1. Feb. 5 high school basketball scores (boys) (girls) — Associated Press
2. Feb. 6 high school basketball scores (boys) (girls) — Associated Press
3. Friday’s stars in high school basketball — HSBB
4. Muskegon gets new football coach, again — Muskegon Chronicle
5. Muskegon Heights loses first game to SAH — Muskegon Chronicle
6. Comstock Park wins O-K Blue wrestling (vid) — Grand Rapids Press
7. Rockford rolls in O-K Red wrestling tourney — Grand Rapids Press
8. Spring Lake wins Lakes 8 wrestling tourney — Muskegon Chronicle
9. Lowell captures O-K White wrestling tourney — Grand Rapids Press
10. Zeeland West sophomore Meppelink rules the track — Grand Rapids Press

Keep up with the latest action and analysis by becoming a WMA fan on Facebook, or join the conversation by following WMA on Twitter.  Heck, even start your own topic over at Allstars Among Us.

1. Wisconsin-Green Bay nets Rockford’s Majerle — High School Basketball Bulletin
2. A list of all the bball tourneys over X-mas break — High School Basketball Bulletin
3. 9-yr old may compete in national Punt, Pass, Kick comp — Grand Rapids Press
4. Great community preview for Rockford/West Ottawa girls bball — Mlive.com
5. Rockford’s Ritzenhein is decade’s best cross country runner — Who’s the Bos?
6. Portage Central’s Tarpley is decades best girls soccer player — Kalamazoo Gazette
7. O-K White all conference fall sports teams (photos) — Grand Rapids Press
8. 12/17 basketball scores (boys) (girls) — Mlive.com
9. Langs leads Climax-Scotts to second consecutive win — Kalamazoo Gazette
10. Personal fave KZoo Homeschoolers are still rolling — Kalamazoo Gazette
11. The Hockey Blog is now in print (at least part) — TWMHSHB

Keep up with the latest action and analysis by becoming a WMA fan on Facebook, or join the conversation by following WMA on Twitter.  Heck, even start your own topic over at Allstars Among Us.

1. Division 7-8 All State football honors announced — WZZM13.com
2. The most stats focused breakdown of the finals you’ll find — Friday Night Lights
3. Division 7-8 all state GR player recognition — Grand Rapids Press
4. Division 7-8 all state Musky player recognition — Muskegon Chronicle
5. O-K White football is pretty darn good — Grand Rapids Press
6. SW Michigan hockey league scouting report — Kalamazoo Gazette
7. Interview with EGR QB Elble (premium) — MichiganPreps.com
8. Couple FHC lacrossers sign with D-1 Detroit Mercy — Grand Rapids Press
9. All Musky area volleyball teams (A-B, C-D) — Muskegon Chronicle
10. EGR girls win state swimming title — Grand Rapids Advance
11. Hudsonville & Jenison finish in Top-10 — Grand Rapids Advance
12. Portage Central volleyball’s legacy lives on — Kalamazoo Gazette

Keep up with the latest football action and analysis by becoming a WMAS fan on Facebook, or join the conversation by following WMAS on Twitter.  Heck, even start your own topic over at Allstars Among Us.

Lowell's Austin Graham and EGR's Kirk Spencer should be large factors in Friday's rivalry

Lowell plays East Grand Rapids this weekend, which I know because of the big red circle on my calendar.  If you have been paying attention, you don’t need any explanation of the significance of this game.  But just in case you havent…

The significance

Due to graduation, a dynasty is an extremely rare phenomenon in high school sports.  Add in the heightened potential for injuries given the nature of the sport, and in football it is doubly so.  Sure, a program may find a stud skill player and ride him to repeated success, but even the most extraordinary talent only lasts for four years.  Then it’s back into a rebuilding, reloading phase, and the process repeats itself.

Regardless, there is in fact a high school football dynasty, right here in West Michigan.  As a matter of fact there are at least two of them: the East Grand Rapids Pioneers and the Lowell Red Arrows.  Over the past eight years, the Pioneers and the Red Arrows have collectively dominated not only the O-K White (other teams in the conference are currently accepting sympathy cards), but much of the West Michigan high school football landscape.  Besides games in which they play each other, East Grand Rapids and Lowell have combined to lose two regular season contests since 2001.

Have doubts?  Check the credentials:

• Lowell (7-0) — No. 1 in Division-2
• East Grand Rapids (7-0) — No. 1 in Division-3
• 7-state championships between them in the past 8 years
• Combined regular season record since 2001 — 148-10

Given all that, it’s not a wonder that this week’s dynasty rivalry has been week-8′s Game of the Week since the preseason.  Heck, even the Venerable Jane Bos did a piece on it, and that’s when you know you’ve made it.

The analysis

Sometimes a game can become a victim of its own hype; a type of “Super Bowl syndrome” in which everything is built up to an extent that the ultimate reality of the football game is relatively anticlimactic.  Not the case here.  This is a matchup between two of the best overall football teams in the state.  And in West Michigan, they’re in a class by themselves.

Both teams possess such a level of talent that any pregame advantage has to be considered arbitrary.  Considering that Lowell’s slight advantage in strength and EGR’s slight advantage in speed will likely come out in the wash, ultimately Friday’s winner may be decided by mistakes.  Given that, pay particular attention to the signal callers.  Both teams field young quarterbacks — Lowell sophomore Gabe Dean and EGR junior Ryan Elble — who, despite their success, have never been on the field taking snaps in a game of this scope.  Similar to a playoff game, Lowell versus East Grand Rapids is at an entirely different level. We’ll see who rises to the occasion.

The players

Lowell

• FB — Austin Graham
• OL/DL — Connor Kruse
• LB — Randy Hogan

EGR

• RB — Kirk Spencer
• TE/DE — Colin Voss
• WR/DB — A.J. McEwen

The opinions

“Our kids know that since we’re going into their place we’ll be treated as an underdog.  And that doesn’t sit well with them because they haven’t been an underdog in a lot of football games.  But at the same time this is the type of road matchup that can teach you a lot about yourself win or lose.  I view this one as kind of a dress rehearsal before the playoffs.” — Lowell coach Noel Dean

“Having been a part of this rivalry for a number of years now, I think that they know what we do and we know what they do to an extent.  So on Friday it’s more a matter of who performs the best that night.  It’s hard to explain this particular game until you get into it, but really we’re facing a 7-0 team and we’re 7-0, and our kids are excited to strap on the pads.” — East Grand Rapids coach Peter Stuursma

The venue

East Grand Rapids enjoys the home-field this year, an advantage that has lead to a victory each of the past six years.  Plus it’s a brand spankin’ new stadium.  So there’s that, too.

The bottom line

“I think East Grand Rapids and Lowell are good for each other.  Like Coke and Pepsi.  Nobody debates whether or not they should be drinking a cola.  They just debate which cola they should be drinking.”  — Lowell coach Noel Dean

Terrible time to fall asleep.

A look around the wide world of high school sports and the web that covers it.  Well, not the whole world, mostly just the distance between Lake Michigan and somewhere-in-the-vicinity-of-Lansing, give or take about 50-miles.  In an order wholly indecipherable to the naked eye.  So look closely:

1. In girls golf, good-intentioned bribery works — Kalamazoo Gazette
2. Fruitport volleyball snags Lakes 8 (mostly) — Muskegon Chronicle
3. Top-20 QBs and WR/TEs in WMich football week-7 — Searn’s Board
4. EGR girls swimming outlasts Holland — Grand Rapids Press
5. GR Christian grabs control of O-K White soccer — Grand Rapids Press
6. Cross country rankings for week-5 — MichiganCrossCountry.com
7. Muskegon WMC wins River Valley soccer title — Muskegon Chronicle
8. GH water polo secures top seed in districts — Grand Rapids Press
9. GH woman savors first Hawaii Ironman — Muskegon Chronicle
10. Projected field of 256-football teams — Legends High

Got a tip/link/question for West Michigan Allstar?  Email westmiallstar@gmail.com, facebook us, or follow us on Twitter.

Holland Sentinel Sports Editor Alan Babbitt

A look around the wide world of high school sports and the web that covers it.  Well, not the whole world, mostly just the distance between Lake Michigan and somewhere-in-the-vicinity-of-Lansing, give or take about 50-miles.  In an order wholly indecipherable to the naked eye.  So look closely:

1. If the football playoffs started today, here’s where we would be — Searn’s Board
2. Somebody’s handing out gold stars to cross countriers — Holland Sentinel
3. Nobody can touch Portage Central volleyball — Kalamazoo Gazette
4. Grand Haven cross country’s got remarkable depth — Muskegon Chronicle
5. So does EGR girls swimming — Grand Rapids Press
6. The trendy pick for a title goes down to DCD — Muskegon Chronicle
7. EGR tennis gets in on the action, winning O-K White tourney — Grand Rapids Press
8. Don Baese Invitational in the books, who won? — Grand Rapids Press
9. Pic=1,000 words, so this football link=1,000,000 words — Grand Rapids Press
10. It’s a shame, but kinda cool that the dude was from W.Mich — Mlive.com

Got a tip/link/question for West Michigan Allstar?  Email westmiallstar@gmail.com, facebook us, or follow us on Twitter.