The second half of the conference season is here, and it’s time to start the march toward crowning league champs and play in the MHSAA postseason. We have a big Friday night of double header hoops action to help jumpstart he second half – PLUS some more big action coming up in NCAA play Saturday as ‘The Rivalry’ is back on MSR again!

 

BONUS – THURSDAY

Manton vs McBain (Girls) – Start your weekend out a night early with some girls hoops action from Manton as 10-2 Manton battles 9-1 McBain in a game between the 32 and 3 teams in the Highland Conference!

 

FRIDAY

GRCC vs GR CHRISTIAN (Girls + Boys)

Here’s a big DH on both sides of the draw. First, the #5 team in or latest RE/MAX United Power Poll (GRCC) look for a bounce back after they ell to South Christian on Tuesday, and the Eagles look to get back above .500 after they fell on the road to Grandville on Tuesday.

Then, in boys action the eagles look to bounce back after they also fell on the road to Grandville Tuesday, they’ll have to take down our poll’s #7 Cougars who also currently sit perched alone atop the conference a half game up on GRC at 5-0 (vs GRC’s 5-1 mark). The Cougars are on a rare 2 game skid dropping their last two to Detroit MLK and South Christian, so this is a big night for all four teams in action looking to pick up critical bouncer back wins.

 

GRANT vs NEWAYGO (Girls+Boys)

The hunt for the CSAA-Red title is on, and will be in full force Friday night in this DH clash. First on the girls side it’s #2 vs #2 in the league as 5-1 Newaygo and 4-2 Grant clash. Then on the boys side, Grant has bounced back with 2 wins in a row after dropping their first two games of the year last week, they sit alone and perfect atop the conference, however, at 6-0. We’ll see if 3-3 Newaygo can put the first blemish in grant’s conference season, or if the Tigers march on.

 

ROCKFORD vs GRAND HAVEN (Girls+Boys)

The premier DH of our night will feature top 10 RE/MAX Power Poll games for both the girls and boys. First, it’s the #1 Rams and #3 Bucs ladies going head to head for the second time this season, the Rams picked up a solid statement win on their home floor 60-48 last time (Still GH’s only loss of the year)  – we’ll see if the Bucs have an answer for Miss Basketball frontrunner Anna Wypych and the Rams this time.

The Bucs boys climbed into our top 10 this week and sit at 11-3 overall on the year, their biggest loss was to the #1 Rams, who beat them 76-37 the first time around. Don’t expect the same type of result here, GH has an ability to play very quickly and typically match the turnover inducing pressure of the Rams, could be an intense back and forth game this time around.

 

GRANDVILLE vs EAST KENTWOOD (Girls+Boys)

The Bulldogs travel to EK on Friday, the first time around the teams split as the EK girls and Grandville boys came out with the wins. The Grandville girls will look to keep up some momentum after they won a close one vs GR Christian on Tuesday, EK have lost 5 out of their last 6 against a very difficult stretch of schedule and Friday will be an important game for them to pick up a conference win and start to build some stretch momentum of their own.

The Grandville boys used a unique zone defense to slow the Falcons last time around and earn a 54-50 win in the first game of the 2025 calendar year. The Dawgs snapped a 6 game losing streak with now back-to-back wins over Reeths Puffer and GR Christian and are playing closer to their potential, the Falcons (one of the state’s youngest teams) have now dropped 4-in-a-row to a murderers’ row schedule (including the state’s #1 team UD Jesuit on Tuesday. Expect a hard-fought and intense second chapter in both games at Kentwood.

 

MANTON vs MCBAIN (Boys)

It’s boys action from Manton on Friday, as the 2-12 Rangers battle 12-1 McBain, who sit atop the Highland Conference standings at 9-1. Tune in to see if the Rangers can pull off the home floor upset.

 

COOPERSVILLE vs GREENVILLE (Boys)

Greenville is the lone unbeaten team left in the GR-Area and will put that record to the test vs the Broncos who are 8-6 on the season and always a very tricky test. We’ll see if the 16-0 Jackets can handle the tricky zone and grinding Broncos offense that has plenty of talent of their own.

 

WEST OTTAWA vs HUDSONVILLE (Boys)

Hudsonville has been a top 5 team in our power poll all season and have a tough conference test vs a young and building West Ottawa team that features a ton of talent and athletes all over the floor. Look for WO to push the pace with their deep assortment of guard talent and the Eagles will likely be willing to match with their area-best wing play that can score and defend in a variety of ways to compliment a deep group of guards of their own.

 

SATURDAY – ‘THE RIVALRY’

After earning a back-and-forth thrilling win in Holland and then taking down the nation’s number two team (Trine) on the the road on Tuesday the Knights are rolling and look to earn a season sweep of their arch rival Flying Dutchman. We’ll have video coverage from Van Noord Arena as Bob Sack and Mike LeFebre bring the action, starting at 2:45pm.

 

Enjoy the action all weekend along! Check back in Monday here on the site along with across social media, as we’ll be releasing our next power polls!