The Sun and News, Saturday, March 11, 2023/ Page 11Third win over TK advances Ottawa Hills in district
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
It was a good start, but a
little too good to be true.
Ottawa Hills scored its
third victory of the season
over OK Gold Conference
foe Thornapple Kellogg by a
score of 67-28 in Middleville
Monday in the opening round
of the MHSAA Division 1
state tournament.
Thornapple Kellogg limit-
ed its turnovers early on.
Ottawa Hills came out cold
shooting the basketball. TK
opened the game on a 7-0 run
and led 9-1 midway through
the opening quarter.
But the bigger, faster
Bengals took over from
there. A bucket by sopho-
more guard Jacob Draaisma
had TK’s lead at 9-1, but
Ottawa Hills senior guard
Quadir Hatchett beat every-
one back the other way to
scoop in a lay-up that broke
his team’s field goal drought
to open the ballgame. A min-
ute later the two teams were
all tied up.
Bengal junior Craig
Hureskin was fouled while
draining a triple and convert-
ed the four-point play at the
free throw line and then a
bucket by senior Isaiah
Bradford made it 9-9.
That was just the start of a
30-2 run over the final 11
and a half minutes of the first
half.
TK’s next bucket didn’t
come until Draaisma put
back an offensive rebound
with 48 seconds left before
the half. Ottawa Hills led
39-11 going into the locker
rooms.
The Bengals stretched
their lead to 60-21 by the end
of the third quarter.
“We had three main areas
we tried to focus on going
into that game,” Thornapple
Kellogg head coach Josh
Thaler said. “1. Rebound, 2.
Limit turnovers, 3. Take
away transition. As a team,
we were much more physical
rebounding. We out rebound-
ed Ottawa 37-29. The other
two areas we looked great in
stretches, especially in the
first six minutes of the game.
Over the course of the game
though, we didn’t take care
of the ball and get back in
transition consistently
enough.”
The Bengals were able to
tip a few balls out of the
Trojans’ possession by chas-
ing them down from behind
on the night, consistently
threw double teams at the
Trojans and jumped in pass-
ing lanes time and again.
The Trojans did limit
Ottawa Hills to 21 fewer
points than they scored in the
previous meeting, in the OK
Gold Conference finale in
Middleville Feb. 24. Strong
rebounding work was one of
the big positives for the
Trojans.
TK ends the season with a
2-21 overall record. While
the Trojans lacked for wins,
they gained quite a bit of
experience on the court.
Sophomores Jacob
Draaisma and Brody
Wiersma were key contribu-
tors throughout the season, in
the way that juniors Tyler
Gavette and Sias were a sea-
son earlier. They can all be
back on the court together
for TK a year from now
along with junior KyleVanHaitsma, who was the
team’s top scorer this season
at 10 points per game and
earned honorable mention
all-conference in the OK
Gold, and junior guard Ethan
Bonnema.
The young Trojan team
got even a little younger
come tournament time as
freshman Lucas Ploeg played
some key minutes in the ball-
game with Ottawa Hills, and
he likely would have played
even more if he hadn’t drawn
a few quick whistles trying
to make some hustle plays
diving on the floor after
loose balls.
Draaisma had a team-
high 9 points for TK. Sias
had 5 points and Ploeg fin-
ished with 4. VanHaitsma
had 9 rebounds and 4 blocks
in the ballgame. Sias
chipped in 6 rebounds,
Ploeg 4 and junior guard
Ethan Bonnema 3 rebounds
as well as 2 assists.
“We have a young group
of guys that are capable of
putting solid games togeth-
er,” Thaler said. “The second
half of the season we saw
Draaisma became aggressive
scoring the ball - being our
leading scorer a few games,Wiersma handling pressure
and creating offense for
teammates (he averaged 4
assists a game towards end
of season), VanHaitsma and
Gavette both having multiple
15-plus point games,
Bonnema taking care of the
ball on offense and shutting
players down on the defen-
sive end, Sias being a threat
inside on offense and a rim
protector on D, and [Hayden]
Chatman playing tough and
taking care of the ball. It was
also exciting to see how
quickly and effectively Ploeg
looked on the varsity floor,
getting a handful of buckets,
rebounds, and deflections in
limited time.”
Thaler made sure to get
seniors Rein Pranger, Corey
Holt and Jakob Rodriguez a
proper senior send-off in the
closing minutes Monday.
“This was a great team tocoach,” Thaler said. “Ten
guys that are high character
guys on and off the court.
They came to practice each
day to compete. Early on in
the season we had to figure
out roles, as well as having
guys play within themselves.
We’re a young team and our
seniors did an outstanding
job bringing in the younger
guys and making our team
tight.”
Ottawa Hills got 18 points
from Hureskin on the night.
He buried four three-point-
ers. Hatchett had 14 points.
Arien McDaniels, a quick
junior guard, had 11 points
and senior Isaiah Bradford
finished with 10.
Offensively, when the
Bengals weren’t scoring in
transition they were able to
get down hill to the basket
with the dribble and found
open shooters in the cornerswhen Trojan defenders were
forced to converge on the
paint.
The 15-9 Bengals had
their season brought to an
end Wednesday at East
Kentwood, falling 75-58 to
the Falcons in the n the
MHSAA Division 1 District
Semifinals. East Kentwood
had the district’s only open-
ing round bye.
The Falcons were sched-
uled to face Byron Center in
the district final at Thornapple
Kellogg High School Friday,
March 10.
Byron Center defeated
East Grand Rapids 39-33 in
the district’s other semifinal
ballgame Wednesday, at
EGR High School. The
Pioneers bested Wyoming
69-50 Monday in their dis-
trict opener. Byron Center
scored a 78-65 win at
Caledonia Monday.2023 MARCH BOARD OF REVIEW
MEETING SCHEDULE
Charter Township of Gaines, County of Kent, MIThe Gaines Charter Township Board of Review for March 2023 will be held at the
Township Office located at 8555 Kalamazoo Ave SE, Caledonia, MI to hear
appeals regarding 2023 assessments.
The Gaines Charter Township March Board of Review will meet on the fol-
lowing dates:- Tuesday, March 7, 2023, 9:00 AM: Organizational Meeting
- Wednesday, March 15, 2023, 1:30 PM to 7:30 PM: Appeals Hearings
- Thursday, March 16, 2023, 1:30 PM to 7:30 PM: Appeals Hearings
The Board of Review will meet as many more days as necessary to hear protests
and equalize the 2023 assessments. By Board resolution, taxpayers may protest
by letter sent to 8555 Kalamazoo Ave SE, Caledonia, MI 49316 or by email to
[email protected], provided the protest is received before 5:
PM Thursday, March 16, 2023.
The tentative ratios and the estimated multipliers for each class of real property
and personal property for 2023 are as follows:
Agricultural 46.47 1.0760 Commercial 46.38 1.
Residential 44.08 1.1343 Developmental NC NC
Industrial 46.97 1.0645 Personal Property 50.00 1.
Americans With Disabilities (ADA) Notice
The Township will provide necessary reasonable services to individuals with dis-
abilities at the Board of Review meetings upon seven (7) days’ notice.
Contact Kim Triplett at 616-504-
195303Thornapple Kellogg senior guard Jakob Rodriguez fights off pressure from
Ottawa Hills’ Craig Hureskin near mid-court during the first half of their district
ballgame at Thornapple Kellogg High School Monday. (Photo by Brett Bremer)
Thornapple Kellogg junior center Jaxan Sias flips
a shot up over Ottawa Hills’ Willie Duke in the post
during the first half of their MHSAA Division 1 District
opener in Middleville Monday. (Photo by Brett Bremer)Thornapple Kellogg sophomore Jacob Draaisma looks for an opening in the
paint as Ottawa Hills’ Shamon Jarret (left) and Quadir Hatchett close in from either
side during their MHSAA Division 1 District opener in Middleville Monday. (Photo
by Brett Bremer)