MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP- After winning 17 of 18 games last season, the Orchard View boys basketball team is much younger these days, with only a couple of seniors on the roster.

The Cardinals’ level of success this season will be determined by how the younger guys help players like senior Darius Williams, who has been averaging more than 25 points per game.

On Tuesday the younger players stepped up to the challenge, helping the Cardinals beat North Muskegon 61-53 at Reeths-Puffer High School in the opening game of the 2021 Muskegon Area Sports Hall of Fame Holiday Basketball Classic.

Williams ended up leading Orchard View with 19 points, but only had four in the first half and nine heading into the fourth quarter.

The offensive slack was taken up by three sophomores – Delaney Oakes, who scored 17 points, along with Keith McAllister (12) and Stephon Oakes (11).

“What you saw out there were sophomores hitting threes, and at the beginning of the year they wouldn’t have had that confidence,” said Orchard View coach Nick Bronsema. “I think a game like this gives confidence to our seniors that the younger guys are prepared to play well for them. We can only go up from here.”

The Cardinals, who were coming off a disappointing conference loss to Muskegon Catholic last week, improved to 2-2 on the season.

“The loss to Muskegon Catholic was a real tough one,” Bronsema said. “We got outcoached, but this week’s practices were the most focused we’ve had in years.”

The game was tied 15-15 after the first quarter, with Williams held to just two points.

North Muskegon had a 15-11 second quarter advantage and led 30-26 at halftime.

The Norse were led in the first half by Jason Bogue with eight points while Ben Meyers added seven.

North Muskegon maintained its lead throughout the third quarter, outscoring the Cardinals by a 13-11 margin to take a 43-37 advantage into the fourth.

But Orchard View went on a tear early in the final stanza, scoring the first eight points to finally take a lead. McAllister nailed the go-ahead three-point bucket with 6:20 left to give OV a 45-43 edge.

The Cardinals closed out the scoring with a 16-10 run, with Williams going 8-for-9 from the free throw line down the stretch.

“We knew what we needed to do after the halftime speech,” Williams said. “We are very young, but we have some shooters on this team. I am proud of my teammates and it’s amazing knowing that they have my back when I have theirs.”

The Norse, who are now 2-3 on the season, were led by Bogue with 12 points, while Troy McManus and Champ Young added nine points apiece.

“They really shot it well,” said North Muskegon coach Chuck Rypstra about Orchard View. “We had some pretty good looks, but they had some timely blocks. It was a pretty close game, but their shooting was better than ours and so they took it from us.”