Preview of Tonight's District Pairings

By Ken DeLaat, N3 Sports

D2 at Comstock Park

Grant vs, Sparta 5:30pm
Two teams wanting a rematch with the Lions. The Spartans want to avenge two straight dismissals from the postseason courtesy of the Lions and in the forever rivalry between Grant and Newaygo the Tigers would like a third shot at the champs.
As we said in the District preview Sparta has put together a really good season, but Grant has had some games when they look like everything is clicking and others when everything seems to go south. One interesting item. When Grant scores 45 or more they are 9-1.
So they need to hit their shots early and often.
And not get intimidated by Sparta’s physical play.

Newaygo vs. Fremont 7pm
Give the Pack some credit. That was a tough Park team they took out of the postseason Monday. They showed a lot of grit and got big games from several players as Zerlaut, Witte, Bennett, and Noordyk showed up big time.
The Lions aren’t the Panthers. They have smoked through their schedule and while they can start slow at times they finish well. Real well.
In the 2 times these teams faced each other the Lions outscored the Packers 130-51.
That’s a lot of points.
Not saying Fremont doesn’t have a shot but if they win this one Wes Zerlaut gets my vote for Coach of the Century.

D3 at Holton

Hart vs. Holton 5:30pm
The Pirates lost their all state point guard Jayd Hovey to injury in December and haven’t missed a beat since as they went undefeated in conference play and captured the WMC crown.  Sharpshooter VanAgtmael, Boutell and freshman Addison Hovey lead the Hart squad but they have a long bench and have given teams fits with their smothering defense that has only given up 40+ points 3 times all season.
The Devils are young and can be inconsistent but they have some players on that team and have improved a lot as the season has progressed (ignoring a meltdown loss to Ravenna)
A long climb here for Coach Jordan’s team. After beating Hesperia to get here he said of meeting Hart, "We will need our best game of the year, and will have to compete to the best of our abilities.”
We concur.

North Muskegon at West Michigan Christian 7pm
We apologize to the Norse for assuming they would lose to Shelby for the third time this season.
We’re picking the Warriors to move on to the finals so should NM pull off another upset we’ll apologize again.
But we won’t have to.

D3 at Morley

White Cloud vs. Morley Stanwood 7pm
The MS squad has averaged close to 60 points the last 5 games.
The Cloud has averaged 30 in their last 5.
Third time they’ve met with Morley winning by 35 and 37 points in the first 2.
Coach Wilk has done a nice job with his team this season, but unless Morley is so focused on a rematch with KC that they fall apart in a sea of missed shots and defensive lapses the Cloud’s season ends here.

Lakeview vs. Kent City 5:30pm
I was surprised the Wildcats won their opener over a decent Montabella team.
No surprises here however, The Eagles are in this for the long haul and certainly aren’t stopping here.

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