Kelloggville girls basketball

The Kelloggsville High School girls basketball team celebrates after a 2020 victory. (WKTV)

By K.D. Norris

This week WKTV Sports will record two featured games, a girls basketball game at Kelloggsville High School and a hockey match from Kentwood’s Ice Arena.

Starting off, Sparta will visit Kelloggsville for an OK Conference Silver girls basketball contest on Tuesday, March 9. The Spartans enter the game with a 6-3 overall record (4-2 in conference) and coming off a home win against Godwin Heights. The Rockets enter at 3-6 (3-5 in conference) but coming off a tight, 27-26, loss to conference leader and undefeated Comstock Park (8-0, 5-0).

WKTV will cover high school hockey this week. (WKTV)

Later in the week, on Friday, March 12, the WKTV crew will be at the hockey game between Kenowa Hills and East Kentwood. The Falcons enter the week with a 1-10 overall record (0-6 in OK Red), but coming off their first win of the season, at home (8-5, over Northview) followed by a tough, 3-2, loss to Jenison on the road. Kenowa Hills is 8-2, and 1-0 in a 3-team OK Conference Gold.

The Tuesday contest will tip off at 6 p.m., and WKTV will record the game and replay it later Tuesday night, at 11 p.m.; then Wednesday, March 10, at 11 a.m., with more replays to be scheduled, and it will available on-demand later. (See details at bottom of story.)

The Thursday hockey match will have the puck drop at 4:40 p.m., and WKTV will record the game and replay it later Friday night, at 11 p.m., then Saturday, March 13, at 11 a.m., with more replays to be scheduled, and it will available on-demand later.

To see both featured games on WKTV on-demand visit WKTVlive.com.

Additionally, the remainder of the WKTV featured game tentative schedule has the WKTV truck and team covering the Tuesday, March 16, girls and boys basketball games when Zion Christian visits Grand River Preparatory (at 5:30 and 7 p.m.), and then the Thursday, March 18, girls basketball game when Zeeland East visits Wyoming high (at 7 p.m.).

We are also tentatively scheduled to cover the girls district Division 2 tournament at Godwin Heights, with Godwin Heights, Kelloggsville and Lee all set to participate.

WKTV featured games will be on cable television in Wyoming and Kentwood on Comcast Channel 25 and AT&T Channel 99 Community Channel, on various days and times the week after. See the programming schedule at wktv.org. For more information on WKTV coverage of winter high school sports, follow us at wktvjournal.org/sports.

The 2019-20 Kelloggsville High School girls basketball team. (Supplied)

By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org

In just his second season leading the Kelloggsville High School girls basketball program, Rockets head coach Bilal Muhammad appreciates his 2019-20 team’s 16-4 regular season record and the impressive milestone of the program’s first OK Conference title in more than four decades.

But with his team losing only two seniors — even though one, Trayana Starr-Thurman, was their best player — and a new buzz around the school about his program, Muhammad can’t wait to start working towards the future.

This season’s accomplishments “bode well for our program, just getting that experience, and being there before is going to help tremendously,” coach Muhammad said to WKTV. But “I’m excited to see what this off-season is going to bring … I’m looking forward to what the future brings.”

Kelloggsville tied for first in the OK Silver Conference with Calvin Christian, with a 10-2 record, giving the Rockets a share of their first league title since 1976, when the school competed in the OK White. The team’s season came to an end in a district semifinal game against Wayland.

The Rockets went 12-9, 6-6 in conference, last year, in Muhammad’s first season in charge.

The keys to their successful season, Muhammad said, was not only having two seniors leaders, but also a bunch of underclassmen who stepped up and provided points, toughness and work ethic.

Trayana Starr-Thurman, and her 1,000 point ball. (Supplied)

Starr-Thurman’s contributions were clear: she led the team with an average of 15 points per game and scored her 1,000th point this season. The team’s other senior, Zenaiya Gonzales, will be missed for other reasons.

“Trayana is a student of the game … she’s not afraid to ask questions, and she voices her opinion on certain plays … (she was) able to communicate, and offer that leadership,” Muhammad said. Gonzales “brought leadership as well, and toughness” to the team.

Gonzale “has been hurt all season, literally all season, and she’s been tough enough to tune it out all year. She brought that toughness and leadership in practice — (the team knows) that if she’s here, if she can do it, it makes everybody else’s moral come up and work hard as well.”

The returning players who their coach has so much confidence in includes two juniors — Nariah Collier and Jaden Wade — and super sophomore Brea’Ana Smalley.

Collier and Wade “are going to be important on and off the floor” next season, he said. “Some of the summer stuff we are going to be doing. Getting the girls to come out. …This is their first year actually working together. I’m looking forward to what the future brings.”

Collier, a center, averaged eight points, eight rebounds and four blocks a game this season. Wade, a forward, also gave the Rockets a strong inside force.

And Smalley, who fought through injuries to be the team’s second leading scorer, with 13 points per game, is only going to get better, her coach said.

“She did a great job. She was injured a few games as well this year. We had a lot of injuries this year. But those big, important games, when we needed her, she stepped up,” Muhammad said. “I’m looking forward to her for next year, She’ll work on her game over the summer and be even more dynamic next year.”

Coach also pointed out that junior Jazmine McCaleb will be a returning captain while freshman Malia Fields is a “hard worker, very hard worker,” and sophomore Yarlene Valdez “came to our team the second half of the season, but she is committed and ready to work over the summer.”

And after not having JV and freshman programs this season, having varsity returners who will “help with the new players”, along with work by he and has staff, Bo Garyson and Tiesha Stokes, Muhammad sees a good future for the Kelloggville program as a whole.

“I’m optimistic the number (of players in the program) will increase,” he said, pointing out that he’s been working with the middle school program as well. “I am hopeful and optimistic that we will be able to fill that void that we did not have this year.”