Fowler at Pewamo-Westphalia – – CMAC Boys Basketball Game of The Week – – The Bleacher Denizen – – January 7, 2026 – – by Chuck Krafft

Today, the BleacherDenizenMobile is pointed at Pewamo-Westphalia High School, where the hometown Pirates will take on the Eagles from Fowler in a game featuring the top two teams in the CMAC Boys Basketball standings! Fowler is undefeated on the season with a 4-0 record in the CMAC as well as a 7-0 overall record. Pewamo-Westphalia is 5-0 in the CMAC and 5-1 overall. However, their only loss was to a powerful Grandville team by two points. (Grandville has over five times as many students as Pewamo-Westphalia does.)

I’ve seen Fowler a couple times this year already. Eagle Coach Kam Riley provided me with the following information about his players.

Joe Epkey is the only returning starter from the Fowler team that made it all the way to the state final game in last year’s tournament. He is a powerful presence as a defender and rebounder in the post. He has a number of excellent post moves and is great at passing to others when he is double-teamed. Jonah Thelen and Isaac Thelen are forwards who are tall enough to help defensively in the post and quick enough to defend the perimeter. Both of them are capable shooters who can also drive to the basket to score.

Eagle Point Guard Dylan Pline is a tough perimeter defender who handles the ball well and can score on slashes to the basket. Aidan Riley is a fine perimeter defender who can also be a factor in the post. He scores on fast breaks and slashes to the basket. Garrett Klein is a strong perimeter defender with an accurate three point shot.

Anthony Epkey is a strong rebounder and defender in the post. Drew Weber plays tough perimeter defense. Hudson Fedewa is tall and can defend, score and rebound in the lane.

P-W (abbreviated to save wear and tear on your aging Bleacher Denizen’s aging typing fingers) Coach Dominic Schneider provide me with this information about his Pirate players.

Grady Eklund is a four year-varsity starter who has been all-state most of his high school career. He has the ball handling skills of an excellent point guard as well as the shooting skills of an excellent shooting guard. He is a fine defender on the perimeter. He also has the size, rebounding and post defense skills of a center (at least on the high school level.) I’m sure he could play either forward position as well if he need to. Tonight may be a special night as he needs only fifteen points to become Pewamo-Westphalia’s leading scorer.

Trent Piggott is the man in the middle for the Pirates. He is a big, strong player who defends the posts well and rebounds with authority. He scores well in the post as he can overpower most of his opponents. He can also step out to the three point line and hit shots there. Logan Farmer is a sophomore who runs the point a lot of the time. He is a tough perimeter defender who handles the ball well and is a threat from the three point line. Tyler Spitzley has the quickness to defend the perimeter and the length to help out in the post. He is a threat to score on slashes to the basket.

I got to the gym around halftime of the freshman game. Pewamo-Westphalia took that game by the final score of 52-29.

Bryce Rademacher led the Fowler scoring with 8 points. Logan Platte supported his teammate with 7 points. Jonathan Epkey chipped in with 6 points. Bronnie Thelen and Dominic Spitzley each added 4 points.

Chase Cook had a big game and led the P-W freshmen with 24 points. Tate Myers and Mason Pohl each totaled 7 points. Christian Serba scored 5 points. Bennett Thelen had 4 points. Eli Pung put in 3 points.

The JV game was an exciting affair decided when Jesse Andros hit a free throw with 4.1 seconds left to give Fowler the point it needed to win by the score of 53-52. The game was close all the way as the teams were within two points of each other at the end of each quarter.

Grant Thelen led the Pirate JVs with 16 points. Andrew Kriss supported his teammate with 13 points. Alex Drysdale joined his teammates in double figures with 12 points. Brandt Kramer added 5 points including a big layup that tied the game at 52-52 in the game’s final minute. Alex Birchmeier tossed in 3 points, Liam Piggott scored 2 points and Kevin Hafner tallied 1 point.

Hudson Fedewa led the victorious Fowler JVs with 14 points. Eli Thelen contributed 11 points. Jesse Andros had 10 points which included the game-winning free throw. Cam Rhynard put in 8 points. Easton Myers scored 6 points. Ben Thelen added 3 points and Beckett Hansen scored 1 point.

It is now time to look at the events of this game through the somewhat open eyes of an Aging Bleacher Denizen who could never escape church league when he attempted to play basketball in the days of yore. Alas, it seems that he could never learn that creative passes are only really effective when teammates can catch them. When eight consecutive (but unnecessary) hook passes sailed out of bounds in one particularly unfortunate quarter, your Bleacher Denizen was asked to sit and watch more traditional players (who consistently completed their passes) play.

Fowler wins the opening tap. Grady Eklund steals the ball for the Pirates. (I love typing that sentence. What else would a good Pirate do??) Grady Eklund ignores your Bleacher Denizen’s comic aspirations and passes to Trent Piggott, who is fouled on a layup and hits one of his two free throws to give P-W the first point of the game just fifteen seconds after it started.

Aidan Riley passes to Jonah Thelen, who is cutting to the basket and hits a layup to give Fowler the lead. P-W misses a driving layup. Fowler misfires on a triple try from the corner. P-W misses a threeball from the top of the key. Fowler misses a threeball from the corner. Logan Farmer passes to Nolan George, who is fouled as he shoots a layup. Nolan George hits one of his two free throws to tie the game at 2-2 with 6:02 remaining in the opening quarter.

Fowler misses a layup. Dylan Pline draws a charging foul from the Pirates. Isaac Thelen passes to Joe Epkey, who hits a layup to give Fowler a two point lead. Grady Eklund drives and hits a layup for P-W to tie the game. Isaac Thelen is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of his two free throws to give Fowler a 5-4 lead with 4:50 to play in the quarter.

Isaac Thelen taps the ball away from P-W and Dylan Pline picks it up for Fowler. Fowler misses a layup. The Eagles get the offensive rebound. (Your Bleacher Denizen was too old and slow to get the Fowler offensive rebounder’s name into his notes. My apologies to the Eagle rebounder!) Joe Epkey ignores the Bleacher Denizen’s angst and hits a layup to give Fowler a 7-4 lead.

P-W misses a ten foot shot off the dribble from the baseline and fouls on the rebound. Fowler misses a threeball from the side. Dylan Pline grabs the offensive rebound for the Eagles. Fowler misses a three pointer from the wing. The rebound goes out of bounds and P-W takes possession. Dylan Pline steals the ball and passes to Jonah Thelen, who hits a layup to give Fowler a 9-4 lead.

P-W misses a threeball from the corner. Grady Eklund hits a putback for P-W. Fowler is called for a three seconds (in the lane) violation. Grady Eklund passes to Cam Nurenberg, who hits a layup for the Pirates. Fowler loses the ball out of bounds. Grady Eklund drives and hits a layup for P-W. He is fouled on the play and hits a free throw to give the Pirates an 11-9 lead with 1:59 remaining in the opening quarter.

Jonah Thelen passes to Anthony Epkey, who hits a layup for Fowler to tie the game. Anthony Epkey knocks the ball away from Fowler and Jonah Epkey picks it up for Fowler. Dylan Pline is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of his two free throws to boost Fowler to a 12-11 lead with 1:18 to go in the quarter.

Isaac Thelen gets his hand on the ball and knocks it out of bounds. Fowler takes possession. Cam Nurenberg knocks the ball away from Fowler; Caleb Blyth picks it up for P-W. Grady Eklund is fouled and hits one of his two free throws to tie the game at 12-12 with 43.1 seconds left in the opening period.

Fowler misses a threeball from the corner. The rebound goes out of bounds and P-W takes possession. Grady Eklund passes to Tyler Spitzley, who hits a layup to give the Pirates the lead just before the first quarter buzzer decides to seek attention and blare very loudly.

After one quarter, Pewamo-Westphalia holds a 14-12 lead.

P-W inbounds the ball to open the second quarter. The Pirates lose the ball out of bounds. Fowler misses a three pointer from the side. P-W misses a fast break layup. Caleb Blyth leaps and saves the rebound to Grady Eklund to give P-W another opportunity. The Pirates misfire on a threeball from the wing. Grady Eklund steals an Eagle pass. P-W misses a fast break dunk. Logan Farmer hits a putback to give his Pirates a 16-12 lead.

Fowler misses a driving layup and fouls on the rebound. P-W misses a driving hook shot. Caleb Blyth hits a putback for the Pirates. Fowler is whistled for a traveling violation. Jonah Thelen blocks a Pirate layup. Fowler misses a three pointer from the wing. Grady Eklund drives from the side and hits a layup for the Pirates. Jonah Thelen is fouled on a driving shot in the lane and hits one of his two free throws to trim the P-W lead to 20-13 with 4:49 remaining in the half.

Joe Epkey knocks the ball away from P-W and Dylan Pline grabs it for Fowler. The Eagles miss a fast break layup. Jonah Thelen hits a putback for the Eagles. Logan Farmer hits a layup for P-W. Fowler commits an offensive foul. Ty Thelen passes to a teammate who is fouled on a layup, but misses both his free throws. With 3:39 to go in the half, the P-W lead remains at 22-15.

Dylan Pline drives and hits a layup for Fowler. Grady Eklund passes to Sam Thelen, who throws in a threeball from the corner for P-W. Fowler misses a threeball from the wing. Drew Weber snags the offensive rebound for the Eagles. Fowler misses a three point shot from the corner. P-W is fouled on a fast break layup, but misses two free throws. Fowler misses a six foot shot from the side of the lane. Grady Eklund drives, whirls and hits a layup to boost the Pirates to a 27-17 lead.

Fowler misses a fifteen foot shot from the baseline. P-W misses a fast break layup. Fowler misses a shot. Anthony Epkey grabs the offensive rebound for the Eagles. Fowler is fouled on a putback, but misses two free throws. P-W misses a driving layup and two putbacks before Grady Eklund finally puts the ball in for two more Pirate points. Fowler misses a fifteen foot shot from the wing. P-W misses a threeball from the side. The halftime buzzer alerts everyone that it is time for a break.

P-W has a 29-17 halftime lead.

Grady Eklund has 14 points to lead the Pirate scoring at halftime. At this point, he has tied the Pewamo-Westphalia all-time scoring record held by Nick Spitzley, who is at the game. Logan Farmer has 4 points.

Jonah Thelen has 7 points for Fowler and Joe Epkey has 4 points.

As some of you know, I was a far better musician than an athlete. (I play piano, synthesizers, organs and sing.) Before the game, I learned that Brandt Buckley played some Christmas songs from my You Tube Channel at the game the Friday before Christmas. I was flattered when I learned that and astounded when he played one of my original songs, “A Man Like Me” from the channel at halftime.

The song is a novelty, comedy effort. Since no one at the gym saw the video, I’ll post it here!

“A Man Like Me” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTdeYRUEOkc

When I just watched the video, I was reminded of the piano-themed socks the Fowler’s girls gave me when they won their second state title back in 2022. I wear them in my video and pull my pant leg up to display them near the end of the video. Thanks to Fowler Girls Basketball for the socks and thanks to Brandt Buckley for playing the song!

Fowler inbounds the ball to get quarter number three underway. Jonah Thelen sinks a threeball from the side for Fowler. Grady Eklund drives, spins and hits a layup for P-W. Grady Eklund is now the Pewamo-Westphalia alltime leading scorer. Congratulations for all the hard work and in-game excellence it took to achieve this!

Fowler misses a three pointer from the corner. Jonah Thelen steals the ball for Fowler. The Eagles are assessed with a traveling violation. Tyler Spitzley passes to Trent Piggot, who throws in a threeball from the corner to give P-W a 34-20 lead.

Fowler misses a threeball from the corner. Dylan Pline ties up the ball for Fowler. The Possession Arrow is focused on drinking tea at the queen’s reception and misses the play. The ball is awarded to Pewamo-Westphalia. The Pirates miss a layup. Joe Epkey goes to the sideline, makes an athletic leap and throws the ball off a P-W player to secure the possession for Fowler. Jonah Thelen passes to Joe Epkey, who spins and hits a layup to trim the P-W lead to 34-22.

P-W misses a six foot turnaround jump shot in the lane. Fowler misses a fifteen foot shot off the dribble from the baseline. P-W misses a three pointer from the corner. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Pirates get another opportunity. P-W misses a threeball from the corner. Fowler misses a threeball from the wing. P-W misses a threeball from the side.

The Bleacher Denizen misses watching the ball go into the basket. Ty Thelen ignores the Bleacher Denizen’s whining and steals the ball for the Pirates. He passes to Grady Eklund, who hits a layup, is fouled and hits his free throw to boost the Pirates to a 37-22 lead with 3:27 to play in quarter number three.

Caleb Blyth steals a Fowler pass. Logan Farmer hits a layup for the Pirates. Grady Eklund blocks a Fowler layup; the Eagles retrieve the loose ball. Fowler misses a three point shot from the side. Grady Eklund is fouled on a layup and hits one of his two free throws. With 2:37 to go in quarter number three, the Pirate lead is at 40-22.

Fowler misses a driving layup. Aidan Riley grabs the offensive rebound and passes to Joe Epkey, who hits a layup and is fouled. He misses his free throw. Caleb Blyth passes to Sam Thelen, who hits a layup for the Pirates. Fowler misses a three point attempt from the corner. Joe Epkey hits a putback for the Eagles. As Grady Eklund falls to the floor, he somehow manages to hit a six foot shot in the lane to give P-W a 44-26 lead. (For someone as tall as he is, Grady Eklund has amazing coordination. He is All-State for a reason.)

Fowler misses a threeball from the side. Isaac Thelen secures the offensive rebound for the Eagles and passes to Dylan Pline, who throws in a threeball from the wing. Cam Nurenburg passes to Trent Piggott, who hits a three point shot from the corner for P-W. Fowler misses a three pointer from the wing. Joe Epkey pulls down the offensive rebound for the Eagles. Fowler throws a pass out of bounds. Dylan Pline steals the ball and hits a fast break layup as the buzzer lets us know it is time to end quarter number three.

With three quarters in the books, Pewamo-Westphalia leads 47-31.

Fowler inbounds the ball to open the final quarter. Trent Piggott blocks a Fowler jump shot from the free throw line. P-W misses a layup. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Pirates get the ball back. Grady Eklund passes to Tyler Spitzley, who hits a layup for the Pirates to boost the P-W lead to 49-31.

Fowler fumbles a pass out of bounds. P-W throws a pass out of bounds. Fowler misses a ten foot shot in the lane. Tyler Spitzley takes the ball coast to coast to hit a layup for P-W. Fowler misses a layup. Nolan George drives and hits a layup for the Pirates. Fowler misses a layup. Logan Farmer drives and hits a layup to boost the P-W lead to 55-31.

Isaac Thelen drives the baseline and hits a layup for Fowler. Dylan Pline draws a charging foul to negate a Pirate layup. Drew Weber passes to an Eagle teammate who is fouled on a layup, but misses both his free throws. P-W misses a driving reverse layup. Nolan George hits a putback for the Pirates. Fowler misses a driving layup. Dylan Pline forces a Pirate double dribble violation. Dylan Pline flings a cross court pass to Garrett Klein, who hits a three point shot from the side to shave the Pirate lead to 57-36.

The Pirates are assessed with a traveling violation. Fowler misses a three pointer from the corner. Isaac Thelen grabs the offensive rebound for the Eagles. Fowler misses a three pointer from the top of the key. Josh Bengel is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of his two free throws to give P-W a 58-36 lead with 2:46 left on the clock.

Fowler misses a threeball from the wing. P-W misses a threeball from the side. Anthony Epkey is fouled and hits two free throws for Fowler. Josh Bengel passes to Luke Martin, who is fouled on a reverse layup and hits one of his two free throws to give P-W a 59-38 lead with 1:14 to go.

Caleb Blyth knocks the ball out of bounds; Fowler retains possession. Damon Huhn forces a tieup. The Possession Arrow finishes chewing a crumpet at the tea party, recognizes Mr. Huhn’s hard work and awards the ball to P-W. Damon Huhn drives and hits a layup for P-W. Fowler misses a six foot shot from the baseline. Pewamo-Westphalia runs out the clock.

The Pirates win this game to secure first place in the CMAC. The final score was 61-38. Congratulations to Grady Eklund for setting the new Pewamo-Westphalia scoring record!!

Jonah Thelen and Joe Epkey each had 10 points to lead the Fowler team. Dylan Pline contributed 8 points. Anthony Epkey added 4 points. Garrett Klein and Isaac Thelen each scored 3 points.

Grady Eklund had 22 points to lead the eleven Pirates who scored. Logan Farmer chipped in with 8 points and Trent Piggott added 7 points. Tyler Spitzley put in 6 points. Nolan George and Sam Thelen each scored 5 points. Caleb Blyth, Cam Nurenberg and Damon Huhn each had 2 points. Josh Bengel and Luke Martin each tallied 1 point.