LocalSportsJournal.com
NORTON SHORES – Sophomore Tyson Annema was the hero for the Western Michigan Christian Warrior basketball team on Wednesday night.
With 5.2 seconds remaining, Annema dribbled the length of the court and scored on an off-balance layup at the buzzer and lifted the Warriors to a 50-48 non-league victory over visiting Mason County Central.
The Spartans had tied the game at 48-all on a long 3-pointer by Cole VanderHaag from deep in the right corner with 6 seconds remaining to set up the final play. After a WMC timeout, Annema used his speed to get to the basket and score the winning basket.
It certainly didn’t look good for the Warriors in the early going as the Spartans, using an effective zone defense and some solid shooting, took an 11-1 lead in the opening quarter. By quarter’s end, the MCC lead was 15-8.
The Warriors used an 18-3 scoring advantage in the second quarter and took a 26-18 lead into halftime.
The WMC lead grew to double digits for much of the second half until the Spartans made a run in the final quarter.
Mason Central cut the lead to 48-43 with 41 seconds left then scored the next five points to tie the game.
Derrick Ashley led WMC with 14 points. Levi Dutton scored 12 and Gabe Van Baale scored nine points off the bench. Annema had eight points.
VanderHaag scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Spartans. He was the only player to reach double figures. Jaxon Munoz scored eight points.
WMC (4-2) hosts Fruitport on Thursday night.
