FRUITPORT- At this point last year, the Fruitport boys basketball team had just broken a seven-game losing streak and ended up finishing the season with a not-so-great 7-14 record.
This year’s team has a lot of the same faces, but the 2022-23 Trojans look like a totally different squad.
That was evident again on Tuesday when the Trojans hosted Comstock Park in a non-conference matchup. They carved up the Panther defense, finding open shots throughout the game and hitting a flurry of three-pointers en route to a convincing 70-55 victory.
[1]Fruitport has now won two games in a row and three of its last four. The Trojans are 8-5 on the season, with one more win than they had all of last season, and there are still lots of games to play.
“Confidence on the offensive side of the floor is really important,” said Fruitport head coach Steve Erny. “I thought we did a really good job of attacking tonight, getting to the basket, and looking for the extra pass.”
Fruitport got out to an early lead and never looked back, going up 16-7 after one quarter and 38-20 at halftime.
Ryan Bosch scored nine points in the third quarter, helping the Trojans pull ahead 57-37 heading into the fourth, then they coasted to the victory.
[2]Multiple players reached double digits for the Trojans, with Bode Anspach and DayDay Williams each scoring 14 points and Bosch totaling 11. Twelve of Anspach’s points came on three-point baskets.
Jaden Love scored a game-high 21 points for Comstock Park, including 19 in the second half.
Fruitport is still very much in the O-K Blue conference championship race heading into the final stretch of the regular season.
The Trojans are 4-3 in the league, behind first-place Hamilton (5-1) and second-place Spring Lake and Coopersville (both 5-2).
[3]They will have some stiff conference competition in the weeks ahead, including games against both Hamilton and Spring Lake.
Fruitport will return to conference action on Friday when they visit Holland Christian on Friday.
If the Trojans play with the confidence, style and speed they employed on Tuesday – a style that included a no-look pass that resulted in a buzzer-beating layup just before halftime – their opponents will be in for a challenge.
“We’ve had some games offensively where we’ve struggled and where we got out of our zone,” Coach Erny said. “So now that we’ve played this game, we flip right back to the O-K Blue and we’re looking forward to turning back around and playing Holland Christian.”
“We were able to beat them at our house the first time we played, but I know they will be looking forward to getting some revenge at their place. So that’s our focus now.”
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