For the last five seasons Grand Haven and Spring Lake have met in what has become an annual holiday match up between the two.  For the fifth straight year the Grand Haven Buccaneers have emerged victorious. This year the Buccaneers wasted no time getting after it scoring the first 11 points of the contest and outscoring the Spring Lake Lakers 21-10 in the first quarter. Spring Lake played from behind the whole night only managing to cut the lead down to 6 in the second after Michael Zietlow cashed in on an and one attempt after carelessly being fouled about seven feet away from the basket. Grand Haven managed to more effectively get close to the rim tonight allowing them to shoot 60 percent from the field going 24-40 which was comparatively better than the Lakers 41 percent on 13-31 shooting. The great start and terrific shooting night for the Buccaneers led them to a 20 point win Tuesday night 63-43.

Stars of the Night

Alex Eidson – The 6’2” guard effectively quarterbacked the Buccaneers tonight finding his way into the lane to hit mid-range jumpers or dishing it to the open man for an easy score. Eidson started at the point and looked to dribble-drive into the lane as far as the defense would allow before he quickly unleashed his jump shot. Eidson looks for the opportunity to drive on a defender while monitoring the floor for an open teammate. When neither of those options are what Eidson is looking for the Senior had no problem launching up a three in a defenders face. Eidson led all scorers on the night with 19 which included a buzzer-beating field goal with his toe on the line as the half expired to give Grand Haven even more momentum to take into the locker room. As mentioned Eidson didn’t just score into tonight’s game he consistently found teammates like Jeremy Lattig for easy buckets and played great defensively swarming into Laker passing lanes all night.

Austin Johnson – Junior Austin Johnson led the Lakers with 13 points tonight. Johnson used his superior size as a guard to penetrate into the depths of Grand Havens defense which led to high percentage shots and trips to the foul line. Johnson did well tonight when guarding fellow star of the night Eidson. Johnson kept Eidson out of the lane and forced Eidson to find a teammate or attempt a three pointer on most occasions when defending the rival guard. Johnson’s best quarter came in the third where he scored six points. At this point Johnson really began to effectively maneuver into the lane and force the Buccaneer defense to follow or give up an easy shot. If the junior can add a little more quickness to his step their may not be many defenses that will be able to keep him away from the net and off the scorers sheet.

The Cardinal lineup was unable to get a hit until the top of the 5th inning and were baffled by Keller all night long. That 5th inning was the only speed bump Keller had after the first inning on his way to a dominating 126 pitch win to kick off the double header. OV countered rather nicely actually with their own Keller on the hill as Shawn Keller pitched a great game as well. The first inning was also the trouble spot for S. Keller however after recording two quick outs he walked Ryan Walling on 5 pitches. A Texas league single over the shortstops head by Michael Dillingham moved Walling up to second and then JP Batts crushed a single through the hole between third and short to drive in Walling and give the Lakers all the run support they would need.

A Logan Pellegrom rocked an RBI tripple off the wall in left to give the Lakers the insurance run that ended up being icing on the cake as this night was all about Nick Keller and his dominating performance.

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.

Fremont came into the game, ready for an all out brawl. With the help of Fremont Schools, the student section was able to get a bus ride down to Spring Lake to support their Packers. “These two student sections are the best in the area; not just the conference, the whole area.” Core went on to say. With both student sections boasting their best chants; while taking pot shots at one another along the way; this game had a different feel to it. The winner would be determined by who could do a better job of honing the adrenaline and playing sound, fundamental basketball. Both teams were doing a fantastic job of feeding off their well-voiced student sections. The black out by Laker students was the final touch that truly set them (just slightly) ahead in terms of intimidation. The battle of Core’s Crazies vs. the Grateful Red was only outshone by the phenomenal game that also took place.

The game started with Fremont jumping out to a quick 4-0 lead, before Spring Lake was late to start, but held a 16-13 lead after the first quarter. Michael Hankinson of the Lakers had 9 points in the first quarter. The Packers scoring was a bit more spread out, with Sophomore Mike Seigel dropping 5 first quarter points to lead the way. When Spring Lake realized it could out-rebound the smaller Fremont post players, the Lakers began looking to shoot much more often than visiting Fremont. After a better defensive effort out of both teams in the second quarter, the teams went into halftime with Spring Lake leading 26-24. Spring Lake hit on 10 of their 21 first half two point shots, while Fremont connected on 7 of their 9. Fremont was a bit more adventurous with their shot selection, and actually ended the first half with more three-point attempts (10) than two-point (9). The Packers hit 3 from distance, while Spring Lake only got one of their five attempts to fall. Tyler Goeglein had six points in the first half for the Lakers, while senior guard Tyler Krim led Fremont with 9. Both teams made half of their respective foul shots, with Spring Lake attempting 6, and Fremont trying only twice.

The second half picked up right where the first half had left off. The fans were loud; the teams were excited. The third quarter was again a struggle of the two mighty defenses. With a 38-35 advantage heading into the fourth, the Lakers were more than willing to slow things down and finish the game at their own tempo. Fremont had other plans. The Packers still had plenty of fight, and even more to play for. As the lead narrowly expanded for Spring Lake, the shots started raining from all over by the three-point happy Packers of Fremont. The visiting Packers finished with 9 successful three-pointers out of 21 attempts. Even with under a minute to go, and the lead seemingly insurmountable, Fremont fought hard to stay within striking distance. Fremont’s Krim had 13 in the final quarter, including three three-pointers and a clutch basket-and-foul scenario for an old fashioned three-point play. Krim was the game’s leading scorer with 24. Krim also hit a three pointer as time expired to set the final score at 56-55. Hankinson of Spring Lake finished with 22 points.

Spring Lake won’t have a game Tuesday, but will face Grant next Friday. Fremont will try to rebound from the loss next Friday against Muskegon-Orchard View.

Some schools have spoken up and here is your chance, get your friends together and vote for the game you want WMA to cover for you. You can only vote once so make it count and get your friends to help out. For Tuesday games the poll will end on the Sunday before and for Friday games the polls will close on the Wednesday before the games.

Feel free to suggest up-coming games to be included in the poll at westmiallstar@gmail.com.

Some schools have spoken up and here is your chance, get your friends together and vote for the game you want WMA to cover for you. You can only vote once so make it count and get your friends to help out. For Tuesday games the poll will end on the Sunday before and for Friday games the polls will close on the Wednesday before the games.

Feel free to suggest up-coming games to be included in the poll at westmiallstar@gmail.com.

You the fans of West Michigan came out strong with your votes for tonight’s Game of the Night and Spring Lake was the beneficiary all around. The Lakers trailed by one after the 1^st quarter but soon set sail and left Grant behind. The Tigers couldn’t match the Lakers effort throughout and had no answer for sophomore Austin Johnson who had a massive game.

Spring Lake really began to settle down in the 2^nd quarter knocking down 3 tripples and getting to the line a handful of times to extend their lead. Senior Jaren Miller rattled in 10 points including two 3’s while Michael Hankinson controlled the paint with his height in the first half. Grant senior Travis Male did his best to keep the Tigers alive with a trio of threes and 11 points overall but it wasn’t enough as the Lakers had 7 point lead at the half.

A late 3^rd quarter surge by Grant was paced by Colten Wright, Alex Walters and Jake Anderson who all scored in double figures along with Male. Unfortunately for the Tigers, and for the majority of the Lakes 8 for that matter, there was no answer for Austin Johnson. The super sophomore scored early and often and ruled the boards down the stretch of the game to seal it for Spring Lake. Johnson finished with 25 points and 15 boards, including 3 threes of his own in the most dominating performance that I have seen all season long.

Hankinson finished with 11 points and senior Logan Pellegrom snatched 7 boards for the Lakers who went home with a 66-52 Lakes 8 win. The Lakers now sit at 6-3, (4-2) in league play while Grant falls to 3-5 (3-3). If you would like to see you school covered in WMA’s game of the night check out our rankings and polls tab and vote for your school in our twice weekly polls. You can only vote once so spreading the word is the key!

All photos provided by David Chandler Photography. If you’d like to see more or even purchase your own high quality prints check out his gallery.

Some schools have spoken up and here is your chance, get your friends together and vote for the game you want WMA to cover for you. You can only vote once so make it count and get your friends to help out. For Tuesday games the poll will end on the Sunday before and for Friday games the polls will close on the Wednesday before the games.

Feel free to suggest up-coming games to be included in the poll at westmiallstar@gmail.com. Don’t forget that you can vote on Tuesday Jan 18th’s games right here.

With Christmas behind us here at WMA we shake the sugar buzz and give you a recap of all the action while we’ve been out. There weren’t many games played over the last week and many teams won’t fire it up until they get back from break but we did have a few important games over the last 10 days or so.

Holland 71 West Ottawa 61: Holland junior guard Trent Windemuller leads the state in made 3’s with 16. He was vital in this game after going down early with a hip injury. The Dutch are fighting hard as West Ottawa comes down from a hot start. Jorddan Myrick was dealing with a hand injury over the last week or so but appears to be fine.

Muskegon 50 Ottawa Hills 44: The Big Reds had to battle back from a first half largely dominated by Ottawa Hills. Defense and attention to detail were just the trick as Muskegon escaped with their second tough road win of the season.

Comstock Park 63 Belding 53: Ty Mason has this team rolling and also happens to be leading the state in made free throws. At 4-0 Park looks to keep it rolling in the OK Blue.

Grand Haven 54 Spring Lake 43: The “Drawbridge Classic’’ goes to the Bucs for the 4th year in a row but the Lakers put up a fight. The cross town rivalry although out of conference is always a big match-up for both teams. Grand Haven fell down early but used their larger inside presence to out rebound Spring Lake and take the game over down the stretch.

Wayland 54 Plainwell 48: What can we say really Wayland keeps rolling with a balanced attack and hands Plainwell their first loss of the year.

Rockford 60 Warren DeLaSalle 64 OT: Rockford loses yet another heart breaker to a good team. The rams have stumbled out of the gate but remain at 1-1 in the OK Red and look to make noise before we put a bow on this 2010-11 season. Look for our report of Rockford’s early season woes.

We will keep our hands on the pulse of West Michigan all throughout the Holidays and the rest of the season including coverage of tonight’s Cornerstone tournament out at Cornerstone University beginning at 6pm.

(Photo Courtesy of David Chandler Photography)

With a good number of teams tipping off their season last night we wanted to take the time to recap you on some of the action you may have missed while out cheering for your school. Sloppy action is to be expected in the first game of the year as teams are still learning how to play together and many kids are seeing their first Varsity action. West Michigan saw both sides of that coin last night with some great play and some teams still working out the wrinkles.

We open with what many of us saw as a couple of upsets right away with defending Lakes 8 conference champion Ludington facing off with the Spartans of Mason County Central and the lakeshore’s Holland vs Holland Christian game. Up in Ludington, Mason County walked a tight line with David Soraci playing the majority of the second half with four fouls yet was able to finish it out and pour in 22 for the Spartans. In the other eye opening game we had Holland Christian in our top ten teams in West Michigan but it was the Dutch coming up with a huge early season victory. The Dutch used a 22 to 11 fourth quarter to pass by the Maroons paced by Trent Windemuller who flipped in five 3′s to lead Holland to an impressive win at home, 51-43.

Speaking of 3′s, Matt Erbes four tripples were just enough for Mona Shores to outlast Whitehall, 43-41. The close games didn’t end there as South Christian snuck by Wyoming Park 80 to 74. West Ottawa and Zeeland East played about as close a game as you can play. The Panthers only outscored the Chix by 2 in the first quarter and 2 in the fourth to eek out a 4 point win and get their season rolling. WMA will be out at the West Ottawa vs Holland Christian on Friday to see if the Maroons can rebound or if the Panthers can keep it going early on.

West Michigan also saw it’s share of blowouts last night as Wayland Union extended their regular season winning streak with a 92 to 68 win over Hopkins. Muskegon Heights scored a 21 point victory over Big Rapids 70 to 49 as Deontae Hudson led the Tigers with 15 points and seven rebounds. Comstock Park was led by Ty Mason’s 25 point effort in their 74 to 42 victory over Kent City. Closing out the routs of the night was Spring Lake’s 59 to 43 win over Allendale. Trevor Tidswell dropped 23 for the Lakers while sophomore Austin Johnson (who we warned you about) went for 11 points and grabbed 8 rebounds.

Stick with WMA throughout the season as we work to bring you the coverage you want to see. We will have weekly top ten rankings every Monday as well as some other interactive features for the fans of West Michigan!