SN 3-9-2024

The Sun and News, Saturday, March 9, 2024/ Page 9

Rangers beat buzzer to beat Scots

in district final

Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
Attempt number one
touched nearly all of the rim
before it rolled off.
But the ball made that revo-
lution fast enough that there
was time for one more shot.
A buzzer-beating put back
by Forest Hills Central senior
Owen Godley gave his
Rangers a 52-50 win over the
Caledonia varsity boys’ bas-
ketball team in the MHSAA
Division 1 District Final at
Caledonia High School Friday,
March 1.
The Rangers’ senior Brady
Miller started his team’s final
attempt at a game-winner in
the closing seconds with the
dribble at the top of the key.
He got just enough space to
get by Caledonia guard Corbin
Raffler along the right side of
the lane and tossed up a
right-handed scoop as his
momentum carried him under
the basket. The ball banked off
the glass softly then did most
of a 360 around the rim with a

trio of Scots and a couple

Rangers desperately waiting

for it to come down in the

paint. None of them could

corral it there and it popped up

along the right baseline where

Godley was falling away from

the play.

He snagged the offensive

rebound, caught his balance

with one little hop and floated

up the game-winner as time

expired.

It is the first district champi-

onship for the Rangers since

2015. They knocked off East
      Kentwood in the MHSAA
      Division 1 Regional
      Semifinals Tuesday, but were
      bounced from the state tourna-
      ment by Zeeland West in the
      Regional Final at East
      Kentwood High School
      Thursday this week to end the
      season with an 18-8 record.
      Caledonia closes its season
      with a record of 12-12 under
      its new head coach Lamar
      Chapman. It is the third time
      in the past four seasons that
      the Caledonia varsity boys

have reached double-digit

wins.

The defeat was even more

of a gut-punch due to the fact

that the Fighting Scots had a

16-point lead with four min-

utes to play. The Rangers

closed the game on a 20-2 run.

FHC stole a Caledonia pass at

mid-court and went in for the

tying lay-up with less than a

minute to play, and then a

Fighting Scot travel on their

next possession gave FHC the

ball back with the opportunity

for the last shot.

Senior guard Lual Abiel and

senior forward Jaiden Googins

had 14 points, five rebounds,

two steals and one block each

for the Scots. Googins had a

team-high four assists and

Abiel had three in their last

hoops action for CHS.

Senior guard Corbin Raffler

had 11 points and two steals,

and senior guard Ky

VanderWoude capped his

career with six points and nine

rebounds on what was a tough

shooting night for him.

Freshman Bryce Backus had

two points and a team-high 13

rebounds, including eight on

the offensive end, and two

blocked shots too.

As a team the Scots were

just 4-of-11 from behind the

three-point line and just 8-of-

17 at the free throw line. They

shot a little under 50 percent

from the floor inside the arc

too.

runner-up finish behind Mya

Bethel from Florida.

“Wrestling has always

just been really, really fun

for me,” Hayden said of

wrestling for the Caledonia

program. “Obviously, I

have this God-given ability

I have ben blessed with.

Being able to actually use

that has been really cool

and just because wrestling

is so fun. Being able to put

a lot of effort and a lot of

determination into a sport

that will always give love

back to me, it is just like

‘how can I not take up that

opportunity.”

Hayden was joined at the

state finals last weekend by

sophomore teammate Halle

Stout, just in her second

year of wrestling. Stout was

a regional runner-up and

was bested in her two

matches in the 105-pound

weight class.

“I’m proud of her and

happy for her for making it

to state this year,” Hayden

said. “It was kind of a

bummer that she wasn’t

able to get a win. Placing

second at regionals this

year. The improvement

there is crazy. I am really,

really happy for her that

she got to experience Ford

Field this year.”

Coach Veitch was pretty

pleased with Stout too. He

said wrestlers typically

need to take steps through-

out their high school years

• and that for most it can be
  tough to jump more than
  one in a season. Stout had
  her first competitive wres-
  tling season as a freshman
  and qualified for the state
  finals for the first time as a
  sophomore. Now she’ll go
  to work on seeing if she can
  join Hayden on the state
  medal stand next year.
  With Veitch newly back
  leading the program this
  winter and a big group of
  inexperienced wrestlers
  overall, Hayden said things
  were a lot different in the
  Caledonia wrestling room.
  Everything slowed down a
  bit as much of the season
  was spent with the team
  overall focusing on the
  basics. The state champ

said it took her some time

to adapt.

“I definitely got caught

for my attitude a couple

times,” she said.

Eventually, she realized

it was for the good of the

program and that the whole

experience taught her some

patience. It also taught her

to look back now and then

at the basics herself.

Shawn’s father, Hall of

Fame wrestling coach Bob

Veitch, helped out through-

out much of the year. She

can still hear Bob’s voice

shouting “Don’t cut short.

Don’t cut me short!”

Those shouts came work-

ing on getting deeper shots,

something Hayden said she

hadn’t spent too much time

worrying about lately while

training hard on her best

moves.

“Usually if I can get to a

leg I am going to finish, but

if it could take six seconds

then why am I taking 30

seconds to do it? I was not

always getting a deep

enough penetration shot,

not stepping in deep

enough. I’m glad that kind

of flipped in my head.”

While Hayden is always

working to improve, coach

Shawn Veitch said Stout

has a plan to get bigger,

faster, stronger in the wres-

tling offseason too and

there will be a lot of work

for the girls in the Caledonia

program, as well as the

guys, this summer.

Stout was pinned by Iron

Mountain’s Shayna Hruska

in her opening round match

and then fell 14-2 to

Hudson’s Grace Miller in

the first round of consola-

tion – meaning she was on

the mat longer than all of

Hayden’s foes combined.

Hayden pinned East

Lansing’s Mya Terranova

36 seconds into her opening

round match. Adalyn

Holmes fought to stay alive

for most of the first period

before Hayden stuck her at

the 1:49 mark of their quar-

terfinal bout. In the semifi-

nals Friday afternoon,

Hayden pinned Manton’s

Makayla Gowell in 26 sec-

onds.

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OPTOMETRIST

CHAMP, continued from previous page

Fighting Scot senior guard Ky VanderWoude looks

to make a pass around Forest Hills Central’s Jonas

VanderWoude in the backcourt during the final min-

utes of the district matchup at Caledonia High School

Friday, March 1. (Photo by Perry Hardin)

Caledonia head coach
Lamar Chapman strategizes
how to beat Forrest Hills
Central full-court press late in
the fourth quarter of the
MHSAA Division 1 District
Final at Caledonia High
School Friday, March 1.
Forest Hills Central complet-
ed a double digit comeback
with a buzzer beater to win
its first district title since

2009. (Photo by Perry Hardin)