HOLTON – When the Muskegon Heights boys basketball team hits high gear, you could almost forget how inexperienced the Tigers really are.

Then there are other moments, when the Tigers get a little sloppy and the turnovers pile up, and you remember this is a team that barely played last season.

The silver lining is that the Tigers are quick and talented enough to overcome those bad moments, which was clear in their 60-45 victory over Holton on Wednesday in a non-conference matchup.

The Tigers used their fast-break transition game, three-point shooting and pressure defense to build a big lead, and played well enough in the other moments to preserve the win.

Muskegon Heights is now 5-2 on the season, which is amazing considering they only played five games last season.

While the rest of the high school basketball world got a late start to the season due to COVID, the Tigers sat out until the final few weeks, and only squeezed in four regular season games and one tournament game.

Coach Del Stewart, who has been patiently guiding his team back into full-time basketball, said he’s pleased with the progress, but plans to keep pushing his players to get better.

“We got some guys that are upperclassmen, but not upperclassmen when it comes to experience,” Stewart said. “We are still learning to play in some ways. I just think the more we play, the more we will develop and get better.”

The Tigers looked great in the early moments of the game, building an 11-2 lead while Holton struggled to deal with the visitors’ speed and pressure defense.

Holton was 2-for-8 from the floor in the first quarter and turned the ball over four times. The Red Devils scored the last five points of the first quarter, however, and cut their deficit to 11-7 at the buzzer.

Muskegon Heights built the lead back up to 22-7 midway through the second quarter before Holton regrouped and rallied again, and the Tigers led 24-15 at halftime.

The Tigers played their best basketball in the third quarter, outscoring the Red Devils 18-9 to take a 42-24 lead into the fourth.

Damond Davis, JaQuan Matthews and Ja’Kari Edwards all hit three-pointers in the third. Edwards totaled seven points in the quarter while William Davis had five points.

Holton again fought back down the stretch, outscoring the Tigers 21-18 in the fourth quarter, but didn’t have enough time to claw back into the game.

Wyatt Monette has six points in the fourth for Holton while Austin Fowler and Carter Brant both hit 3-pointers. Matthews hits two triples and scored eight points in the fourth for Muskegon Heights.

Matthews led Muskegon Heights in the game with 16 points, including three triples. Edwards added 15 points and William Davis had 11.

“I will take it,” Coach Stewart said about the victory and his team’s progress. “I probably get on their nerves, but I just press, press, press with these guys. I feel like because of last year we are behind, and I think we have some really good potential.”

Holton suffered its first loss of the season and dropped to 4-1, but Red Devils Coach Keith Swanson is glad his team played Muskegon Heights, and said there are lessons to learn from the game.

“They are very athletic,” Swanson said about the Tigers. “We haven’t seen the best competition so far, and this was our first real test. I think we learned a lot tonight. We have some tougher games coming up, and hopefully we will keep building.”

Wyatt Monette led Holton with 16 points while Austin Fowler nailed three triples and finished with nine points.