Catholic Central Boys Basketball

South Christian’s Carson Vis (11) led with 24 points despite some strong defense from Catholic Central. (WKTV Greg Chrapek)

By Greg Chrapek

WKTV Contributor

Two of the premier teams in West Michigan high school basketball over the years collided once again when the South Christian Sailors cruised into the Grand Rapids Catholic Central gym Tuesday evening.

Thanks to a strong second half, the visiting Sailors came away with the victory in the latest chapter of their rivalry as they turned back the Cougars 50-40.

As they have many times, the two teams entered the game ranked in the state in Division 2. South Christian entered the game ranked 10^th and Catholic Central 17^th in the latest Michigan High School Athletic Association power rankings.

The game lived up to its billing and was a close struggle most of the way before South took charge late in the third quarter.

“It was a hard-fought game,” said South Christian Coach Taylor Johnson. “It felt like a Big 10 game. It was hard to score. Both teams were well prepared. They (Catholic Central) had a good defensive scheme and I liked our defensive scheme and we just hit a couple more shots in the third quarter that kind of extended that lead and we just kind of held on.

“That’s a good team. Chris (Catholic Central Coach Chris Pearl) is doing a good job. They got us with some different coverages that we haven’t seen before and I thought we made some decent adjustments in the second half.”

South took the early lead as the Sailors jumped out to a 10-2 advantage in the first quarter. Catholic, however, closed out the quarter strong as back-to-back three pointers by Brieland Watkins and Izaya Lathridge closed the gap to 10-9 at the end of the quarter.

The two squads traded the lead back and forth during the second quarter. Catholic Central took a 13-10 lead before South battled back to tie the game at 18. The Cougars finished out the first half on an upswing and took a 22-21 lead int halftime.

“Their ball-screen defense was giving us some trouble,” Johnson said. “They were really trapping and pushing Carson (Vis) out. We have to do a better job of getting the ball in the middle of the floor and getting the ball opposite. We will work on it. We will get better.”

Sailors’ 8-point run builds 37-28 lead

The game remained tight until late in the third quarter. Up 29-28, the Sailors finished the third quarter with an eight-point run to take a 37-28 lead. The key to the run was back-to-back three-pointers by Caleb Pleune and Carson Vis.

South Christian’s Caleb Pleune plays defense against Catholic Central’s Brieland Watkins. Pleune scored nine points for the Sailors. (WKTV Greg Chrapek)

Playing with the lead, the Sailors were able to hold the Cougars at bay during the final quarter. South Christian also sealed the game at the foul line in the final quarter as 11 of South’s 13 points in the fourth quarter came at the charity stripe.

“Carson (Vis) is a tremendous, tremendous player,” said Catholic Central Coach Chris Pearl. “I think he did a good job of getting to the hoop and attacking. I think our guys got a little down. They saw a lot of the free throws and we started settling for a little bit of threes. We just have to get in that attack mindset.”

Vis led South Christian’s offense with 24 points, and was especially effective at driving to the basket and drawing fouls nailing 14-of-18 at the free-throw line. Vis also knocked down a pair of three-point shots. Davis Kemper added 10 points, highlighted by knocking down 3 three-point shots. Pleune also drained a trio of treys as he finished with nine points.

“I appreciate the fans coming out,” Johnson said. “Winning on the road is always hard to do here. A win at Catholic, that’s a really good win for us.”

South Christian’s Nolan Fackler (13) looks for an opening on the perimeter of the Catholic Central defense. (WKTV Greg Chrapek)

Lathridge led the Cougars with 19 points, while Watkins added 13.

South Christian improved to 10-4 overall, and is 5-1 in the OK Gold, a game behind Northview.

“The season has been up and down,” Johnson said. “I still don’t think we’ve found our groove yet. We’re growing, but we still have a long way to go. I still don’t think we’ve played our best basketball.”

Catholic Central fell to 9-5 overall, but are first place in the OK White at 5-0.

“We’ve had a tremendous second half of the season and we are going to keep that going,” Pearl said. “We’re 5-0 in the conference and we have goals to accomplish. We’ve had eight straight conference championships and we are hoping to build off of that.”

South Christian’s Carson Vis (11) looks for an open man during Friday’s game. Vis led the Sailors with 20 points, including four three-point baskets. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)

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.

South Christian’s Sam Weiss (23) prepares to drive the lane against Catholic Central. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)

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.

South Christian’s Jake Vermaas (0) looks for an opening as Catholic Central’s Carter Meerman (11) and Durral Brooks (10) apply pressure. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)

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.