LocalSportsJournal.com
FRUITPORT — Sam Zelenka was deadly from outside on Tuesday night and led the Fruitport Calvary Christian boys to a 70-61 victory over the visiting Muskegon Catholic Crusaders.
Zelenka poured in 21 points, including six 3-pointers to lead the way. Muskegon Catholic also had a big scorer as Braden Gustin dumped in 25 points.
“Catholic plays very, very hard and it’s something we greatly respect about them,” said Calvary coach Brad Richards. “We really struggled with Gustin and Convertini with 3 minutes to go.”
At that point, MCC trailed by just three points, but Calvary made 8-of-14 free throws in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
“We pressured them into turnovers and made a strong run in the fourth quarter, but we didn’t play strong enough team defense over the course of the game to come out on top,” said Crusader coach Rob Recknagel, whose team made 5-of-20 shots from behind the 3-point line.
The teams started out scoring at will as the Eagles led 23-19 after one quarter. The hosts led 37-32 at the half and took a 53-44 lead into the final quarter.
Bradley Richard finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Gabe VanBaale had 15 points and nine rebounds. Quinn Swanson also reached double figures with 12 points. Ben Pollock had six assists.
Besides Gustin, who also had seven rebounds and five steals, the Crusaders had 13 points from Bryan Convertini. He also had seven rebounds. Hunter Schrink had six points and six rebounds.
Calvary (10-5, 3-2) travels to Western Michigan Christian on Friday.
Muskegon Catholic (6-10, 1-4) hosts Wellspring Prep on Friday.
