Red Hawk Austin Hilyer takes the ball down court. Photo by K. Alvesteffer.
By Kendra Coons
The boys varsity basketball team had one tough lineup last week. On Tuesday, February 11, the boys played the Grand Rapids Christian Eagles. The game was a long hard fought battle, but in the end Grand Rapids Christian came out on top 64-56.
In the first quarter, the Red Hawks came out scoring fast and put a total of 15 points on the scoreboard. Grand Rapids Christian wasn’t far behind them coming in at 12. Going into the second quarter GRC came back and put up a total of 17 while Cedar Springs put up 7. The Eagles went into halftime with the lead 29-22 over the Red Hawks. Cedar Springs came back out after halftime and put up another 17 points. This wasn’t enough to take back the lead though. The Eagles scored a total of 14 points in the third quarter making the score 43-39 in favor of GRC. Then came the fourth quarter and Cedar Springs put up another 17 points, but GRC came back with 21, giving the Eagles the win 64-56. The game had a total of 3 lead changes throughout and was tied twice, but in the end GRC came out on top.
“This was the second of back-to-back games and it was against a quality opponent. We knew it was going to be a battle,” commented Head Coach Jeff Patin.
Cedar Spring’s players senior Cameron Link, junior Brad Brechting, senior Aaron Mabie and senior Kyler Marble were all big scorers for the Red Hawks. Link led the team in points coming in at a total of 14. Brechting wasn’t far behind him with 11 and Mabie and Marble both came in at a total of 8 points. Cedar Springs went a total of 23/48 on their field goals and had a shooting percentage of 47.9 percent.
“We gave a great effort throughout the game. Christian is a very athletic team, and we were able hang with them,” stated Coach Patin.
Also this week the boys varsity basketball team took on the Falcons of West Catholic for a second time this season. The first time the boys played them the Red Hawks fell to the Falcons 43-46. This time around on Friday, February 14 Cedar Springs returned the favor and defeated West Catholic 56-45, bringing home a great Valentine’s Day present to all Red Hawks!
In the first quarter, the Red Hawks were up 19-14. In the second quarter, West Catholic came back and scored 7 more points. The 7 points still wasn’t enough to take the lead though because the Red Hawks put up 11 keeping the lead going into halftime, 30-21. The Falcons came back fighting hard after halftime and scored 13 points in the third quarter while Cedar Springs scored 9. The Red Hawks still had the lead though at 39-34. In the fourth quarter West Catholic scored 11 points and Cedar Springs came in and finished strong putting up 17 more points to take home the win, 56-45.
“The first time we played West, we felt we let one get away from us. This time, at their place, we knew we had to play a complete game to stay in the hunt for the conference championship,” said Coach Patin.
The Red Hawks fought exceptionally hard for this game. Junior Brad Brechting and Seniors Cameron Link, Aaron Mabie and Kyler Marble played a huge role in the win for Cedar Springs.
“Cam Link led us with 23 points. Brad Brechting had 15 points, 18 rebounds, and 7 blocks. In the fourth quarter we had a big 3-pointer by Aaron Mabie and two big defensive plays (a blocked shot and a charge) by Kyler Marble,” remarked Coach Patin.
The boys varsity basketball team’s record is now 11-5 overall and 6-1 in conference. The boy’s next game is Friday, February 21 at Northview. Tip-off is at 7:30 PM. This game is expected to be a very great match-up. So come on out and support your Red Hawks!
