By Cris Greer
WKTV Managing Editor
The West Michigan Aviation boys basketball team made its first trip to Kalamazoo Tuesday night well worth it with a 77-61 win over Kalamazoo Christian.
“We jumped out on them,” said Aviators Coach Austin Riebel, whose team improved to 2-2 overall. “The story in the first half is that we shot really well.”
Riebel’s son Luke scored 20 points before the half and ended up leading his team with 25. A junior and third-year varsity member, Riebel played alongside older brother Joey last year while dad coached. Joey is now playing JV basketball at Spring Arbor University.
Joseph May chipped in 14 points and 12 assists, while Ethan Dyksterhouse added 13 points and 10 boards.
“This was a great rebound win for us after a tough loss to Hopkins last Thursday,” Coach Riebel said. “They really shared the ball well tonight.
“We talked before the game about building our brand of basketball which is three things: physical, fast paced and playing together. They took a huge step in cementing this brand.”
It was the Aviators first time playing the Comets, which was Matt Dyksterhouse’s idea, a Kalamazoo Christian basketball alum and father to Ethan Dyksterhouse.
“It was cool for us to go there and play them,” said Riebel, of the 2-2 Comets.
As far as the Alliance League goes, Riebel said they’ve been very close the past two years, but Tri-unity and Potter’s House are “thorns in our side. We’ve had close battles with them.
“We’re definitely in that mix, but those two teams are very good, and Wyoming Lee is very good this year, too. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”
Tri-unity won the Alliance League at 8-0, followed by Potter’s House, 7-1 and West Michigan Aviation, 6-2.
