Grand Haven started out with six turnovers in its first 10 possessions but still came away tied 23-all at halftime.
Any thoughts of pulling out a victory in the home season opener slipped away in the third quarter. Holland scored 17 points in the quarter and held Grand Haven on one basket and only seven points total. The Dutch, now 1-1 on the season, ended up the quarter ahead 40-30.
After that, Holland stayed ahead for good as Grand Haven got the lead down to six points, 50-44, only once in the final quarter.
The Buccaneers had opened the season with a 51-49 loss Tuesday at Holland Christian, but the Holland game left Grand Haven Coach Steve Hewitt wondering which was his real team.
“We were a different team tonight than we were Tuesday,” Hewitt said. “It looked like we didn’t want to play on either end of the floor.”
The third quarter especially bothered Hewitt.
“We just weren’t sharing the ball,” he said. “Their pressure sped us up on offense, but we’ve got to figure it out. When we did, we got good shots, but it was one out of 10 possessions. They were quicker to the ball, and we looked a step slow.”
Guard Dante Hawkins dominated play for Holland, now 2-0. Hawkins kept the pressure on Grand Haven’s ball handlers and still found time to score 30 points with 10 of the points coming in the fourth quarter.
Connor Grimes topped Grand Haven with 18 points, with 11 coming on free throws. Noah Lein had nine points and Adam Abraham seven for the Buccaneers.
The Buccaneers had a 31-22 rebounding edge, but they turned the ball over 18 times compared to only 10 for the Dutch.
Grand Haven, now 0-2, will play at Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central Tuesday, Dec. 17, and at Reeths-Puffer on Dec. 20 for its next two games.
In a pre-game ceremony, the Grand Haven boys basketball program received the Sportsmanship Award from the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan.
