Trey Reed’s up against West Catholic along with Jason Gingrich, Derek Ash and Ryan Dines.
Cedar Springs Boys Varsity Basketball entered the week with a 1-1 record facing two OK Blue Conference opponents. On Tuesday, December 14 they visited West Catholic High School to take on the Falcons. The Red Hawks led at halftime 21-20 after Andrew Klompstra found an open Derek Ash for a lay up in the final seconds of the half. The Red Hawks were outscored 10-4 in the third quarter, and West Catholic converted on their first 13 free throws of the fourth quarter and hung on for a 43-35 victory over Cedar.
Hank Porter led the Red Hawks with 8 points, Alec Hanmer had 7, followed by Jason Gingrich with 6. Klompstra, Ash and Ryan Dines had four points each and Trey Reed chipped in with two. Gingrich had 3 assists and Ash collected 5 rebounds to lead the team.
On Friday, December 17, Sparta came to town for the Red Hawks home opener. Cedar got off to a fast start with a Trey Reed lay up, a Tyler Covell 3-pointer and a Jason Gingrich jumper. Then in the final seconds of the first quarter, Kyle Chaney found an open Gingrich, who hit a three-pointer to give Cedar a 10-2 lead after one quarter. In the second quarter a Derek Ash putback was followed by another 3 from Covell. Then Tyler Baker hit an open Ash who converted a 3-point play. The the home crowd went crazy when Jason Gingrich hit a running half court shot at the buzzer to give Cedar a 21-14 halftime lead.
In the 3rd quarter, after a Covell 3 pointer, a Porter jumper and an Alec Hanmer 3 pointer, Cedar still held a 29-23 lead entering the 4th Quarter. Sparta went on a 12-4 run to take the lead late in the fourth. Then Derek Ash made two free throws with 2:57 left in the game to tie it up at 35. Cedar could not take advantage of several scoring chances in the last 3 minutes, and the game went to overtime. The overtime was scoreless until Sparta scored in the final seconds to give the Spartans their first victory of the year, and their first victory at Cedar Springs since 1999. The Red Hawks’ record falls to 1-3.
Gingrich led all scorers with 10 points. Covell had nine. Ash had 7 points and became the first Red Hawk this year with double digit rebounds, grabbing Ten. Hanmer had 3 points, while Porter, Reed and Klompstra scored two each.
The Red Hawks have been bitten by the injury bug as team Captains Hank Porter and Kyle Chaney both have been slowed by knee injuries. Chaney was injured in game 2 of the season, and may be back for the next game. Porter will undergo surgery and is expected to miss a month. Porter leads the Red Hawks in scoring, assists, steals and charges taken and he will be missed by the Red Hawks. The team will have to step up and respond to the challenges of being without one of their best players.
The next test for the Red Hawks will be the 2nd annual Cedar Springs Holiday Tournament at Cedar Springs High School. Participating in the tournament are boys freshmen, JV and Varsity teams from Fremont, Kent City, and Thornapple-Kellog (Middleville) along with the host Red Hawks. There will be 6 games in the Cedar Springs gym both Monday, December 27th and Tuesday, December 28th.
On Monday, Cedar Springs takes on Kent City and Fremont faces Middleville. Freshmen games begin at noon with the Femont – Middleville match up, followed by the Red Hawks versus Kent City Freshmen at 1:30. JV games begin at 3 p.m. with Fremont – Middleville, followed at 4:30 with the Cedar Springs – Kent City JV game. Varsity Action begins at 6 PM with the Fremont – Middleville game, followed at 7:30 with the Red Hawks taking on Kent City.
On Tuesday the 28th, game times are the same. The Monday winners will face off for the championship in the late games, and the Monday losers will play in the early games.
