West Michigan Roundup, Tuesday 2/1/22

Best Win: Otsego over Gull Lake 74-52

Otsego picked up a huge home victory defeating (8-4) Gull Lake by 22 points. The Bulldogs were led by 17 points each from Ashton Atwater and Jacob Zartman. Otsego, along with everyone in the Wolverine Conference has been tough to evaluate this season as they have all beat up on each other. This win marks four straight victories for Otsego following an overtime loss to Byron Center. The Bulldogs are off until next week when they will face Sturgis and Plainwell.

Next Best: Northview 66, Reeths-Puffer 48

Northview stays unbeaten improving to (11-0) with an 18 point victory over Reeths-Puffer. The loss was Reeths-Puffer's largest loss of the season with 11 points being the previous number set by Zeeland West. Northview was led by Kyler Vanderjagt’s 31 points while E.J. Ryans added 13. Reeths-Puffer sophomore Travis Ambrose led the Rockets with 20 points in the defeat. Northview will continue their busy week with a road game at FH Northern on Friday followed by a highly-anticipated matchup against Brother Rice in the Showcase on Saturday.

Starting Five (Notable Games):

1. Kenowa Hills 58, Coopersville 56 (OT)

While most teams have played 10-12 games at this point in the season, Kenowa Hills played their 8th game tonight. The Knights were hit with the covid-bug in early January and are finally getting back into the swing of things. Starting the week off with an overtime victory over Coopersville is a great way to begin a three-game week. It was Javion Otten leading the way with 29 points for the Knights as they improved to (5-3). Coopersville drops their third straight game and will look to end the skid on Friday at Holland Christian. Kenowa Hills will play South Christian on Wednesday in a makeup game.

2. Buchanan 61, Dowagiac 36

Buchanan topped a short-handed Dowagiac team in a blowout victory. The Bucks are one of the hottest teams in the area with six straight wins after a (1-5) start. Senior Ryan Young has been crucial to their success, putting up insane numbers. Young led the Bucks with 20 points tonight. Buchanan will look to keep the streak going on Friday against South Haven.

3. Marshall 77, Portage Central 74

Portage Central gave Marshall all they could handle falling by three points on the road. A loss to Marshall isn’t a bad loss for Portage Central as Marshall is now (12-1) and ranked #8 in the state for Division Two. Portage Central drops to (7-6) and will look to bounce back against Mattawan on Friday.

4. BH Countryside 73, River Valley 66

Countryside picks up their biggest win of the season on the road facing (8-2) River Valley. The Cougars avenged a two-point home loss in the first game of the season to River Valley back in December. It was senior Rylee Carter leading Countryside with 27 points, helping the Cougars improve to (7-3). Countryside will host Lawrence on Friday while River Valley will host New Buffalo in a marquee game.

5. Watervliet 58, Kalamazoo Christian 51

The game of the night across Southwest MI featured a SAC crossover matchup between (9-1) Watervliet and (9-3) K-Christian. Watervliet’s hot start to the game helped them withstand a K-Christian comeback as the Panthers led by 19 at one point in the first half. Watervliet will move into a clear second place in my D3-D4 rankings jumping K-Christian. The Panther's lone blemish this season occurred at Coloma where they lost by seven points to a mediocre Comets team.

Top Performances:

-Kyler Vanderjagt (Northview, Sr.): 31 pts

-Grant Gondrezick II (Benton Harbor, Jr.): 31 pts

-Ke’Marion Tucker (BC Central, Jr.): 30 pts

-Javion Otten (Kenowa Hills, Jr.): 29 pts

-Rylee Carter (BH Countryside, Sr.): 27 pts

-Tyler DeGroote (Schoolcraft, Sr.): 25 pts, 10 reb

-Kylon Wilson (BC Central, Sr.): 25 pts

-Chase Mitchell (Lawton, Sr.): 25 pts

-Davion Goins (Cassopolis, Sr.): 24 pts

-Kaden Johnson (Hartford, Sr.): 23 pts, 10 reb

-Trucel Singleton (Benton Harbor, Sr.): 23 pts

-Shane Rykse (Schoolcraft, So.): 23 pts

-Travis Ambrose (Reeths-Puffer So.): 20 pts

-Ryan Young (Buchanan, Sr.): 20 pts

-Jackson Van Hekken (Holland, Sr.): 17 pts

-Ashton Atwater (Otsego, Sr.): 17 pts

-Jacob Zartman (Otsego, Sr.): 17 pts

-Kofi Barima (Parchment, Sr.): 17 pts

-Carson DeHaan (Calvin Christian, Jr.): 16 pts

-EJ Ryans (Northview, So.): 13 pts

Game I Attended: Watervliet 58, K-Christian 51

A highly-anticipated SAC crossover matchup brought me to Kalamazoo Christian to see Watervliet for the first time this season. Watervliet jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead after three minutes of play and expanded that lead to 25-9 by the end of the first quarter. The Panthers were knocking down everything as they went 11-19 from the field in the first quarter. Junior Tyson Williams went a perfect 5-5 FG for 10 points, outscoring the Comets by himself. K-Christian fell further behind trailing 32-13 with under five minutes to play in the half. They went into the locker room trailing 36-22. The Comets began a comeback charge late in the third quarter after three pointer’s from Lucas Stecker and Ethan Bouma cut the deficit to seven points trailing 46-39. Watervliet’s Andrew Chisek made a layup to extend the lead back up to nine points entering the final quarter. K-Christian trailed by seven points with 4:14 remaining with a score of 52-45. The Comet's comeback bid would fall short as they could not hit enough shots in the fourth quarter despite Watervliet missing six free throws in the final frame. Watervliet improved to (10-1) led by balanced scoring from Tyson Williams (17 pts), Andrew Chisek (16 pts), and Kaden Bierhalter (15 pts). K-Christian was led by JJ Manion and Brandon DeVries both with 16 points. This game told me a lot about Watervliet and how talented they are this season. The Coloma loss seems like a fluke and the Panthers are clearly the number two small school in the area. Watervliet will have a difficult road to the Breslin Center with one of the most stacked districts in the state, but Dan Hoff and his team will be well prepared as always.

OK Conf.

Calvin Christian 56, Muskegon WMC 46

Covenant Christian 68, Wayland 48

GR Christian 82, Greenville 19

Holland 66, South Haven 30

Kenowa Hills 58, Coopersville 56 (OT)

NorthPointe Chr. 69, Belding 42

Northview 66, Reeths-Puffer 48

Sparta 53, Kent City 41

Southwest MI D1-D2

Benton Harbor 87, BC Central 79

Berrien Springs 63, Andrews Acad. 33

Buchanan 61, Dowagiac 36

Charlotte 58, Mattawan 54

Fennville 35, Coloma 29

Harper Creek 84, Vicksburg 67

Holland 66, South Haven 30

Holt 54, Loy Norrix 47

Marshall 77, Portage Central 74

Niles Brandywine 65, Paw Paw 38

Otsego 74, Gull Lake 52

Parchment 67, Constantine 21

St. Joseph 44, Niles 42

Three Rivers 56, Portage Northern 53

Tri-County 78, Allegan 63

Southwest MI D3-D4

Bellevue 66, Climax-Scotts 32

BH Countryside 73, River Valley 66

Cassopolis 88, Hartford 54

Centreville 68, Decatur 41

Hackett Cath. 43, Galesburg-Augusta 34

Lawrence 57, St. Joe Lake MI Cath. 50

Lawton 67, Martin 41

Mendon 60, Bangor 34

Saugatuck 48, Gobles 47

Schoolcraft 78, Delton-Kellogg 48

St. Joe MI Lutheran 47, Howardsville Chr. 44

Watervliet 58, K-Christian 51