Welcome to Episode 7 of the CatchMark Catch-Up for the 2022-23 winter sports season in the West Michigan Conference.
It’s Monday, Feb. 20, and we’re recapping conference highlights Feb. 13-19, 2023.
WRESTLING
Whitehall and Hart captured team wrestling regional titles on Wednesday and both fared well in the individual regionals Saturday.
The Vikings and Pirates are headed to team state finals this coming weekend at Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo. The following weekend (March 3-4), they will be well-represented among 36 wrestlers from the West Michigan Conference who have earned berths in the individual state finals at Ford Field.
Check out some of our wrestling coverage at the following links:
Whitehall seeded third, Hart eighth in team wrestling state finals
See who is advancing to 2023 individual wrestling state finals
Back to Kalamazoo for Whitehall after seventh regional wrestling title in eight years
Hart captures fourth straight regional wrestling title
COMPETITIVE CHEER
Hart’s competitive cheer squad won a Division 4 district championship Friday at Marion. Meanwhile, at East Jordan, Mason County Central’s cheer team finished runner-up in its Division 4 district. Here are details from their performances:
Hart competitive cheer team dominates en route to Division 4 district title
Whitehall and Montague both finished in the top four of their Division 3 competitive cheer district Friday at Wyoming Kelloggsville. Whitehall totaled 677.84 points to finish third at the district and advance to the regional for the fifth straight season. Montague totaled 663.26 points to finish fourth at the district and earn a spot at the regional.
Hart and Mason County Central will be competing in a Division 4 regional this coming Saturday at Grand Rapids Northview at 6 p.m. Whitehall and Montague will be competing in a Division 3 regional this Saturday at Rockford with action beginning at 11 a.m.
BOYS BASKETBALL
In one of the better high school basketball environments you’re going to see, Whitehall’s and Ludington’s boys teams played perhaps the game of the year in the West Michigan Conference Friday night at historic Hawley Gym.
Whitehall overcame a 16-point first-half deficit and surged to an 88-77 victory over Ludington, setting up the Vikings and Orioles for a share of the WMC Lakes Division title.
Whitehall sophomore Camden Thompson was a force with 36 points on 15-of-19 shooting to go with 18 rebounds, four steals and four assists. Ludington junior David Shillinger led his team with 27 points and he reached the 1,000-point milestone for his career.
Here is complete coverage of the game, including photos, videos and details:
Cam Thompson, Whitehall steal thunder from Ludington in Game of the Week
In another big game Friday night, Hart senior Parker Hovey powered the Pirates past visiting North Muskegon, 67-51, with his 12th triple-double of the season. The victory kept Hart unbeaten at 18-0. The Pirates can win the outright WMC Rivers title with a home win over Mason County Central this Thursday.
Here are more details from Hart’s win over North Muskegon, as well as other games played Friday:
West Michigan Conference boys basketball: Roundup from Feb. 17, 2023
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Hart’s girls basketball team wrapped up the outright WMC Rivers Division championship last Thursday with a 64-7 victory at Hesperia. It’s the second straight conference title for the Pirates.
Here are details from Hart’s win over Hesperia, among other contests:
West Michigan Conference basketball: Girls and boys roundup for Feb. 16, 2023
On Sunday, the Michigan High School Athletic Association released its girls district basketball draws. Here are next week’s schedules for districts involving teams from the West Michigan Conference:
See 2023 girls district basketball draws for West Michigan Conference teams
BOWLING
Last week was a big one for Orchard View’s boys bowling team as well as individually for Oakridge’s Kira Twining.
Orchard View’s boys squad wrapped up the outright West Michigan Conference title and followed it up with the Cardinals’ first Greater Muskegon Athletic Association tournament championship since 2011.
Twining, a junior for the Eagles, finished first in the WMC tournament and also took top honors in the GMAA tourney.
Here are a couple stories detailing those achievements:
Orchard View boys team, Oakridge’s Kira Twining win 2023 GMAA titles
Orchard View boys, Oakridge girls are WMC bowling champions for 2023
Regional tournaments for West Michigan Conference bowlers are this Friday and Saturday at various houses.
