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Add commentWest Michigan Roundup, District Quarterfinals
West Michigan Roundup, District Quarterfinals
Best Win: Bridgman over Cassopolis 44-40 (OT)
Cassopolis entered district play riding a 15 game winning streak. The Rangers had a tough draw facing (12-8) Bridgman who defeated Cassopolis earlier in the season by 16 points. Cassopolis led by four points heading into the fourth quarter, but Bridgman tied it up sending the game into overtime. Bridgman’s Nate Necas hit a three-pointer with :17 left in overtime to take a 42-40 lead while Jayce Warren iced the game at the line hitting two free throws to defeat Cassopolis by four points.
Next Best: Harper Creek over Pennfield 63-58
Harper Creek defeated Pennfield for the third time this season. Pennfield entered district play (14-6) looking to restore the magic from last postseason where they ended up playing in the state title game. The Beavers of Harper Creek drained ten first-half three-pointers to open up a 14 point lead. Pennfield clawed all the way back to trail by one point, but in the end, came up just short in the comeback bid. Pennfield senior Luke Davis scored 37 points in the game leading the Panthers while Ben Shafer scored 24 points for the Beavers.
Starting Five (Notable Games):
1. Coopersville 46, Union 42
Coopersville went on the road and defeated Union on the opening night of district play. In my predictions, I had chosen Union as they had recently defeated Reeths-Puffer and have one of the best players in the area in Genesis Kemp. Coopersville proved me wrong and pulled off the mild upset led by Luke Sanford’s 16 points while Mark Devries added 14 points. The Broncos will have a tough task on Wednesday facing (18-3) Grand Haven.
2. Grand Haven 69, Reeths-Puffer 57
In one of the best games of the night in West Michigan, Grand Haven was able to defeat Reeths-Puffer. Grand Haven senior guard Bashir Neely led scorers with 30 points including 13 points in the fourth quarter. Grand Haven is a veteran team that stumbled at the end of the regular season, but clearly is not a team anyone wants to play in the postseason. Reeths-Puffer had a successful (13-8) season and exceeded expectations with their young roster. Grand Haven will face Coopersville on Wednesday night.
3. Byron Center 54, East Kentwood 53
The Bulldogs of Byron Center pulled off their first postseason victory since March 6th, 2017, a game that I was in attendance for, back when Brayden Smith was leading the squad. Byron Center, an extremely young team this season finished the regular season with a (5-15) record. East Kentwood finished (6-14) under the direction of interim head coach Rob Roelofs. I did not expect Byron Center to defeat East Kentwood as they have lost nearly every meeting in the past ten years between the two schools. Nonetheless, the Bulldogs advance to the district semi-final where they will face East Grand Rapids.
4. BC Lakeview 72, BC Central 69 (2OT)
BC Lakeview continues to stay hot, winning their third game in the past five. The Spartans escaped a double-overtime thriller over BC Central to advance to the semi-finals where they will face Kalamazoo Central who defeated them in both meetings this season. K-Central has been susceptible to upsets this season, so it will be interesting to see what happens on Wednesday.
5. Godwin Heights 87, Kelloggsville 78 (OT)
Godwin Heights avenged a two-point loss to Kelloggsville by defeating them in overtime in the opening round of district play. Junior star Jakhary Towns scored 31 points to lead the Wolverines to victory. Senior center Jeremiah Drake had a productive game as well scoring 21 points while grabbing 12 rebounds. Godwin will have a tough matchup on Wednesday as they will play (16-4) GR Christian.
Top Performances:
-Luke Davis (Pennfield, Sr.): 37 pts
-Javion Otten (Kenowa Hills, Jr.): 31 pts
-Jakhary Towns (Godwin Hts, Jr.): 31 pts, 3 ast, 5 reb
-Bashir Neely (Grand Haven, Sr.): 30 pts
-Jesse Baushke (Decatur, Jr.): 28 pts
-Brayden Wilkerson (NorthPointe, Sr.): 28 pts
-Jaxson Whitaker (Reeths-Puffer, So.): 27 pts
-Jayce Warren (Bridgman, Sr.): 26 pts
-Ashton Atwater (Otsego, Sr.): 26 pts
-Ben Shafer (Harper Creek, Sr.): 24 pts
-Evan Breuker (Kenowa Hills, Sr.): 23 pts
-Nick Henry (Caledonia, Sr.): 22 pts, 10 reb
-JJ Stevens (Sturgis, Sr.): 21 pts
-Aiden Crawford (BC Lakeview, Sr.): 21 pts
-Jeremiah Drake (Godwin Hts, Sr.): 21 pts, 12 reb
-Kyler Vanderjagt (Northview, Sr.): 20 pts, 5 ast, 4 stl
-Caleb Dean (Jenison, Sr.): 19 pts
-Trey Johnson (Grandville, Sr.): 18 pts
-EJ Ryans (Northview, So.): 17 pts
-Luke Sanford (Coopersville, Sr.): 16 pts
-Arjun Taylor (East GR, Jr.): 15 pts
Game I Attended:
Eaton Rapids 41, Charlotte 39
The first district quarterfinal was a matchup between two CAAC-White teams. They had split the season series with Eaton Rapids winning the most recent meeting. It was Charlotte taking an early 13-9 lead after the first quarter. Eaton Rapids had got off to a slow start shooting the ball as they went 2-13 from the field in Q1. In the second quarter, Eaton Rapids senior Trey Orr took over scoring 11 points including three three-pointers to help give his team a 23-20 halftime lead. Both team's key players barely saw the floor in the third quarter as Zane Kemp of Eaton Rapids picked up his third foul less than a minute into the quarter while Braden Hill of Charlotte picked up his third just over two minutes into Q3. In a low-scoring third quarter, Charlotte shot just 1-14 from the field while Eaton Rapids senior guard Trey Acker knocked down a late three to expand the lead to eight points, their largest of the game. Eaton Rapids had Zane Kemp back in the game to start the fourth quarter and the offense began to thrive leading 36-29 halfway through the quarter. Things began to unravel after a quick 4-0 run to pull Charlotte within one possession with 2:25 to play. Charlotte’s Ben Buzzard drained a three-pointer with 1:39 to play to pull within a point trailing 37-36. Following an Eaton Rapids basket, Charlotte soph. guard Cutler Brandt nailed a three-pointer to tie the game at 39. Charlotte fouled Eaton Rapids and sent Trey Orr to the line who missed the front end of a one-and-one. Charlotte had the ball in a tie game holding for the final shot. Their star junior Braden Hill drove to the basket and was fouled with :02 left. He made both free throws to lead 41-39, and the full court pass by Eaton Rapids was intercepted securing the comeback win for Charlotte. Cutler Brandt led Charlotte with 13 points while Koda Brandt added 9 points. Eaton Rapids was led by Trey Acker’s 12 points and Trey Orr’s 11 points.
Harper Creek 63, Pennfield 58
The Harper Creek/Pennfield rivalry added a third edition of the season with Pennfield still looking for their first win over the Beavers this year. Harper Creek opened up a quick 13-7 lead starting out 4-4 from 3PT. They led 18-10 with 1:31 left in the quarter after Zane Bowling’s third three-pointer of the night while Luke Davis had all of Pennfield’s points. Pennfield battled back to trail 18-14 after the first quarter. The Beavers started the second quarter on a 10-2 run to open up their largest lead of the game at 28-16. Ben Shafer was unstoppable in the second quarter scoring 11 points on 4-7 FG including three three-pointers. The Harper Creek lead was 38-26 at halftime. The lead was still 14 points with 2:23 left in the third quarter when Pennfield’s Aiden Burns his second three-pointer of the night to pull within 11 points. Pennfield began to gain momentum and after some free throws from Luke Davis, they trailed 48-41 entering the final quarter. In the fourth quarter, a Luke Davis and-one cut the deficit to just four points trailing 50-46. The critical point in the game came when Pennfield trailed by four with just over three minutes remaining and had the ball stolen by Chris Castle who scored in transition and was fouled extending the Harper Creek lead back to seven points. Pennfield did not quit and trailed 55-51 with 1:28 remaining following a Luke Davis basket. They fouled Chris Castle who would split a pair at the line and then Luke Davis scored again to cut the deficit back to three points. Harper Creek answered to lead 58-53, but Davis scored again to make it a three-point game with :48 left. Harper Creek split another pair at the line while Pennfield’s Aiden Burns answered with a three to pull within one point. The Beavers Chris Castle made both free throws forcing Pennfield to take a three for the tie. Aiden Burns attempted a contested three from the corner and missed, ending the Panthers season. Harper Creek advances to the semi-finals led by 24 points from Ben Shafer and 13 points from Chris Castle. Pennfield’s Luke Davis put on a historic performance scoring 37 points in the defeat while Aiden Burns scored 11 points. Pennfield came up just short of the comeback and lacked the depth of Harper Creek. The Panthers only had two players score in the final quarter with Luke Davis scoring 14 points and Aiden Burns scoring 3 points. Harper Creek is a dangerous veteran team that will likely beat Olivet on Wednesday and get another crack at Marshall.
Division 1:
District 9
FH Central 88, Greenville 44
FH Northern 49, Cedar Springs 41
Northview 77, Lowell 51
District 10
Coopersville 46, GR Union 42
Grand Haven 69, Reeths-Puffer 57
Kenowa Hills 67, Mona Shores 54
District 11
Grandville 57, Zeeland West 46
Jenison 58, Holland 53 (OT)
West Ottawa 42, Zeeland East 31
District 12
Byron Center 54, East Kentwood 53
Caledonia 55, Ottawa Hills 48
East GR 49, Middleville TK 36
District 13
Mattawan 52, Portage Northern 42
St. Joseph 46, Sturgis 37
District 14
BC Lakeview 72, BC Central 69 (2OT)
Gull Lake 72, Loy Norrix 41
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Division 2:
District 41
Montague 45, Fruitport 39
Spring Lake 59, Orchard View 32
District 42
Sparta 60, Comstock Park 33
District 43
FH Eastern 53, Allendale 46
West Catholic 68, Wyoming Lee 16
District 44
Godwin Heights 87, Kelloggsville 78 (OT)
WM Aviation 66, Grand River Prep 51
District 45
Hastings 67, Allegan 50
Wayland 47, Hopkins 36
District 46
Coloma 51, South Haven 44
District 47
Vicksburg 50, Constantine 39
District 48
Otsego 64, Plainwell 39
District 50
Charlotte 41, Eaton Rapids 39
Harper Creek 63, Pennfield 58
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Division 3:
District 75
NorthPointe Christian 84, Saranac 57
District 76
Fennville 65, Black River 39
Potter’s House Chr. 56, Saugatuck 24
District 77
Galesburg Aug. 60, Delton-Kellogg 46
Hackett Cath. 57, Maple Valley 38
District 78
Decatur 54, Bangor 20
District 79
Bridgman 44, Cassopolis 40 (OT)
District 80
Reading 43, Quincy 39
Union City 59, White Pigeon 56
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Division 4:
District 114
Martin 52, Zion Christian 45 (OT)
District 115
Gobles 55, Heritage Christian 43
Howardsville Chr. 52, Marcellus 33
District 116
River Valley 73, Michigan Lutheran 58
Lake Mich. Cath. 70, BH Countryside 59