By John Raffel
MaxPreps.com
Kalamazoo Christian ended the boys basketball regular season at 19-1 and was ranked high in Class C statewide polls.
Coach Jerry Mastenbrook was looking for a clean sweep in the district, regional and state playoffs, and that outlook got a little brighter after beating Decatur, 85-22.
"I knew we'd be pretty tough coming into the season," Mastenbrook said. "It's my eighth year of coaching. I've been blessed with kids who have played pretty well this year. This year has been no exception. Defense is where it all starts. We have good athletes. But we stress good team defense."
Calvin DeVries leads the team in averaging 17 points and eight rebounds a game.
Mastenbrook has been doing his homework in preparing the team for the playoffs.
"We have been out scouting as many teams as we possibly can that we might play in upcoming tournaments," he said. "Anything can happen in March."
But Mastenbrook isn't taking anything for granted.
"In our area, Bridgman has been ranked very high," he said. "There are a lot of good teams in this region."
St. Louis Stuns Carson City-Crystal
The old saying is anything can happen in the postseason. Who ever originated that saying would have appreciated St. Louis' upset victory over Carson City-Crystal on Tuesday.
CC-Crystal was ranked No. 6 in the state and was set to meet New Lothrop, ranked no. 2, in a semifinal showdown. But thanks to St. Louis' upset win, the showdown never materialized.
"We did not turn the ball over much in the first half and that really helped us to stay in the ballgame," St. Louis coach Doug Knauf said.
"They exposed our weaknesses," Eagle Coach Larry Farmer said. "They took (6-foot-11, junior center) Sean (Jones) out of the game with good defense and they recovered on the backside real well. They really took our offense away."
Wrestling
Michigan crowned four wrestling state champions over the weekend including Rockford in Division I. With 2,424 students, Rockford is one of the state's largest schools, but under coach Dan Rinehart, it finally won its first state title.
Rockford was runners-up in two previous seasons. It was the eighth time the team had been in the eight-team field in the state finals. Rinehart has coached for 33 years, including 27 as head coach.
"We had a very strong nucleus coming back from last year," Rinehart said.
In the title match, Rockford defeated Hartland, 37-20, and ended the season with a 30-1 record. Rinehart came into this season confident that Rockford had a good chance at a state title. They had lost in the semifinals last season to Davison.
"We had 11 state qualifiers who placed in the top eight last year," Rinehart said. "Seven of them were coming back to this year's team. We wrestled some tough competition this year."
Among the talented wrestlers is Brian Bennett, a junior at 160 pounds, who was 50-1 this year and 156-3 over the past three seasons. Rockford has 10 wrestlers in the individual state finals this week at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
Hockey
Speaking of Rockford, the Rams didn't do that badly on the ice either this season.
Regional tournaments were decided over the weekend and Rockford edged Hudsonville, 3-2, for the third regional title in Rams history and second in a row. A 37-27 shots advantage did the trick. The team lost this week 5-2 to Marquette in the quarterfinals but ended the season at 20-8. It set a school record for wins.
"Balance was the key," Rockford Coach Ed VanPortfliet said. "We have five good defenseman and are able to roll three lines and they're all able to score."
One school that has advanced to the Final Four this weekend in state Division 3 hockey is Grand Rapids Catholic Central, which scored three goals in a four-minute span to defeat East Grand Rapids, 5-2.
"We weren't getting many rebound opportunities," GRCC coach Alan Kranzo said, referring to a scoreless first period. "In the second period, when we scored four goals, that was the difference."
Volleyball
It's regional weekend for high school volleyball teams. One team that's been making regular appearances in district tournaments is Alma, which hopes to win a regional championship this season. Coach Steve Humm's team won its third-straight district title, not an easy thing to do in today's era of parity.
"We've been getting better and better each match," Humm said. "We've really been going strong since February."