Busy week. N3 will be travelling south all week to bring you the story on the One and Done season that lies ahead. Fremont last made it to the Regionals in 2018 and faces some tough opposition in their quest to return. Newaygo and Grant will go another round and Holton has its eyes on getting that District trophy presented in their home gym. Hesperia’s District has already lost two teams before anyone tips off as host Evart and Pine River bow out with COVID concerns. Lots of excitement ahead and likely a few upsets along the way, so stay in touch. We’ll be bringing home the bacon when it comes to coverage. D2 At Comstock Park The Packers are seeded 2nd while the Broncos out of the always rugged OK Blue sit in the top spot. Three of Fremont’s losses were against teams with a collective record of 33-1. The fourth was against Ludington, the only common opponent with Coopersville. The Broncos blasted the Orioles raining a barrage of triples by S, Castenholz, Cody, and Stewart. The Packers have some momentum going into the postseason and would love a District title to soothe the sting of a missed conference crown. It’s not an easy path since the winner of Sparta and Park will prove a test and the homesteading Panthers in particular have derailed past Packer teams. Brayden McDonald will be drawing a lot of attention in this tourney but, hey, he’s drawn a lot of attention all year and still finished as the team's top scorer who can find his teammates when they try to double up on him. Payton Mansfield has done an exceptional job in the post this season providing some muscle inside and Coach Zerfas has watched his bench develop and grow as the season has progressed. Coach Zerfas: "As we all know anything can happen in the playoffs, but I really like where we are right now. We had our whole team together this last week and it showed, beating two teams by an average of 35 points. I think we are peaking at just the right time." Tuesday Grant vs. Newaygo 5:30pm Catfight in Comstock. Ready for round 3? This rivalry gets to have a rubber match this year with the winner moving forward to face Coopersville. The teams both held home court this season and get to decide on bragging rights in a neutral setting. Both teams recently played Big Rapids tough. When finding the shots Stephens and Mortenson can provide explosive offense for the Lions but it has been the development of Decker, Long and Schillman that has brought this team some notable progress. The Tigers also possess some firepower with Schuitema, Evans, Long, etc. If Butchart gets some room down under he can provide some putback points in a hurry. Tossup. These games usually go the way of whichever team makes that timely run. My hunch is whoever gets the hot hand after the break will move on. Coach Scuitema: “We're excited to have a chance to keep playing and to be able to play against rival Newaygo is perfect." Sparta vs. Comstock Park 7pm Two teams from the OK Silver who both finished middle of the pack. In their first meeting the Spartans prevailed but it was the season opener and both teams are likely far different than they were then. The Panthers have lost their last 3 and Sparta has dropped 4 out of the last 5. Panthers are playing on their home court, Thursday Coopersville vs Grant /Newaygo winner 5:30pm Fremont vs. Sparta/Comstock Park winner 7pm Saturday Finals 1pm D3 At Holton Ravenna and WMC are 1-2 in seeds at Holton. The Bulldogs haven’t lost to anyone not named Whitehall since a mid February defeat right here in the Red Devil gym. Jones and Beebe are two of the Ravenna players who can do some damage on the scoreboard. The Warriors have Varanda, Liggett, Fairfield and a few others who can counter with some points of their own. And those pesky Vikings that delivered a duo odf defeats on the Dawgs? The Warriors beat them by a dozen. Tuesday White Cloud vs. Holton 5:30pm The Indians will need to score a lot here to have any hopes of advancing Venema, Ruether, Cox & Co. will find the going tough against a Red Devil team that rolled over them by 30+ points a week ago, Led by Poling and a supporting cast of Monette, Fowler, Fialek, etc. the Devs went into a short slump after an emotional 2 OT win over Kent City losing 3 out of 4 then busted out with the 2 wins that secured the title. And they’re at home. Coach Jones: “Depending on what team shows up we could have a short or decent run. Inconsistency with this team has hurt us all year long. We have the talent to play with anybody in our district. We will leave it all on the court on Tuesday against Holton Coach Swanson: “We are looking forward to the challenges of the tournament knowing we need to play our best basketball of the season this coming week. " Morley Stanwood vs, North Muskegon 7pm Norse sharpshooter McManus is hard to contain but Morley has the defenders to do it. The Mohawks lost the first and last games of the regular season to Holton but in between won a bunch of games but not one against a team with a winning record. Fortunately the Norse don’t possess a winning record Thursday WMC vs. WC/Hol winner 5:30pm Ravenna vs. MS/NM winner 7 pm Saturday Finals 7pm D3 At Evart This District has been turned around by the withdrawal of Pine River and Evart. That leaves four teams with a combined record of 8-48 vying for a spot in the Houghton Lake Regional Tuesday Mason County Central vs,Shelby 5:30pm The Tigers beat the Spartans twice early in the season. Once in a romp and the second in overtime. Hart vs. Hesperia 7pm The Pirates haven’t won many games. The Panthers haven’t won any. Coach Worcester has kept his team together through a season of futility and while it’s highly unlikely they would be moving on, 2 years ago a winless Panther team beat the Cloud and found themselves in the District Finals. Thursday Finals 7pm
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