A look at the CSAA title race (Girls)
The Cardinals and Eagles seem to be the frontrunners thus far and will play what looks to be a huge game next week Tuesday in Cardinal country. We’ll know more about the Hornets after the next few games and Morley hasn’t played well against tough competition. Grant seems on the edge of taking that next step but still runs a bit cold now and then. Lots to learn in the next couple of weeks. And bonus! The teams will play a conference tourney before the state tourney. Should be fun. Big Rapids 3-0 9-1 The Cardinals began the season with an 8 game winning streak before the height advantaged Covenant Christian squad shut down their offense holding a team averaging 50 a game to 35 including just 11 second half points. BR has beaten up the conference teams so far but they have yet to play any of the teams in the top tier of the league, a situation that changes in the next 2 weeks when they play CM and Grant on the road and Kent City at home. Haist and Gorczewicz lead a pack of talent and Warren keeps getting better by the game, but no one is going to hand them the crown and there are 4 teams waiting in the wings for a shot at the preseason fave. Kent City 4-0 9-2 The Eagles are likely the best team in the conference right now. Their high octane offense was smothered in the opener against D1 powerhouse (and undefeated) Lowell and a week later another D1 school delivered a loss. Since then? 8 wins in a row including hauling hardware at the Cornerstone Classic, winning three conference games by an average of over 50 points and knocking off two state ranked teams in Hart and Fowler. The toughest non con schedule in the D3 universe has served them well and from this perspective the road to the title runs through Kent City Central Montcalm 4-0 6-5 The Hornets look ok. But just ok. They’ve lost to a couple of good teams and beaten the teams they should best. Their next 3 will be tough with perennial powerhouse P-W on the road and CSAA foes BR and Grant at home. They will need one of those conference wins to stay in the race. Lose both and they will be playing for a better seed in the conference tourney. Morley Stanwood 4-1 7-2 While I am acutely aware of how difficult it is to win basketball games, some are easier than others. The “Hawks are 7-2 but it is a pretty soft 7-2. The distance between MS and Kent City can be seen in the 33 point rout the Eagles put on them a couple games ago. They will continue to win most games they should win but Big Rapids, Hart, and Oakridge remain on the schedule and outside of a season opener win over Grant the ‘Hawks have yet to beat any of the stronger teams they have faced. Grant 4-1 7-3 The Tigers have a talented cadre of players and in addition they have one of the area’s best in Juie Ashbaugh. They dropped an early game to Morley, battled a much taller Spring Lake team before falling short and perhaps had one taken from them in a controversial loss to Montague. They could move up with some key upcoming games next week at CM and home against BR. Should they survive both they close regular season play in Kent City. And nothing brings the talons out in the Eagles like a title game. Reed City 2-2 4-8 Have the Coyotes come alive? After going 1-8 to start the season they have peeled off 3 wins in a row. Granted a couple of those teams aren’t giving opponents much trouble but the OT win over Clare on the road impresses and after averaging well under 40 a game they have found some offense scoring over 50 in all three. They aren't likely to reach .500 but after that start any win is a bonus. White Cloud 1-3 5-4 After a 4-0 start the Cloud hit a roadblock as Mason County Central, Central Montcalm and Big Rapids laid a three pack of beatdowns.. To their credit Coach Wilk’s squad regrouped to beat North Muskegon then battled a solid Grant team before falling short. I like this team. Gomez is becoming one of the area’s best and Reeve plays hard on both ends. They don't score enough to stay with teams like Hart and KC who remain on their schedule but they have a few more wins ahead of them this season and could be a tournament sleeper. Newaygo 1-4 2-8 The Lions have gotten better. They play pretty good defense but are still looking for an offensive catalyst, a shooter who can heat it up from near and far and keep games from getting away. Those are hard to come by especially with few veterans on the varsity. The team seemed to take a step forward staying close to Grant then lost badly to WMC and Morley. It will likely be this way through the season with some progress and a bit of regression at times, but it is after all a rebuilding year and talk about a tough act to follow… Chippewa Hills 0-4 2-8 Speaking of needing some offense…In 5 of their 8 losses Chip Hills failed to make it to 20. In the other 3 they only got over 30 once. How they won twice is a mystery but their best shot at #3 will be this week at Tri County and the regular season finale at Lakeview. Lakeview 0-4 2-9 The Cats can’t stop teams from scoring and can’t score enough to stay with them. A winnable game or three ahead but nothing is going to come easy. Tri County 0-4 1-10 The Vikings have some enthusiastic players but Johnson and Pfeiffer aside, few who can put points in the book. They have been having turnover problems and have trouble getting offensive rebounds. Like the 3 teams above, they have some winnable games and, like the 3 teams above, they are mostly with each other.
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