By Greg Gielczyk
LocalSportsJournal.com
SCOTTVILLE — The Mason County Central boys knocked down what is believed to be a program record 16 3-point field goals, the Spartans blew out Holton, 81-22 in a West Michigan Conference Rivers Division contest Thursday night.
It snapped a two-game losing streak for the Spartans, and got them within two wins of the .500 mark on the season with four games to play – three of which will be at home.
The Spartans raced to a 31-6 first-quarter lead, and just poured it on from there, recording the most lopsided win since a 50-point crushing of White Cloud in 2017.
Central had a 20-3 advantage in the second period and carried a 51-9 cushion into the half. The Spartans outscored the Red Devils, 30-13 in the second half.
Spartans coach Chris VanderHaag said he wasn’t trying to run up the score in the second half, but told his players he wanted to see them hit 80.
“We were going to keep the intensity up and try to play a full game of basketball,” VanderHaag said. “The difference tonight (was) we had a lot of assists, we had a lot better ball movement, (and) a lot better spacing.”
Cole VanderHaag hit for a season and career high 27 points, rattling home six 3-pointers, for the Spartans. Braylin Thurow tossed in 15 with four triples.
The Spartans improved their record to 8-10 overall, 5-4 in the conference. Central is scheduled to host Grand Rapids Covenant Christian in a non-conference game Tuesday night.
Holton slipped to 2-17 overall, 0-9 in the league. Holton travels to Hesperia for another conference game on Tuesday night.
