Tri-unity buzzer-beater tops Lee Wednesday, 51-49

Tri-unity Christian at Lee Boys Basketball. (WKTV Friday Night Highlights/Jake Westbrook)

Bill Rohn — who served as a trial lawyer for 40 years at the Varnum law firm in Grand Rapids — calls himself a “newspaper junkie.“ Bill edited his high school and college newspapers. He also has covered sports for Midwestern newspapers such as The Grand Rapids Press, The South Bend Tribune, and The Niles Daily Star. He is a co-host of WKTV Friday Night Highlights. Bill holds a B.A. degree in Political Science from GVSU and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Notre Dame.

By Bill Rohn
WKTV Contributor
Friday Night Highlights Host
greer@wktv.org

Tri-unity’s Jake VanKlompenberg hit a 5-foot shot as the final buzzer sounded, then completely disappeared beneath a mob of screaming teammates as the Defenders beat Lee 51-49 Wednesday night.

The contest, played at Lee and delayed one night by cold weather, featured a battle of teams who were both unbeaten in the Alliance League when play began.

And a capacity crowd got its money’s worth.

Facing a 49-49 tie, Tri-unity rebounded a missed Lee shot with 28 seconds to play, then moved down court before calling time out with 11 seconds left. When play resumed, a stingy Lee defense appeared to leave the Defenders with no room to shoot, but VanKlompenberg had other plans. The junior, who was held scoreless in the first half, wiggled free to the left of the basket, twisted in midair, and found the net as the horn sounded, triggering an 11-player Tri-unity pileup as the winners celebrated.

“Somebody was going to get the last shot, and fortunately it was us,” said an extremely pleased Defenders Coach Brent Voorhees following the game, adding, “Jake works very hard and he made an absolutely great shot to win it.”

Tri-Unity improved to 7-0 in Alliance League play and 11-1 overall. Lee, now 10-3 overall, fell to 5-1 in conference action.

Lee’s Braylon Huff and JR Metcalf defend against Tri-unity’s Cody Osbun and Caleb Hofmann. (WKTV/Bill Rohn)

The loss aside, the Legends were not without heroes of their own, including Dere’on Brown, who hit five three-point shots during the game. The teams were tied 11-11 at the end of the first quarter before Tri-unity took a 25-18 halftime lead.

Not to be outdone, Lee’s big Lzekiel “Zeke“ Scott hit two three-pointers en route to a 12 point third quarter, cutting the Defenders’ margin to 42-40 when fourth quarter play began. Lee then took a 49-46 lead with less than a minute to play on Brown’s fifth three-pointer and a bucket by Scott before Nolan DeMots tied the score at 49 on a three pointer, setting the stage for VanKlompenberg’s heroics.

“Wyoming Lee is very well coached and their kids made a ton of big shots in key moments,” said Voorhees, whose team will seek a third straight state championship when tournament play begins in March. “This game was a good confidence builder for our group, to be able to win a tough conference game on the road.”

Tri-unity got 15 points apiece from Caleb Hoffman and Clayton Rowlader, plus solid rebounding from Cody Osborne and Brayden Nelson, who had 10 and eight rebounds, respectively.

Lee’s Zeke Scott led all scorers with 19 points. Dere’on Brown finished with 16 for Coach Gerard Oray’s Legends.

The two teams will go at it again in a February 13 game to be played at Tri-Unity.