Holland Christian's basketball team had state-ranked Grand Rapids South Christian on the ropes Friday night at the Civic Center.
Unfortunately for the Maroons, the No. 4-ranked team in Class B overcame a stellar defensive effort by Holland Christian to claim a hard-fought 48-43 victory.
"This was just two good teams going at it hard from the start of the game to the very end," said South Christian coach Ken Hiskes. "They played just as hard as we did. We just had a couple of bounces go our way."
Holland coach Mike Phelps agreed.
"This hurts for the kids, but I can't find any fault with our team," said Phelps. "They played tough."
The Maroons, who are 9-4 overall and 6-3 in the O-K Gold, needed a win to stay in the league race against the league-leading Sailors, who are 8-0 in the Gold. South Christian, which is 10-1 overall, was coming off its first loss of the season to Forest Hills Northern.
"This was probably a do-or-die game for them, but give Holland Christian credit," said Hiskes. "They played very well."
Tony VanWoerkom, who led Holland Christian with 10 points, would like another crack against South Christian.
"I thought we could win tonight, but coach mentioned we could play them again in regionals if we won district," VanWoerkom said.
David Kool, South's guard, led all scorers with 25 points.
"I thought we did a pretty good job on him defensively," said Phelps. "He's just a great player."
With South Christian clinging to a one-point lead (44-43) with 1 minute, 11 seconds to play in the game, Kool came up with a key 3-point play. Kool's off-balance basket off the window had Hiskes looking on in disbelief.
"That was an incredible shot," Hiskes said. "It was the best shot I've seen from him all year."
Kool, who was fouled on the play, sank the free throw to give South Christian a 47-43 lead with 17 seconds remaining.
Brady Eilers finished with nine points on three fourth-quarter 3-pointers for Holland Christian.
Phelps credited Mitch Timmerman, who took the spot of foul-plagued Tyler Zoerhof, with a solid effort.
"Tyler was in foul trouble early and could never really get into the flow of things," Phelps said. "On the other hand, it was nice to see (Timmerman) play so well."
"We had a very good effort," said Phelps. "It was hard to overcome Kool, but a couple of calls went against us. A basket or rebound here or there or not turning the ball over at certain times all could have made a difference."
The close game featured nine lead changes and five ties.
"It was just a good basketball game between two teams who really wanted it," Hiskes said.
Contact Leo Martonosi at [email protected] or at (6161) 546-4270.
