The Cedar Springs Boys Varsity Basketball team hosted Kenowa Hills on Tuesday, January 5. The first half was close with 5 ties and 4 lead changes in the first half. Jason Gust scored 11 first half points for the Red Hawks and a Tyler Baker free throw at the end of the half tied the game at 20.
Senior Seth Coxon shoots from the corner.
Seth Coxon hit back-to-back 3 pointers to begin the second half, then baskets by Gust, Hank Porter and Trey Reed gave Cedar a 37-35 lead after 3 quarters. Two baskets by Ryan Harper and a Hank Porter lay up opened up an 8-point lead for Cedar early in the 4th. Then Cedar ran the delay game and held the ball for almost 2-1/2 minutes and forced Kenowa Hills to foul with 1:52 left. Cedar made 7 of 11 free throws down the stretch to clinch an 8-point victory 50-42.
Gust led the Red Hawks with 23 points, Porter had 10, Coxon and Reed 4 each and Baker 1.
Coach Secor commented after the game. “I thought we won this game with team defense. We forced 15 turnovers, held them under 20 percent from 3, and only 42 points on the game. In a game where we really struggled to shoot the ball (36 percent from the floor), our defense kept us in the game. Hank Porter had one of his best games with 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 0 turnovers. We needed all of Jason’s 23 points and I thought Ryan Harper hit two big shots in the fourth quarter to allow us to extend our lead. We were able to execute a delay offense late in the game and made our free throws to secure the win.”
Last Friday, the Red Hawks visited the Grand Rapids Central Rams. After a sluggish start, Cedar led 7-6 after one quarter. Baskets by Ryan Dines, Jason Gust, Josh Hall and Seth Coxon gave the Red Hawks a 24-14 half-time lead.
In the 3rd quarter, Cedar held the Rams to only 3 points. Branden Atkins, Gust, Dines, Hank Porter scored in the quarter to give Cedar a 15 point lead and then Ryan Harper scored 5 points in the last minute of the quarter to increase the Red Hawk lead to 37-17. In the final quarter, a late rally by the Rams cut the Cedar lead to 10, but the Red Hawks held on for the victory by a score of 53-42.
Gust again led Cedar with 20 points, Harper had 8, Coxon 7, Porter 6, Dines and Atkins 4 each, Trey Reed and Josh Hall 2 each.
Sophomore Ryan Dines Grabs a loose ball
Coach Secor was happy to get a league victory on the road. “I thought we played really well for 3 quarters plus. We led 41-19, had played great defensively, and had started to execute better on offense. Then, we really struggled for a 4 minute stretch and let them back into the game. Fortunately we got some stops in the last 2 minutes and Jason knocked down some free throws. I thought the bench play of Tyler Baker, Ryan Dines, Ryan Harper, and Branden Atkins was very important for us.”
The wins even the Red Hawks record at 4-4, and 2-2 in the OK Blue Conference. The Red Hawks host the Coopersville Broncos in league play Friday, January 15 in a Boys-Girls Varsity double header. The Girls game begins at 6 p.m. followed by the Boys game at 7:30.
