By Ty Marzean
WKTV Contributor
Tri-unity and Schoolcraft rekindled their rivalry from a year ago in a game that saw 13 lead changes and ended with a buzzer-beater tip-in by Schoolcraft, securing a 62-61 victory on Tuesday night’s WKTV Truck game.
“We knew it was going to be down to the wire,” said veteran Coach Mark Keeler, whose team moves to 10-3 on the season. “It was last year when we beat them at their place. Nobody got a huge lead. It was quite the game.”
The first quarter ended at 10-apiece as Tri-unity junior guard Keaton Blanker scored seven. Blanker finished the game with 16 points, including four three-pointers, and 10 assists.
“Keaton was amazing; I’d say that was a pretty good game from a point guard,” Keeler said.
Defenders up 30-25 at halftime
The first half saw seven lead changes; Tri-unity led 30-25 at the end of 16 minutes.
Schoolcraft controlled the third quarter, outscoring the Defenders 20-10. Eagles senior guard Shane Rykse scored 11 of their third quarter points and ended with a game-high 28 points.
“I was happy we held him to that,” Keeler exclaimed. “He’s unbelievable. He was last year as well.”
Junior forward Tucker Walther added 15 points and two blocks for Schoolcraft.
“We knew those two guys would carry the load, and they did,” Keeler said.
Joey Mellon led Defenders with 19 points
Tri-unity junior big man Joey Mellon had a career night as he tallied 19 points, including a tip-in to give the Defenders a late lead.
“They had us outsized,” Keeler explained. “We were one big man short, Akais (Giplaye) was out with an ankle injury. We knew Joey had to step up, and he did. He’s only a junior, so I’m excited for him.”
Tri-Unity senior leader Jordan VanKlompenberg was held to just nine points as Schoolcraft focused their defense on him.
“They were really keying on Jordan; we thought it would be a lower-scoring game.”
Tri-unity led by one with 10.8 seconds left
The Defenders took a one-point lead with 10.8 seconds left on the clock. Tri-unity had two fouls to give and, in the process, ate up a valuable six seconds.
With 4.4 seconds remaining, the Eagles in-bounded the ball to a double-covered Rykse, who put it up toward the basket, where it was caught and tipped in by senior Jaden VanderWiere as time expired.
“You have to give it to Schoolcraft; they didn’t back down, we didn’t back down, and it was a war to the end,” Keeler said.
The Defenders (10-3 overall) play Lee (7-4) Friday night. The Legends won last year’s game 62-59.
“We need to contain (Marc) Whitfield, he will get his points, but we don’t want him to score layups. We want to make him work for it,” Keeler said.
