GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Rivalry will no doubt be the hottest ticket in town on Wednesday night as No. 4 Calvin hosts Hope in their first of two meetings in the MIAA this season.
The Flying Dutchmen will look to defend their MIAA tournament title with a 12-3 record so far this year. Both teams are undefeated in the conference this season but that will change on Wednesday.
"So much fun, two great teams, two great coaches. Being a local kid it makes this game a little bit more special, but no you got a lot of tradition, a lot of history sit it makes it a good one," said Clayton Dykhouse, a Zeeland native.
"My career at Hope, I don't think I've lost in that building yet. So we have a lot of confidence going into this game. Looking forward to playing with my brothers," said Gabe Quillan. The Catholic Central alum leads the Dutch in rebounds.
"The intensity of the rivalry is awesome. I think what makes it great is that is means a lot in West Michigan and the region, to people, to alums. But I think most importantly is it typically dictates whose going to win the conference championship," said Greg Mitchell.
For the Knights, they're nationally ranked in the top five this week and only have one loss on the year. Calvin is led by Holland Christian alum, Jalen Overway. He was the MIAA MVP last season as a freshman and currently leads the team in points per game and rebounds.
"We're all getting pumped up, we're all getting butterflies. It's exciting to think about the packed house that's going to be here. We're super focused, we're working really hard and so we're just going to continue to do that," said Overway
Owen Varnado, a sophomore from Muskegon leads the Knights in 3-pointers made this year and wants to keep his hot shooting going.
"For me personally, I just need to make more shots. I've been shooting pretty poorly from the three-point line these past few games but I think as a team we just have to get back to getting more energy in the game," said Varnado.
Tip off for The Rivalry is set for 7:30pm at Van Noord Arena in Grand Rapids.
