This district at Muskegon Heights should provide us with some intriguing matchups.

As you can tell Spring Lake, Muskegon Heights, and Whitehall have all have solid years, but there’s at least one possible sleeper team in this bracket.

Fruitport- while Frutiport went a dismal 1-13 in conference play their out of conference play has been respectable as they are 2-4. Fruitport is however 1-3 head-to-head and this is what limits them as a spoiler team. Fruitport is led by Steve Devries who is averaging 16.6 points per game. If Fruitport wishes to advance past their first round matchup with the host team, Devries will have to have a great game and Tyler Fehler or Mike Reyes will have to step up as the #2 scorer.

Muskegon Oakridge- Oakridge has had a solid season going 9-10 but unfortunately they are only 1-3 in head-to-head matchups with the other 5 teams. Oakridge is led but Jamie Potts who is averaging 17.3 points per game and 5.4 rebounds per game. If Oakridge wishes to advance out of the second round (they have received a bye for the first round) then Potts and either Patrick Giddings or Jake Ferguson will have to have big games.

Muskegon Orchard View- Orchard View has had a poor season as they went 4-15 overall but they have been solid when playing head-to-head against the five other teams in the district as they are 2-3 against them. Fortunately Orchard View has drawn a first round bye, but if they wish to advance to the district finals, Greg Alexander who is averaging 14.5 points per game will have to play lights out. Kody Harrell will have to step up as well and knock down a couple of key threes.

Whitehall- despite going 13-7 overall Whitehall is only 2-2 in head-to-head matchups against the other 5 teams in this district. Whitehall faces a tough matchup with Spring Lake in the first round, look for Travis Love, Ryan Butzer, and Jacob Uithoven to all have big games if they wish to advance.

Muskegon Heights- the fact that Heights is hosting districts makes their odds at running away with this district much better and fortunately for them they have drawn Fruitport in the first round. Heights is led by their star player Deontae Hudson who is averaging 21.3 points per game, 6.2 rebounds per game and has rattled in 28 threes this year. Look for Heights to use their athleticism and literally run away with this district.

Spring Lake- they have had an excellent year going 15-5 overall and 11-3 in conference play as well as 4-0 against the other five teams in this district. Spring Lake has a tough first round matchup with Whitehall. If they wish to advance look for Austin Johnson to come up big as he is averaging 13.7 points per game and 7 rebounds per game. Michael Hankinson and Trevor Tidwell will also have to come up big for them.

Prediction: the round one matchup of Whitehall and Spring Lake should be an exciting one, but Spring Lake should be able to find a way to win. Muskegon Heights will run away with the game against Fruitport. Muskegon Heights will able to pull away from Orchard View in the second round and advance to the district championship game. Spring Lake will be able to move on past Oakridge in the second round which will set up a Spring Lake v Muskegon Heights championship game. Spring Lake just won’t be able to match up well with Heights‘ athleticism and Deontae Hudson. Heights should be able to cruise through this district at home.

Don’t overlook the Oakridge v Spring Lake game or the Whitehall v Spring Lake game as they should both provide us with some excellent action. Feel free to discuss below in the comments section and tell us all the reasons why we’re right, as well as why we’re wrong.

Read the full story with The Grand Rapids Press: “East Grand Rapids, East Kentwood volleyball teams…”

Read the full story with The Muskegon Chronicle: “Fremont tops Hemlock in regional volleyball semifinals…”

Fans came to play this last week, casting 37,286 votes in the second annual WMA football team. Turn to your friends at Fox 17 for the final unveiling Saturday at about 10:40 p.m. following baseball action. One hint, the top vote getter with 671 votes was a kicker!

You choose ‘em, we’ll show ‘em. Stay tuned Saturday for player breakdowns.

We’ll also give you the rundown on the 21 West Michigan playoff games listed below.

Traverse City West @ Rockford
Holland West Ottawa @ Grand Haven

Kenowa Hills @ Greenville
Forest Hills Central @ Muskegon
Lowell @ Grand Ledge
Portage Central @ Portage Northern

Cedar Springs @ Mount Pleasant
Forest Hills Eastern @ St. Johns
Fruitport @ Zeeland East
Byron Center @ East Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids Christian @ Hastings

Alma @ Comstock Park
Hudsonville Unity Christian @ Zeeland West
Spring Lake @ Catholic Central
Allegan @ Paw Paw
Battle Creek Pennfield @ Middleville

Muskegon Heights @ Grant
Shelby @ Muskegon Oakridge
Kelloggsville @ West Catholic
Hopkins @ Jackson Lumen Christi
Fennville @ Hartford

Reeths-Puffer won with 58 points, followed by North Muskgon (59), Fruitport (79), Mona Shores (96) and Whitehall (130).

Read the full story with The Muskegon Chronicle: “Olivia Howard leads Reeths-Puffer to one-point win…”

DIVISIONS 1-4

1. Grand Haven 6-1
2. Muskegon 5-2
3. Fruitport 6-1
4. Spring Lake 6-1
5. Orchard View 3-4

DIVISIONS 5-8

1. Oakridge 5-2
2. Shelby 6-1
3. Muskegon Heights 3-4
4. Grant 6-1
5. Montague 5-2

Read the full story with The Muskegon Chronicle: “Mike Mattson’s rankings…”

District #27

Teams: Byron Center, Hamilton, Holland, Holland Christian, Unity Christian, Thornapple-Kellogg, Zeeland East, Zeeland West

The Lowdown: Also known as “Division OK-Green.” Expect this district to mimic the conference tournament. Wyoming Park and Wyoming Rogers are absent (more on them later) and Holland and Thornapple-Kellogg have been thrown into the mix, but every other team belongs to the OK-Green conference and will no doubt enter state playoffs with memories of the conference tournament fresh in their minds. However, you certainly can’t ignore Holland. They haven’t played a lot of the teams in this particular district, but they have proven themselves time and time again against strong teams.

Players to Watch: Travis Vegter, Greg Timmer (Unity Christian); Ryan Jacobs (Holland Christian); Jake Carter, Hadyn Beal (Holland)

Prediction: Unity has a state title to defend, and there’s no reason to believe they won’t do so.

But don’t count out… Holland. Just because they lost to Unity once this season (but then again, who hasn’t?) doesn’t necessarily mean a second potential match-up when it counts will have the same result.

District #28

Teams: Forest Hills Eastern, East Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids Catholic Central, Grand Rapids Christian, Forest Hills Northern, Ottawa Hills, Wyoming Park, Wyoming Rogers

The Lowdown: If any district in West Michigan is up for grabs, this is it. Three of these teams (Forest Hills Eastern, Forest Hills Northern, and Catholic Central) have appeared somewhere in the Division II state rankings throughout the season, though Forest Hills Eastern is the only one still in. Catholic Central recently beat both Forest Hills Eastern and Forest Hills Northern, 1-0. Wyoming Park has lost a couple recent games, though their most recent loss was to Northview, the #2 team in Division II.

Players to Watch: Brandon VanHees (Wyoming Park); Chris Hindenach (Catholic Central)

Prediction: Catholic Central. Just because a team isn’t in the state rankings doesn’t mean they aren’t talented.

But don’t count out… Forest Hills Eastern. Forest Hills Northern. Wyoming Park. Any of these four teams could definitely move on into regionals.

District #29

Teams: Comstock Park, Coopersville, Fruitport, Grand Rapids Creston, Kenowa Hills, Northview, Sparta, Spring Lake

The Lowdown: Northview has maintained consistent possession of the #2 spot in Division II all season long. They have won all but one game this season: a 3-3 tie with Unity on Aug. 30. Spring Lake has also had an impressive season and is easily on top of the Lakes 8 Conference with not one conference loss all season.

Players to Watch: T.J. Van Slooten (Northview); Adam Clauss (Spring Lake)

Prediction: Northview has everything they need to make a deep run in the state tournament and shouldn’t have much trouble advancing to regionals.

But don’t count out… Spring Lake. They haven’t played most of the teams in this district, but they’ve been playing well for much of the season.

Read the full story with The Muskegon Chronicle: “Muskegon area boys soccer roundup”

Read the full story with The Muskegon Chronicle: “Fruitport soccer wins on the road…”

• Hastings 45, Hillsdale 14
• Muskegon Catholic Central 19, Hopkins 18
• Unity Christian 24, Belding 7
• Jenison 28, Caledonia 20
• Lowell 42, Forest Hills Central 0
• Grand Haven 41, Traverse City Central 14
• Zeeland West 51, Wayland 12
• Comstock Park 58, Rogers 14
• Zeeland East 69, Godwin Heights
• East Grand Rapids 44, Mona Shores 23
• Inkster 35, East Kentwood 3
• Detroit Catholic Central 42, Hudsonville 13
• Fruitport 25, Newaygo 16
• Grand Rapids Christian 52, Reeths-Puffer 13
• Kenowa Hills 56, Creston 0
• Forest Hills Eastern 35, Cedar Springs 7
• Northview 40, Holland 7
• Greenville 42, Union 2
• West Catholic 24, Allendale 8
• Grandville 42, Traverse City West 14
• Grant 40, Tri County 27

Read the full story with The Grand Rapids Press: “High school football roundup, Week 2…”