Photos by Billy Mann | CatchMark
Next season, North Muskegon and Holton will be West Michigan Conference divisional rivals.
For now, they’ve become district rivals and the Norsemen have gotten the better of the Red Devils lately.
For the second straight year, North Muskegon defeated Holton in a Division 3 district final, this time 48-33 Friday night at Western Michigan Christian High School.
The Norsemen (15-8) built an early lead and finished with nine 3-pointers, plus they got a big game in the paint from senior Jason Bogue. They advance to Monday’s 5:30 p.m. regional semifinal at Carson City-Crystal, where they’ll face conference foe Ravenna (15-6).
Ravenna defeated Montabella, 56-53, on Kyle Beebe’s 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds remaining.
Junior Troy McManus hit five 3s for North Muskegon en route to a game-high 15 points, plus he registered five rebounds and two assists and made a big block chasing down a play. Bogue finished with 14 points and six rebounds, while junior Brandon Rypstra made three triples on the way to nine points, three rebounds and two assists.
Sophomore Ben Meyers and freshman James Young added five and three assists, respectively, for the Norse, who led 13-5 after one quarter and 28-14 at halftime.
Wyatt Monette paced Holton with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists. Kevin Erickson scored 12 for the Red Devils (15-7), while Carter Brant added five assists.
Last season, North Muskegon defeated Holton on the Red Devils’ home court in the district final, 36-20. The Norsemen went on to win their regional semifinal over Ithaca before they fell to Grand Rapids Covenant Christian in the regional final.
Ravenna and North Muskegon split their regular-season series, winning on each other’s courts. The Norsemen won at Ravenna on Jan. 4 (56-41) and the Bulldogs returned the favor Feb. 10 at North Muskegon (58-53).
Carson City is located about an hour and a half east of North Muskegon.
RELATED CONTENT:
