Tag Archives: Bengals

Congrats and insight from a Wayland superfan

March 11, 2010 Comments { 8 }

I received this write up from Michael Kanoza, stepfather of Wayland’s Travis Rader, after the Wildcats’ district semifinal win over Ottawa Hills on Wednesday.  It’s a pretty awesome look into a side of high school basketball we don’t often get to see.  Thanks, Michael! Wayland dodges the statistics and Ottawa [...]

A plea on behalf of 1,000,000 coaches: Practice your free throws

February 18, 2010 Comments { 7 }

I know it’s the boring part of the sport.  I know it doesn’t win over the fans; you’ll never hear of any “oohs” or “aahs” in reaction.  I know practicing it can be repetitive, tedious and even frustrating, and all without the guarantee of eventual success.  I know there are [...]

Photo Blog: Wayland routs Ottawa Hills

January 27, 2010 Comments { 1 }

Photographer’s note: Please feel free to disseminate these pictures in any format.  We take them especially for you, and hope you enjoy.  We only ask that you give credit to West Michigan Allstar (and Louis Murray) if you publish them, and shoot a link to this page if you use them online.  [...]

Wayland shuts down Ottawa Hills, now strangling top-ranking in Grand Rapids

January 27, 2010 Comments { 2 }

You can make comparisons between teams based on records, outcomes versus common opponents, perceived strengths and weaknesses, style of play, and any number of other factors.  As a sportswriter, it’s part of the gig to speculate on these things.  But Tuesday night’s West Michigan Allstar Game of the Week between [...]

WMA Game of the Week: Wayland at Ottawa Hills

January 26, 2010 Comments { 6 }

Each week, West Michigan Allstar takes our blogging circus over hill and dale to a high school gymnasium around West Michigan.  It’s traditionally one of the biggest games in the area, with the top players and teams duking it out against one another (we like to watch that stuff, too), [...]

Straight to the Pros — C.J. Bowen

December 22, 2009 Comments { 3 }

A weekly feature in which we spotlight a player from the West Michigan area, comparing him to his NBA or major NCAA counterpart based on his playing style, talent (relative, of course), appearance or anything else that warrants a comparison. C.J. Bowen (Ottawa Hills) — Ben Wallace Spirit animal — [...]

Ottawa Hills lines up and sinks Grand Rapids Catholic Central

December 18, 2009 Comments { 2 }

Talk to any student of the game, anyone who has spent their life around the game of basketball, and they’ll tell you about the importance of free throws.  Give them the opportunity, and they’ll explain how an entire game’s worth of running and jumping, shooting and defending, all of it [...]

Ottawa Hills' Fat Boys eat weights, Forest Hills Eastern

October 3, 2009 Comments { 0 }

After less than four minutes of play, Ottawa Hills already found themselves down 6-0 to Forest Hills Eastern.  Their first three attempts at equaling the score ended with a fizzle (one punt and two turnovers on downs), and the Bengals looked at least three steps slower than their O-K Gold [...]

FH Eastern, Ottawa Hills back on top and looking forward

October 2, 2009 Comments { 1 }

It’s tough to explain what happened to the 2008 version of Grand Rapids Forest Hills Eastern.  After making the playoffs in three consecutive seasons from ’05-’07, the Hawks fell off a cliff in 2008, losing their first eight games before finishing the season with a heartening but essentially meaningless victory.  [...]