By Greg Chrapek
WKTV Contributor
The South Christian boys basketball team honored the first Sailors to win a state basketball championship Friday and their game with Grand Rapids Catholic Central proved worthy of a state final.
The Sailors and Cougars, who are both among the top teams in the state in Division 2, put on a state-finals worthy performance with Catholic Central hanging on for a 57-54 win as a last-second South Christian three-point shot bounced off the rim.
With many of the team members of the 1988 South Christian Class B state championship team in attendance, the Cougars and Sailors put on a classic of a game. Over the past three years at least one of the schools has played for a Division 2 state title with South Christian reaching the championship game last season. Friday’s contest proved that either team is capable of reaching the title game again this March.
“What a great high school basketball game,” said Catholic Central Coach TJ Meerman. “South Christian is an incredible team. They remind me so much of our state championship team of a couple years ago as they have the combination of guards, shooters, depth, rebounding and size in the middle. Our guys battled tough and they found a way to win.”
The game was an intense, close struggle throughout with both teams filling the hoop with three-point bombs while playing tough defense on the interior. Catholic Central led 13-8 at the end of the opening quarter with South Christian up 27-25 at halftime.
The three-point shot was a main factor for the success of both offenses. South Christian connected on six, three-point shots during the first half, while Catholic Central drained five treys in the first half including all four of their buckets by three-pointers in the second quarter. South Christian finished the game with a total of 12 three’s, while Catholic Central totaled eight.
South Christian utilized the three-ball in response to Catholic Central’s zone defense.
“It was a great game,” said South Christian Coach Taylor Johnson. “Give all the credit to Catholic Central. Their 1-3-1 zone bothered us. On defense we tried to build a wall to take away their drives to the basket. We just came up short.”
Mr. Basketball candidate Durral Brooks gets 21 points
While the South defense slowed down some of the Cougars drives to the basket, they were unable to completely stop them as Catholic Central Mr. Basketball candidate Durral “Phat” Brooks was still able to find his way to the rim when they needed a key bucket. Brooks, who is committed to the University of Michigan, turned in a Mr. Basketball-type performance as he led the Cougars with 21 points, seven assists and seven rebounds.
“Phat is just a special player,” Meerman said. “He is a super leader and just lifts our guys up. We are young, we have five sophomores on the roster, and Phat and our other senior captains, Carter Meerman, Willie VanderBoegh and Matthew Sokorai, are doing a great job of leading our young guys.”
One of the Cougar sophomores, Izaya Larthridge, played anything like a sophomore as he drained four three-pointers and finished with 16 points.
“Izaya is a 6-foot-5 sophomore who has been doing a great job,” Meerman said. “One thing he has really been doing a good job at lately is his rebounding.”
Fellow sophomore Brieland Watkins added four points and six rebounds for the Cougars. Senior guard Carter Meerman turned in a big game as he totaled 15 points, including four clutch three-point shots.
Catholic Central regained the lead early in the second half before South Christian tied the game midway through the third quarter. Catholic ended the third quarter with a 9-5 run to take a 45-41 lead into the final stanza.
Cougars led 55-54 with under two minutes left
The game continued to swing back and forth in the final quarter. The Cougars surged ahead 53-44 in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter before South rallied to cut the margin to 55-54 with 1:54 remaining in the game.
Catholic’s Jack Bowen split a pair of free throws with 1:32 remaining to give the Cougars a 56-54 lead. The Sailors then worked the clock down and took a shot with 30 seconds remaining that rimmed out. Catholic added a free throw with 15 seconds remaining to go up by three and with one second remaining a South three-pointer bounced off the rim giving the Cougars the win.
Carson Vis led the way for South Christian with 20 points, including four three-point baskets. Davis Kemper added 15 points, including 3 three’s, while Jake Vermaas added 10 points and Caleb Pleune, nine, all three’s.
“Kemper and Pleune hit a lot of big shots and that was nice to see,” Johnson said. “We are getting better. Our defense is continuing to get better and we are playing hard. We still have a long way to go and have a lot to improve on.”
The Sailors, who fell to 5-3 for the season, return to action Tuesday hosting Forest Hills Eastern and then travel to Cedar Springs next Friday.
South girls fall to Catholic Central
The South Christian girls basketball team dropped a 50-40 decision to Catholic Central on Friday. The loss evened South’s record at 3-3 for the season. The Sailors opened the season with three straight wins before dropping a 47-41 decision to Unity Christian and a 43-41 loss to East Grand Rapids. They return to action Tuesday at Forest Hills Eastern and then travel to Cedar Springs next Friday.
