Zeeland West Takes Thrilling ‘Bird Bowl: Round One’ on Weather-Interrupted Weekend on Michigan Sports Radio

 

By: Nate Dreyer

The idea and hope of a packed two nights of action on MSR ultimately did not come to fruition, as games across the area not moved up to Thursday night faced postponement due to the winter storms that moved through on Friday evening. 

Thursday still saw some great action on MSR, as we saw top matchups from the OK Red, Blue, Gold, and Green.

Dux Defend Packed Home Court

The game of the night came from Zeeland, as a packed night of action featuring a dominant Zeeland West Girls win over East and fun unified game led to a classic in the Zeeland cross-town-classic in the boys contest. In front of a packed gym, without an open seat to be found, and spectators clamoring for any open space around the standing-room-only track atop the gym, Zeeland West got off to a flying start.

After an alley-oop to Indiana State-bound senior Merritt Alderink on the first possession of the ball game the Dux ran past the Chix in the first eight minutes for a 20-8 lead at the end of the first. In a grinding second and third quarter, the Chix slowly started to work on cutting the gap, tightening the margin to 10 at the half and seven going into the final quarter.

But in the fourth East found their groove, eventually eventually turning defense into offense on a steal and feeding their standout Jr wing B.J. Walker for a gym-rocking dunk to take a 42-41 lead with just under three minutes to go. 

The Dux executed perfectly down the stretch, including a massive jam again to go up a couple of scores from Alderink. A three just before the final buzzer from Zeeland East’s Layne Risdon (Michigan Tech commit) would give the game a final of 48-47, as the Dux survived the comeback and won the first round of the ‘Bird Bowl’ on the hardwood.

Layne Risdon led all scorers with 23 points in the contest, B.J. Walker added in 17 more, and ZW was led by Alderink with 15.

Rams Sweep Bulldogs 

The annual ‘Hoops for Haiti’ games at Rockford brough equal intrigue as Grandville’s program made the trip up to their arch-rivals, one night after having to play a DH at West Ottawa due to the impacts of Tuesday’s storm moving their first game of the week back a day.

Rockford’s top-ranked girls rolled again to open the evening, as coach Brad WIlson’s team made it to 9-0 on the campaign with a big 61-26 win. The Rams ladies will face some of their biggest tests next week as they see East Kentwood and Hudsonville, each hungry to take a win from the Mitten’s top girls hoops squad.

The Rockford and Grandville boys each came in as some of the hottest teams in the area, But it was the Rams running away from Grandville by double digits, 61-51. For the Rams, that’s now 5-straight wins and a 3-0 mark in the OK-Red, snapping Grandville’s 6-game streak coming into the contest. Rockford’s sniper senior guard Andrew Landis led all scorers with 24 points, the Bulldogs were led by Cam Regnerus, who chipped in 16 for the ‘Dawgs.

Early OK-Blue Revenge for the Broncos

Coopersville and Hamilton played some of the most notable games last year in their fight for the OK-Blue crown, with Hamilton taking the honors with a buzzer-beater win on the final night of the season last year. 

So far in 2024, it’s an advantage to the Broncos and their tricky zone defense. As they held the Hawkeyes offense to under 40 in a 49-37 win. Coop standout Porter Kretschman had 17 points to lead the Broncos, as Hamilton Center James Hoffman led the ‘Hawks with 15.

Cougars Roll Knights for 3-0 League Start

After a tough schedule and 1-3 non-conference start in December, Coach T.J. Meerman and GR Catholic Central are looking as dangerous as ever, as they stayed in the top spot in the OK-Gold Thursday. The ‘Cougs controlled the ballgame on the road from start to finish, taking down Kenowa Hills 76-37. CC is now 4-3 overall on the season and Kenowa Hills falls to 3-7 with their second-straight loss.

Other Action, Re-Schedules, And Next Week

In non-MSR action, South Christian took to the floor Thursday, as Carson Vis put up 18 points and the Sailors downed Cedar Springs in dominant fashion, 60-19. 

The bulk of the expected action Friday from across the area is currently postponed, with many games still awaiting confirmation on make-up dates. That includes two of the biggest games we may see in the area in 2024, as we will have to wait to see the first editions of Hudsonville vs. East Kentwood in a massive OK-Red battle, along with the two of the absolute best in the OK-White, the area, and the state: Northview & GR Christian. 

Make sure to check in before the action Tuesday, as we’ll have another primer coming on all the midweek battles you can catch on MI Sports Radio, including: Rockford vs.Hudsonville, East Kentwood vs. Grandville and Catholic Central vs. F.H.E.

As always, make sure to stop by and stay up to date on the latest scores and standings, as well as future games and schedules across the area, right here on MichiganSportsRadio.com!