This photo from last March shows Hank Porter going to the hoop against Muskegon. Porter was chosen All conference honorable mention last year as a junior.

Godwin may have beat the Cedar Springs Varsity basketball team in the last game of the season, but it was still a great game—and one that both players and coaches will remember—especially Red Hawk coach Andy Secor and student coach Hank Porter.

Porter wasn’t meant to be a student coach in his senior year. As a junior he was chosen as all-conference honorable mention. Despite battling a torn meniscus in his knee the first half of his junior season and missing five games, he still scored 143 points, and led the team with just under 9 points a game. He also had 38 rebounds, 24 assists, and 11 steals, helping the Red Hawks tie for second in the conference.

Then during football season last fall, Porter tore his anterior cruciate ligament. He sat out the football season, and spent the basketball season doing a little bit of everything—managing, running the clock, coaching other students, etc.—until the Godwin game. Coach Secor had something special planned.

“I wanted to honor him in a special way for all he did this season and what he has meant to our basketball program,” he explained.

Secor got the Wolverines Coach Chad Conklin and his team to agree to let Cedar Springs get the opening tipoff, and the Red Hawks then passed it off to Porter, who drove down court for an uncontested layup—his only points all year. The Wolverines then raced down court for an uncontested basket as well.

Secor said he had the idea early on in the season. “I know the Godwin coach well, he’s a great guy and a very good coach. When I approached him about the idea, he was 100 percent on board and thought it was the right thing to do,” he explained.

Coach told Porter pretty early in the season. “I wanted him to have something to look forward to as I knew coming to practices and games, without participating, would be tough on him.”

It was a special moment for Porter, who was happy to be back out on the court with his teammates for the final game of the season. And it was special for Secor as well.

He said a friend of his sent him a quote after hearing about the game: People don’t remember days, they remember moments. “That senior night moment we had for Hank is one I will never forget,” remarked Secor. “Five years from now I won’t remember the scores of games or even specifics on who we lost to or where we won games. But that moment, I won’t forget.”

Derek Ash goes way up for the rebound as Andrew Klompstra boxes out.

The Cedar Springs boys varsity basketball team traveled to Wyoming to take on the Lee Rebels last Friday. The Red Hawks got their first win of the young season, easily defeating the Rebels 52-29.
“We came out with good energy and intensity,” said head coach Andy Secor. “Our starting group did a good job of getting us going offensively. I thought we played very well defensively for the second game in a row. Our team defense was very good.”
Derek Ash won the opening tip, and 19 seconds later Kyle Chaney got the Red Hawks going with a three pointer from the corner. Then Chaney assisted on the next two Cedar buckets, three-pointers by Hank Porter and Jason Gingrich, and the Hawks were off to a 9-0 lead. An 8-0 run by the Rebels cut the Cedar lead to one, but an Ash free throw and 5 straight points by Porter gave Cedar Springs a 15-8 lead after one quarter. The second quarter began with field goals by Andrew Klompstra, Trey Reed, and Ash, all assisted by Porter. Then a Gingrich free throw and a Porter lay-up gave Cedar a 24-13 lead. Alec Hanmer became the seventh Red Hawk to score in the half when he buried a three-pointer to give Cedar a 27-15 Lead.
In the third quarter, buckets by Ryan Dines, Klompstra, Porter and a three-pointer by Gingrich stretched the lead to 15. Then Junior Tyler

Hank Porter led the Red Hawks with 14 points.

Covell hit two three-pointers in a span of 21 seconds and the Red hawks lead was 42-24 after three quarters of play. In the fourth quarter, Gingrich hit a three, then Porter made two free throws followed by a Reed lay-up and the score was 49-26. An Isaac Gloczynski free throw followed by a pair of Brandon Slater free throws rounded out the scoring for the Red Hawks as they cruised to the 52-29 victory.
Coach Secor was pleased. “We started to knock down some perimeter shots, Hank and Jason are shooting the ball with a lot of confidence,” he said. “We got some big contributions from our bench. Tyler Covell hit two big three-pointers in the third quarter and Andrew Klompstra played very well, leading the team with 8 rebounds. Alec Hanmer quietly had a solid game. He handled the ball well for us, knocked down a three-pointer, and was second on the team with 6 rebounds.”
Porter led the Red hawks with 14 points and 6 assists, Gingrich had 10 points and 3 assists. Covell finished with 6 points and Klompstra had 4 points to go with his 8 boards and 2 assists. Ash, Chaney and Hanmer had 3 points each, Dines and Slater two each and Golczynski one.
“It was good to get some of our reserves much-deserved playing time.” said Secor. “Those guys have been working hard in practice everyday to improve and they deserve any minutes we can get them.”
The Red Hawks started OK Blue Conference play this week with a game at West Catholic on Tuesday, December 14th at 7:15 p.m., followed by the home opener against arch rival Sparta on Friday night, December 17 at 6 p.m. at Cedar Springs High School.

Hank Porter (12) elevates and looks to pass to Derek Ash as Trey Reed (left) follows.

Derek Ash (40) goes up for the shot as Kyle Chaney (21) and Hank Porter (12) look on.

Cedar Springs boys varsity basketball coach Andy Secor said last week that there will be times when “it will be challenging (for us) to score.” Unfortunately for the Red Hawks, that was true in their first game Tuesday night at Greenville. Cedar scored only 29 points in a loss to the big and physical Yellow Jackets.
Hank Porter scored the first 5 points for the Red Hawks, sinking a pull up jumper and then a 3-pointer. A Derek Ash lay-up and a Ryan Dines 3-pointer gave Cedar a 10-8 lead after one quarter. Tyler Baker scored on a baseline jumper and then a lay-up to start the second quarter. Then Porter hit another jumper and Jason Gingrich canned a 3, and Cedar went in to the locker room trailing 22-19 at the half.
Greenville built a 5-point lead and a Trey Reed 3-pointer cut the Yellow Jacket lead to 2 points 27-25, with 3 minutes to go in the third quarter. That was the closest Cedar would get as Greenville went on a 12-0 run over the next 7 minutes to build their lead to 39-25 with 3:30 to go in the game. Greenville held on for a 46-29 victory.
Coach Secor was disapointed with the loss but found some positives in the team’s performance. “I am very happy with the energy and effort we played with. Our kids really played tremendous half-court defense. We held their Cornerstone University bound post player to 6 points and played great team defense,” he said. “On the flip side, we really struggled on the glass and with offensive execution.  We will get to work right away on that film, breaking it down, and improving our offense.”
Porter led the balanced Red Hawks with 8 points and took an impressive three charges. Baker, Gingrich and Ash had four points each. Reed, Dines and Alec Hanmer had 3 points each. Reed also took a charge. Kyle Chaney contributed with one rebound, solid defense and no turnovers. Brandon Slater had a rebound, a steal and an assist. Derek Ash led Cedar with 6 rebounds, Andrew Klompstra had 5 rebounds and Porter 4.
The Red Hawks travel to Wyoming Friday night to take on the Lee Rebels. Game time this Friday is 7 p.m.