sun and news 4-3-2021

Page 12/The Sun and News, Saturday, April 3, 2021

EGR ends Scots’ season at ten wins

Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
There is no different
between a one-point, a three-
point or a 30-point loss in the
state tournament.
The season is over no mat-
ter what.
Caledonia’s varsity boys’
basketball team got as good
of a last gasp as it could have
hoped for in the Division 1
District Final at East Grand
Rapids High School
Saturday. Somehow, even
with the Pioneers forming a
picket fence around the
three-point line, Fighting
Scot senior found some
space to rise up for a jumper
on the left wing.
It bounded off the rim
with his Scots down 43-40.
Fellow senior Aiden
Gortmaker was there to put
the rebound back up and in
with just under a second to
go, but a game official later
waived off the bucket as the
Pioneers piled up in celebra-
tion in front of their bench.
Caledonia led by as many
as five points a few times in
the first half, but after a the
Pioneers took a 17-16 lead
with just under three and a
half minutes to go before the
intermission they never
relinquished it. The Scots
were clawing from behind
the rest of the afternoon,
even if it was just by a point,
or two or three for most of
the rest of the ballgame.
In the end, the Pioneers
extended their advantage to

as many as ten points mid-

way through the fourth quar-

ter as Caledonia struggled to

score the basketball.

Things didn’t go the way

the Scots needed them to go

to keep one of the best sea-

sons in recent program histo-

ry alive into the regional

round of the state tourna-

ment. Larson had to deal

with foul trouble throughout

much of the contest as he

dealt with the physicality of

Pioneer sophomore forward

Simon Neuhasu.

Neuhasu led a balanced

Pioneer attack with 11 points.

EGR also got nine points

from sophomore Arjun

Taylor and eight each from

seniors Jackson Mitchell and

Luke Caswell.

Senior guard Koby

VanderWoude led the

Fighting Scots with ten

points, all of them coming in

the third quarter. He attacked

the basket for his first two

points a minute into the sec-

ond half, pulling Caledonia

to within 21-20 at the time.

After missing his first three

three-point attempts he final-

ly knocked one down on an

inbound play with 4:38 to go

in the third, getting his team

within a point again at 26-25,

but Caswell quickly

answered with a three at the

other end.

Caledonia tried to take

advantage of junior center

Nick Henry’s size in the post

at times in the first half, but

eventually went to more of a

five-out offense as the game

progressed. Henry finished

the game with eight points.

Larson had nine points.

The Scots also got four

points each from seniors

Brooks Day and Paul

Vogeler.

VanderWoude picked up

his fourth foul with 3:24 to

play in the fourth quarter and

the Pioneers’ Mitchell sank

two free throws to extend his

team’s lead to 41-31.

A three-point play by

Larson finally spurred the

Caledonia attack with just

over three minutes remain-

ing. Larson scored again in

the paint a minute later to get

his team within 41-36.

Vogeler attacked the basket

with a little over a minute to

play, after an ill-advised

missed three-point shot by

the Pioneers, and kissed a

shot off the glass from the

left of the lane to cut the

Pioneer lead to 41-38 with

1:18 to go. After a Pioneer

free throw, Vogeler did it

again to make it a 42-40 ball-

game with just under half a

minute remaining.

The Scots had a few

chances to even things up or

take the lead in that last min-

ute. An EGR turnover gave

the ball to the Scots with 27

seconds left, but Mulnix

missed a tough shot and then

lost the ball while securing

an offensive rebound.

Caswell finally upped his

team’s lead to three points

with 16.9 seconds left by

hitting the front end of a pair

of free throws – leading to

the Scots’ last charge up the

floor.

Caledonia ends the season

with a record of 10-7.

East Grand Rapids was

7-6 on the season, falling

49-30 in the Division 1

Regional Semifinal against

Zeeland East at Reeths-

Puffer in Muskegon Tuesday.

The only thing better than cherishing today is

looking forward to what tomorrow will bring.

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Caledonia’s Brooks Day puts a shot up an in as he is

hammered by East Grand Rapids’ Jackson Mitchell

during the first half of their Division 1 District Final at

East Grand Rapids High School Saturday. (Photo by

Brett Bremer)

Fighting Scot junior center Nick Henry goes hard to

the rim for two points during the second half Saturday at

East Grand Rapids High School. (Photo by Brett Bremer)

Caledonia senior Koby VanderWoude (10) and Andrew Larson (15) react to time

running out on their 2020-2021 varsity basketball season as East Grand Rapids

celebrates its three-point victory over the Fighting Scots in the Division 1 District Final

at East Grand Rapids High School Saturday. (Photo by Brett Bremer)