Wyoming Wolves rain 3s, knock out host Caledonia to advance to District title game Friday

Wyoming high’s Alyjah Chandler shoots over Caledonia’s Nic Bender in the Wolves 80-61 win over Caledonia in District tournament action. (WKTV/Pat Moll)

By Mike Moll, WKTV Volunteer Sports Director

Caledonia hosted the Michigan High School Division 1 boys basketball District tournament this week and they welcomed Thom VanderKlay and his Wyoming Wolves Wednesday night in semifinal action.

The Fighting Scots won the opening tip to start the game and the first quarter 13-8, but the Wolves took control after that, hitting 14 3-pointers on the night, and prevailed in the end by a score of 80-61 to improve to 14-7 on the year.

They will play East Grand Rapids for the championship Friday night, after the Pioneers defeated Byron Center, 53-52, to improve to 11-10 on the season. (For complete local district action, see a WKTV update here.)

Wyoming high’s Gene Atkins shoots for 3-pointer in the Wolves 80-61 win over Caledonia in District tournament action. (WKTV/Pat Moll)

The Wolves opened the scoring with the first 4 points before Caledonia got on the board with a free throw by senior Liam Mulnix with just over 6 minutes remaining. After another Wyoming basket by their own senior, and leading scorer, Ramere Draper, the Scots would score the next 12 to go up 13-6. Wyoming’s Jordan Love would score the final 2 points to cut the deficit to 5 just before the buzzer.

Nick Henry led the way for Caledonia coach Phil Visser’s team with 6 and Mason McKenzie chipped in 4. In addition to Draper’s 2, the Wolves had 4 points from Jaleil Holt.

The momentum gained from Love’s late basket continued to start the second quarter as Wyoming went on a 14-0 run of their own as the Wolves offense started to gel as the taller Scots would stay in their zone defense, only to have Draper, Holt, and Alyjah Chandler combine for 5 triples in the quarter.

That helped the Wolves take a lead, and control of the game, that they would not relinquish.

After a Henry basket for the Scots, Holt was fouled attempting a 3-point shot and would make all three free throws to make the score 23-15. Caledonia’s Elijah Holt would cut that lead down to just 5 with a triple of his own, but the Wolves would quickly respond with another 11-0 run to take a 16-point lead into the locker room, 34-18.

Draper, aided by his three triples, would finish with 15 points at the half. Holt was close behind with 12, while the Scots were led by Henry with 8. Wyoming outscored Caledonia 26-5 in the quarter.

The third quarter was a repeat of the second, even though Caledonia would double their first-half total with 18 points, Wyoming would put up 31 to increase the lead to 29 at the buzzer, 65-36.

Wyoming high’s Ramere Draper shoots over Caledonia’s Mason McKenzie to connect on one of his seven triples on the night in the Wolves 80-61 win over Caledonia in District tournament action., (WKTV/Pat Moll)

After exchanging points early in the final stanza, the Wolves would again run off 12 consecutive points to stretch the lead to 52-25. Caledonia senior Gavin Hurst came off the bench to score 8 points in the quarter, but his team again had no answers for Draper, who connected on another four 3-pointers giving him seven makes on the night, 14 points in the quarter, and a game-high 29 to close it out. He had help from Qua’dir Hatchett who chipped in 9 points after being shut out in the first half.

The final quarter was just a formality, but the Scots would continue their fight and were able to outscore VanderKlay’s Wolves 25-15, as he had subbed most of his key players by early in the quarter. Caledonia, again led by Hurst with 8 more points in the quarter, and 7 by Mulnix, while the victors were led by Hatchett and Jameson Lamrouex, each with 5 points.

The leaders on the night for the Wolves were Draper with 29, Holt with 15 and Hatchett with 14, while the Scots were led by Hurst with 16, Mulnix with 11 and Henry with 10.

The Wolves combined for 14 triples on the night while Caledonia had 5. Unofficially, Caledonia had 25 turnovers for the game and Wyoming took advantage of them by scoring 28 points off them, while Wyoming had 13 turnovers of their own, but only gave up 4 points off them. Caledonia concludes their season at 11-11.