On January 28 and 29, Cedar Springs High School hosted the first annual Cedar Springs holiday basketball tournament for boys basketball.
The Red Hawk Varsity played on Monday against the Wildcats of Lakeview High School. Senior star Jason Gust scored the first 7 points of the game giving the Red Hawks a quick 7-0 lead. Then, buckets by Seth Coxon, Kyle Chaney, Hank Porter and Trey Reed, followed by a Gust 3-pointer gave Cedar a 20-7 lead after one quarter.
Senior center Josh Hall scored his first basket of the year to open the 2nd quarter. Hall missed the first 4 games due to a pre-season knee injury. The Red Hawks traded baskets with Lakeview in the second quarter and led 28-16 at the half.
With 2:30 left in the 3rd quarter and the Red Hawks leading by 14, Jason Gust came alive again. Gust scored the next 14 points for the Cedar to extend the lead to 23. Cedar won it going away by a scored of 59-32.
Gust led all scorers with 27 points. Josh Hall scored 10 points, Porter and Coxon had 6 points each, Alec Hanmer 4, Ryan Dines, Reed and Chaney 2 each.
Coach Andy Secor commented after the game. “I was not happy at all with the first half against Lakeview,” he said. “I thought we made missed numerous defensive assignments and our intensity and energy level was not where it needed to be. I thought we played much better in the 2nd half. We got all 13 guys into the game and some of our subs got some minutes they really deserve. Josh Hall gave us a big boost in his first game back, contributing 10 points and 9 rebounds.”
On Tuesday the 29th, the Red Hawks played Fremont in the tournament championship game. In the first quarter, Fremont’s Tyler Krim put on a shooting clinic scoring 16 points in the quarter to give the Packers a 24-16 lead. The Red Hawks battled back in the second quarter with baskets by Gust, Reed, Branden Atkins, Dines and Porter to tie the game at 35.
Red hot Jason Gust scored 13 points in the 3rd Qquarter and Cedar led 57-50 going in to the 4th. Fremont came back to tie the game at 68 with under 2 minutes to go. A pair of Gust free throws gave the Hawks a 2-point lead, but a 3-pointer by Krim gave the lead to the Packers. In the final minute of the game, Seth Coxon gave the Red Hawks the lead with a 3-pointer, but 10 seconds later Tyler Krim hit another 3 pointer for Fremont which proved to be the game winner. The final score in a thriller was Fremont 74, Cedar Springs 73.
Jason Gust again led all scorers with 34 points with Krim leading Fremont with 32. Other Red Hawk scorers were Coxon with 13, Porter with 11, Reed 8, Hall 4, Dines 2, and Atkins 1.
Coach Secor was disappointed with the heartbreaking loss. “The Fremont game was really a gut-wrenching loss. Looking back at the game, I do not think our defensive game-plan was great going in, and that hurt us early. I thought our kids played with a lot of effort and guts, but we didn’t always play smart. There are some things in the last 6 minutes I’d like to do differently, and maybe if I would have coached a little differently in the last quarter that could have made the difference.”
Cedar Springs continues the OK Blue Conference season on Friday, January 8, when they visit the Rams of Grand Rapids Central High School.
