Three Muskegon-area boys basketball teams will compete for regional championships on Thursday night.

Ludington, North Muskegon and Muskegon Heights Academy put together impressive performances Tuesday night in the regional semifinals to fend off their opponents and keep their state championship dreams alive for at least 48 more hours.

The Orioles snapped Standish-Sterling’s 20-game winning streak with a hard-fought 57-51 win to reach the Division 2 regional finals at Gaylord High School. Ludington (16-8) will face Kingsford (20-3) on Thursday night in a rematch of last year’s regional championship game, which the Flivvers won by a narrow 37-34 margin.

The Norsemen cruised past West Michigan Conference rival Ravenna for a 72-32 win at Kent City High School to set up a rematch with Pewamo-Westphalia on Thursday night. The Pirates came away with a 43-40 win in overtime in last year’s regional semifinals thanks to a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

The Tigers clawed past Pentwater for a 74-63 win on Tuesday night and advanced to the regional finals to face Fowler (22-3) at Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart High School. The Eagles entered the postseason ranked No. 3 in the Division 4 polls.

Below is a recap of how all the Muskegon-area boys basketball teams fared during Tuesday’s regional semifinals.

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Sparta 54, Spring Lake 39

The Spartans came out energized in the first half and feasted on 12 Spring Lake turnovers to create a 31-17 lead at halftime. Spring Lake eventually cut the deficit down to 10 points midway through the third quarter but Sparta responded with a quick 7-0 run to stymie any hopes of a comeback for the Lakers.

Grady Busen finished with 16 points to lead Sparta, while Aiden DeVary added 12 points, Landen Reister had 11 points, Wyatt Burleson had seven points and Lucas Jones had six points.

Sam Bajt finished with nine points to lead Spring Lake, while Jaden Core added seven points and Reid Grimmer and Ayden Ayers each scored six points.

“I just told the guys in the locker room that one game doesn’t define your season and you’re going to realize that in a week or so,” added Core. “There’s a sour taste right now, but I’m looking forward to the team banquet in a few weeks so I can brag about this team and what we actually did this year and especially what we accomplished in this past week.”

MORE: Images from Tuesday night’s game between Sparta and Spring Lake

Spring Lake finished the 2024-25 season with a 15-11 record and secured their third consecutive district championship this postseason.

“As a whole team, this was maybe the closest team that I’ve had in many years,” added Core. “They just generally like each other. We had no drama at all the whole season. We had no issues ever and it was a fun team to be around for a long season.

“It was fun to watch this team, even in the games we lost. We lost a lot of close games and we won some close games too, but this team always played hard.”

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Ludington 57, Standish-Sterling 51

The Orioles fell behind early but used an 18-point effort in the second quarter to establish a 25-24 lead at halftime.

Ludington opened the second half on a 10-0 run thanks to 3-pointers from Messiah Himes and Micah Spunar to take control of the game. The Orioles fended off Standish-Sterling down the stretch thanks to late-game free throwing shooting, sinking 10-of-13 attempts from the charity stripe to secure a spot in Thursday’s regional finals.

Taj Williams scored 21 points to lead Ludington, while Cameron Gunsell added 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Kyle Wendall scored 16 points to lead Standish-Sterling, while Ben Sullivan added 14.

Ludington (16-8) will face Kingsford (20-3) in the Division 2 regional championship game on Thursday night at Gaylord High School. The game is a rematch of last year’s regional championship game, which the Flivvers won by a narrow 37-34 margin.

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North Muskegon 72, Ravenna 32

The Norsemen battled with the upset-minded Bulldogs in the first half and eventually built a 27-19 lead at halftime. As the game wore on, North Muskegon used a string of defensive stops and easy offense in transition to outscore Ravenna 45-13 and cruise into the regional finals.

Adam Dugener finished with 20 points, five steals and three assists to lead North Muskegon, while Braylen Burrell added 19 points, and TJ Byard had 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Chuck Meyers registered six points, four steals and four assists, David Markiewicz added five points and eight rebounds and Landen Grimm had three points and five steals.

“The game was good for the first half,” said North Muskegon head coach Chuck Rypstra. “We got a decent lead in the first quarter, but Ravenna battled back to win the second quarter and only trailed by eight points at half.

“In the second half, we were able to open the gap a little and it forced them to try and match our scoring. This made the game move at our tempo and we had a big third quarter to put the game away. We were happy with our defense tonight and we got some timely scoring.”

Dylan May and Luke Houseman each scored 10 points to lead Ravenna (12-14).

North Muskegon (23-1) advances to face Pewamo-Westphalia (22-3) in the Division 3 regional championship game on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Kent City High School. The two teams met in last year’s regional semifinals, which the Pirates won 43-40 in overtime.

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Muskegon Heights Academy 74, Pentwater 63

The Tigers fell behind 15-6 to start the game but eventually caught their footing and cut the deficit to 29-27 at halftime.

Muskegon Heights continued to challenge Pentwater in the second half and used its full-court defensive pressure and some timely 3-pointers to score 47 points to secure an impressive win in the Division 4 regional semifinals at Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart High School.

Cartier Vance finished with 17 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter, to lead Muskegon Heights, while Robert Wallace added 13 points, D’Marion Buchanan had 12 points, Jamarion Taylor scored 11 points and Marcus Bradford had 10.

Mikey Carlson scored a game-high 30 points to lead Pentwater, while Trey Johnson added 11 points.

Muskegon Heights (12-10) advances to face No. 3-ranked Fowler (22-3) in Thursday’s regional championship game at Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart High School. The Tigers fell to Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart in last year’s regional finals by a score of 47-30.

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