Both West Ottawa and Holland Christian lost in showdowns at the Calvin Invite.
GRAND RAPIDS - Jared Redell was happy with the way his team started. But not the way they finished.
The West Ottawa boys basketball team jumped out to an impressive 10-0 lead at “The Invite” showcase at Calvin University on Saturday, Dec. 13. But they weren’t able to sustain it as the Panthers lost to Grand Rapids Christian 75-55.
“When you play good teams, you expect there to be games of runs,” Redell said. “But when they made their run back, I was surprised that we lost our energy. For the first time this year, we weren’t able to get that run back.”
It was the first loss of the season for West Ottawa (3-1). But Redell liked playing in a showcase with other elite teams.
“I mean, we were excited,” he said. “But we kinda lost our energy. We let them dictate the pace.”
Grand Rapids Christian (2-2) star Carl Thompson also had his way with West Ottawa. The 6-foot-5 guard, who has committed to play at Indiana-Fort Wayne, finished with a game-high 27 points.
“Obviously, he’s a really good player and he played really well tonight,” Redell said. “He shot a lot of tough, contested shots. And he made them. He’s 6-5 and can shoot the ball that well, you aren’t going to defend him any better with his size.”
Makai Campos led West Ottawa with 17 points, Quentin Edwards had 14 and JT Gill added 13. Darien Stewart, who is battling an injury, had just two points and eight rebounds.
“We came out hot with a lot of energy,” Campos said. “But we came out soft after that.”
The game was close at halftime when Christian led 28-22. West Ottawa got hot in the third, but so did Christian with a 27-23 advantage.
Christian drained 13 3-pointers, including five by Thompson.
"They made more 3s than twos,” Redell said. “They shoot under 30 percent from the 3-point line for the season.”
West Ottawa also had trouble with a very tall Grand Rapids Christian team, especially with 6-foot-7 center Will Doezema. He only had two points, but he had seven rebounds and six blocked shots, most of them in the fourth quarter.
Holland Christian falls to Grandville
Holland Christian got to showcase its team in “The Invite” on Saturday as well.
Titus Spencer had a game-high 28 points but it wasn’t enough as Holland Christian lost to Grandville 59-52.
Spencer, a senior guard, had just two points in the first quarter, but got hot after that. He drained two 3-pointers and was 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.
Moses VanderBilt, a senior guard, had 10 points and seven rebounds and Jake Holcomb, a senior forward, had nine points and eight rebounds for the Maroons (1-3).
Carter Wade led Grandville (3-0) with 19 points and freshman Heyden Jeremie had 15 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: West Ottawa boys basketball falls to Carl Thompson, GR Christian
Category: General Sports
