By Greg Chrapek
WKTV Contributor
If Friday’s result is any indication, opponents of East Kentwood might thick twice about coming out in a zone defense against the Falcons.
Thanks to some accurate outside shooting and timely drives to the basket, East Kentwood’s offense reached overdrive in the second half as the Falcons defeated Grandville 73-58 in an OK Red showdown of conference frontrunners.
“I thought this was a good game for us,” said East Kentwood Coach Mike Thomas. “Our guys struggle against a zone, but they showed tonight they are starting to figure the zone out. This is the largest amount of points we’ve scored against a zone in a long time.”
The 73 points the Falcons scored Friday was almost double the amount of points they scored a month ago when the Falcons dropped a 48-41 decision to Grandville on the road. The win also crowded things at the top of the OK Red as East Kentwood, Grandville, Grand Haven and Hudsonville are all tied for the top spot in the league with 7-3 conference records.
Huge second half for the Falcons
East Kentwood was especially productive against the Grandville zone defense in the second half. Trailing Grandville 32-27 at halftime, East Kentwood outscored the Bulldogs 46-26 in the second half.
East Kentwood stormed out of the locker room at the start of the second half to outscore Grandville 20-5 and take control of the game. Senior Marshaun Flakes led the charge in the second half as he scored Kentwood’s first seven points of the third quarter.
“This was big,” Flakes said. “The last time we played them (Grandville) we started slow. Tonight, we came out with a lot more energy and intensity. We really brought the energy in the second half.”
East Kentwood brought plenty of defensive energy to the floor in the second half. Steals on the defensive end led to some layups on the offensive end of the floor. Both Flakes and Jaden Bowman came up with big steals in the early going in the third quarter as the Falcons took the lead in the game.
“It’s always our defense that gets us going,” Thomas said. “Our defense has kept us in every game. We also made some defensive adjustments at halftime.”
East Kentwood lights up the treys
On the offensive side of the floor, the Falcons sliced apart the Grandville zone with a combination of accurate shooting from the perimeter and timely drives to the basket. East Kentwood connected on seven three-point shots during the game. Jamell Hatchett led the way from outside as he connected on three, three-point shots while Rasheed Watkins hit a pair of treys.
Balance also was a key for the East Kentwood offense. Hatchett and Flakes led the way for the Falcon offense as they both totaled 19 points. Darryl Thompkins poured in 15 points, while Watkins added 12.
A standout on both ends of the court, Flakes also was instrumental in providing the Falcons with strong leadership, especially coming out in the second half facing a five-point deficit.
“Marshaun was unbelievable tonight,” Thomas said. “He is the leader of our team. I’ve been coaching for a while now and have had some great leaders. Like I told my wife, Marshaun is one of the top leaders I’ve ever had.”
That leadership was evident in the early stages of the fourth quarter when Grandville made an effort to get back into the game. Up 49-43 at the end of the third quarter, Grandville whittled the Kentwood lead to 51-47 before Flakes drained a pair of free throws to stem the tide.
Grandville managed to cut the Falcon lead to 53-49, but a three-point shot by Watkins started a 7-0 Falcon run that built their lead to 60-49 with five minutes left in the game. Grandville managed to cut the Kentwood margin to 60-52, but that was as close as the Bulldogs would get as Kentwood pulled away in the final few minutes of the game.
“This was a big win for us,” Flakes said. “This win will give us some momentum going into March.”
With the win, East Kentwood improved to 11-5 overall. The Falcons return to action Saturday when they travel to Benton Harbor to play Detroit Old Redford in the Wilson Chandler Shootout. The Falcons then travel to Grand Haven on Tuesday to face another team that is part of the logjam at the top of the conference standings before heading to Caledonia on Friday.
Grandville fell to 10-6 overall and 7-3 in the league. The Bulldogs were led in scoring by Tyson Mann who finished with 31 points.
