By Cris Greer
WKTV Managing Editor
Sophomore Sam Deutschmann scored 17 points to boost Zion Christian over visiting Grand Rapids Sacred Heart 55-27 Tuesday in girls basketball.
Coach Derek Foltice said Deutschmann, a first-time varsity player, is very athletic and does a good job on defense as well.
“It has taken her a couple of games to use her speed under control, and she’s really settling in and doing a great job,” said Foltice, whose Mountaineers improved to 5-3 overall. “We got off to a fast start. It was 15-4 after the first quarter.
“But the score makes it seem like a little more lopsided than it actually was. Sacred Heart has some really good players. We had to play well the whole time.”
Though Deutschmann led the way in this game, Foltice said his team has been trading scoring leaders this season.
“We’ve had multiple girls lead the way this year,” added Foltice, in his ninth year as coach. “We have a lot of girls willing to step up any given night. We’re trying to really focus on making our defense consistent as well.”
Junior Madi DeRuiter added 14 points for the Mountaineers, and Foltice said freshman Jayda Steenbergen also played a role in “really making things go defensively. She’s very feisty out there and made a couple really nice passes that helped us score.”
Zion Christian was 14-6 last year and 4-3 (fourth place) in the Alliance League, which was won by Potter’s House at 7-0.
“Potter’s House is definitely a force to contend with,” Foltice said. “But I love the energy that we play with. We’re getting better and better and playing at a pace that we like to play at.”
