Local Sports Journal
You could not have asked for a much more exciting home opener to the basketball season for the Western Michigan Christian Warriors boys.
Jared Varnado hit a 3-pointer from the right corner with 10 seconds remaining and lifted the Warriors to a 56-55 victory over the Grandville Calvin Christian Squires.
After a timeout with eight seconds left, the Squires moved the ball downcourt, but a long jumper from the corner fell just short and the buzzer sounded to the end game.
WMC appeared to be in a comfort zone with a 44-32 lead after three quarters, but the Squires stormed back to tie the game at 44-all with a 12-0 run to begin the final quarter.
Derek Holt and Devin Eekhoff hit big buckets in the final 1:20 for the Warriors. But a 3-pointer by Calvin Christian’s Chase Haisma gave the Squires a 55-53 lead with 28 seconds remaining.
The Warriors ran the clock down until Varnado was left alone in the corner for the game-winning shot.
Senior Jacob Ray led the Warriors with 16 points and senior post player Kyle Kingma added 13. Eekhoff had seven points and 10 rebounds and Holt had seven assists.
Tony DeWitte led Calvin Christian with 22 points.
Muskegon Heights 75, Baldwin 57 – The Tigers used an early first-quarter lead and pressure halfcourt defense to top Baldwin. Ontario Porchia led Muskegon Heights with 19 points, three steals and three blocks while Antonio Jones came through with 18 points and six assists. Pherrius Flowers added a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds, Anthony Jones added 11 points and Deondre Wilson scored eight points for Muskegon Heights. Brandon Childres led Baldwin with 23 points.
NorthPointe Christian 55, Mona Shores 30 – The Sailors’ offense struggled with execution in the team’s opener. Tyler Trovinger had 10 points to lead the Sailors while Kobe Burse had eight rebounds.
Allendale 59, Spring Lake 43 – A rough seven-point second quarter put Spring Lake behind 26-19 at half and the Lakers didn’t have an answer to Allendale’s 20 third-quarter points. Kyle Zietlow led the Lakers with 14 points, Keegan George added seven points while Zach Montgomery and Nate Batts each had seven rebounds.
