We asked you guys who should be #1 in our rankings and 250 of you chimed in! We can’t help but listen to the fans of West Michigan and with that being said we have a new top dog. Let us know what you think about or rankings of the top teams in WM and don’t forget to “Like” us on Facebook and then suggest us to your friends because we are giving away a huge prize pack when we reach 2,300 likes!!

1.) Greenville (14-0)

The fans have spoken and Greenville is our new top squad in WM! Who the Yellow Jackets play has a lot to do with it as they play in a rather deep league. Reeths-Puffer on Tuesday and then we head up to Greenville for a showdown with GR Christian that could put this conference away for the Jackets.

2.) Godwin Heights (13-0)

I’m not excited to drop this team to number 2. Godwin cannot help what league they play in and will get a chance to prove their metal against Tri Unity this week. A big win will say a lot about this deep and talented team. You must see these guys play!

3.) Tri Unity Christian (13-0)

The Defenders are winning by an average margin of 24 points per game! Godwin lies ahead and this will be another chance for this “little class D school” to prove it’s doubters wrong, again.

4.) Rockford (11-3)

Friday the Rams took back control of the OK Red and now look towards avoiding a letdown against a sneaky Grand Haven team before heading to Jenison on Friday.

5.) Shelby (12-0)

There is just zero competition for the Tigers right now. It makes it hard to judge this team but the time will come for people to notice this talented group.

6.) East Kentwood (12-2)

The Falcons had a great week and now face some lower end competition to get their game right before a tough week of Rockford and Hudsonville the week after next.

7.) Zeeland East (13-1)

The Chix bounced back this week with a pair of W’s and look to put away the OK Green before Districts where the plan on rekindling some past magic.

8.) Hudsonville (10-4)

Dropping a close one at Rockford is nothing to hang your head about. Hibbitts will catch fire and be a very tough out come March. Trust us.

9.) Ottawa Hills (10-3)

The Bengals will be your OK Gold champs after last weeks win at South Christian. Shakur Sanders and his stingy teammates will now focus on getting better for a spring-time run.

10.) Grand Rapids Christian (10-3)

Christian gets a shot at revenge against Greenville on Friday. The Eagles need this one in a bad way and I expect them to play like it.

Honorable Mentions (in no order)

Caledonia (10-4)

Caledonia will have their shot at home against Ottawa Hills but I was at the first match-up and I really don’t think much has changed.

Muskegon Heights (9-4)

Another split week for the Tigers was capped with an embarrassing loss to Romulus, credit this team for taking on some of the big dogs in the state however. This team needs to get on a run.

North Muskegon (10-4)

Krannitz and Co. picked up some good wins last week. Can they top Shelby however to boost some confidence?

Sparta (10-3)

The Spartans suffered a bad loss to Cedar Springs on Tuesday and will now play out of league with Fremont and Grant on the docket.

Fremont (10-1)

This is a very talented and balanced team led by Luke McKian. A match-up with Sparta on Tuesday will be a nice test for the Packers.

We hope to see you out at a game and will keep you posted on where we will be. Don’t forget that we will update you every Monday on the new WMA rankings. As always feel free to discuss below!

Anytime cross-town rivals hook up for a conference battle it is sure to be a great show for everyone in attendance. With the vast range of WMA’s coverage however we cannot be at every game and we understand that you can’t either. Good thing for all of us attending other games we have Don Kok who was able to take in Jenison and Grandville and give us all a sense of actually being there with his vast photo blog. Jenison was able to grab the victory with a 57-42 road win with a balanced attack paced by Eric Evans’ 15 points for the Wildcats.

East Kentwood Ice Arena was the site for a great game between West Catholic and South Christian this afternoon as the two teams faced off in hopes of improving their record. As soon as the puck dropped the two teams went toe to toe like boxers as each took their opportunities to deal their opponent a weakening blow. Neither team succeeded for the first ten minutes however as both goalies and defenses stood strong. With 13:38 left in the first period, Alex Devries danced through the Falcons D and was awarded with a great opportunity that was shrugged off my Peter Hansknecht, keeping the game at a stalemate. Finally with 9:22 remaining in the period. South Christian forward Blake Devries weaseled his way into West Catholic’s zone shorthanded and ripped a shot over the glove hand of Hansknecht to score the first goal of the game. West Catholic retaliated with three great shots over the course of the next three minutes, but each one was turned aside by sprawling goaltender Dennis Hoekzema. His effort kept the Sailors in the game until they managed to build themselves some breathing room when Alex Devries netted a goal with 6:31 to go in the period. The period would end with the Sailors leading 2-0.

The second period began with a scare as South Christian’s Jeff Ookstdyk was boarded into the wall and remained motionless on the ice for a few minutes. After being checked over by the trainer, he did manage to skate off the ice on his own. The hit seemed to spur his teammates on for the rest of the period as they took advantage of of two of their three powerplays. On the second powerplay of the period, South Christian’s Defenseman Jake Holden shot the puck towards the net and it ricocheted off fellow teammate Alex Devries giving Alex hissecond goal of the night. Their second powerplay goal came late in the period as Blake Devries scored only 7 seconds into the penalty time. The Falcons did manage to score during the period as Captain Kyle O’Hearn finally managed to get the puck into the net shortly after the Sailors first powerplay goal. The period would end with the score being 4-1.

The final period saw a penalty again hurt West Catholic as Jake Holden ripped a slap shot through the defender and past Peter Hansknecht only 8 seconds into the powerplay. The rest of the game would be a hard fought battle, but would grant no more goals to either team as the Sailors took home a convincing 5-1 win.

After this nice win, the Sailors will go on to face East Kentwood on the 17th.

West Catholic is now 4-14 and will look to get back on their feet when they face Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central on next Friday at Griffs Ice arena.

Grand Haven took home a key OK Red win Friday night against Muskegon 57-48. We welcomed in Jodi Schaap to the WMA team for the night to shoot this one for us. Jodi doesn’t normally shoot sports but took a stab at it and grabbed some killer shots for us! To see even more from this one check out her slideshow and see some of her other work.

The Northview/Comstock Park/Sparta Wildcats hosted their first ever Pink in the Rink “Cats Classic” tournament this weekend. The tournament started up tonight and will conclude tomorrow. Aside from the games themselves, the main purpose of the event is to raise money for cancer through raffles and auctions. In the first game of the night Davison put themselves in the championship game with a tough win over Cadillac, and awaited the West Ottawa vs Northview/ Comstock Park/Sparta late game to see who their opponent would be.

Grand Rapid’s Griff’s Ice House was packed with mainly Wildcat supporters, but a fair amount of West Ottawa fans made their way out for the game as well, and what a game it was. Things couldn’t have gotten off to a much better start for the Cats when defensemen Brandon Scherzer was able to slide past a couple Panther defender and fire a rocket past Michael Ewing just 1:02 into the game, giving his club the early 1-0 lead.

From here West Ottawa’s Cameron Fisher began to take the game over, proving time and time again that he was the best player on the ice on this given night. First Fisher was able to squeeze a shot right in between the left post and Billy Russ’s blocker, to knot things up at 1-1 going into the first intermission. Then with 15:40 seconds to play in the second period Fisher was able to find the back of net again on a nice power play goal, to give the Panthers their first lead of the night. Alex Zimmerman was able to tip in a shot at the 13 min mark, and the Panthers then took a 3-1 lead and gave themselves a bit of breathing room.

One of the key plays of the night came about 30 sec. after Zimmerman’s goal when the Wildcats seemingly responded with a goal of their own. Unfortunately for the Cats, the refs ruled that the puck, which had bounced off the crossbar and back out of the net, had not fully crossed the goal line. No goal. Scott Lacey responded to this minor set-back, with a indisputable goal of his own to pull Northview/Comstock Park/Sparta back within one, with a score of 3-2. Cam Fisher capped of his night in the closing minutes of the 2nd with his third goal, completing the hat trick, and putting West Ottawa up 4-2 heading into the final period.

The third turned out into a furiously paced shoot-out that ended up seeing 5 goals! To get things going Brandon Scherzer connected on an amazing snipe shot from from just inside the blue-line, giving him his second goal of the night. Then only minutes later, West Ottawa’s Alex Lindemann was able to convert a turnover into a short handed goal and put the Panthers back up 5-3 with 12 mins to play. And the fun was only just beginning.

With a two goal lead and under 4 mins to play West Ottawa seemed to have this one all but won. The Wildcats however, were not  done fighting yet. Scott Lacey was able to put home his second goal of the night with 3:40 to go, on shot that flew just over the stick of a sprawled out Ewing. Then Rocky Saenz was able to fire in a shot shortly after a face off, and the game was tied at 5 with 1:40 on the clock. The Panthers were able to regain composure and pull off the win on a beautiful goal from Danny Matrosic. The shot bounced back out of the net, after hitting the crossbar making it eerily similar to the Wildcats’ shot in the second that was ruled no goal.

In the end West Ottawa was able to hold off an intense Wildcat comeback and advance to the next round. The Panthers are now 12-7-1, riding a 7 game win streak, and will take on Davison tomorrow at 1 pm in the championship match-up of the Pink in the Rink tournament. Northview/Comstock Park/Sparta (now 8-8-2) will play the Cadillac Vikings in the third place game at 11 am.

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.

The Caledonia Fighting Scots couldn’t look past Friday’s game against the South Christian Sailors.  Although the Scots will have a huge rematch next week against conference-leading Ottawa Hills, Friday’s game was just as important, with a solid footing for second place on the line.  At times it looked like Caledonia very well might have been looking ahead, as they allowed the Sailors to overcome a 13 point halftime deficit and take a four point lead midway through the fourth quarter, but in the end, the Fighting Scots toughed it out, coming together, and knocking off South Christian 55-50.

Early on, Caledonia looked to be in control, sprinting out to a quick 8-0 lead in the first, and ending the quarter with a sizable 20-7 lead as the second quarter began play.  The Sailors, however, weren’t about to roll over, starting out on a 9-2 run in the second, pulling within six.  Caledonia’s offense found itself in the second half of the quarter, managing to open up the margin to 13 points again, taking a 31-18 lead into halftime.

South Christian came out in the second half again ready to make a charge at the Scots’ lead.  The Sailors’ defense held tight, keeping the Scots to only eight points in the third, and South Christian had whittled down Caledonia’s lead to only seven points, 39-32.  South Christian’s defense continued its hot play in the fourth, and the Sailors managed some key offense rebounds, as they took their first lead of the game, 41-39, with 6:25 remaining on the clock.  That lead actually grew to four points, 45-41, but with just under four minutes to play, the Sailors ran out of gas.  It was at this point that Caledonia came together, going on a blazing 14-5 run to end the game, putting away South Christian to the final score of 55-50.

South Christian was led tonight by those named Jordan.   Jordan Mulder led his team with 11 points.  Jordan Vanderwall scored 10, and Jordan Burgess chipped in 9.  Stephen Spencer, of Caledonia, led all players with 14 points.  Teammate Michael Ruddock add 12 points of his own.

Caledonia improves to 10-5 overall on the season, 6-3 in the OK Gold.  They will square off this upcoming Tuesday against conference-leading Ottawa Hills.  South Christian falls to an overall 6-6 record, 5-3 in the OK Gold.  The Sailors‘ next action will be this upcoming Tuesday as they travel to Forest Hills Eastern.

Matt Philpott Photography was pleased to bring you coverage of tonight’s action.  Please be sure to visit his website to learn more about the services he offers.

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Our Game of the Night turned out to be maybe the Game of the Year in West Michigan. The Rams played host to the Hudsonville Eagles, as well as droves of fans from both teams to support Haiti relief in this Hoops for Haiti event. This was a wildly successful fundraising event but there was also conference supremacy on the line for both squads as we had a tie at the top of the league. Rockford got things going early with outside shooting and a load of help from the refs. Hunter Prince was out of the game about 2 minutes in after picking up his 2nd foul and BJ Van Loo joined him shortly after as the fouls mounted for the Eagles. A 9-3 foul advantage for the Rams in the first quarter alone gave them a quick 11-6 lead. Blake Hibbitts struggled all night from outside and could not get his shot to fall at all even though he had plenty of opportunities. This game would prove to be a flip flop of the last meeting between these two teams however as the Rams took an 18-11 lead into Halftime but Hudsonville would make a run in the second half.

Rockford put on an AMAZING show to kick this one off!!

The second half was a much different story for the home fans as the fouls balanced out and Hudsonville was allowed to play their game while the Rams fell into trouble with the whistle. A 10-2 foul advantage was granted to the Eagles with only 6:30 to play in the game and it allowed the road team to get back into this one. Hunter Prince was able to find the stat sheet often in the 2nd half as he grabbed 9 tallies to lead his team back into this one. Both team exchanged blows until the 2:53 mark when Cody Stuive drilled a 3 ball for Hudsonville to give them their first lead of any importance at 33-32. The Eagles fans were going nuts as they had battled back but Mark Pearson was having none of it as the following trip down the floor he nailed a matching 3 ball from right in front of his own bench to take back the lead 35-33. Hibbitts found a quick two at the other end before Chase Fairchild took to the line with just under a minute left in this one. He hit the first, and missed the second. Hudsonville gave the ball to Van Loo who ran clock until we hit 9.5 and an Eagle timeout. With the scoreboard reading Rockford 36 Hudsonville 35 this is what the fans left home with…

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.

Each week a local alum of West Michigan High School sports will be featured in our ‘Where Are They Now?’ piece. All of these students have moved on to continue their athletic careers at Davenport University as the Panthers continue to find success athletically in nearly every sport they participate in. For more information about Davenport and what they can offer you check out their homepage!

Name: Rachel Jerrils
Height: 5’6
Class: Sophomore
Major: Nursing
Hometown: Rockford, Mich.
High School: Rockford
Events: Sprints

Accomplishments:
Conference Top-3 4x400m Relay (2010-2011 Outdoor)
Conference Top-3 4x100m Relay (2010-2011 Outdoor)

As A Freshman (2010-11): Indoor – Set a school record in the 200m with a time of 26.79 sec. at the GVSU Big Meet…Set a school record in the 400m with a time of 59.67 sec. in the GVSU Big Meet…Part of the 4x400m relay team that set a school record with a time of 4:01.40 at the NAIA Indoor
National Championships…Outdoor – Part of the 4x400m Relay team that ran a time of 4:03.32 at the WHAC Championships…Part of the 4x100m Relay team that ran a time of 49.28 seconds at the WHAC Championships…Ran the 200m dash in 26.08 seconds at the Gina Relays…Ran the 400m dash in 59.04 seconds at the Ernie Mousseau

Personal Information: Parents are Robert and Julie Jerrils…Born on October 5th, 1991.

Collegiate Bests:
200m – 26.79 sec. (Indoor) – School Record; 26.08 sec. (Outdoor)
400m – 59.67 sec. (Indoor) – School Record; 59.04 sec. (Outdoor) – School Record
4×100 Relay – 49.28 sec. (Outdoor) – School Record
4×400 Relay – 4:01.40 (Indoor) – School Record; 4:03.32 (Outdoor)
4×800 Relay – 9:39.9 (Outdoor) – School Record

Why did you choose to go to Davenport?

I choose to go to Davenport because I like the small college atmosphere that allows me to build close relationships to my peers and teachers. I also was very impressed with the track coaching staff and the beautiful new facilities.

What is your degree?

I am pursuing a nursing degree, in the hopes of securing a job working with children.

What is your favorite class?

My favorite class this semester is Pathophysiology. The class itself is very fascinating and my professor, Karen Clark is brilliant.

What has been your favorite memory of Davenport so far?

I have several favorites so its hard to pick just one but my top three would be getting my acceptance letter to the nursing program after working really hard my freshman year, making friends with some of the best people I have ever known, and going to Indoor Nationals with my Track and Field team last March.

What is your dream job that you wish to do after graduation?

My dream job is to work at The Devos Children’s Hospital as a Pediatric Nurse.

How has DU helped you in transitioning your game from the high school level to the collegiate level and who/what has had the biggest impact in helping you with that transition?

The encouragement of my coaches at DU has made the transition from high school to college a smooth one. My parents, Bob and Julie Jerrils, are my biggest fans and have supported me every step of my college career.

Who is your biggest conference rival?

Indiana Tech

What do you enjoy most about this rivalry?

Indiana Tech has a very talented team in the sport of track and field so it gives our team desire to work hard so we can compete at their level.

Playing for DU, do you ever play against former high school competitors? If so, do you feel the old high school rivalry continue?

Yes! I love seeing my old high school teammates and friends and it’s even better when I

beat them in a race.

What has been your favorite part about going to DU outside of your sport/team?

Making life-long friends and working toward a degree that will fulfill my desire to help

others.

Would you recommend DU to friends or other student athletes you know aresearching for a place to continue their education? Why?

Definitely. At Davenport, you are set up to be an automatic success in whatever career you choose.

Being in a small college environment, you are able to get a lot of one-on-one attention from both coaches and teaching staff. Also, you cannot beat our apartment-style dorms!!!

ing your game from the high school level to
the collegiate level and who/what has had the biggest impact in helping you with
that transition? The encouragement of my coaches at DU has made the transition
from high school to college a smooth one. My parents, Bob and Julie Jerrils, are my
biggest fans and have supported me every step of my college career.

Who is your biggest conference rival?
Indiana Tech
What do you enjoy most about this rivalry?
Indiana Tech has a very talented team in the sport of track and field so it gives our team
desire to work hard so we can compete at their level.

Playing for DU, do you ever play against former high school competitors? If so,
do you feel the old high school rivalry continue? (Some variation of this)
Yes! I love seeing my old high school teammates and friends and it’s even better when I
beat them in a race

What has been your favorite part about going to DU outside of your sport/team?
Making life-long friends and working toward a degree that will fulfill my desire to help
others.