Drive Winter Classic - WKTV Journal

West Michigan Lutheran and West Michigan Aviation Academy, shown in a WKTV featured game from last year, are among the small high school teams featured in the Drive Winter Classic. (WKTV)

WKTV Staff

The WKTV sports broadcast team is in the midst of taking a holiday break, returning with basketball Friday, Jan. 5, 2018, and hockey the next day. But there is some local high school action this week and next including several local basketball tournaments highlighted by a special small-high-school basketball tournament at a big-time venue — The Drive Winter Classic at The Deltaplex Arena in Grand Rapids.

“The tournament was put together to feature the talent in small school basketball,” Eric Frohriep, President of the All-Star Officials Association, said to WKTV. “The Grand Rapids Drive have been working with me to put this on. … The officials are donating their game fees to raise travel expenses to work the National Dwarf Games in Orlando, Fl., this summer.”

The bracket for the tournament will begin at The Deltaplex on Thursday, Jan. 4 at noon with a boys game between Grand River Preparatory High School and Calhoun Christian High School. That game will be followed, at 4 and 6 p.m., by another boys game featuring West Michigan Academy of Environmental Science (WMAES) and Holt’s Martin Luther High School, and then by a girls game between WMAES and West Michigan Lutheran High School. (The Calhoun Christian girls team has a bye and will automatically advance to the tournament finals.)

The tournament will conclude Friday, Jan. 5, at The Deltaplex with the boys championship at 1:30 p.m. and the girls championship at 3:30 p.m.

All games are $5 to attend. and following the girls title game, fans can also Fans buy tickets for the Wisconsin Herd vs. Grand Rapids Drive game at 7 p.m.

The consolation game of the boys bracket will be played at West Michigan Lutheran, with the boys game at 6 p.m.

The girls team of Cedar Spring’s Creative Technologies Academy is also participating, but is not a MHSAA school so are not in the tournament portion of the Classic, Frohriep said. They are playing the Calhoun Christian girls at 2 p.m. at The Deltaplex on Jan. 4, and playing the loser of the girls opening round game at West Michigan Lutheran, also on Jan. 5.

For more information visit about The Deltaplex Arena visit deltaplex.com. For more information on the All-Star Officials Association visit their Facebook page.

Small high schools will also be the focus of the return of WKTV’s high school sports coverage in the new year.

WKTV’s sports crew will be on the road Jan. 5 with a doubleheader of boys and girls basketball, with Grand River Preparatory High School at Wyoming Potter’s House on the girls side, and Kelloggsville High School at The Potter’s House High School on the boys side. Then on Jan. 6, the crew will be at South Christian High School for a boys hockey game against Catholic Central High School.

Currently, each Tuesday game will be broadcast that night on WKTV Comcast Channel 25 at 11 p.m. and repeat on Wednesday at 5 p.m. Each Friday game will be aired that night on WKTV 25 at 11 p.m. and repeat Saturday at 11 a.m. The games can also be seen on AT&T U-verse 99.

For a complete schedule of all local high school sports action each week, any changes to the WKTV feature sports schedule, and features on local sports, visit wktvjournal.org/sports/

Local high school sports events this week are as follows:

Wednesday, Dec. 27

Boys/Girls Bowling

Godwin Heights @ Catholic Central – Baker Tourney

Wyoming @ Catholic Central – Baker Tourney

Kelloggsville @ Catholic Central – Baker Tourney

East Kentwood @ Catholic Central – Baker Tourney

Girls Basketball

Godwin Heights vs TBD @ Kelloggsville Holiday Tourney

Boys Basketball

TBD @ Wyoming Lee – Rebel Basketball Tourney

Thursday, Dec. 28