By Nate Thompson
LocalSportsJournal.com

NORTON SHORES – Drew Sinke didn’t expect to connect on four 3-pointers in his first varsity contest for the Grand Haven Buccaneers.

But the soft-spoken sophomore said the Bucs are capable of more hot shooting nights moving forward.

After a foul-plagued and cold-shooting first quarter, Grand Haven exploded for an astonishing 10 three-pointers in the second quarter and breezed to a 67-31 victory over Mona Shores on Friday in the season opener for both squads.

The Bucs trailed 9-7 after one quarter, but seemingly with a flip of a switch, they unleashed a shooting clinic from 3-point range. Grand Haven’s first 10 field goals of the second quarter were all triples, including four from Sinke.

Mona Shores’ No. 1 Ben Rosenthal tries to get his hand in the face of Grand Haven’s Owen Ross. Photo/Jason Goorman

Grand Haven’s only two-point basket in the quarter was a layup by junior Casey Constant with two seconds left, giving the Bucs a 38-15 advantage at the half.

“No, no – no way,” Sinke said, when asked if he expected to hit that many threes. “Everyone on this team is capable of that. We just have to keep learning from the seniors. We’ll get better as we go, as we get more confidence.”

Grand Haven Coach Greg Immink said the 3-point outburst had a lot to do with confidence, after a first quarter that saw the overaggressive Bucs foul a lot and put the Sailors in the double bonus.

“I think a lot of that was first-game jitters,” Immink said. “We have a lot of guys with not a lot of varsity experience. After that first, I think we settled in a little. The guys saw the ball go down and they fed off of it. It was fun to watch.”

It wasn’t much fun for the Sailors, who were plagued by turnovers and poor decisions offensively. At one point, head coach Doug Burse subbed in five new players after his squad fell behind 45-19 in the third.

Senior wing Kellum Bridgeforth connected on the Bucs’ 11th three-pointer later in the third, and they took a 55-28 advantage into the fourth.

Frustrations boiled over for Burse and Mona Shores assistant coach Jarvis Walker midway through the fourth quarter. Both were whistled for technical fouls and Walker was ejected for comments made to a referee.

Grand Haven’s No. 11 Casey Constant drives past Dietrich Thornton. Photo/Jason Goorman

Grand Haven had three players score in double figures, led by Sinke’s 12 points. Bridgeforth chipped in with 11 and Constant totaled 10. The Bucs had a total of 11 players score.

“The thing that I liked about a lot of our baskets was that an assist came before the basket,” Immink said. “You know you’re playing good team basketball, but also you can be pretty confident it will continue because we’ve got players willing to create for others. That’s the way we want to play.”

Junior guard Davarius Carter led the Sailors with 10 points, while backup point guard Caleb Campbell added six.

Grand Haven now sets its sights on next Friday’s Drawbridge Classic against neighboring rival Spring Lake. The Bucs escaped with an overtime victory at Spring Lake last season.