By Bill Rohn
Wyoming-Kentwood News Today Contributor
Friday Night Highlights Host
greer@wktv.org
The East Kentwood boys team remained unbeaten in the OK Red, finishing the month of January with weekend wins over Grandville and Grand Haven.
The Falcons, 13-1 overall and ranked second in numerous statewide polls, continued their winning ways with a come-from-behind 54-52 win Friday over a tough Bulldog squad. After that, EK’s players went home, got some sleep, and returned to their gym 16 hours later to outpace Grand Haven, 73-44.
“We owed Grandville because they beat us twice last year,” said EK Coach Mike Thomas following Friday’s win over the Bulldogs.
Early on, it looked as though Grandville might make it three in a row over the Falcons. The Bulldogs confronted EK with a flexible zone defense, causing Thomas’ kids to miss from the outside. EK hit only two of 15 first quarter shots, which helped the Bulldogs to a 10-4 lead.
Grandville continued its pressure behind the shooting of Anthony Richardson and Brendan VanderHart, taking a 31-19 halftime lead following a 14-point run late in the second quarter.
But the Falcons weren’t finished.
“At halftime, I told the kids I thought we were OK on defense,” Thomas said. “Grandville was getting buckets on turnovers and getting the ball quickly down the floor, so we worked on that. I just told them to settle down at halftime.”
Richardson also told his team to keep “pushing“ the ball down the court. And in the second half, EK solved the Grandville zone. A third-quarter surge, led by RJ Chapman‘s nine points and 6-9 Andrew Kenyi’s rebounding and scoring, pulled Kentwood close. Grandville led 44-40 entering the fourth quarter.
“Winning is hard, but we’ve got some very good athletes and the idea was to keep the pressure on against that zone in the second half,” Thomas explained.
East Kentwood’s push produced a 46-44 lead with six minutes to play, and then a 54-52 lead with five seconds remaining. The visitors then missed a last-second shot, following an intentionally missed free throw, sealing the Falcon win.
Kenyi led the Falcons with 15 points, followed by Chapman, 13. Grandville’s Carter Wade nailed four three-pointers and totaled 13 points. Teammate Anthony Richardson led Grandville with 15.
The Saturday matinee: Grand Haven at East Kentwood
Early play included a sluggish first half, which saw EK lead 30-26 at halftime. The Falcons then turned it on in the third quarter, outracing Grand Haven 22-5, for a 52-31 lead.
Fourth quarter play featured more of the same, as the Falcons cruised to a 73-44 win and clean 5-0 conference record. Kenyi led the winning effort with 16 points, while Samuel Makaug energized a small crowd with nine points and two slam dunks in a row.
Grandville dropped to 2-2 in OK Red play and 10-3 overall, while Grand Haven fell to 1-4 in the Red, 12-5 overall.
East Kentwood now prepares for a Feb. 3 home rematch with Rockford, currently only one game behind the Falcons in conference play. Earlier this season, the Falcons beat the host Rams in overtime by one.
