Tate’s Notebook: Week One Observations

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The high school basketball season tipped off across the state last week as teams and athletes took the first step towards goals they've worked all offseason for. I got to see nine teams across the Grand Rapids area so far and have some takeaways I'd like to share on teams and players across the area. Let's get into it.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>[player_tooltip player_id='1587825' first='Donovan' last='Thames'] scores 32 points to lead Grand Rapids Christian to a huge road over South Christian.</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Grand Rapids Christian senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1587825' first='Donovan' last='Thames'] started his senior season on a great note, scoring a career-high 32 points in the Eagles' 58-47 win over South Christian. Dono' was dialed in from long range all evening, and was in a rhythm with his pull-up jumper. Dono' has a quick release and doesn't need much separation to get his shot off. He seemed to get more comfortable as the game went on, and essentially took the reigns of the game and never really let South Christian back into it. Huge win for Christian and a great first impression of the season for Dono'.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/15667908/63910f18bd6aa80928a165c7' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-639b93fe3c2c8"} /--> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Kenowa Hills Gets Statement Win.</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It wasn't long ago that Kenowa was a bottom-tier program in West Michigan. Fast forward two years into Mike Moorehead's tenure and the Knight's coach has built Kenowa Hills into a program that has an identity and one that deserves to share the spotlight with other known area programs. Kenowa got a big-time win over Forest Hills Central at The Invite at Calvin University. Kenowa Hills was the most disciplined defensive unit I saw among the eight teams. Under the radar players such as Aiden Jackson diving on the floor for loose balls in crunch time embodies the mentality that this Kenowa group plays with. Add in top-tier talent and Grand Valley State commit [player_tooltip player_id='1213127' first='Javion' last='Otten'], and Kenowa will be a hard out all season long.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/JavionO300/status/1601799110696132608?s=20u0026amp;t=0Bad3_YXDHpW7F22_sk7hQ","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/JavionO300/status/1601799110696132608?s=20&amp;t=0Bad3_YXDHpW7F22_sk7hQ </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>[player_tooltip player_id='1431580' first='Jax' last='Wilson'] Goes Nuts Against Whitehall.</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the top overall scorers in the area is Sparta's [player_tooltip player_id='1431580' first='Jax' last='Wilson']. The senior guard reminded everyone of that this past Tuesday, scoring a career-high 44 points in Sparta's 81-68 win over Whitehall. A year ago, Jax led Sparta to a district championship on his way to being named AP Division 2 Honorable Mention All-State. Performances like that will continue to elevate his ranking and will put the Spartans in the mix in the OK Silver this year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/14012480/639a357c478d5607a024739a' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-639b93fe3c31b"} /--> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Bernie Varsndeel and [player_tooltip player_id='902884' first='Jakhary' last='Towns'] Put On a Show</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the better non-con matchups occurred on Tuesday as Godwin Heights got a 59-55 road win over West Catholic. The story of the game, however, was the performances of guards [player_tooltip player_id='902884' first='Jakhary' last='Towns'] and Bernie Varnsdeel. Jakhary and Bernie both put up 30 points in a back-and-forth game that went down to the wire. Jakhary has been a mainstay in the area since his freshman year, while Bernie is off to a fast start at West Catholic after transferring in from Wyoming.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/17971198/6399e52dc119be0c84bbc6df' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-639b93fe3c377"} /-->