Wayland came up empty on two straight possessions the score was at 42-34, and the Zach Kasper took over. Kasper scored 8 points in a row for Wayland and came up big a few times on the glass. This excellent play from him allowed Wayland to go on a 10-2 run to knot the game up at 44. Then Stegehuis stepped up and nailed yet another three for South Christian, this was their 8th three of the night. Kasper answered back with a three of his own for Wayland to tie it up at 47. Jordan Mulder answered Kasper with a three of his own to put the score at 50-47. Travis Rader got off a tough shot from three with 2:35 left to tie it back up again at 50. Stegehuis was fouled on the ensuing play and as the Sailors were now in the bonus he headed to the line. Stegehuis was money as he nailed them both. Pepper came up big on the glass again and was able to finally finish at the rim as he tied the game up at 52. On the next possession for the Sailors, Stegehuis pulled up from three and wasn’t able to make it this time, Pepper grabbed the rebound and Brad Lambert was able to finish the play for Wayland which put them up 54-52. With 43 seconds remaining and the score at 54-52, Huisman pulled up from three but his shot was short and hit the front end of the rim. Dan Miedema grabbed the rebound and went up strong, the ball found its way into the basket to tie the game at 54. Wayland brought the ball down the court and did a remarkable job rebounding as they were able to get off three shots. Unfortunately, they were unable to connect on any of them. With 12.9 seconds left the Sailors inbounded the ball and Dan Miedema nailed a three to put the score at 57-54 as the buzzer sounded. The referees consulted and put 1.2 seconds back on the clock which allowed Wayland to have one last shot, however they were unable to connect.

The Sailors are now one game behind Grand Rapids Catholic Central in the OK-Gold. The Sailors host Grand Rapids Catholic Central on Friday which could potentially give them a share of the OK-Gold conference title. If you wish to debate the OK-Gold madness head over to our forums. Matt Philpott will have the coverage of what should be a great game on Friday.

Also, remember to cast those votes for our All Star team.

MPSH vs Saugatuck

From the opening kickoff MPSH was in complete control in the Div. 8 State Finals against Saugatuck.  Saugatuck had no answer for MPSH’s balanced offensive attack.  MPSH was lead by Sophomore QB Mitchell Myler.  In the first half he threw for 178 yards on 9 of 12 attempts while Saugatuck only had 4 yards passing in the first half.  Saugatuck made their first appearance ever in the state playoffs.  Out of 26 players on the roster Saugatuck has only 2 seniors, so the future looks bright for the Indians.

Attention everyone who was voted onto the 2010 West Michigan Football Allstar Team — your commemorative T-shirts, courtesy of the nice gents down at Chaser Apparel, are in and ready to be mailed to you.  Just one thing:  WMA needs your address.  If you are listed on the following list, please email westmiallstar@gmail.com with the address you would like your shirt sent to.

Cheers!

• QB: Miles Morrissey, Catholic Central
• RB: Anton Jackson, Allegan
• RB: Zac Boersema, West Ottawa
• WR: John Haley, Catholic Central
• WR: Dan Pittman, West Catholic
• WR: Alec Smith, Grand Haven
• OL: Patrick McCarthy, West Catholic
• OL: Evan Weiss, Catholic Central
• OL: Tyler Gruszka, Comstock Park
• OL: Garett Stehley, Lowell
• OL: Parker Ehinger, Rockford
• DL: Patrick McCarthy, West Catholic
• DL: Curtis Smith, West Ottawa
• DL: Damon Knox, Muskegon
• DL: Bryan Mellema, Grand Rapids Christian
• LB: Desmond Morgan, West Ottawa
• LB: Trent Voss, East Grand Rapids
• LB: Brett Egnatuk, Rockford
• DB: Dan Pittman, West Catholic
• DB: Josh Wisbang, West Ottawa
• DB: Joe Bowen, Catholic Central
• DB: Key’Marius McMillian, Muskegon
• K: Bryan Holmes, West Ottawa
• P: Alec Smith, Grand Haven

The West Michigan All Stars is a team consisting of the best-of-the-best players from around West Michigan, as determined by you, the voters. This team is only possible with the help from our awesome sponsors, ESPN 96.1FM and Davenport University, so after you’re done voting remember to listen to 96.1FM and play sports for the Panthers.

Unlike the annual newspaper awards and All-Star teams, the players, coaches and fans get a say in which of the many outstanding players around West Michigan make the cut. You decide which players advance from local standout athlete, to West Michigan All Star.

After almost 4,000 votes, here are your…

2010 West Michigan Baseball Allstars

Pitchers

• Carter DeBoe — Hamilton
• Jamie Potts — Oakridge

Catcher

• Tyler Huntey — Morley Stanwood

Infielders

• Andrew DeGood — Hamilton
• Drew Johnson — Reeths-Puffer
• Ryan Wagenmaker — Reeths-Puffer
• Chase Tomcala — West Ottawa

Outfielders

• Stephen Flood — Grandville
• Joe Killian —  Chippewa Hills
• TJ South — Zeeland East

2010 West Michigan Baseball Allstars (Alternates)

Pitchers

• Drew Johnson — Reeths-Puffer
• Michael Meade — Zeeland East

Catcher

• Jason Henrickson — Hamilton

Infielders

• Ryan Elble — East Grand Rapids
• Jeff Victor — Holland Christian
• Nic Kiekover — Holland Christian
• Shane Ryan — Lowell

Outfielders

• Alex Howe — Spring Lake
• Kyle Schoonmaker — Sparta
• Josh DeJonge — Zeeland West

Thank you again to everyone who voted, and congratulations to these West Michigan Allstars!

Keep up with the latest action and analysis by becoming a WMA fan on Facebook, or join the conversation by following WMA on Twitter.

If you haven’t yet voted, be sure to do so before the clock strikes midnight tomorrow (Wednesday), after which the polls will be closed forever.